2016 Best DC Metro Area High Schools

RANK HIGH SCHOOL AVERAGE SAT NATIONAL MERIT SEMI-FINALISTS PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR CANDIDATES NUMBER ATTENDING 15 TOP COLLEGES TYPE CITY STATE


1 Thomas Jefferson Magnet 1466 31.90% 5.61% 9.18% Magnet Alexandria VA
2 Montgomery Blair Magnet 1488 25.69% 4.51% Not reported Magnet Silver Spring MD
3 Sidwell Friends School 1400 13.76% 9.70% 14.40% Private Washington DC
4 National Cathedral School (NCS) 1399 9.92% 9.76% 15.79% Private Washington DC
5 St. Albans School 1350 13.30% 7.79% 14.21% Private Washington DC
6 Maret School 1373 4.74% 8.07% 10.42% Private Washington DC
7 Georgetown Day School 1343 7.34% 4.72% 9.54% Private Washington DC
8 St. Anselm's School 1351 8.09% 2.94% 5.22% Private Washington DC
9 Holton-Arms School 1351 9.18% 2.49% 7.09% Private Bethesda MD
10 Potomac School 1324 7.23% 1.20% 6.63% Private McLean VA
11 Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School 1295 4.92% 1.43% 5.55% Private Rockville MD
12 Washington International School (WIS) 1285 1.34% 1.43% 4.37% Private Washington DC
13 Stone Ridge School 1268 2.77% 1.27% 3.66% Private Bethesda MD
14 Landon School 1289 2.90% 0.61% 6.20% Private Bethesda MD
15 Georgetown Preparatory School 1292 2.27% 0.65% 4.70% Private Washington DC
16 Walt Whitman High School 1272 3.65% 0.53% Not reported Public Bethesda MD
17 Richard Montgomery High School 1190 6.22% 1.07% 4.45% Public Rockville MD
18 Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (Visi) 1254 2.51% 0.84% Not reported Private Washington DC
19 St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School 1254 2.27% 0.00% Not reported Private Alexandria VA
20 Winston Churchill High School 1107 1.93% 0.38% 4.30% Public Potomac MD

Why? Are people at VaTech utterly without class as well?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think BS is a lot more well rounded and diverse. I think also that it is easier for the kids because all the activities are right there. Also I imagine (but this is just a guess) that the college counseling at top boarding schools is better. It is just what they do - they have more resources to devote to it.

BS may do a better job with humanities but TJ does a better job with STEM and emphasizes writing all 4 years. TJ does a better job with clubs and activities (more than 160 clubs, activities and teams). TJ also is more diverse with kids from not only East Asian countries but from the middle east, South Asian countries, Europe, Africa, Caribbean countries, South America etc. and non-whites making up the majority. In addition, TJ provides more rigorous overall academic preparation for college and advanced equipment in various tech labs and research opportunities.

What I meant was, when you live on site it is easier to access the clubs and activities. I wonder how TJ compares to the North Carolina boarding magnet school for math and science? Or the North Texas boarding magnet school?

Comparing TJ to NCSSM is like comparing MIT to VaTech.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think BS is a lot more well rounded and diverse. I think also that it is easier for the kids because all the activities are right there. Also I imagine (but this is just a guess) that the college counseling at top boarding schools is better. It is just what they do - they have more resources to devote to it.

BS may do a better job with humanities but TJ does a better job with STEM and emphasizes writing all 4 years. TJ does a better job with clubs and activities (more than 160 clubs, activities and teams). TJ also is more diverse with kids from not only East Asian countries but from the middle east, South Asian countries, Europe, Africa, Caribbean countries, South America etc. and non-whites making up the majority. In addition, TJ provides more rigorous overall academic preparation for college and advanced equipment in various tech labs and research opportunities.

What I meant was, when you live on site it is easier to access the clubs and activities. I wonder how TJ compares to the North Carolina boarding magnet school for math and science? Or the North Texas boarding magnet school?

