Anonymous wrote:the kind of people who would send their kids to a for-profit gifted school are the kind of people who will make their kids take years of kumon and TJ Test Prep classes. I am not surprised.

“[T]he kind of people” ... why the virtiol and self-righteousness, which borders on inappropriate when you take into account that Nysmith is majority minority? The diversity at Nysmith is a selling point and something other privates should aspire to. Nysmith doesn’t feel any more “for profit” than the inside-the-beltway privates. But one key difference between Nysmith and the Big 3s: no one at Nysmith is ever asking for contributions beyond tuition. While I don’t know what all the heads of school make at DC privates, here are the headspin inducing2014 comp packages of the heads of school of some major privates (one can only assume a meaningful uptick between then and now and extrapolate that DC HOS must be making in the range of some of these other HOS):

Episcopal HS, Alexandria, VA: $605,610 base + $114,487 other comp
Milton Academy, Milton, MA: $587,112 with $94,840 other comp
Phillips Exeter, Exeter, NH: $551,143 + $299,463 in other comp
Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT $486,215 + $192,907 other compensation
Harvard Westlake, Studio City, CA - President $483,731 + $107,105 other comp
Rye Country Day, Rye, NY: $460,267 (was $696,891 in 2013)
Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA - $434,242 with $180,335 in est. other compensation
(source: https://www.thoughtco.com/headmasters-compensation-salary-2774024)

These seem kind of like for profit comp levels if you ask me ...

At the risk of sounding like a Nysmith shill, we had kids at Nysmith who transferred to Big 3s with no test prep and no kumon or similar work. Nysmith seemed to prepare them more than adequately both for entrance exams and coursework. What’s rich here is that PP probably thinks that it’s kosher for the “other kind of people” to jockey for slots at NCRC, Beauvoir and NPS (working every connection and angle they can), while prepping their toddlers and pre-teens for entrance exam play dates, mock interviews, and entrance exams using high-priced admissions consultants and tutors. I guess that’s considered all good if you’re protecting historical privilege ...

the kind of people who would send their kids to a for-profit gifted school are the kind of people who will make their kids take years of kumon and TJ Test Prep classes. I am not surprised.

Anonymous wrote:It's usually a nice group to TJ, a handful to DC/M.D. privates, a good group to Flint Hill/Madeira, a handful back to Public, then a few to scattered other privates like Middleburg.

Also there are many kids who are cross-admits to TJ and to the Big3 privates and it splits 50-50 which of these paths the kids choose

And that split i includes both the white and asian/indian kids

Anonymous wrote:As someone mentioned, that’s a long commute from w Ffx to Sidwell.

TJ is comparably far for many and the buses to TJ can take around 75 minutes depending on where you live/transfer. Plus lots of Nysmith families have parents working in DC so it’s not crazy to have kids at the DC privates.

As someone mentioned, that’s a long commute from w Ffx to Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:There are, at most, two students from Nysmith students getting into 9th grade at Sidwell in any given year...

TJ hasn’t been reporting admissions data for private middle schools recently (but there is helpful a breakdown of NoVA public middle school data for the past five years available here: ). The last reporting I can find for Nysmith admissions stats at TJ is for the class of 2020. And these numbers are impressive: 23 applied, 21 were semifinalists and 13 were admitted. Here’s the link: http://www.fcag.org/documents/TJ+Class+of+2020+Admissions.pdf

So for Nysmith that’s a whopping 56.5% of applicants and 61.9% of semifinalists earning a TJ admission. That puts Nysmith (which will cost parents >$30k/year vs. zero at FCPS) at the top of the pile compared to the public middle schools (and no private seems to come close to Nysmith in the class of 2020 stats):

