Anonymous wrote:Interesting that McDonogh is so much more competitive. It's not one that we're interested in and I would not have assumed it was anywhere near as desirable as Bryn Mawr or Gilman. My perspective is probably just skewed by living much closer to those schools.

McDonogh has a big regional draw, tapping heavily from Howard County, where private options are limited. It's coed and more traditional than Park or Friends with their reputation for progressive educations and politics. And, frankly, options are limited if you're looking for a coed high school that is also more traditional than not. The only option is actually McDonogh.

I do agree it doesn't mean the education is "better" because it isn't.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that McDonogh is so much more competitive. It's not one that we're interested in and I would not have assumed it was anywhere near as desirable as Bryn Mawr or Gilman. My perspective is probably just skewed by living much closer to those schools.

I don’t think that it is, in the sense that they don’t have higher academic standards. Mcdonogh does however, recruit much more aggressively for athletes than other Baltimore independents (the Catholic schools do as well, but much bigger classes) so there is going to be less room for normal “academic” candidates at both the middle school and upper school level.

Interesting that McDonogh is so much more competitive. It's not one that we're interested in and I would not have assumed it was anywhere near as desirable as Bryn Mawr or Gilman. My perspective is probably just skewed by living much closer to those schools.

Again, even if you PRETEND or think you think you know, you still don't know.

None of this stuff is public. They don't publish how many apply, or how many get accepted, or how many accept that invitation.

Anonymous wrote:How much lower are admissions rates for 9th?

Using the McDonogh schoolwide 30% rate, I would infer that to mean 20% for 9th, 30% for 6th and 40% for kindergarten/1st.

If that is the lowest of the privates, then you can make some assumptions about the others. 9th will be the most competitive at all the schools. But also keep in mind admissions is not equal for all applicants. For example, a girl with a good academic history and ISEE score and ability to pay full tuition can likely walk into RPCS and GF, probably get into Saint Paul's for Girls, but at Bryn Mawr may have sub 50% chance and only 20% at McDonogh. For the equivalent boy, walks into BL and SP, 30% chance at Gilman, 20% at McDonogh. If academic history is weaker / needing a lot of aid, then it gets correspondingly harder.

Not clear what admissions rates are like at Friends or Park or Loyola or NDP.

How much lower are admissions rates for 9th?

Anonymous wrote:We were told by admissions at McDonogh that they target a school wide admissions rate of 30%. The same year St. Paul's shared they had 80 some applications for 10 spots in Kindergarten.

Out of the Baltimore privates, 30% is approximately the lowest school wide admissions rate.

RPCS and BL will be easier to get into than Bryn Mawr and Gilman. BL has gotten stronger in past decade and even has tiny boarding program. RPCS is having financial difficulties (cut a number of sports and languages this year) and has declining enrollment and lots of leadership turnover. Not to say it isn’t a good school, but it is struggling to find its way in changing landscape.

Also interested in this. We're looking at Park, Friends, Bryn Mawr, and RPCS for 9th grade. I think Park is probably the best fit for my kid, not sure where they fall on the spectrum. I'm operating on the assumption that a kid with decently good grades will get into at least one of those.

Some schools are quite competitive (Gilman, Bryn Mawr) but please know that because there are so many great schools around here, your kid can get an excellent education at schools with a high acceptance rate (Friends, Boys Latin). Apply broadly and your kid will be fine!

The
Process is totally opaque, and I'm sure it varies dramatically class to class, and by entry year, and im speculating, if you are Looking for financial aid. Too many variables to give a standard answer. It's not like college admissions.

You just have to give it a shot and see how it goes.

Anonymous wrote:Whatever it once was, it’s going down. Sizable drop off in births after 2008.
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Sorry meant to say going up.

Whatever it once was, it’s going down. Sizable drop off in births after 2008.
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We were told by admissions at McDonogh that they target a school wide admissions rate of 30%. The same year St. Paul's shared they had 80 some applications for 10 spots in Kindergarten.

Anyone have ideas of what the acceptance rates are for the private schools? I imagine it varies and also by year, with 9th being the most difficult. Just want a sense of how competitive it can be at certain schools.