I'll answer the NC one, because I grew up there and had a friend who went. NC school of science and math is much, much less competitive and rigorous than TJ, and just not an attractive option for most NC parents. First, it is only junior and senior years, and lots of kids have no interest in switching schools then. Secondly, it's a boarding school (I believe it has added online offerings, but basically it's a boarding school). Without rehashing 20 pages of BS vs TJ debate, most upper class parents who want BS for their kids do not want a 2 year, STEM focused public BS. And most UMC parents do not want to send their kids to live away from home 2 years early. So, while the top notch NOVA students are likely to apply to TJ, I don't have any friends from my UMC, 2 parents with grad degrees and smart kids friend pool who are even considering it as an option. Where NCSSM may come into play is very rural NC, where bright kids have no other educational options (and by that I mean the only high school in 50 mike radius is GS 1-2 -- either because their parents can't afford private, or because there are no good privates. But the school draws from a much smaller, shallower talent pool. (My friend who went? First generation Asian from a poor immigrant family. Brilliant in math/CS, but hated it. He only went one year, and started college a year early. He says he would never, ever send his own kids).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think BS is a lot more well rounded and diverse. I think also that it is easier for the kids because all the activities are right there. Also I imagine (but this is just a guess) that the college counseling at top boarding schools is better. It is just what they do - they have more resources to devote to it.

BS may do a better job with humanities but TJ does a better job with STEM and emphasizes writing all 4 years. TJ does a better job with clubs and activities (more than 160 clubs, activities and teams). TJ also is more diverse with kids from not only East Asian countries but from the middle east, South Asian countries, Europe, Africa, Caribbean countries, South America etc. and non-whites making up the majority. In addition, TJ provides more rigorous overall academic preparation for college and advanced equipment in various tech labs and research opportunities.

What I meant was, when you live on site it is easier to access the clubs and activities. I wonder how TJ compares to the North Carolina boarding magnet school for math and science? Or the North Texas boarding magnet school?

Anonymous wrote:I think BS is a lot more well rounded and diverse. I think also that it is easier for the kids because all the activities are right there. Also I imagine (but this is just a guess) that the college counseling at top boarding schools is better. It is just what they do - they have more resources to devote to it.

BS may do a better job with humanities but TJ does a better job with STEM and emphasizes writing all 4 years. TJ does a better job with clubs and activities (more than 160 clubs, activities and teams). TJ also is more diverse with kids from not only East Asian countries but from the middle east, South Asian countries, Europe, Africa, Caribbean countries, South America etc. and non-whites making up the majority. In addition, TJ provides more rigorous overall academic preparation for college and advanced equipment in various tech labs and research opportunities.

I think BS is a lot more well rounded and diverse. I think also that it is easier for the kids because all the activities are right there. Also I imagine (but this is just a guess) that the college counseling at top boarding schools is better. It is just what they do - they have more resources to devote to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not the previous PP: TJ is a high performing school for sure but its college placement would not lead one to believe it is the highest performing school in the world or in America.

Over five years schools like Boston Latin placed 83 students at Harvard and Andover placed 41 over three years --- do note that those schools have high placement numbers at other elites colleges.

I think students get an excellent education at any of these schools but the TJ banter ignores the reality that some schools have better placement.

I am the PP. What everyone, including you and the boarding school advocates posting after you lost sight of, was the OP's question. Why would you choose TJ and why would you choose BS. I myself am a BS grad. However, the q is why choose, i.e. what can her kid get from each. This is not a comparison q. The answer from BS' ers (sorry for the acronym), is that you will increase your chances of ivy league (IF THAT MATTERS TO YOU). And the answer from the TJ'ers is that you will have a stem experience like no other and still have a shot at ivies or top colleges notwithstanding.

The reason it keeps going around it seems is because the BS' ers (and the TJ'ers?) are resistent/oblivous to the fact that both statements are true. It is not a binary question.

That's all folks!!

Way too harsh. When posting is standard practice on DCUM to assume that everybody has exactly the same objectives/interests as the poster, that the poster's kid is "smart," than any other kid who appears smarter is going to grow up into a social deviant, and that any other kid that appears less "smart" is a sad case. From this it almost always follows that the path chosen by the poster is the right path and that everyone should attempt to do the same. They are just trying to be helpful.

Can't believe this stupid thread is still going. Get a life people!

