The schools with old DC gravitas for different reasons are
Sidwell
St Albans
Gonzaga
Holton
Landon
Georgetown Prep
Georgetown Visitation
Dematha (my opinion).

My daughter picked Holton over NCS in 6th and is currently in upper school and has had no regrets. It was just a much better fit for her. She loved her shadow days there and did not like the girl that shadowed with her at NCS. I wasn't about to argue because I had not desire to drive into DC everyday.

There are many girls that commute to Holton from Virginia. Most are from McLean or not that much further. My daughter has a friend from Leesburg. That is insane. You have to take into consideration not only the day to day commute but the sports, night meetings, morning events, half days, etc... You will travel A LOT.

If your child likes Potomac, stay there. It is a great school. She will have more friends that live close by and you will save weeks of your life not in a car on the bridge.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. I guess when people refer to big 3- they mean, cathedral schools, Sidwell, GDS. But I think there are plenty of good school.

GDS is considered big 3? Really???

Yes my child picked Potomac over a Cathedral school for 9th grade entry. They felt it was a better fit.

GDS is not big 3. Neither is Potomac, and one of my kids who goes there.

Sidwell, NCS and STA. Those are the Big 3. Period.

You can get an excellent education at all of these schools and indeed, GDS and Potomac are absolutely phenomenal schools. But, the Big 3 connotes something else, something neither GDS nor Potomac have: gravitas, connections, history, old-school Washington.

Anonymous wrote:We live in Virginia and am wondering if anyone chose a "big 3" for Potomac school over a DC school for commuting reasons? How were academics? Just as strong! Tia

Big 3:

Cathedral Schools
Sidwell
Potomac

And yes, lots of families choose Potomac over the other big three schools

We chose Potomac over Beauvoir and Sidwell (accepted to all). Never looked back!

I know a family, not me, that picked Potomac over Sidwell. Definitely was based on what they thought the kid needed. They are really happy.

For one child we chose Potomac over a Cathedral school. Fior another child we chose a different (gender) Cathedral school over Potomac. IN each case it was strictly about the kid and what the kid needed and wanted and had nothing to do with commute or anything else. This was for middle school.

I would look at college matriculations and factor that in as well. For high schools, the number of VA students at the DC schools is sizable.

PP/OP, Potomac and GDS were our top two choices because they had an extracurricular we were interested in. Cathedral schools weren't a good fit for us. Happy to chat about Potomac (if for high school) offline.

Thank you. I guess when people refer to big 3- they mean, cathedral schools, Sidwell, GDS. But I think there are plenty of good school.

Well it depends what a Big 3 is. We chose Potomac over GDS. Did not apply to others like Cathederal Schools, Maret, etc. But yes to answer your question. Commute was a big factor. Academics at Potomac for High School are strong thus far.

Go to Potomac if you have a choice and live in VA.

We live in Virginia and am wondering if anyone chose a "big 3" for Potomac school over a DC school for commuting reasons? How were academics? Just as strong! Tia