Anonymous wrote:Maret—cold and not engaged, kind of judgy, obviously looking for just one type of kid, kind of rude and sarcastic at one point

GDS-great open house, awful interview process

Burke—no one answers emails or calls, ever. No one updates the portal.

Bullis—strange that they don’t let people tour before applying

DeMatha—should probably tell student tour guides to be more professional

Prep—good experience, awfully obvious that some kids getting in because of siblings or athletic ability

Anonymous wrote:Maret—cold and not engaged, kind of judgy, obviously looking for just one type of kid, kind of rude and sarcastic at one point

GDS-great open house, awful interview process

Burke—no one answers emails or calls, ever. No one updates the portal.

Bullis—strange that they don’t let people tour before applying

DeMatha—should probably tell student tour guides to be more professional

Prep—good experience, awfully obvious that some kids getting in because of siblings or athletic ability

Anonymous wrote:Beauvoir was so unbelievably unpleasant. The head of admissions could not have been any less welcoming or warm. We are applying from out of town and it was the only school we immediately crossed off of our list.

Anonymous wrote:Beauvoir was so unbelievably unpleasant. The head of admissions could not have been any less welcoming or warm. We are applying from out of town and it was the only school we immediately crossed off of our list.

Anonymous wrote:One of my DC's classmate's family had an unprofessional experience with admissions at Flint Hill. The admissions department acted as if they were just a number. They were so disorganized that the admissions person forgot about their scheduled interview. Their child attends a highly regarded private school and is an athlete and an excellent student. The child was accepted to every school they applied to: FH, Potomac, and GDS. They had originally thought their DC would attend FH, but after such an unimpressive showing by the admissions department at FH, their child is going to attend GDS.

Anonymous wrote:As a GDS parent, I am so frustrated by the feedback I hear year after year about the admissions department. They are not organized and in some cases not even friendly to prospective families. I hear this all the time from friends applying across the different grades. In particular, the head of admisssions for the HS has been there forever and seems burned out.

There is an arrogance to it that makes me furious. It seems GDS's attitude is like - take us or leave us - we have a million applicants.

My kids love GDS and are getting a great education but I do not want ANY potential family with a great kid turned pff by the process!!

We should be marketing to every family and cultivating every potential applicant. Russell please listen to this feedback and make some changes!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We met with the head of admissions at GDS for our son’s interview. We found her straight forward, curious about our son, and warm. I think information she wanted about us as parents she gleaned by observation with our interactions with our son. We shared what we saw as his strengths, but also where we thought he could benefit from a GDS education - that he was not getting in his public school. Honestly wasn’t sure if the interview was a ‘success’ or not. When we emailed the admissions office she promptly responded to the emails herself. My kid chose not to interview at other schools- so can’t compare to other admission offices - but the school felt right to him based on this experience and what he picked up from remote information. Think she is trying to figure out which kids will be the best fit for GDS, with her longevity quality of the students they are bringing in, expect she is doing something right.

Did he get in? What grade?

Yes, got in. Ninth grade, but don’t think it was obvious to anyone that would be the outcome. I think a good interviewer is paying attention to a lot of verbal and nonverbal information and sometimes taking notes. So, my impression is the focus is on ascertaining is this kid going to be a good fit, with the focus by the interviewer be on taking notes that to allow recall re: the details about this kid. That was my expectation, as opposed to an effort to present the school to the kid / parents who are being interviewed. There were many other venues for that during the application ‘season’. .