Anonymous wrote:Sidwell pumps wireless into their playground. I wont send my kids there. Kids should be playing.

Yes, I heard that the lower school children spend their entire playground period blogging about dumb things that parents say...

Sidwell pumps wireless into their playground. I wont send my kids there. Kids should be playing.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a GDS alumni. I don't see how the school is going to make the Tenleytown campus work as a joint campus. I can see moving the middle school up but not all 1,000 kids.

The school believes that there is enough room on the Safeway site to move everyone over from Palisades and then to reserve the Volvo site for revenue-producing commercial development.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a GDS alumni. I don't see how the school is going to make the Tenleytown campus work as a joint campus. I can see moving the middle school up but not all 1,000 kids.

As a former parent I agree that GDS has a number of very good teachers and a strong curriculum. We were quite happy with it but I assume that some other schools are equally strong. What distinguished GDS is that, from the earliest grades, they teach the kids to believe that they can do much and to be confident -- if not always self-aware. While there are some amazing and quite talented students there, I've endured my fair share of painful musical and other performances to know that a number are not. And yet these kids thought they were great because people told them that. And they learn to put themselves out there, which counts for a lot. The expression goes. "If you can't make it, fake it." Some kids make it, others may fake it more, but their self-assurance likely will take them far and enable them to be successful in selective colleges and in their careers beyond. Perhaps GDS should really stand for Great Degree of Self-confidence, which can be carried too far but is mostly a good thing. Be assured though that if someone from GDS tells you that their sh&$ doesn't stink, not only do they believe it but may well convince you it is so.

Chill is the best advice. If your child gets into both, let yours and your child's gut feel decide. At the end of the day it won't matter. My kid did not get into either, but had a wonderful experience at another private and now attends a H/Y/P/S type school -- and I share that only to convince you and other parents this insane rat race of private school admissions is blown out of proportion in this area. Good luck either way - both are great schools, as are many others that get less attention on DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you had the choice, which school would you choose? While acceptance letters are still months away, we believe that DS is quite competitive for both and we have applied him to both. Assuming that he and we have a choice, I would be interested in hearing other recommendations, particularly from those who were in the position of choosing among acceptance offers. DS is applying to a lower school grade, but would it make any difference if it were middle or upper (high) school levels? We are Jewish but our initial assessment is that DS would feel comfortable in either school environment. Geography is a wash because we are in Upper NW DC, so both Palisades and Bethesda campuses are about the same for us.

We are Jewish and picked Sidwell, but lots of kids from our temple go to GDS. No one cares quite frankly. My DC had plenty of kids from temple at SFS too.

Lots of machers in the GDS community.

Anonymous wrote:If you had the choice, which school would you choose? While acceptance letters are still months away, we believe that DS is quite competitive for both and we have applied him to both. Assuming that he and we have a choice, I would be interested in hearing other recommendations, particularly from those who were in the position of choosing among acceptance offers. DS is applying to a lower school grade, but would it make any difference if it were middle or upper (high) school levels? We are Jewish but our initial assessment is that DS would feel comfortable in either school environment. Geography is a wash because we are in Upper NW DC, so both Palisades and Bethesda campuses are about the same for us.

We are Jewish and picked Sidwell, but lots of kids from our temple go to GDS. No one cares quite frankly. My DC had plenty of kids from temple at SFS too.

Anonymous wrote:If you had the choice, which school would you choose? While acceptance letters are still months away, we believe that DS is quite competitive for both and we have applied him to both. Assuming that he and we have a choice, I would be interested in hearing other recommendations, particularly from those who were in the position of choosing among acceptance offers. DS is applying to a lower school grade, but would it make any difference if it were middle or upper (high) school levels? We are Jewish but our initial assessment is that DS would feel comfortable in either school environment. Geography is a wash because we are in Upper NW DC, so both Palisades and Bethesda campuses are about the same for us.

