Anonymous wrote:Problem is, how are you going to determine the “top 5” schools based on that?

You don't. Ranking schools is as pointless as it is arbitrary.

Anonymous wrote:The number of NMSFs is only one (rather insignificant) metric in trying to evaluate the effectiveness of a school. To think that a school will impact whether a student will be a NMSF is naive, especially if the student enters in the ninth grade. The best (and most difficult to measure) metric is what "added value" does a school achieve for a student upon graduation, given the student's profile upon entry.

Fair point. Problem is, how are you going to determine the “top 5” schools based on that? (Sort of rhetorical question but I’ll be open minded)

The number of NMSFs is only one (rather insignificant) metric in trying to evaluate the effectiveness of a school. To think that a school will impact whether a student will be a NMSF is naive, especially if the student enters in the ninth grade. The best (and most difficult to measure) metric is what "added value" does a school achieve for a student upon graduation, given the student's profile upon entry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. BIM
2. Sidwell
3. GDS
4. STA/NCS
5. Maret

How is Potomac not on this list if we are talking National Merit semifinalists? At least beats 2 of these schools.

Potomac is not top 5. Plain and simple.

It’s better than BIM, which makes it #1

What does BIM have to do with anything? Niche doesn’t even have them in the top 10 anymore.

Potomac may be #1 in McLean. I think Madeira is better for girls though. For boys, I think Potomac is the #1 in McLean.

Well this post is specifically asking about academics. There is no objective metric by which Potomac is #1 academically over Basis. Not by a long shot. But Potomac definitely deserves to be on that top 5 list over some of the Maryland/DC schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac had a very high year (maybe 9?) and Holton had 5. Both far more than others.

Holton has 12 this year

Wow! Are they the highest private in the DMV this year?

How is that a measure of the school's academic program?

That is a measure of how that group of kids individually prepared for the PSAT. Which was not OP's question. That data point does not tell a prospective parent what their child will experience at the school academically. Consider: some kids who do well on the PSAT attend abysmal high schools; they did well because of the individual effort they put in to taking that test. On the flip side, some kids at all the schools people are saying are academically superior did not do well on the PSAT. It simply isn't a useful measure for this much broader question. The question is what is the academic program at the school (even if some students don't do well at it).

Actually, there is lots of serious research that shows that standardized test results are the best predictor of academic success in college and beyond.

Regarding Holton, I do think the very high number this year is an aberration to the norm of 4-5 per year. The Holton class of 2026 is just exceptionally strong, which is reflected in the 12 NMSFs plus 17 commented students (out of about 100 girls).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac had a very high year (maybe 9?) and Holton had 5. Both far more than others.

Holton has 12 this year

Wow! Are they the highest private in the DMV this year?

How is that a measure of the school's academic program?

That is a measure of how that group of kids individually prepared for the PSAT. Which was not OP's question. That data point does not tell a prospective parent what their child will experience at the school academically. Consider: some kids who do well on the PSAT attend abysmal high schools; they did well because of the individual effort they put in to taking that test. On the flip side, some kids at all the schools people are saying are academically superior did not do well on the PSAT. It simply isn't a useful measure for this much broader question. The question is what is the academic program at the school (even if some students don't do well at it).

OP's very old original question was "based on academics," but doesn't define a measurement of that, so let's try.

How would you measure high school "academics"?

I think you would focus on:
1) the common denominators across all students: What will every student in the school be required to study in order to graduate -- aka the minimum graduation requirements; and
2) what degree of grade dropping gets you counseled out after remedial efforts fail. If a student can't manage your minimum standards, do they get counseled out or do you lower your academic standards?

At every school, some students will get better grades then others; some students may choose harder classes than others; some kids will do better on standardized tests than others; some will choose higher or lower ranked colleges based on a wide range of personal factors. So if you want to compare schools "academically," you can't look at the outliers or even averages because that is too variable based on individuals; I think you look at what they require academically of all students across the board, because you know your kid will have to meet that standard at a minimum and there is only upside individually from there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac had a very high year (maybe 9?) and Holton had 5. Both far more than others.

Holton has 12 this year

Wow! Are they the highest private in the DMV this year?

Higher than Sidwell, STA, NCS, GDS, Maret, Visi. I think Basis McLean is the only DMV private that had more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. BIM
2. Sidwell
3. GDS
4. STA/NCS
5. Maret

How is Potomac not on this list if we are talking National Merit semifinalists? At least beats 2 of these schools.

Potomac is not top 5. Plain and simple.

It’s better than BIM, which makes it #1

We're talking about top 5 in the DC area (MD/DC/VA).
Potomac is not top 5. Plain and simple.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac had a very high year (maybe 9?) and Holton had 5. Both far more than others.

Holton has 12 this year

Wow! Are they the highest private in the DMV this year?

Laugh.

Threads like these always wind up with people just defending their school or their child's school - and attacking any other school.

Neither rank nor "prestige" matter. Pick the best fit school for each child. Different children are different, so there is no single "best" nor even a single "ranking" that is valid for all children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. BIM
2. Sidwell
3. GDS
4. STA/NCS
5. Maret

How is Potomac not on this list if we are talking National Merit semifinalists? At least beats 2 of these schools.

Potomac is not top 5. Plain and simple.

It’s better than BIM, which makes it #1

What does BIM have to do with anything? Niche doesn’t even have them in the top 10 anymore.

Potomac may be #1 in McLean. I think Madeira is better for girls though. For boys, I think Potomac is the #1 in McLean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. BIM
2. Sidwell
3. GDS
4. STA/NCS
5. Maret

How is Potomac not on this list if we are talking National Merit semifinalists? At least beats 2 of these schools.

Potomac is not top 5. Plain and simple.

It’s better than BIM, which makes it #1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. BIM
2. Sidwell
3. GDS
4. STA/NCS
5. Maret

How is Potomac not on this list if we are talking National Merit semifinalists? At least beats 2 of these schools.

Potomac is not top 5. Plain and simple.

Georgetown prep > Sidwell