Anonymous
Post 10/21/2024 14:57     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Because its a public school and is mostly recruiting from public schools. Not much reason to bend over backwards to cater to private school kids.


+1. And my kid was disadvantaged coming from a private school and did not get an interview. They can't cater to the exceptions.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2024 12:18     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.


Wow. Don’t assume the kids coming from public middle schools are taking “easy A” classes and not challenging themselves. Many of the admitted students from DCPS middles took high school math in 7th and 8th.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2024 10:29     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Anonymous wrote:There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.

Because its a public school and is mostly recruiting from public schools. Not much reason to bend over backwards to cater to private school kids.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2024 10:27     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
There is something truly wrong with an application school admissions process for a supposedly academic school that favors “easy As” from grade inflated schools rather than potentially lower grades from much tougher courses/schools. Where is the incentive for students to challenge themselves? Why is it better to exclude the more capable students? Certainly not all will be excluded, but it seems a great many.
Anonymous
Post 10/21/2024 07:43     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Anonymous wrote:I’m confused- they’d rather have kids who get A grades despite taking easy classes? My child is taking high school math and language courses, but might end up with something like a 3.8. Are you telling me they’d rather kids who didn’t challenge themselves?


Ya, since the admission test went away, this is a huge, huge flaw in this system. they will reward easy A schools, and course selection.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2024 23:04     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Anonymous wrote:I’m confused- they’d rather have kids who get A grades despite taking easy classes? My child is taking high school math and language courses, but might end up with something like a 3.8. Are you telling me they’d rather kids who didn’t challenge themselves?


Yes. Though a 3.8 might be enough. Walls isn’t a private college. There’s no admissions department. They’re trying to find a low-effort way to sort through a high volume of applications for a small number of seats, and GPA is simple and fast.
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2024 22:25     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
I’m confused- they’d rather have kids who get A grades despite taking easy classes? My child is taking high school math and language courses, but might end up with something like a 3.8. Are you telling me they’d rather kids who didn’t challenge themselves?
Anonymous
Post 10/20/2024 19:35     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
NP.

Anyone from a school that grades through 7th with P+, P, F system apply to Walls for 9th? No idea how to approach this.
Anonymous
Post 10/19/2024 15:50     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
I have a 9th grader at Walls and can confirm there are some kids from private middles there. I can’t really comment pre/post interview and essay, but it does seem like the kids who got in (who my kid knew prior) are good at ELA/writing.
Anonymous
Post 10/18/2024 13:25     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
DC also applied from a private middle. The cutoff for SWW was 3.87 that year (2023) so they missed the cut. Fortunately, DC is at their first choice, Banneker, and happy.
Anonymous
Post 10/18/2024 11:22     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Look back at the Walls discussion from last year. If the GPA is 3.8 or above, it's probably worth applying, not much effort, but it is going to be very competitive, and in a way that isn't clear (some rumors that they do prefer kids from DCPS schools, I'm not sure how true that is).
Anonymous
Post 10/17/2024 22:29     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
OP, your kid likely won't get in. We tried last year but the private school GPA was under the level needed for Walls. You basically need straight As which is hard at privates that don't give straight As.
Anonymous
Post 10/17/2024 18:25     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Anonymous wrote:My kid went to a DCPS elementary then a private middle school. They are interested in applying to Walls for high school for the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular that they really love. Their middle school was quite academically intense, and I think their 6th and 7th grade grades would translate into a 3.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale. My understanding is that the Walls admission process can fluctuate a great deal from year to year, but is it likely that they would make the shortlist for the second round of interview/essay with a 3.8 GPA? They would likely have quite good teacher recommendations, but they are probably in the "good" (not "best ever") tier of students their middle school teachers have encountered.

Would love any thoughts - thank you!


Your kid probably won’t get in but it is worth a shot.
Anonymous
Post 10/17/2024 17:32     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
Our kid went a similar route dc elementary, private middle, Walls. Walls only look at 7th grade grades so that' the year that matters. If it helps. They do not include 6th. The grade point average definitely varies year to year, so would search this forum for the last few - just depends on where the line is this year (I've heard its at ~500 applicants rather than a specific grade). We applied before the essay was brought back and would say, as I think others will as well - once you get to the interview phase it still feels very much at that point a lottery. Not sure if the most recent class felt that way when they brought back the essay or not.

Good luck!
Anonymous
Post 10/17/2024 15:25     Subject: Applying to Walls from private middle school
My kid went to a DCPS elementary then a private middle school. They are interested in applying to Walls for high school for the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular that they really love. Their middle school was quite academically intense, and I think their 6th and 7th grade grades would translate into a 3.8 GPA on a 4.0 scale. My understanding is that the Walls admission process can fluctuate a great deal from year to year, but is it likely that they would make the shortlist for the second round of interview/essay with a 3.8 GPA? They would likely have quite good teacher recommendations, but they are probably in the "good" (not "best ever") tier of students their middle school teachers have encountered.

Would love any thoughts - thank you!