Nice group of kids with good academics. They do reject, but don't worry too much. If your son really loves the school and it's his top choice and he will go if admitted, then have him write a nice email or letter to the school saying that. Usually counts for a lot.

Hmm I'd consider both schools for my boys but now I'm wondering if we would be considered too entitled. What's your definition of entitled? Sta has generous financial aid so wondering why you think it's a more entitled group.

Anonymous wrote:Did you all look at St. Albans? What are the differences?

Nope. $15,000 a year, a much more "entitled" and wealthy group of kids, and the wrong side of town.

Did you all look at St. Albans? What are the differences?

We also love it. I've been informally told that 90th percentile on the tests is a pretty fixed cut-off for admission, albeit with maybe slight flexibility for a sibling. Our son was a 98th/99th percentile kid and is far from being the smartest boy in his class. They really know and are invested in every boy. We would never have looked at Gonzaga or Georgetown Prep -- it's a completely different culture, much more academically focused and small.

Anonymous wrote:For those whose sons attend, do they like it? Can you describe a typical kid? Love that it's catholic and highly academic. Why did you chose this school over Gonzaga or Georgetown Prep?

My son likes it and we love it.

GP was too far away (we are in Virginia) and too expensive.

And while Gonzaga is excellent academically for high school we wanted to move our kid in middle school because we could see that he was not being challenged.

Turns out that we were right about moving him as his grades went up at SAAS -- despite the huge increase in academic rigor and volume of work -- and his attitude towards school has improved. He is fully engaged and intellectually challenged.

We like that SAAS is small and that the teachers and administrators know the kids as individuals.

Our son has become an active participant both in the classroom and in other school activities (sports, clubs, etc.). I could be wrong but I don't think that would happen at a school with 1200 boys.

Anonymous wrote:For those whose sons attend, do they like it? Can you describe a typical kid? Love that it's catholic and highly academic. Why did you chose this school over Gonzaga or Georgetown Prep?

We love the small school size relative to the big catholic schools and the prioritizing of academics over sports, even though sports are indeed offered. And the monks are truly special.

Yes OP they do reject some kids. Does you DS go to a Cahtolic elementary school? If so, that will help along w/ good grades/test scores

For those whose sons attend, do they like it? Can you describe a typical kid? Love that it's catholic and highly academic. Why did you chose this school over Gonzaga or Georgetown Prep?

I've known several kids who were not accepted.

If your son scores well (i.e. 90th percentile) on their OLSAT/SCAT test, and has good grades and recs then odds of admission are very good.

As others have said, because of its characteristics (very small, highly academic, Catholic, all-male, out of the way location, etc.) the school has a very self-selecting applicant pool.

OP here. Thanks for the info. I can definitely see that this is a self-selecting pool of bright kids, so hopefully things will work out for the best!

I know 3 kids who applied and all got in.
I think like previous poster said, they are looking for the right kid.
It's sort of a niche school in an inconvenient location (for most) so serious applicants self-select.

They start with trying to be very clear about what type of student is a good fit for the school -- hard-working, smart, wanting to learn more, usually somewhat quirky, needs a more stimulating environment. So ideally by the time the kids apply and take the test, many of them are already good fits for the school.

They don't take kids who aren't appropriate to the program. There's not a certain number of kids for each grade -- they take kids who are a good fit. There are always kids who are borderline because it's impossible to determine exactly what a kid will do in terms of rising slightly to the occasion or being a tremendous fit for the school and then slacking off and doing poorly. It usually works out, though.

It seems like such a small applicant pool for the middle school. Do they really reject a lot of kids? My DS has his heart set on this school and did well on their tests, but I'm just nervous. If the curriculum is too demanding for him, then I absolutely don't want him to get in. But do they have a large enough pool to turn away borderline students?