Anonymous wrote:Not the previous PP: TJ is a high performing school for sure but its college placement would not lead one to believe it is the highest performing school in the world or in America.

Over five years schools like Boston Latin placed 83 students at Harvard and Andover placed 41 over three years --- do note that those schools have high placement numbers at other elites colleges.

I think students get an excellent education at any of these schools but the TJ banter ignores the reality that some schools have better placement.

I am the PP. What everyone, including you and the boarding school advocates posting after you lost sight of, was the OP's question. Why would you choose TJ and why would you choose BS. I myself am a BS grad. However, the q is why choose, i.e. what can her kid get from each. This is not a comparison q. The answer from BS' ers (sorry for the acronym), is that you will increase your chances of ivy league (IF THAT MATTERS TO YOU). And the answer from the TJ'ers is that you will have a stem experience like no other and still have a shot at ivies or top colleges notwithstanding.

The reason it keeps going around it seems is because the BS' ers (and the TJ'ers?) are resistent/oblivous to the fact that both statements are true. It is not a binary question.

That's all folks!!

Anonymous wrote:Top boarding school and TJ are so different that it is actually tough to compare them. The ONLY thing they have in common is the students are age 14-18 or so, and they apply to colleges. Other than that. there is a world of difference.

True and the only folks who seem to think they should be compared are the TJ boosters. Its sad really.

Top boarding school and TJ are so different that it is actually tough to compare them. The ONLY thing they have in common is the students are age 14-18 or so, and they apply to colleges. Other than that. there is a world of difference.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the numbers are not on par with magnets/privates in NY, MA ect

Not true. TJ has the best top college acceptances along with few elite BS nad public magnets.

Np, the TJ numbers are not particularly impressive given the large size of the class.

Based on the last 5 years, TJ has the most or one of the most acceptances to MIT (10- 17), Princeton (9 - 16), Stanford (10-14), Cornell (12-29), Michigan (14-28), Duke (9- 16), Berkeley (16 - 24), Yale (7 - 11) etc.

Common TJ boosters. I hold you to a higher standard analytically than this. The PP was referring to percentage of class and not absolute numbers. Try again.

If you are too dumb to do that in your head, you do not need to worry it with admissions to top colleges. go back to your grocery bagging -- break is over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP If your statement was true TJ would have higher acceptance numbers at elite schools. The elite school numbers for TJ are lower than other elite magnets and privates.

TJ Class of 2016 has students going to Harvard (6), MIT (13), Williams (1), Caltech (3), Harvey Mudd (1), Stanford (7), Berkeley (12), Chicago (13), Michigan (11), Brown (3), USAF (1), USCG (1), Carnegie Mellon (23), Penn (7), Yale (7), Dartmouth (4), Georgia Tech (6), Duke (8), Columbia (9), Cornell (8), Princeton (6), Olin (2), Wellesley (1), Swarthmore (3), Georgetown (5), Vanderbilt (3), Washington U. (2), Purdue (8), Rose-Hulman (2), Rennslauer (6), Rochester Tech (4). That is about 40% of the class of something like 457.

Another 1/3 go to UVA (81), W&M (32), or VA Tech (35).

Others go to places like NYU, UCLA, IU, Notre Dame, Colby, Bowdoin, VCU (6), JMU (3), George Mason (11), U of Colorado, Reed, Oregon State, Miami, USC, schools abroad, Richmond, Case Western, Penn State, GW, Syracuse, Rutgers.

What elite schools are missing?

The point is that the students who get into TJ would be in the top 5% of their high schools if they went to their neighborhood school. The top 5% of any high school in this area with similar demographics would do just as well.

Except they don't. But don't let facts get in your way.

Anonymous wrote:Not the previous PP: TJ is a high performing school for sure but its college placement would not lead one to believe it is the highest performing school in the world or in America.

Over five years schools like Boston Latin placed 83 students at Harvard and Andover placed 41 over three years --- do note that those schools have high placement numbers at other elites colleges.

I think students get an excellent education at any of these schools but the TJ banter ignores the reality that some schools have better placement.

You are only looking at Harvard. You should look at top 25 schools. Some 90 percent of TJ grads enroll at top 25 schools.