Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just me -- applying my DS to a few schools, neither of them being Sidwell nor Gonzaga.

But can someone please explain why on Earth it matters which school has a more competitive admissions process?

And by the way, good luck to all applying to either, or both. They're obviously both very fine schools.

Somebody stated that everybody wants to go to Sidwell as their first choice and then everybody ends up going somewhere else because they don't get accepted or can't afford it.

The idea is crazy - but somebody said they preferred Gonzaga and then the conversation turned into statistics.

So many schools but this site is obsessed with Sidwell.


- signed never considered Sidwell

I don't believe that's what the OP said. I think the point is that if you polled parents, and all else was equal (i.e. money was no barrier to entry and admission was guaranteed for their one student), Sidwell would end up as the #1 choice. It wouldn't be unanimous, it probably wouldn't even be a majority. But a plurality would choose Sidwell. I think the co-ed/religious factor would prevent places like NCS and STA from being particularly close competitors, even when considering the preferences of each gender's parents in isolation.

And many of us think it would not be # 1. Not because we dislike Sidwell but because we prefer something else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just me -- applying my DS to a few schools, neither of them being Sidwell nor Gonzaga.

But can someone please explain why on Earth it matters which school has a more competitive admissions process?

And by the way, good luck to all applying to either, or both. They're obviously both very fine schools.

Somebody stated that everybody wants to go to Sidwell as their first choice and then everybody ends up going somewhere else because they don't get accepted or can't afford it.

The idea is crazy - but somebody said they preferred Gonzaga and then the conversation turned into statistics.

So many schools but this site is obsessed with Sidwell.


- signed never considered Sidwell

I don't believe that's what the OP said. I think the point is that if you polled parents, and all else was equal (i.e. money was no barrier to entry and admission was guaranteed for their one student), Sidwell would end up as the #1 choice. It wouldn't be unanimous, it probably wouldn't even be a majority. But a plurality would choose Sidwell. I think the co-ed/religious factor would prevent places like NCS and STA from being particularly close competitors, even when considering the preferences of each gender's parents in isolation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just me -- applying my DS to a few schools, neither of them being Sidwell nor Gonzaga.

But can someone please explain why on Earth it matters which school has a more competitive admissions process?

And by the way, good luck to all applying to either, or both. They're obviously both very fine schools.

Somebody stated that everybody wants to go to Sidwell as their first choice and then everybody ends up going somewhere else because they don't get accepted or can't afford it.

The idea is crazy - but somebody said they preferred Gonzaga and then the conversation turned into statistics.

So many schools but this site is obsessed with Sidwell.


- signed never considered Sidwell

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

I would recommend that you look up what a revealed preference ranking is.

I'm not saying it's your first choice, but, all else equal, Sidwell is the top choice locally.

NP here, and an economist. The Gonzaga numbers somebody provided above above give a pretty clear indication about a preference for Gonzaga, unless you can provide Sidwell figures that exceed the Gonzaga numbers. If you're trying to make some sort of point about revealed preference as measured by total money spent by parents (Sidwell is way more expensive than Gonzaga), then you need to remember that utility is maximized subject to a budget constraint, and Sidwell is not in most families' budgets.

I've seen some admissions numbers.

In general, the DC independent co-ed schools outstrip the all-boys' schools in application numbers. Schools such as St. Albans/NCS are pretty candid that their yield (percentage of those accepted who come to the school) is higher for lower school applicants than for upper school -- the reason is that the typical parent allows a 9th grade applicant more input into the process than a 4th grade applicant, and by 9th grade a fair amount of kids do not want the single-sex option. This may be different for the Catholic schools, as there are no co-ed options in DC proper, and perhaps the parents seeking a Catholic education retain more control over the process?

Gonzaga's numbers as reported here (4 applicants for every one slot) are quite good, but the most recent numbers I've seen -- and it was a couple of years ago, so I suppose it could have changed (although it's hard for me to imagine fewer applications with the presidents' kids attending) -- had about 14 students applying for every one slot at Sidwell (this included all age levels, so pre-K, K, all the way up to applications for 9th grade). Sidwell had significantly more applications than any of the other local schools.

