Anonymous wrote:I am a Sidwell parent, so I have no first hand knowledge about college admissions from NCS, but I assume its similar to Sidwell. My son got a wonderful education at Sidwell ( as I am sure the girls do at NCS), and whats more I watched him challenge himself academically and through community activities and studying abroad to be come an independent, critically thinking young adult. So I think the money was worth it, regardless of college.

That being said he has a B+ average (which I realize is better than a B of PP's DD average) and all this talk about getting into college being easier from a public made us nervous. Well, it turned out just fine. His Sidwell college counselor was very helpful. So far he has gotten into every college he applied to, one with significant merit aid. We are waiting to hear form the Ivys tomorrow. But he has so many top SLACs and others to choose from, we are very happy. He had wonderful EC's and recommendations because he excelled in one academic discipline and really threw himself into those classes. The bottom line is that you don't have to be a straight A student, or even close, to get into top 20 colleges and universities if you come from a highly ranked private.

But it helps if your kids is motivated to learn and really involved in something meaningful both inside and outside of school.The bottom line is that I am suggesting that the PP whose daughter's college choices didn't meet her expectations may not have been because of grades. It may have been because her daughter didn't exhibit a true interest in learning or something completely different. Perhaps her recommendations were just so so. It could be a lot of things but blaming the school seems unfair to me. And leaving a school for another school to increase your chance of college admissions is silly.

Anonymous wrote:I am a Sidwell parent, so I have no first hand knowledge about college admissions from NCS, but I assume its similar to Sidwell. My son got a wonderful education at Sidwell ( as I am sure the girls do at NCS), and whats more I watched him challenge himself academically and through community activities and studying abroad to be come an independent, critically thinking young adult. So I think the money was worth it, regardless of college.

That being said he has a B+ average (which I realize is better than a B of PP's DD average) and all this talk about getting into college being easier from a public made us nervous. Well, it turned out just fine. His Sidwell college counselor was very helpful. So far he has gotten into every college he applied to, one with significant merit aid. We are waiting to hear form the Ivys tomorrow. But he has so many top SLACs and others to choose from, we are very happy. He had wonderful EC's and recommendations because he excelled in one academic discipline and really threw himself into those classes. The bottom line is that you don't have to be a straight A student, or even close, to get into top 20 colleges and universities if you come from a highly ranked private.

But it helps if your kids is motivated to learn and really involved in something meaningful both inside and outside of school.The bottom line is that I am suggesting that the PP whose daughter's college choices didn't meet her expectations may not have been because of grades. It may have been because her daughter didn't exhibit a true interest in learning or something completely different. Perhaps her recommendations were just so so. It could be a lot of things but blaming the school seems unfair to me. And leaving a school for another school to increase your chance of college admissions is silly.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the prior poster think that her B daughter who didn't get into a "choice" school would have been better off at a different place than NCS? An A student from a lesser school with the same boards and extracurriculars may not have been admitted at said choice schools either.

Because a "B" student at NCS, STA or Sidwell is an "A" student just about anywhere else and isn't competing against as many classmates (colleges only take a few from one school, even a top prep) with hooks such as legacy status, or so the common wisdom goes...

Anonymous wrote:Why does the prior poster think that her B daughter who didn't get into a "choice" school would have been better off at a different place than NCS? An A student from a lesser school with the same boards and extracurriculars may not have been admitted at said choice schools either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does the prior poster think that her B daughter who didn't get into a "choice" school would have been better off at a different place than NCS? An A student from a lesser school with the same boards and extracurriculars may not have been admitted at said choice schools either.

I think she just wished they hadn't spent all that money. I presume her daughter did get a substantively good education, though, but as a prior poster said, it's not irrational that people may second guess the great expense if they are very focused on college outcome. Hopefully the daughter did great in college wherever she ended up.

Anonymous wrote:NCS college counseling is not great unless you are top of the class. Or in many cases, the bottom. That in itself isn't atypical, but what is out of the ordinary is their disinterest in the "B+ students".Board members hire consultants to navigate the process. That's interesting.

Anonymous wrote:Why does the prior poster think that her B daughter who didn't get into a "choice" school would have been better off at a different place than NCS? An A student from a lesser school with the same boards and extracurriculars may not have been admitted at said choice schools either.

Anonymous wrote:Why does the prior poster think that her B daughter who didn't get into a "choice" school would have been better off at a different place than NCS? An A student from a lesser school with the same boards and extracurriculars may not have been admitted at said choice schools either.