So interesting about Holton for middle and upper school as the lower school was a very different experience. My daughter is applying for 6th, which is still lower school there, and she hasn't ever been able to be in the building while classes are going on. She has also never really had a conversation with any of the adults from the school. She went to an open house where there were 6 girls on a "panel" to answer questions and then we could wander around the school as we wished. She may have seen only half of the place, because I couldn't remember all of the ins and outs from my interview with the admissions person a month before that. Then she went to applicant visiting day, which was only for applicants. The current students had the day off. I'm sure it was very helpful for the admin team to see how my daughter worked with other girls, but for my daughter it was very stressful. She had to write an essay, then do projects with other applicants while the admins, teachers and admissions team walked around observing them. Stressful! I'm hoping that there will be an option to have an actual shadow day if she is admitted, as right now she doesn't have very warm and fuzzy feelings about the place.

Anonymous wrote:Madeira: Pros: admissions staff very nice and professional; really worked hard to make my daughter and me feel welcome. Cons: they were urging people to ask questions by Twitter during the open house and displaying the tweets on a giant screen, which felt gimmicky (and distracting). Also, they sent my DD off to shadow classes that didn't really make much sense for her (E.g., French, though she takes Spanish, etc.).

Field: Pros: Open House well done and very informative. Cons: I actually thought the interviewer was a high school senior until she told us what subjects she taught. After introducing herself she spoke only to my daughter, never to me; while I understand and appreciate that they want to hear from the kids, not just the parents, she literally acted as if I was not present, which just felt awkward. If they want to hear from kids, why not just have a separate interview with the kid? Also, interviewer seemed unable to pause long enough to give my very shy DD a chance to speak: she'd ask a question, then if DD did not respond instantly she would rush to fill the silence with her own commentary. It felt pointless, and I felt irritated: it was very poor interviewing technique by an obviously very inexperienced interviewer. Made me feel significantly less enthusiastic about Field.

We had a similar experience with the Field interview which also turned us off.

Anonymous wrote:Great experience at Holton. They were having a sports-related speaker who was doing an evening presentation at the school so they hosted a dinner beforehand for perspective students and parents who were athletes applying to middle and high school. They had all of their coaches attend and had tables for different sports so your child could have dinner with the coach and start to develop a relationship. DD plays two sports and she had one coach at the table and the other one come by to chat too. It was really well done!

We liked the process overall too. They had multiple girls host DD on visit day so she could meet girls in her sport and see classes that she wanted to take that her original host didn't attend. It was very customized and we appreciated the attention to detail.

That does sound cool. No horse in this race but like that idea.

Great experience at Holton. They were having a sports-related speaker who was doing an evening presentation at the school so they hosted a dinner beforehand for perspective students and parents who were athletes applying to middle and high school. They had all of their coaches attend and had tables for different sports so your child could have dinner with the coach and start to develop a relationship. DD plays two sports and she had one coach at the table and the other one come by to chat too. It was really well done!

We liked the process overall too. They had multiple girls host DD on visit day so she could meet girls in her sport and see classes that she wanted to take that her original host didn't attend. It was very customized and we appreciated the attention to detail.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Landon: the MS admissions director didn't know anything about the school. Couldn't answer our questions except those about sports. Disappointing.

+1 shadow day was good. Parent tour with our guide was not

Did you tour with an administrator or someone else? We toured with admin and had great experience.

Anonymous wrote:I totally disagree about the PP view of Landon.

I guess it is in the eye of the beholder as the a-hole above pointed out.

We loved Landon! We couldn't have been happier about the whole process. They were extremely informative, answered every and all questions.

Same with us. Perfect balance with kid/adult interview, knowledgeable, friendly, responsive...

Lowell: Parent art project felt like busy work. Time could have been much better used by having members of the PTA come in to answer additional questions. This gives an opportunity to ask some of the stuff that parents often think is way too basic to ask admissions staff about...carpool, commutes, quality of lunches, ways to help out at the school, how parents connect for playdates, etc...

GEDS: Very nice personal touches--visiting kids are given certificates for their visit and their names are put on the board in the hall welcoming them for their visit. Students and teachers greeted us as we passed. So endearing!

Alexandria Country Day: HOS, HLS, and teachers were warm and persuasive. They presented one face of the school. The admissions director presented something very different. When asked during our parent interview to identify a "weakness," we did. Her response,"well, she's just going to have to get over that."

We tried to ignore our parent interview and focus on our other positive interactions. In the end, we just couldn't ignore that the disciplinary philosophy and approach the AD presented during our interview (not just based the one comment, but other things she said) was jarring. It seemed out of sync with what was presented by the HOS and HLS, and created some doubts about what day-to-day life at the school would be like for a child. We decided we didn't want to risk it, and went with a school where we got consistent impressions from everyone at the school, and we just picked up the vibe that it was a wonderful, happy place for kids. I'm so glad we went with our gut. We've been very happy where we ended up.

