I think at one point (quite some time ago now), SAES was less selective and because of that history, smaller campus/facility, and sports that compete in a a lower sports conference, people assume that means it’s easier admit. While it’s true that they do have a range of students at SAES, it’s a small school and the demand for 35-ish spots coming into 9th grade is high.

For Bullis, I think that their history of recruiting athletes with lower academic stats has given folks the idea that it’s an easier admit. When they publish their college matriculations, there are those here who immediately jump on the “look at all of those hooked athletes” train to discredit the overall list. It’s far more diverse racially than many of the schools in our area (something we see as a pro) and I do think that some people do not like that although they outwardly champion diversity. If you are an insanely awesome athlete, Bullis will work with you to make sure you are able to navigate the academics, but the curriculum is no joke and you still have to be able to do the work. There’s a lot of demand for a coed, non religious school so the application pool is always large.

People who promote the concept of a Big 3 love to look down on these schools because even though they will never admit it, they value a perceived prestige above all else. These are the same posters who spend a lot of energy dismissing the quality of any non-Ivy. It’s silly. The bottom line is that both SAES and Bullis are solid schools with a lot to offer students and quite a few families recognize that (hence competitive admissions).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Acceptance rate for both schools is low. Absolutely apply to both.

That is absolutely not true. They are both much easier to get into than many of the other schools. An A-/B student should have no problem getting in unless they have behavioral problems.

My A/B student was waitlisted from both schools, no behavioral problems. Why do people keep saying these are easy schools to get into? Is it because their child got in but got rejected from a "big 3"?

Anonymous wrote:Acceptance rate for both schools is low. Absolutely apply to both.

That is absolutely not true. They are both much easier to get into than many of the other schools. An A-/B student should have no problem getting in unless they have behavioral problems.

Anonymous wrote:I’m seriously do not understand the people who continue to say that St. Andrews’ admissions rate is high. It’s not. They are picky. And if your kid doesn’t mean the right gender/race combination that they are looking for to “even out” the current class, then it doesn’t matter if they have all A’s and amazing test scores and great skills. (Ask me how I know.) I’ve watched too many kids get into every school they applied to but St. Andrew’s simply because they weren’t the right gender/color combination that they will looking for to fill out the current class. Kids should get into a school based on merit, not because they weren’t born the colors or genders that they were looking to fill out the class with. That’s discrimination. But it can’t be proven, because welp, admissions reasons are private. And that sucks.

You definitely have sour grapes.

Maybe your kid got rejected when Trump's son Baron matriculated there.

Stop blaming others when your kid falls short.

Anonymous wrote:What do St. Andrew's college matriculations really look like? They only show the colleges to which students were accepted from 2019 -2023, and not the number to each college.

Every year kids post their college decisions to informal class insta pages. So far for 2025 -

SAES: https://www.instagram.com/saesdecisions2025/
BULLIS: https://www.instagram.com/bullis.seniors25/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do St. Andrew's college matriculations really look like? They only show the colleges to which students were accepted from 2019 -2023, and not the number to each college.

I think something like 1/3 of seniors applied ED from SAES this December and almost everyone was admitted. Two at Columbia, a couple at Cornell, one at MIT, Brown, Univ of Penn, Duke, Emory, Colgate, Colby, Bates, W&L, Dickinson, Tulane, Syracuse, Bucknell, GW, Wake Forest.

My kid was class of 2024. Big variety In addition to the list above, Classmates at Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Cornell, UVA, Wash U, Emory, Tufts Yale, GW, Indiana, Clemson, Michigan, Perdue, Penn State, Elon, Dickinson, SCAD, etc

100%

Anonymous wrote:Of the schools regularly being mentioned on this site, none are easy to get into anymore.

The short answer to OP is that unless you have a superstar student at an EC or are African American, both schools can be hard to get into. Others have mentioned that the admissions offices at all private schools want to balance the grade—gender balance, racial diversity, sports and musicians, etc. you do not know who else is applying, so you don’t know how “competitive” a given applicant is.

Anonymous wrote:What do St. Andrew's college matriculations really look like? They only show the colleges to which students were accepted from 2019 -2023, and not the number to each college.

I think something like 1/3 of seniors applied ED from SAES this December and almost everyone was admitted. Two at Columbia, a couple at Cornell, one at MIT, Brown, Univ of Penn, Duke, Emory, Colgate, Colby, Bates, W&L, Dickinson, Tulane, Syracuse, Bucknell, GW, Wake Forest.

Of the schools regularly being mentioned on this site, none are easy to get into anymore.

Anonymous wrote:I’m seriously do not understand the people who continue to say that St. Andrews’ admissions rate is high. It’s not. They are picky. And if your kid doesn’t mean the right gender/race combination that they are looking for to “even out” the current class, then it doesn’t matter if they have all A’s and amazing test scores and great skills. (Ask me how I know.) I’ve watched too many kids get into every school they applied to but St. Andrew’s simply because they weren’t the right gender/color combination that they will looking for to fill out the current class. Kids should get into a school based on merit, not because they weren’t born the colors or genders that they were looking to fill out the class with. That’s discrimination. But it can’t be proven, because welp, admissions reasons are private. And that sucks.

If you don't like how they choose the students, why do you want to send your kid there? Peers are half of the educational experience.

Anonymous wrote:When do SAES decisions come out?

The website says Feb 28

Anonymous wrote:When do SAES decisions come out?

The same day all the non-Catholic private schools come out, in March. Maybe the first Friday? In 2023 it was March 3.

What do St. Andrew's college matriculations really look like? They only show the colleges to which students were accepted from 2019 -2023, and not the number to each college.

OP, it depends on which grade you're applying to. Ninth grade will be the most competitive for each, and SAES' middle school is also very full. Lower School is easiest for SAES because they constructed a new building to allow for some growth.