Anonymous wrote:Helpful discussion as I'm deciding whether to send DS to public or private HS.

My nephews both graduated from JR in recent years and both were accepted at EVERY top state school they applied to (UCLA, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin...). Several of their friends were accepted at ivies, no hooks (all UMCs not URMs). In addition to high GPAs (many AP classes) and solid test scores, my nephews joined non-competitive athletics -- crew, track, and football (bencher) -- and participated in after school activities like newspaper and yearbook all 4 years. They both think their extracurriculars put them over the top.

But across the river in NoVA, my friends' kids with over-4.0 GPAs, high test scores, athletics and extracurriculars did not fare so well when applying to VA and MD state schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we at a point where we need to seriously consider whether NCS deserves to be Big 3? Maybe it’s time for it to drop a few rungs and make way for the schools that are rising in prestige. Maybe replace it with Basis McLean?

Absolutely. You should get right on that. Please compile a ranking in prestige from 1-20 and present it to the forum so it can be fully debated and voted.

Mkay, how’s this:

1 Sidwell
2 BIM
3 STA
4 GDS
5 Holton
6 NCS
7 Maret
8 St Anselms
9 Georgetown Prep
10 Potomac School
11 Madeira
12 WIS
13 Landon
14 Episcopal
15 SAES
16 Stone Ridge
17 Bullis
18 Visi
19 Gonzaga
20 St John’s

What’s BIM?

Yes, what is BIM???

It’s the new Big 3 school according to Niche rankings (not DCUM). See related thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we at a point where we need to seriously consider whether NCS deserves to be Big 3? Maybe it’s time for it to drop a few rungs and make way for the schools that are rising in prestige. Maybe replace it with Basis McLean?

Absolutely. You should get right on that. Please compile a ranking in prestige from 1-20 and present it to the forum so it can be fully debated and voted.

Mkay, how’s this:

1 Sidwell
2 BIM
3 STA
4 GDS
5 Holton
6 NCS
7 Maret
8 St Anselms
9 Georgetown Prep
10 Potomac School
11 Madeira
12 WIS
13 Landon
14 Episcopal
15 SAES
16 Stone Ridge
17 Bullis
18 Visi
19 Gonzaga
20 St John’s

What’s BIM?

Yes, what is BIM???

Anonymous wrote:the big three in OP's post is not sidwell. the seniors this year did very well with ED/EA, I think at least 10 into ivies

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Anonymous wrote:

Is cum laude strictly gpa? My daughter (lower class man) seems to think it can be more "subjective”

Not “subjective” in that it IS based on GPA. But somewhat subjective as GPA used is not the same one colleges see on the HS transcript nor the one used to determine Flag Winner/Valedictorian.

Flag/Valedictorian = Highest GPA for courses taken at NCS/STA during Junior and Senior year
Cum Laude = Highest 20% GPA for courses taken at NCS/STA and some off campus courses during Sophomore and Junior year and 1st semester Senior year
GPA on transcript used for College Applications = GPA for courses taken at NCS/STA during Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior year. Senior year 1st quarter grades are provided. 1st and 2nd semester senior grades are sent at end of each term around late Jan and early June.

Does it take into account course rigor? In my daughter's grade there are girls in 7 different levels of math. (Each representing a step up in difficulty and the higher you get, the scarcer the As)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Helpful discussion as I'm deciding whether to send DS to public or private HS.

My nephews both graduated from JR in recent years and both were accepted at EVERY top state school they applied to (UCLA, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin...). Several of their friends were accepted at ivies, no hooks (all UMCs not URMs). In addition to high GPAs (many AP classes) and solid test scores, my nephews joined non-competitive athletics -- crew, track, and football (bencher) -- and participated in after school activities like newspaper and yearbook all 4 years. They both think their extracurriculars put them over the top.

But across the river in NoVA, my friends' kids with over-4.0 GPAs, high test scores, athletics and extracurriculars did not fare so well when applying to VA and MD state schools.

What the hell is JR?

Anonymous wrote:Helpful discussion as I'm deciding whether to send DS to public or private HS.

My nephews both graduated from JR in recent years and both were accepted at EVERY top state school they applied to (UCLA, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin...). Several of their friends were accepted at ivies, no hooks (all UMCs not URMs). In addition to high GPAs (many AP classes) and solid test scores, my nephews joined non-competitive athletics -- crew, track, and football (bencher) -- and participated in after school activities like newspaper and yearbook all 4 years. They both think their extracurriculars put them over the top.

But across the river in NoVA, my friends' kids with over-4.0 GPAs, high test scores, athletics and extracurriculars did not fare so well when applying to VA and MD state schools.

Anonymous wrote:Helpful discussion as I'm deciding whether to send DS to public or private HS.

My nephews both graduated from JR in recent years and both were accepted at EVERY top state school they applied to (UCLA, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin...). Several of their friends were accepted at ivies, no hooks (all UMCs not URMs). In addition to high GPAs (many AP classes) and solid test scores, my nephews joined non-competitive athletics -- crew, track, and football (bencher) -- and participated in after school activities like newspaper and yearbook all 4 years. They both think their extracurriculars put them over the top.

But across the river in NoVA, my friends' kids with over-4.0 GPAs, high test scores, athletics and extracurriculars did not fare so well when applying to VA and MD state schools.

Anonymous wrote:Helpful discussion as I'm deciding whether to send DS to public or private HS.

My nephews both graduated from JR in recent years and both were accepted at EVERY top state school they applied to (UCLA, UNC, Michigan, Wisconsin...). Several of their friends were accepted at ivies, no hooks (all UMCs not URMs). In addition to high GPAs (many AP classes) and solid test scores, my nephews joined non-competitive athletics -- crew, track, and football (bencher) -- and participated in after school activities like newspaper and yearbook all 4 years. They both think their extracurriculars put them over the top.

But across the river in NoVA, my friends' kids with over-4.0 GPAs, high test scores, athletics and extracurriculars did not fare so well when applying to VA and MD state schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NCS girls are well prepared to achieve success.
SLACs love NCS students. It is silly to get fixated on the ivy’s.
My daughter went to Colby after NCS and had a great experience

My NCS daughter doesn’t want a SLAC at all. This has turned out to be a problem. Despite what people on this thread claim, the big universities with 50,000 applicants don’t have time to figure out what a 3.2 GPA means at a rigorous school with no weighting, etc. They seem to have a GPA cut off. The high test scores NCS girls have used to help in this situation, but they aren’t given much weight these days. Some big universities used to routinely admit NCS girls with lower end GPAs (Wisconsin, Indiana, Georgia) but this has seemed to change in the last few admissions cycles since going TO.

Anonymous wrote:NCS girls are well prepared to achieve success.
SLACs love NCS students. It is silly to get fixated on the ivy’s.
My daughter went to Colby after NCS and had a great experience

Anonymous wrote:NCS girls are well prepared to achieve success.
SLACs love NCS students. It is silly to get fixated on the ivy’s.
My daughter went to Colby after NCS and had a great experience