We narrowed it down to any and all acceptable choices before involving our kiddo. Let them pick the vibe!

Anonymous wrote:OP - I think your DD and you have done exactly the right thing. Find a place where you think you will be happy. Presumably, you already made a determination on whether the school would meet academic needs as part of the application process. Once you get acceptances - choose best fit. HS can be hard (on many dimensions), so finding a place where you feel comfortable is perfect. Congrats for having choices in the first place and for being thoughtful on your final decision.

Agree. On paper the choices all seemed excellent, but in the the end DC picked the place that felt the most right after shadow days.

Anonymous wrote:OP - I think your DD and you have done exactly the right thing. Find a place where you think you will be happy. Presumably, you already made a determination on whether the school would meet academic needs as part of the application process. Once you get acceptances - choose best fit. HS can be hard (on many dimensions), so finding a place where you feel comfortable is perfect. Congrats for having choices in the first place and for being thoughtful on your final decision.

Thank you!

My fourth grader picks their clothes based on the colors.

This laughable on so many levels.

My older daughter applied for 4th and she chose the school she said she felt the most comfortable in. She paid attention to the diversity of the student body (this was important to her) and how she felt on campus and with the teachers she interacted with. I am thankful she was so invested and involved because I think she chose a school that really is a good fit.

It wasn't their choice - it's ours. They "chose" because we told them we were choosing it for them.

DS picked Prep because it starts in 9th grade, so everyone is new (aside from about 15% of the class who comes from Mater Dei) , and it would be easier for him to make friends and fit in.
He also loved that the school draws international students because of their boarding program. He also loved the campus and the feel of the school when he shadowed. In fact, I think he knew that Prep was his top choice right after the shadow day. He's very happy there.

Vibe is probably as good a word as any. DC was deciding between two schools plus our local public for rising 9th, and decided one of the three felt right. The other two were “fine” but only one made DC really excited.

As parents we had the same reactions to the schools and would have rank ordered the options the same way.

The richest and most successful parent population- private school’s main purose is networking after all.

OP - I think your DD and you have done exactly the right thing. Find a place where you think you will be happy. Presumably, you already made a determination on whether the school would meet academic needs as part of the application process. Once you get acceptances - choose best fit. HS can be hard (on many dimensions), so finding a place where you feel comfortable is perfect. Congrats for having choices in the first place and for being thoughtful on your final decision.

We picked the school with the wealthiest families. That school is the nicest.

Anonymous wrote:Aside from a general feeling of fit, ours chose Madeira based on academic program, mod scheduling, single sex but not catty, and the beautiful campus.

Madeira's campus is gorgeous. We looked at a couple of all girls schools and Madeira and Georgetown Visitation definitely won for most beautiful campuses and Madeira has an incredible amount of space.

Aside from a general feeling of fit, ours chose Madeira based on academic program, mod scheduling, single sex but not catty, and the beautiful campus.

We are close to committing w/ a kid who is kind of nerdy and mainly interested in math and science. After reviewing our 3 choices and going to the accepted students events, she selected a particular school because it was the only one where she could really envision herself on a daily basis and felt like she would fit in the best. This decision has been a struggle for her (and us) but I was so pleased that she was so confident, happy and excited about the school she is going to attend in the Fall. I had the same feeling about this school but was not terribly vocal about it yet because I did not want to influence her opinion so was relieved that we were on the same page.

Curious though for others - was it just a 'vibe' or a particular thing that swayed your kid toward one particular school?