As a new parent to SAES (one of my children just started in 9th grade), I (and my son) have been delighted with the experience. He has been appropriately challenged in his courses - just the other day he was memorizing lines of the Odyssey, which made this former classics major happy. I was very impressed by the quality of the faculty during their Open House as they discussed the most effective use of classroom time.

- John Huber

Agree with 22:15 that most families/kids who like St. Andrew's for the reasons stated by the poster in 22:05 probably prefer to focus on good liberal arts schools. A recent list is included in a few prior posts --from some most selective to some less selective . There are still usually anywhere between 1-3 students per class on average who go to an ivy or equiv. per class if that’s really one’s goal.

My advice to the poster in 22:05 would be to take a pat on the back for selecting a school where it sounds like your child is happy, doing well, and that as a family you feel is a good fit. If your child is happy and a very strong student, then he/she will probably have as good a shot at his/her first choice school from St. Andrew’s -- even if it’s an ivy – as he/she would at other privates. We should remember that the majority of students at the most selective universities are from public schools, and even though some privates may place many more students at elite colleges each year, it is not at all clear that it is because of the school they are coming from rather than because the particularly students had very high SATs, grades, APs, extra-C’s etc. – part of the screening process of who attends a school in the first place (and don’t most students at Big X schools still attend colleges outside of the ivy league?). While a Big 3 school may carry added “cache,” it also carries more internal completion for limited slots to the ivy’s, and there are only so many kids that one college will take from one school even if many more are qualified. My gut tells me you don’t see as many SAES kids in ivy’s because of the diverse makeup of the class (discussed above in thread) and not because of the curriculum, in addition to the preference for smaller LACs than research institutions among many families because they like the feel of St. Andrew’s, and because there may be more non-need based aid available at some of these schools. But if your child can pull high SATs, does well in the most challenging classes, and puts up the other extra-c’s that the most selective schools want to see, past placements suggest she /he will do just fine wherever he/she wants to go. Not sure what grade your child is in presently, but earlier posts talk about rigor increasing in high school depending on course selection (actually, while there seem to be different approaches at different schools, my sense is that this is also true at some of the Big X schools).

On the other hand, if he/she moved somewhere and for any reason isn’t happy -- leaving friends, not playing on the team he/she wants, any trouble fitting in socially, etc. -- you are taking a chance on the change impacting grades, school involvement, etc. which will make for a less attractive college candidate. So based on the limited info in your post, I would stay the course. If your child wasn’t doing well, had major social issues at school etc., then a change would be easier to contemplate.

Anonymous wrote:I currently have a child at St. A and I have to agree that it is not all that in terms of academic rigor...but we are there for all the other good things that it does have: good parents, nice kids, great staff...a very nuturing environment. I do question sometimes whether I am hurting my child's chances of getting into the ivies by remaining. Any thoughts?

I would venture a guess that a good deal of students at schools like this skip the ivies and aim for the selective liberal arts colleges and similar, such as Wesleyan, Trinity in Hartford, Kenyon. No? That seems to be a good route too especially if the goal is later professional school. These days I hear you have a better chance at ivies from schools like Wilson HS. Or maybe that's an urban myth or a Vibe I pick up from reading too much dcum.

I currently have a child at St. A and I have to agree that it is not all that in terms of academic rigor...but we are there for all the other good things that it does have: good parents, nice kids, great staff...a very nuturing environment. I do question sometimes whether I am hurting my child's chances of getting into the ivies by remaining. Any thoughts?

Anonymous wrote:

I had no problem with the substance of the post, re: the poster's impression of who applies or goes to SAES from the poster's K-8 -- I just get sick of all the people on DCUM who assume every positive post about a school is fraudulent.

I think you said this before. The poster you complain about didn't go on and on and on with the "fraudulent" claim. I think it also was left open that the person eliciting the response was both parent and administrator (see how this is possible in the gazillion other threads about children with parents who work at the school). Can't you just overlook an annoying aside? That annoyance has totally swamped the discussion of the info you said might be useful.

There was a nice exchange of information going on, until the "pablum" poster went beyond sharing his/her own viewpoint, and labelled other posts (1) fake (by alleging they were ghost-written by administrators); and (2) drivel (which is what they meant by "pablum," one assumes).

I had no problem with the substance of the post, re: the poster's impression of who applies or goes to SAES from the poster's K-8 -- I just get sick of all the people on DCUM who assume every positive post about a school is fraudulent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The alum who is posting on this thread is really not doing St. Andrews any favors.

Not him or her, but i disagree with you. He or she provided thoughtful commentary. The subsequent poster seemed somewhat offensive.

"And about the kids and parents who go there not being motivated, what part of me making over 150K at 25 years old as an attorney with licenses before 2 states translates into unmotivated or academically weak? What, pray-tell, were you doing at 25? Were you on the moon? Were you CEO of a major corporation? Who knows but YOU ARE a tool. You know as well as every single person reading this that you would love for you child to succeed at whatever he or she does and if that happens to be as a lawyer, you know you want him/her to do what I did or clerk for SCOTUS. So whatever you think about your neighbors is irrelevant unless your entire parenting compass is keeping up with or surpassing the Jones of your neighborhood. Ugghhh--you disgust me. St. Andrew's dodged a bullet with you!"

Uh, yeah. Really thoughtful.

Anonymous wrote:Great posts, 16:08 -- thank you!

+1
Current SAES parent. I love the honors program. It is wonderful to hear the entire upper school cheer loudly for their friends' who make honor roll. As I've said to some of the administrators, what an affirming experience for the kids, to be considered cool and validated by their peers for academic excellence. And those kids get LOUD! I also love listening to our DD tell funny stories about her teachers and what happened during the day. I think the teachers and staff do a phenomenal job of supporting and guiding the students, and getting to know the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The alum who is posting on this thread is really not doing St. Andrews any favors.

Not him or her, but i disagree with you. He or she provided thoughtful commentary. The subsequent poster seemed somewhat offensive.

Agree.

Anonymous wrote:The alum who is posting on this thread is really not doing St. Andrews any favors.

Not him or her, but i disagree with you. He or she provided thoughtful commentary. The subsequent poster seemed somewhat offensive.

The alum who is posting on this thread is really not doing St. Andrews any favors.

Sorry, truly, to have thrown things off track with my use the term "pablum." It is just that the post sounded like administrator-speak to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what "arepaiute" means, but anyway I'm not of the Limbaugh/Beck ilk. So why not just object to the use of the word itself....

I believe "arepaiute" translates to "pretentious" in Inuit.

Yes, agree 19:00 was being pretentious by bringing in Glenn Beck and Limbaugh. It is fantastic that you know Inuit!

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what "arepaiute" means, but anyway I'm not of the Limbaugh/Beck ilk. So why not just object to the use of the word itself....

I believe "arepaiute" translates to "pretentious" in Inuit.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what "arepaiute" means, but anyway I'm not of the Limbaugh/Beck ilk. So why not just object to the use of the word itself....

I don't object to the word but I am not really sure that was used appropriately. Although you may not agree with the many posters before you, there was nothing pablum about the posts. If you are going to use a fancy SAT word, I think it is best to use it appropriately or else you risk sounding like you are trying really hard. Anyhoo, happy Friday!