Anonymous wrote:If that were the case then why are the entry years heavily weighted to candidates with $$$, legacy, status, sibship and donors ... and "outsiders" are competing for very few remaining slots?

Anonymous wrote:The endowments of D.C. area private schools explains why their focus on pupils entering in the early years are on big donors, money, legacy and non financial aid candidates. When the bills are paid the focus can shift to academic talent. This explains why it is more difficult to enter at the high school level in these schools because you had better be top notch (grades, accomplishments etc). Its a matter of dollars and cents.

Therefore, for entry places in Sidwell, Maret, STA, GDS, Beauvoir and the like legacy, sibling, big donor, and money will always trump brains in need of financial assistance until the bills are paid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone whose oldest child goes to public school and who lives in Texas I think it's obvious why there is an "obsession" with Sidwell Friends amongst DC parents: It is because it is the school formerly attended by Chelsea Clinton while her father was President of the United States and currently attended by the Obama sisters while their father is the sitting President of the United States. In a country of 350 mm people, the fact that two of the last three Presidents chose to send their daughters there is extraordinary. And it is obviously an excellent school too. Chelsea wound up at Stanford and then became a Rhodes Scholar. I didn't see Bill and Hill scrambling around trying to send her to Exeter for high school. Obviously, Sidwell Friends is a great school. If I lived in the DC area, I'd try to get my child in. All you stand to lose is time and the application fee. The other TT schools in the DC area have regional fame. Sidwell Friends has national fame. So I think that makes it more attractive.

Anyway, that's a view from an outsider with no hand in the game. I read this Board to get information and tips on private school applicatIons and testing in a general sense. Except for the show-offs who mistakenly think success in life is deeply connected to where you go to school, (it's not), I really like the Board and appreciate everyone's insight.

Chelsea went to Oxford after Stanford but was NOT a Rhodes Scholar. Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar.

Anonymous wrote:

Whatever. They could have sent her to boarding school for high school if they thought Sidwell Friends wasn't good enough. They had plenty of choices. And back to my point, Sidwell Friends is famous outside of DC, outside of the northeast corridor. And its because of the Presidents. I realize that living inside the beltway bubble makes it really super hard to process that beyond that neighborhood most people do not know of or care about these other TT schools. They just don't. Sorry. If it weren't for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, you could add Sidwell Friends to that too. But because two recent Presidents sent their daughters there, it's nationally famous and it's prestigious too. It's obviously not a bad school either. If I lived in DC, all the TT schools would be on my list, but I wouldn't pretend that fame and prestige don't matter. Of course they do. Otherwise, why would people from all over want to send their children to Choate or Exeter? It's because of the name. Name recognition in education matters, and it matters a lot.

Tex, I hope you recognise when Obama rolled into town her daughters were the same ages as my sons (elementary school age). Not quite ready for boarding school away from their parents. Not quite mature as Texans for 8 and 11 years of age. Therefore, they needed a day school. Entry for Choate is the 9th grade.

Whatever. They could have sent her to boarding school for high school if they thought Sidwell Friends wasn't good enough. They had plenty of choices. And back to my point, Sidwell Friends is famous outside of DC, outside of the northeast corridor. And its because of the Presidents. I realize that living inside the beltway bubble makes it really super hard to process that beyond that neighborhood most people do not know of or care about these other TT schools. They just don't. Sorry. If it weren't for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, you could add Sidwell Friends to that too. But because two recent Presidents sent their daughters there, it's nationally famous and it's prestigious too. It's obviously not a bad school either. If I lived in DC, all the TT schools would be on my list, but I wouldn't pretend that fame and prestige don't matter. Of course they do. Otherwise, why would people from all over want to send their children to Choate or Exeter? It's because of the name. Name recognition in education matters, and it matters a lot.

Anonymous wrote:As someone whose oldest child goes to public school and who lives in Texas I think it's obvious why there is an "obsession" with Sidwell Friends amongst DC parents: It is because it is the school formerly attended by Chelsea Clinton while her father was President of the United States and currently attended by the Obama sisters while their father is the sitting President of the United States. In a country of 350 mm people, the fact that two of the last three Presidents chose to send their daughters there is extraordinary. And it is obviously an excellent school too. Chelsea wound up at Stanford and then became a Rhodes Scholar. I didn't see Bill and Hill scrambling around trying to send her to Exeter for high school. Obviously, Sidwell Friends is a great school. If I lived in the DC area, I'd try to get my child in. All you stand to lose is time and the application fee. The other TT schools in the DC area have regional fame. Sidwell Friends has national fame. So I think that makes it more attractive.

Anyway, that's a view from an outsider with no hand in the game. I read this Board to get information and tips on private school applicatIons and testing in a general sense. Except for the show-offs who mistakenly think success in life is deeply connected to where you go to school, (it's not), I really like the Board and appreciate everyone's insight.

Anonymous wrote:

In a country of 350 mm people, the fact that two of the last three Presidents chose to send their daughters there is extraordinary. And it is obviously an excellent school too.

Where would Presidents send their 6,7,8,9,10 and 11 year-old daughters if they lived in the White House (in D.C. the last time I checked) .... local primary school.

In a country of 350 mm people, the fact that two of the last three Presidents chose to send their daughters there is extraordinary. And it is obviously an excellent school too.

Anonymous wrote:What is Episcopal's endowment per pupil?