Anonymous wrote:DCUM Wilson Parents - here is what you need to know: at the beginning of junior year, hire a private college counselor, and take SAT/ACt prep. classes. That will set you back about $3,000-$5,000 total - it will close any gaps between Wilson and expensive privates. No, it is not cheap - unless you compare it to the $150,000 that private school would have cost you.

Signed -

Parent of a Wilson senior.

sorry to say, but SAt prep needs to be done summer before junior year, or the psat is not going to vet your child to nmf consideration

Thanks, PP. Who did you hire?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Wilson junior here. I feel kids get into good colleges despite going to Wilson not because of it. Wilson does not do anything special for these kids. They only focus on kids in danger of not graduating and they are pretty ineffective at helping those kids too.

These are the ones who benefit most from Wilson.
We were not unhappy at Wilson; however, I wish we were told that private college counseling was the most efficient way in getting ready for college. Even when the teachers said the class size had not reached its limit, the counselor would not do the switching from regular to AP. It is interesting when another parent exclaims "you talked to her alone?"
Same goes for college counseling, best places for SAT/ACT preparation and getting scholarships. We learned the hard way that there are a lot of "hidden rules" which no one talks about. It is not easy to know these things without having previously experienced it.

My sense is that you're pretty much on your own at Wilson. Our oldest is now a junior and there was been no mention whatsoever about college from anybody. (And it's not because my kid is not prepared for college. He's an excellent student.) Your kid will find out about the PSATs,taken in 9th, 10th, and 11th, 1-2 days beforehand and be told to go on the Khan Academy (in one night?) to get familiar with the test. Yes, someone will no doubt think it's my fault because I have a crazy job and several kids, but we just found out by accident this week how to get on Naviance (and what Naviance is!) to find out about college visits, and saw that he missed visits from colleges he would have liked to hear from. No mention yet that juniors should take SATs soon. No mention of anything. Sometimes I have the feeling that a random experienced parent plucked off the street could manage this process better than Wilson does. Is all of DCPS really like this? Are charter schools better?

We'll be able to hire someone to help. And it's possible that there's a small subset of disadvantaged but very motivated students who are getting excellent guidance through the process from the Wilson counselor, who I'm sure is underpaid and overworked, probably having two other jobs at the school in addition to college counseling. The kids who are really hurt are those whose parents aren't on top of things and those who are in the middle of the pack, not able to afford outside help and not considered at-risk by the system so not eligible for whatever small bit of attention Wilson has to give.

Another Wilson parent with a senior here with some tips for you.

1. Don't freak out about the college visits. You have a lot of time for that piece.
2. Do make sure you get very familiar with Naviance and look at your kids stats to see where the schools he matches with. Keep in mind the test scores and grades you see in there now are from the last graduating class - not the current group of seniors.
3. Do make sure your child establishes really good relationships with his teachers this year. Two of them will be writing recommendations. The two teachers that know my kid and wrote recs were very, very supportive of my child. The recs were stellar. Also helpful if you get to know your guidance counselor.
4. Do go on College Confidential to educate yourself some about the process.
5. Last year they did have a session for junior parents about the process, not sure when that will take place this year.
6. Yes, lots of kids get screwed by the process - not just first-gen or poor kids. This is not unique to Wilson. There are kids at Wilson and other schools that should be aiming higher, but don't for a wide variety of reasons. You will be disgusted by the process and how unfair it is.
7. Hiring an outside college counselor was the best investment we ever made. We have an acceptance in hand with a merit scholarship.
8. Don't forget to talk to other parents!

The 9th grade counselors just asked for, and received a grant from the HSA for some kind of college exposure program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don't need much help to do what? Get into a good college?

I interview a half a dozen to a dozen DCPS and DCPC applicants for my Ivy every January-February as an alum volunteer.

I used to interview several Wilson students each application season, but got burned out a several years ago and asked not to be given anymore Wilson names. No Wilson student I interviewed got in, 10 or 11 years running (though other interviewers for my Ivy had better luck at Wilson). What caused me to burn out is that around half of the Wilson kids I interviewed would almost certainly have been in the running if they'd had better guidance counselors, much more face-to-face counseling, and tougher academics in DCPS all the way up. Nice, bright, hard-working kids, but generally not getting the help and advice they needed to reach for the stars.

Prefer to interview at Walls and BASIS (just one Feb of experience there), but not by much.

So let me get this straight: because Wilson doesn't dedicate sufficient resources to preparing kids for Ivy college interviews (or yours, at least), you've decided to punish the "nice, bright, hard-working" kids by simply refusing to interview from Wilson anymore? Jesus.

I guess it's probably better for the kids, in the long run, not to waste their time with someone who would act so capriciously.

