DD went to Bullis for HS only. Not a sporty kid, an artsy kid. Fwiw, their arts programming (music, dance, theatre) are just as strong as their sports program. She's a little quirky, not a traditional popular girl, and she found friends - friends she's kept now that she's in college. The small class size, supportive faculty and staff, were fantastic. She got into her first choice, ED college.

Anonymous wrote:I think the academic rigor will likely be less at Bullis, even in the honors and AP classes, but their college lists are not much different to the other school we are looking at.

Can't speak to the rigor at Big 3, but having had a child at Bullis as well as kids at W public schools, we've been impressed by how demanding the honors/AP classes are. No easy As there.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for these posts. We have been accepted to 9th grade, and have been impressed. Honestly, we are deciding between Bullis and a Big 3. DD wants to go to Bullis, and I can see why, but DH and I are struggling with not taking the prestige offer. I have to get over my own pomposity. I think the academic rigor will likely be less at Bullis, even in the honors and AP classes, but their college lists are not much different to the other school we are looking at.

I attended a Cathedral school with someone whose sibling attended Bullis rather than the other Cathedral school (accepted to both, chose Bullis). Both sibs had great academic experiences and went on to top undergrad and med schools and have fantastic careers. Pick the one that’s best for your kid, not the one with the most cachet.

We’re a lower school family but we went to a couple of football games this year and there were a ton of students there, cheering. Bullis has a strong emphasis on being kind to each other and the kids do seem happy. They have a buddy program where upper school kids are buddies with lower school kids and my child loves seeing her buddy around campus. It’s a very warm community, in my opinion. It was much warmer and more welcoming than I expected, to be honest!

Thanks for these posts. We have been accepted to 9th grade, and have been impressed. Honestly, we are deciding between Bullis and a Big 3. DD wants to go to Bullis, and I can see why, but DH and I are struggling with not taking the prestige offer. I have to get over my own pomposity. I think the academic rigor will likely be less at Bullis, even in the honors and AP classes, but their college lists are not much different to the other school we are looking at.

Agree 100% with the above poster. DS has been at Bullis since middle school, now in US. He's not an athlete, but has friends who are. He loves to meet the new kids who arrive each year (especially in 9th), and has made some good friends among them. The size is just perfect for him socially, not huge like the publics, but not so small that he can't find "his people."

There is a lot of school spirit particularly around certain sports (football and basketball being the two big ones). Lots of students go to those games. I would say that there's a divide between the kids who are big time athletes and the rest of the students. It's not that they are more "popular" but there's the super sporty kids and then the kids who are really into performing arts and then a bunch of kids in the middle. I'm not sure that that's terribly different than most schools though. Some families have an incredible amount of money, others are on significant aid. Again, I'm not sure that's terribly unique to Bullis. It's big enough for kids to be able to find friends but not massive where you can be invisible like at our zoned large public. It felt far more diverse than a lot of schools we looked at, I think in part because of the recruited athletes.

As we approach our decision, I’d love to get a better sense of the culture at Bullis. Specifically, I’m curious about the overall atmosphere—would you say Bullis has a strong sense of team spirit? Do most kids go to the big games together? Is it a highly sporty environment or is there room for other kinds of kids. Are the sports kids "popular" like in most schools? How would you describe the social dynamics—are students generally welcoming, or do you find it to be more clicky?