I'm a little confused if your child is applying to the lower school why you asked if our opinion/choice would matter if it were middle or upper school? This is the kind of question/post that brings out the haters.

OP, you obviously know your child and what would make your child "competitive", but hundreds of kids apply for a handful of spots. Do you or your husband have any connection to either school? We were lucky that our DD got into Sidwell but have a friend whose son did not, after she spent months making him feel like it was a done deal and telling people they would have a tough choice to make between Big 3 schools. It made it worse for the kid when he didn't get in. But he is very happy at Maret, and I am sure the sting is long gone. But not for my friend, who I suspect might troll around here once and awhile! Nothings a sure thing but death, taxes, and tuition bills!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS seems to be the "it" school right now.

Funny, but we just went through K admissions last year and that was not our experience. We live in close in MoCo and people from our area pretty much did not apply to GDS due to location. Sidwell is here in Bethesda, and many people went as far into the city as Beauvoir or Maret, but GDS was really a stretch. I believe that is is an amazing school, and much of this may change when the campuses unite in Tenleytown, but it definitely wasn't the "it" school for us, FWIW.

For a long time GDS has had a great reputation, but it seems its stock is definitely rising because of all the buzz about the expanded Tenleytown campus and their enviable record in getting their students into Harvard, Stanford and other Ivies.

The GCAT* strikes again! Meow! (*GDS^ College Acceptance Troll. ^Most likely not from GDS because the trolling posts always make the gullible DCUM masses mad at GDS.)

Anybody else think the Holton Booster was always a troll and is now targeting GDS?

Thank goodness, though, that the "keep Sidwell weird" poster has dropped out of sight. Talk about your misfired irony....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS seems to be the "it" school right now.

Funny, but we just went through K admissions last year and that was not our experience. We live in close in MoCo and people from our area pretty much did not apply to GDS due to location. Sidwell is here in Bethesda, and many people went as far into the city as Beauvoir or Maret, but GDS was really a stretch. I believe that is is an amazing school, and much of this may change when the campuses unite in Tenleytown, but it definitely wasn't the "it" school for us, FWIW.

For a long time GDS has had a great reputation, but it seems its stock is definitely rising because of all the buzz about the expanded Tenleytown campus and their enviable record in getting their students into Harvard, Stanford and other Ivies.

The GCAT* strikes again! Meow! (*GDS^ College Acceptance Troll. ^Most likely not from GDS because the trolling posts always make the gullible DCUM masses mad at GDS.)

Hehe, I thought the same thing. I like "GCAT" and I agree s/he isn't someone who wishes GDS well.

I'm a GDS alumni. I don't see how the school is going to make the Tenleytown campus work as a joint campus. I can see moving the middle school up but not all 1,000 kids.

Really, don't count your chickens. It is not uncommon for a top-notch applicant to not get into one or the other of these schools. I think the assumption is often that kids who get into one also get into the others, but that's not the case. Thinking about this too much right now, well before you hear anything, probably isn't the best idea.

If your child does have the option of both, she will probably want to shadow again at each school to get a better feel for things.

I hope that you have the chance to make this choice but I wouldn't count your chickens yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS seems to be the "it" school right now.

Funny, but we just went through K admissions last year and that was not our experience. We live in close in MoCo and people from our area pretty much did not apply to GDS due to location. Sidwell is here in Bethesda, and many people went as far into the city as Beauvoir or Maret, but GDS was really a stretch. I believe that is is an amazing school, and much of this may change when the campuses unite in Tenleytown, but it definitely wasn't the "it" school for us, FWIW.

For a long time GDS has had a great reputation, but it seems its stock is definitely rising because of all the buzz about the expanded Tenleytown campus and their enviable record in getting their students into Harvard, Stanford and other Ivies.

The GCAT* strikes again! Meow! (*GDS^ College Acceptance Troll. ^Most likely not from GDS because the trolling posts always make the gullible DCUM masses mad at GDS.)