Capriciously? After 10 or 11 years of frustration. Who wouldn't have quit as a volunteer?

DCUM Wilson Parents - here is what you need to know: at the beginning of junior year, hire a private college counselor, and take SAT/ACt prep. classes. That will set you back about $3,000-$5,000 total - it will close any gaps between Wilson and expensive privates. No, it is not cheap - unless you compare it to the $150,000 that private school would have cost you.

Signed -

Parent of a Wilson senior.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Wilson junior here. I feel kids get into good colleges despite going to Wilson not because of it. Wilson does not do anything special for these kids. They only focus on kids in danger of not graduating and they are pretty ineffective at helping those kids too.

These are the ones who benefit most from Wilson.
We were not unhappy at Wilson; however, I wish we were told that private college counseling was the most efficient way in getting ready for college. Even when the teachers said the class size had not reached its limit, the counselor would not do the switching from regular to AP. It is interesting when another parent exclaims "you talked to her alone?"
Same goes for college counseling, best places for SAT/ACT preparation and getting scholarships. We learned the hard way that there are a lot of "hidden rules" which no one talks about. It is not easy to know these things without having previously experienced it.

Private college counseling? What is this? I went to a large public HS on the West Coast. We had one counselor per grade. Wilson sounds normal to me. What do people expect? How does it differ in other schools? (FWIW, I have a graduate degree.)

Read this PP. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/education/edlife/what-college-admissions-wants.html?action=click&contentCollection=Education%20Life&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Wilson junior here. I feel kids get into good colleges despite going to Wilson not because of it. Wilson does not do anything special for these kids. They only focus on kids in danger of not graduating and they are pretty ineffective at helping those kids too.

These are the ones who benefit most from Wilson.
We were not unhappy at Wilson; however, I wish we were told that private college counseling was the most efficient way in getting ready for college. Even when the teachers said the class size had not reached its limit, the counselor would not do the switching from regular to AP. It is interesting when another parent exclaims "you talked to her alone?"
Same goes for college counseling, best places for SAT/ACT preparation and getting scholarships. We learned the hard way that there are a lot of "hidden rules" which no one talks about. It is not easy to know these things without having previously experienced it.

Private college counseling? What is this? I went to a large public HS on the West Coast. We had one counselor per grade. Wilson sounds normal to me. What do people expect? How does it differ in other schools? (FWIW, I have a graduate degree.)

More competition for college, harder to pay for it and more need to understand the options with EA/ED/SCEA/RD. They expect something more like private schools where a college counselor:student ratio is about 1:100-200.

Colleges ask for a letter of recommendation not just from a teacher but form a counselor to put the student's application in context -- something that someone who has no relationship with the students can't do effectively.

That said, there is a nonprofits college counseling foundation in DC who augments the DCPS-paid staff. But their work is geared to the first generation college student, or the ones with most need.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Wilson junior here. I feel kids get into good colleges despite going to Wilson not because of it. Wilson does not do anything special for these kids. They only focus on kids in danger of not graduating and they are pretty ineffective at helping those kids too.

These are the ones who benefit most from Wilson.
We were not unhappy at Wilson; however, I wish we were told that private college counseling was the most efficient way in getting ready for college. Even when the teachers said the class size had not reached its limit, the counselor would not do the switching from regular to AP. It is interesting when another parent exclaims "you talked to her alone?"
Same goes for college counseling, best places for SAT/ACT preparation and getting scholarships. We learned the hard way that there are a lot of "hidden rules" which no one talks about. It is not easy to know these things without having previously experienced it.

Private college counseling? What is this? I went to a large public HS on the West Coast. We had one counselor per grade. Wilson sounds normal to me. What do people expect? How does it differ in other schools? (FWIW, I have a graduate degree.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don't need much help to do what? Get into a good college?

I interview a half a dozen to a dozen DCPS and DCPC applicants for my Ivy every January-February as an alum volunteer.

I used to interview several Wilson students each application season, but got burned out a several years ago and asked not to be given anymore Wilson names. No Wilson student I interviewed got in, 10 or 11 years running (though other interviewers for my Ivy had better luck at Wilson). What caused me to burn out is that around half of the Wilson kids I interviewed would almost certainly have been in the running if they'd had better guidance counselors, much more face-to-face counseling, and tougher academics in DCPS all the way up. Nice, bright, hard-working kids, but generally not getting the help and advice they needed to reach for the stars.

Prefer to interview at Walls and BASIS (just one Feb of experience there), but not by much.

So let me get this straight: because Wilson doesn't dedicate sufficient resources to preparing kids for Ivy college interviews (or yours, at least), you've decided to punish the "nice, bright, hard-working" kids by simply refusing to interview from Wilson anymore? Jesus.

I guess it's probably better for the kids, in the long run, not to waste their time with someone who would act so capriciously.

