Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got into Sidwell. We are middle class, with no connections and don't belong to any of the priority groups. This was the only school we applied to because our neighborhood school is good. The person who interviewed him was enthusiastic and he and my son discussed a wide range of common interests. The feedback we got was that they were impressed with how thoughtful and honest he was during the interview about his strengths and weaknesses.

OK, thanks for coming back several months later to share this significant piece of random information.

You just gotta love the smart +++ comments on a thread that supposed to be helpful! Thanks.

What exactly was helpful???
Snowflake could articulate his strengths and weaknesses. You prepped him well, kudos to you.
Gosh, this is truly amazing news - someone should alert the media!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son got into Sidwell. We are middle class, with no connections and don't belong to any of the priority groups. This was the only school we applied to because our neighborhood school is good. The person who interviewed him was enthusiastic and he and my son discussed a wide range of common interests. The feedback we got was that they were impressed with how thoughtful and honest he was during the interview about his strengths and weaknesses.

OK, thanks for coming back several months later to share this significant piece of random information.

You just gotta love the smart +++ comments on a thread that supposed to be helpful! Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:My son got into Sidwell. We are middle class, with no connections and don't belong to any of the priority groups. This was the only school we applied to because our neighborhood school is good. The person who interviewed him was enthusiastic and he and my son discussed a wide range of common interests. The feedback we got was that they were impressed with how thoughtful and honest he was during the interview about his strengths and weaknesses.

OK, thanks for coming back several months later to share this significant piece of random information.

My son got into Sidwell. We are middle class, with no connections and don't belong to any of the priority groups. This was the only school we applied to because our neighborhood school is good. The person who interviewed him was enthusiastic and he and my son discussed a wide range of common interests. The feedback we got was that they were impressed with how thoughtful and honest he was during the interview about his strengths and weaknesses.

Anonymous wrote:Well I did get the feeling there that there was a lot of emphasis on who the parents were...this was evident to me through who has gotten in that I know and in the questions that were asked in the interview.

What questions were asked? In our experience, my DC (applying for MS) got all the questions and they were focused on his academic preferences and extra curricular interests. I was invited to ask questions of the interviewer and was asked if I would like to say anything.

Contrast this to GDS. There my DH and I were subjected to a lengthy interview that left a bitter taste in our mouth. We felt we are being scrutinized and weighted and judged. Very uncomfortable and at some point down right rude. In the meantime, our DC spent a whole day at the school but nobody bothered to talk to DC. DC actually noted that and complained about it to us. DC was given some exercises to do but no teacher bothered having a one on one conversation with the applicant. DC liked the kids, though.

My conclusion: Sidwell and all the other schools we applied have a better admission process than GDS. At least in our experience.

The open house at Sidwell was a bit intimidating because of the sheer number of people attending. It felt like a major city event! The panels that were arranged to give parents information were comprised of both teachers and students and did a reasonable job of presenting information and answering questions (which ranged between the irrelevant to the inane). But even at that level, the room was full. I can't really fault the school for that though it left me feeling a bit distant.

That distance disappeared once my child went for the interview. The interview was conducted by a teacher (which is quite appropriate) and although I was present in the room, it was totally focused on the student. My child was treated with respect and we were offered another tour of the school.

That one on one experience left a favorable and lasting impression.

Well I did get the feeling there that there was a lot of emphasis on who the parents were...this was evident to me through who has gotten in that I know and in the questions that were asked in the interview.

Anonymous wrote:OP,
It's also a much more elitist approach.

I'm a parent at Sidwell, and I honestly do not understand what you mean by this! Could you please explain, preferably with examples (e.g., this kid with parents who did X got in even with scores at the 30th percentile, not oh everyone knows that) what you mean? My DC's friends are pretty diverse, with a bunch of unknowns as parents, so I'm confused.

OP,
It's also a much more elitist approach.

Anonymous wrote:I was really put off by the whole cattle call approach to admissions. There were just way too many people at the tours and at the playdates. I know that they get a lot of applicants but I was much more impressed by Beauvoir who limited the number of applicants right from the beginning by requiring both parents to tour the school and only having a limited number of spaces for the tour. This seemed like a much more humane and realistic approach. Really, how did Sidwell get to know any of the kids that applied? It rea[b]lly seemed like a lottery.

Its not just the kids for Sidwell, they choose the parents too - you need a history of service to get in!!! Got it.

hate the game, not the player.

Is the process different at the other schools for the lower grades? I only have experience applying to middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 8:53, if fewer people "applied just to see if they got in" the feeling wouldn't be of such a cattle call. I find it ridiculous that you are now saying that the sting wears off quickly to a place that you had totally specious motivations for applying to in the first place.

I am not Op 8.53, but to comment---In this area, we all apply to more than one school in the hopes of getting into of our choices. Being that Sidwell usually falls within the Top 5 for most people, most of us apply, even if it is option 2 or 3. No one knows for sure when they apply, where their child will attend school. I'm sure GDS, Beauvoir, Maret, WIS, etc., has a large applicant pool as well!

sorry--"have a large applicant pool"---

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 8:53, if fewer people "applied just to see if they got in" the feeling wouldn't be of such a cattle call. I find it ridiculous that you are now saying that the sting wears off quickly to a place that you had totally specious motivations for applying to in the first place.

I am not Op 8.53, but to comment---In this area, we all apply to more than one school in the hopes of getting into of our choices. Being that Sidwell usually falls within the Top 5 for most people, most of us apply, even if it is option 2 or 3. No one knows for sure when they apply, where their child will attend school. I'm sure GDS, Beauvoir, Maret, WIS, etc., has a large applicant pool as well!

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps 8:53, if fewer people "applied just to see if they got in" the feeling wouldn't be of such a cattle call. I find it ridiculous that you are now saying that the sting wears off quickly to a place that you had totally specious motivations for applying to in the first place.

I agree, that's why I admitted it. If we got in we would have gone. My point is I can now see how clouded my thinking was at the time.