So, is Niche right or wrong?

Were only 15 schools ranked?

There are a lot of great teachers, particularly in math and the sciences. The school is filled with a lot of smart kids. There is zero community or culture and the administration is a complete nightmare.

You can also turn to GreatSchools.Org with 54 reviews of BIM, perhaps a better data set:

2.5 stars (out of 5)
54 Reviews



2.6
Bullying (51)
2.9
Character (54)
2.6
Homework (53)
2.1
Leadership (51)
2.3
Learning Differences (53)
3.6
Teachers (53)

The teachers get the highest marks, because they are really the only sterling asset at the school. The rest shows up in the data. Mediocre at best.

With info and opinions laid out on a scatter-shot way, no way to control for confirmation bias

I am 9:30 poster. The thing about these boards is that once you read it, you can’t unread it. It stays in your mind’s background and subliminally colors what you think about said school. The more you check what the “board” says, the harder it becomes to think differently; and you never know if it’s a small number of people, or even a single person repeatedly posting things about schools that are untrue.

I would visit the school and see how I feel.

I went for a tour and couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Anonymous wrote:This board unfortunately is filled with misinformation. I relied on it while researching privates and have regretted that decision. I thought I would be able to get the “untold truth” behind the marketing. But actually what I found were many instances of outright lies regarding info that I was able to fact check. I actually ended up pulling my child out of her school, and much of it was due to my trusting inaccuracies posted on this board. OP, I would try to find info first hand.

PP, I agree there is a lot of misinformation, but no one should rely on anonymous sources 100% doe a decision as big as where to send a child to school.

I found DCUM helpful, but I read prodigiously and looked for trends and themes to check out with real people. Even admissions officers and parents at school open houses lie, by omission or because they truly believe what they’re saying. People come with biases.

DCUM was just one point of information. It helped me make the right decision for all three kids.

There are aspects of DD’s school I am not fond of, but DCUM was eloquent about them so I can’t say I wasn’t warned.

This board unfortunately is filled with misinformation. I relied on it while researching privates and have regretted that decision. I thought I would be able to get the “untold truth” behind the marketing. But actually what I found were many instances of outright lies regarding info that I was able to fact check. I actually ended up pulling my child out of her school, and much of it was due to my trusting inaccuracies posted on this board. OP, I would try to find info first hand.

The majority of the rankings for Niche is based on self-reporting by students and parents.

https://www.niche.com/about/methodology/best-private-high-schools/

The only two objective criteria they use are percentage of kids attending four year colleges and teacher-student ratio, neither of which are very helpful in ranking private schools, which have 100% attending four year colleges and low teacher-student ratios.

Self-reporting constitutes the majority of the Niche score.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Niche info on BASIS Independent McLean:
38% of students feel safe at school
38% of students like their school and feel happy there
75% say students are competitive
13% say students are creative and artsy
25% say students are athletic
Clubs got a C- rating

Niche isn’t reliable but these are very low ratings, even for a small sample size.

Niche is more reliable than this board

Faint praise.

Anonymous wrote:The Niche info on BASIS Independent McLean:
38% of students feel safe at school
38% of students like their school and feel happy there
75% say students are competitive
13% say students are creative and artsy
25% say students are athletic
Clubs got a C- rating

Niche isn’t reliable but these are very low ratings, even for a small sample size.

Niche is more reliable than this board

Clubs for a lot of the Basis schools I’ve looked up seem to have a C-. I’m not familiar with the school but my impression is that this company of schools is like a factory that gets good test scores but doesn’t have other attributes of a school

The Niche info on BASIS Independent McLean:
38% of students feel safe at school
38% of students like their school and feel happy there
75% say students are competitive
13% say students are creative and artsy
25% say students are athletic
Clubs got a C- rating

Niche isn’t reliable but these are very low ratings, even for a small sample size.

All I ever read about BIM on DCUM is extremely negative. I just looked at the Niche rankings of private high schools in the Washington DC area, and was surprised to see it ranked at 15! Do you think Niche is correct in this ranking? I am starting to doubt the other rankings.