Anonymous wrote:I love the way people here on DCUM dump on all of the top-10 schools to scare others away from applying. Laugh.

Yep. A little peace after the admission cycle and here they come again - after NCS and Potomac. I was almost scared away, doodled my part of the application 20 minutes before the deadline and barely got in.

I love the way people here on DCUM dump on all of the top-10 schools to scare others away from applying. Laugh.

Potomac blows!!

Back to the PP's question, stay away from Potomac. The consensus is a very mixed bag. Some families love it, but some find it unhappy, both socially and academically. The key factor for you is financial. If it will put you under financial strain, it is not worth the risk that your child will be one of the ones who is unhappy. I can't imagine the stress that would put your family under. It's just not worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Potomac is a wannabe school full with insecure parents.

Sorry your kid didn’t get in…

thanks for proving my point - you don't sound like a very secure, pleasant parent to be around

All PEOPLE should be KIND. I hope POTOMAC remembers that.

Siri, define kindness.

Not defending anyone here, but curious to know what people mean by unkindness. I think there are different ideas of what would be considered normal, typical etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of three at Potomac and we love it. The truth is that the bus system is great and it does mean that kids aren’t flaunting their cars. But more importantly, it truly is a kind and generous school. We haven’t known any families who are on the unhappy spend of the continuum. It’s a joyous place, especially in the first three divisions.

Then you are not talking to other parents. Go to an US parent forum and report back here about how joyous everyone is. They're universally miserable.

Agreed. And it’s not isolated to the US. Plenty of unkindness in the other 3 divisions, including bullying and administrators and counselors who turn a blind eye.

Anonymous wrote:Potomac is a wannabe school full with insecure parents.

Sorry your kid didn’t get in…

Potomac is a wannabe school full with insecure parents.

Potomac seems like a facade. They definitely have the best campus amongst the private schools but I don’t think they are very strong academically. Their college placement this year is not very impressive. We toured the school and also got the impression that it caters to extremely wealthy kids who are also very athletic. Not sure about the school culture but I’ve heard from some families that there are a lot of cliques and if your child is more reserved, it’s hard finding good friends.

Anonymous wrote:For context, we make between 700 K and 1 M each year and felt poor at this school, which is crazy when you think about the overall wealth distribution in the country.

We have 2 kids at the school.

We make 3mil/year and feel maybe in the top 30percent of earners there. But many wealthier families there that make use “look” poor…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of three at Potomac and we love it. The truth is that the bus system is great and it does mean that kids aren’t flaunting their cars. But more importantly, it truly is a kind and generous school. We haven’t known any families who are on the unhappy spend of the continuum. It’s a joyous place, especially in the first three divisions.

laying it on a little bit too thick?

Sorry if that’s not your family’s experience at whatever school your kids attend. It happens to be ours at Potomac. We have no complaints and our kids love it. Every day? Of course not. But we all feel a lot of joy being a part of the community.

I feel for the kids with parents putting so much pressure on them to attend these crazy wealth schools. The amount of homework given every day combined with the forced commitment to a demanding sport team is unhealthy for the kids.
Please let the kids be happy.