However, I really liked Scott Baytosh and Melissa Davis of ACDS, who seem to pour their heart and soul into their work. I wondered if they know how the AD undermined the warm, caring impression they deliver. Interacting with them, I got the sense that ACDS is a school where they putting the kids' needs first. Interacting with the AD, I got the impression that it was about the convenience of the teachers and staff. She came across as a traditional disciplinarian, I,e kids should know their place. Not what we want per for our children.

A couple of my friends had a similar experience with ACDS' AD, ultimately deciding to attend other schools.

Anonymous wrote:GDS. Looked at the lower school. Admissions staff came off as self-righteous and smug. I'm very lefty by any standards but I found the self-satisfied PC vibe incredibly off-putting. Withdrew my kid's application.

+100

yes, the attitude over there is adolescent

Waldorf. Liked the Ad very much. Didn't like being told without our prompting or enquiring, that several great families were also applying for the available spots we were interested in putting our kids in! A kind of reverse hard sell. Put me off and seemed untrue when we had our teacher interview (they had not conferred).

Norwood. Found the admissions process chaotic. The ad out of her depth, and very much doing the hard sell. Was astonished to find she graduated from an Ivy as she seemed like a well meaning idiot.

Anonymous wrote:Landon: the MS admissions director didn't know anything about the school. Couldn't answer our questions except those about sports. Disappointing.

+1 shadow day was good. Parent tour with our guide was not

Feedback to admissions offices: Please be open to scheduling playdates and parent interviews on the same days. I know this is tough for larger schools, but the effort would be greatly appreciated by parents who work the types of jobs that have less flexibility. Non salaried, lower HHI families in particular have a tougher time to getting so much time off multiple days in a row.

Anonymous wrote:St Andrews: really liked the process. Admissions staff seemed welcoming and genuinely interested in DC; conversations and interviews were not rushed, and it felt like the admissions staff were truly interested in hearing about and from DC. Head of school came by to say hello informally as we and other families waited for the interviews to start. Everyone was warm. Everyone was responsive to emails, which I really appreciated.

+10000

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Ironically, "smug", "self-righteous", "awful attitude", and "incredibly off putting" are some of the same phrases I'd use to describe the PP who posted 18:25-18:34. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.

It is indeed in the eye of the beholder. But this is a thread about personal experiences with admissions offices, so how about adding your experiences with the admissions process, if you have any, rather than trashing other posters? If you had personal experiences with the schools they mention and came away with different views, I'm sure readers would find that much more helpful than a post about other posters.

My problem with your posts is that they are not constructive at all. OP asked for constructive criticism and suggestions for how schools can improve. Your responses are vague and subjective complaints, which don't help anyone. Offer more specific and constructive criticism; make specific suggestions for how schools can change their approach. If all you have is complaints about what you thought was a smug attitude, and thinly veiled brags about how your "gifted" child is "thriving," you're not adding anything useful to the discussion.

Ummm... as one of the posters you don't like - not the one with the gifted child - please realize that these posts are by different people, not by a single poster as you seem to assume. And, you know, if you want more details you could just ask nicely.... happy to provide it, to the extent that I can do so without offering up personally identifiable information.

Please identify which posts are yours.

For goodness' sake.

Since you singled out two posts for criticism, only one of which referred to a "gifted child," process of elimination ought to give you your answer. Regardless, why on earth do you care?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, "smug", "self-righteous", "awful attitude", and "incredibly off putting" are some of the same phrases I'd use to describe the PP who posted 18:25-18:34. I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.

It is indeed in the eye of the beholder. But this is a thread about personal experiences with admissions offices, so how about adding your experiences with the admissions process, if you have any, rather than trashing other posters? If you had personal experiences with the schools they mention and came away with different views, I'm sure readers would find that much more helpful than a post about other posters.

My problem with your posts is that they are not constructive at all. OP asked for constructive criticism and suggestions for how schools can improve. Your responses are vague and subjective complaints, which don't help anyone. Offer more specific and constructive criticism; make specific suggestions for how schools can change their approach. If all you have is complaints about what you thought was a smug attitude, and thinly veiled brags about how your "gifted" child is "thriving," you're not adding anything useful to the discussion.

Ummm... as one of the posters you don't like - not the one with the gifted child - please realize that these posts are by different people, not by a single poster as you seem to assume. And, you know, if you want more details you could just ask nicely.... happy to provide it, to the extent that I can do so without offering up personally identifiable information.

Please identify which posts are yours.