(I can't give a link because it was something I saw, and I'm cool with people not believing my post, given anonymity and lack of documentation. For what it's worth, however, that's what the data I saw reflected.)

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just me -- applying my DS to a few schools, neither of them being Sidwell nor Gonzaga.

But can someone please explain why on Earth it matters which school has a more competitive admissions process?

And by the way, good luck to all applying to either, or both. They're obviously both very fine schools.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's just me -- applying my DS to a few schools, neither of them being Sidwell nor Gonzaga.

But can someone please explain why on Earth it matters which school has a more competitive admissions process?

And by the way, good luck to all applying to either, or both. They're obviously both very fine schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

I would recommend that you look up what a revealed preference ranking is.

I'm not saying it's your first choice, but, all else equal, Sidwell is the top choice locally.

NP here, and an economist. The Gonzaga numbers somebody provided above above give a pretty clear indication about a preference for Gonzaga, unless you can provide Sidwell figures that exceed the Gonzaga numbers. If you're trying to make some sort of point about revealed preference as measured by total money spent by parents (Sidwell is way more expensive than Gonzaga), then you need to remember that utility is maximized subject to a budget constraint, and Sidwell is not in most families' budgets.

I've seen some admissions numbers.

In general, the DC independent co-ed schools outstrip the all-boys' schools in application numbers. Schools such as St. Albans/NCS are pretty candid that their yield (percentage of those accepted who come to the school) is higher for lower school applicants than for upper school -- the reason is that the typical parent allows a 9th grade applicant more input into the process than a 4th grade applicant, and by 9th grade a fair amount of kids do not want the single-sex option. This may be different for the Catholic schools, as there are no co-ed options in DC proper, and perhaps the parents seeking a Catholic education retain more control over the process?

Gonzaga's numbers as reported here (4 applicants for every one slot) are quite good, but the most recent numbers I've seen -- and it was a couple of years ago, so I suppose it could have changed (although it's hard for me to imagine fewer applications with the presidents' kids attending) -- had about 14 students applying for every one slot at Sidwell (this included all age levels, so pre-K, K, all the way up to applications for 9th grade). Sidwell had significantly more applications than any of the other local schools.

(I can't give a link because it was something I saw, and I'm cool with people not believing my post, given anonymity and lack of documentation. For what it's worth, however, that's what the data I saw reflected.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

I would recommend that you look up what a revealed preference ranking is.

I'm not saying it's your first choice, but, all else equal, Sidwell is the top choice locally.

NP here, and an economist. The Gonzaga numbers somebody provided above above give a pretty clear indication about a preference for Gonzaga, unless you can provide Sidwell figures that exceed the Gonzaga numbers. If you're trying to make some sort of point about revealed preference as measured by total money spent by parents (Sidwell is way more expensive than Gonzaga), then you need to remember that utility is maximized subject to a budget constraint, and Sidwell is not in most families' budgets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

Anonymous wrote:There is a reason why Gonzaga is the most popular school in the DC area. Its a good academic school but its also the largest school. Its over 1,000 boys - roughly 250 boys per grade. Because of its sheer size, it has the luxury of having some brilliant academic kids but also has the ability to admit every year some borderline student athletes who most likely could not get into the IAC schools or MAC schools.

Gonzaga is a great school but its college placement list is nothing to brag about base on the number of kids graduating in a given class. (i.e. sending 10 kids to an Ivy league school when you have a class of 250 students compared to a school like STA who can send 12 out of the 80 boys to an Ivy league school is much more impressive)

Anonymous wrote:Most private school parents don't give a hoot about Ivy schools and National Merit Scholars.

People on this board overly represent the Type A parent that need this type of notch in their belt to feel good about their kids (and the money they spend).

Not so much for most of us who are just looking for a place for our kids to enjoy learning and go on to do what they want in life.

Jesuit education is more about being a good citizen that the almighty dollar.