+1

I was thinking the same thing. What a game of privilege. Anyway, despite not playing the game, there are kids getting into Ivys from Wilson. An impressive amount as well.

Anonymous wrote:They don't need much help to do what? Get into a good college?

I interview a half a dozen to a dozen DCPS and DCPC applicants for my Ivy every January-February as an alum volunteer.

I used to interview several Wilson students each application season, but got burned out a several years ago and asked not to be given anymore Wilson names. No Wilson student I interviewed got in, 10 or 11 years running (though other interviewers for my Ivy had better luck at Wilson). What caused me to burn out is that around half of the Wilson kids I interviewed would almost certainly have been in the running if they'd had better guidance counselors, much more face-to-face counseling, and tougher academics in DCPS all the way up. Nice, bright, hard-working kids, but generally not getting the help and advice they needed to reach for the stars.

Prefer to interview at Walls and BASIS (just one Feb of experience there), but not by much.

So let me get this straight: because Wilson doesn't dedicate sufficient resources to preparing kids for Ivy college interviews (or yours, at least), you've decided to punish the "nice, bright, hard-working" kids by simply refusing to interview from Wilson anymore? Jesus.

I guess it's probably better for the kids, in the long run, not to waste their time with someone who would act so capriciously.

I'm the previous poster. And your sentiments are why I took my DC to every Ivy school DC applied to for interviews. That was one big takeaway I got from DCUM a long time ago. So thanks for the insight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of Wilson junior here. I feel kids get into good colleges despite going to Wilson not because of it. Wilson does not do anything special for these kids. They only focus on kids in danger of not graduating and they are pretty ineffective at helping those kids too.

These are the ones who benefit most from Wilson.
We were not unhappy at Wilson; however, I wish we were told that private college counseling was the most efficient way in getting ready for college. Even when the teachers said the class size had not reached its limit, the counselor would not do the switching from regular to AP. It is interesting when another parent exclaims "you talked to her alone?"
Same goes for college counseling, best places for SAT/ACT preparation and getting scholarships. We learned the hard way that there are a lot of "hidden rules" which no one talks about. It is not easy to know these things without having previously experienced it.

My sense is that you're pretty much on your own at Wilson. Our oldest is now a junior and there was been no mention whatsoever about college from anybody. (And it's not because my kid is not prepared for college. He's an excellent student.) Your kid will find out about the PSATs,taken in 9th, 10th, and 11th, 1-2 days beforehand and be told to go on the Khan Academy (in one night?) to get familiar with the test. Yes, someone will no doubt think it's my fault because I have a crazy job and several kids, but we just found out by accident this week how to get on Naviance (and what Naviance is!) to find out about college visits, and saw that he missed visits from colleges he would have liked to hear from. No mention yet that juniors should take SATs soon. No mention of anything. Sometimes I have the feeling that a random experienced parent plucked off the street could manage this process better than Wilson does. Is all of DCPS really like this? Are charter schools better?

We'll be able to hire someone to help. And it's possible that there's a small subset of disadvantaged but very motivated students who are getting excellent guidance through the process from the Wilson counselor, who I'm sure is underpaid and overworked, probably having two other jobs at the school in addition to college counseling. The kids who are really hurt are those whose parents aren't on top of things and those who are in the middle of the pack, not able to afford outside help and not considered at-risk by the system so not eligible for whatever small bit of attention Wilson has to give.

They don't need much help to do what? Get into a good college?

I interview a half a dozen to a dozen DCPS and DCPC applicants for my Ivy every January-February as an alum volunteer.

I used to interview several Wilson students each application season, but got burned out a several years ago and asked not to be given anymore Wilson names. No Wilson student I interviewed got in, 10 or 11 years running (though other interviewers for my Ivy had better luck at Wilson). What caused me to burn out is that around half of the Wilson kids I interviewed would almost certainly have been in the running if they'd had better guidance counselors, much more face-to-face counseling, and tougher academics in DCPS all the way up. Nice, bright, hard-working kids, but generally not getting the help and advice they needed to reach for the stars.

Prefer to interview at Walls and BASIS (just one Feb of experience there), but not by much.

Another parent of Wilson senior here. It's the deal you make when you go to Wilson. We aren't paying for private school so we got an outside counselor junior year to help with the process. I will say though that a lot of my DC's experience was boosted by the cohort of friends. DC wanted to take all APs junior year. I was against it but let DC do it. If DC had not, DC would not be in the top 10% of the class. Much of it has to do with DCs peer group and the push to be at the top. FWIW, DC is not white.

We had a positive experience but you can't be on auto-pilot as a parent at Wilson - you have to stay on top of everything, build relationships with teachers and staff to make sure your kid is getting what they need.