Carson: 264 applied, 189 semifinalists, 98 admits (37.1% of applicants and 51.9% of semifinalists admitted)
Kilmer: 132 applied, 84 semis, 24 admits (18.1% of applicants and 28.6% of semifinalists admitted)
Twain: 85 applied, 27 semis, 11 admits (12.9% of applicants and 40.7% of semifinalists admitted)
Rocky Run: 155 applied, 113 semis, 37 admits (23.9% of applicants and 32.7% of semifinalists admitted)
Frost: 102 applied, 58 semis, 22 admits (21.5% of applicants and 37.9% of semifinalists admitted)
Longfellow:155 applied, 120 semis, 45 admits (29.0% of applicants and 37.5% of semifinalists admitted)

Obviously Nysmith has a small applicant pool (with 8th grade classes probably ranging from 35-45 students/year) and that pool is economically tilted toward the “1-10%.” Anecdotally, what TJ is not doing is converting a high % of Nysmith grads because many of them go to privates (in unscientific descending order: Flint Hill, Potomac, DC Big 3s, Basis and a few others, including 2-4 to mostly New England boarding schools).

As for Sidwell, I doubt anyone in admissions there thinks of Nysmith as a feeder like a Norwood or St. Pats, but maybe to a lesser extent view it as a “NoVA feeder” because it seems likely that they’re sending more students to Sidwell than any other NoVA school. But saying that “at most” two Nysmith students are admitted per 9th grade class at Sidwell seems inaccurate, maybe more like the number of conversions vs admits.

Anonymous wrote:Hello: Does anyone have information on how good is the TJ Admission rate from Nysmith (As opposed to Rachel Carson MS which is also in the area). Looking to see if we should continue our DD in Grade 7-8.

Nysmith Parents, what are the statistics from last year. Any idea on how many kids from Nysmith applied, and how many got admitted.

Thank you

I would just ask them directly. My understanding from doing a tour last year is that fewer students from Nysmith are attending TJ because there has been a decrease in the number of students applying to TJ. That isn't the goal for all of the families who send their kids there as it has been in the past. They're seeing an increase in students who are seeking more balance and more co-curricular opportunities which is why they're applying to other privates and backing away from TJ.

It's usually a nice group to TJ, a handful to DC/M.D. privates, a good group to Flint Hill/Madeira, a handful back to Public, then a few to scattered other privates like Middleburg.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the class of 2020, 50% of Nysmith kids who applied to TJ were accepted.

Proof?

it's somewhere in this thread: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/45/559183.page#9117899

Not sure if here's still a link to the actual numbers from each school but it is published. I just don't have time to google it for you right now.

Anonymous wrote:For the class of 2020, 50% of Nysmith kids who applied to TJ were accepted.

Proof?

For the class of 2020, 50% of Nysmith kids who applied to TJ were accepted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many kids are in each graduating class?

15-18 kids per class...

So the admissions person is claiming, 5 go to TJ, 5 (!) to Sidwell, and 5 to Lesser Privates?

OP, send your kid to Carson and save the tuition for college. She will get a better education at Carson.

I think there is an admin from Nysmith lying on this thread.

The idea of Nysmith being a feeder to Sidwell is just...hysterical. Nysmith is for kids of Indian and Asian parents who couldn't manage to get their kids into AAP. Sidwell is for WASPs who would never be so gauche as to send their children to a fake gifted school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for your reply. Yes I know Carson is one of the highest in TJ admissions Just wondering what are the statistics specifically for Nysmith. What are their ratios of kids who apply, Vs those who actually get selected.

When we tour Nysmith a few weeks ago, the admission director mentioned that 1/3 of the graduating class is going to TJ, another 1/3 to Sidwell, and the rest going to other privates. She particularly highlighted that Sidwell considered Nysmith their feeder school.

This is so incredibly false its laughable.

Yes, this is my point. I guess the number of kids going to TJ are also hardly 18-20 from the whole Grade 8. Do u think they hype up the TJ, Sidwell admissions - make them sound more than they actually are. Isn't that then false/inaccurate information

Anonymous wrote:How many kids are in each graduating class?

15-18 kids per class...