Anonymous
05/21/2026 09:50
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Best admissions strategy is to just start at private in elementary, with a K-12 or K-6/8.
And if you can't do that, consider hiring a top private school consultant. It's not cheap but it's cheaper than 6 years of private elementary school tuition.
They don’t get their clients priority though. Just a lot of bespoke hand holding and reassurance. Oh and slick repackaging of readily available information from school websites
Depends who you use.They can't promise you anything of course, but there are some who can pick up the phone on your behalf and the school will listen. It's usually the ones who have actually worked in admissions at the schools you're trying to send the kid. I'm not saying they can get a kid in who otherwise wouldn't have a shot, but their advocacy helps.
Anonymous
05/21/2026 08:59
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
this shouldn't be in the dcps forum
Anonymous
05/21/2026 08:57
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:People in boundary for those schools have more money than others.
Those are two of the best elementary schools in the city, and so yes privates are more likely to prefer kids from those schools because they'll have a better baseline than a kid from another ES in a poorer part of the city.
Some of the parents at those schools are still super stressed about getting into the "right" private because they are competitive, so they pull their kids out early (usually 4th grade) to get ahead of the ms & hs scramble.
All of it basically comes down to the fact that those schools zipcodes are filled with people who have both money and ambition.
Very few people apply to those schools, and the schools need students to pay the bills. I think the main qualification for getting in is whether your check will clear.
Sidwell’s acceptance rate is 7-15 percent. GDS is higher but hovers around 25.
When you charge $60,000 to go to sixth grade, you're not exactly drawing from a pool of the best and the brightest...
Anonymous
05/21/2026 04:37
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Best admissions strategy is to just start at private in elementary, with a K-12 or K-6/8.
And if you can't do that, consider hiring a top private school consultant. It's not cheap but it's cheaper than 6 years of private elementary school tuition.
They don’t get their clients priority though. Just a lot of bespoke hand holding and reassurance. Oh and slick repackaging of readily available information from school websites
Anonymous
05/20/2026 23:18
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Best admissions strategy is to just start at private in elementary, with a K-12 or K-6/8.
And if you can't do that, consider hiring a top private school consultant. It's not cheap but it's cheaper than 6 years of private elementary school tuition.
Better yet, have a smart kid who makes excellent grades and has some accomplishments and a personality. Then they get in at 9th without a problem.
Well, yes.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 22:58
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Best admissions strategy is to just start at private in elementary, with a K-12 or K-6/8.
And if you can't do that, consider hiring a top private school consultant. It's not cheap but it's cheaper than 6 years of private elementary school tuition.
Better yet, have a smart kid who makes excellent grades and has some accomplishments and a personality. Then they get in at 9th without a problem.
Anonymous
05/20/2026 22:52
Subject: Strategy for private MS and HS
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:People in boundary for those schools have more money than others.
Those are two of the best elementary schools in the city, and so yes privates are more likely to prefer kids from those schools because they'll have a better baseline than a kid from another ES in a poorer part of the city.
Some of the parents at those schools are still super stressed about getting into the "right" private because they are competitive, so they pull their kids out early (usually 4th grade) to get ahead of the ms & hs scramble.
All of it basically comes down to the fact that those schools zipcodes are filled with people who have both money and ambition.
Very few people apply to those schools, and the schools need students to pay the bills. I think the main qualification for getting in is whether your check will clear.
Sidwell’s acceptance rate is 7-15 percent. GDS is higher but hovers around 25.
Unless you are on the board at both schools, which you aren’t, this is FAKE NEWS.