Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the logic for avoiding Ws if you’re confident your child will achieve and college outcomes are your long game. But there’s something to be said for the benefits of a higher achieving cohort that is generally engaged, academically inclined, and invested in education. I’d love for my kid to attend a great college. But more than that I’d like a high school experience that looks like what someone gets at Wootton or Churchill and I am happy to play the college games that come with it. The choice, if you are lucky enough to have one, is not attend DCPS or private and go to an Ivy or attend Wootton and go to Towson. Thats way overly simplified and reflects status panic…not really in a teen’s holistic best interest if you ask me.

I agree with this completely. We are a Wootton family who like many in the area could afford private but chose against it. Experience the true high school life in a large tough environment. Feel what it feels like to not be the smartest most high achieving but yet not the kid who is vaping in the bathroom or involved in a fight. These are all life lessons that those scooting away to private school will not be able to have. I know many will kill me for saying this but I am glad my kids are seeing the real world and not in a private school.

Private school kids vape lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the logic for avoiding Ws if you’re confident your child will achieve and college outcomes are your long game. But there’s something to be said for the benefits of a higher achieving cohort that is generally engaged, academically inclined, and invested in education. I’d love for my kid to attend a great college. But more than that I’d like a high school experience that looks like what someone gets at Wootton or Churchill and I am happy to play the college games that come with it. The choice, if you are lucky enough to have one, is not attend DCPS or private and go to an Ivy or attend Wootton and go to Towson. Thats way overly simplified and reflects status panic…not really in a teen’s holistic best interest if you ask me.

I agree with this completely. We are a Wootton family who like many in the area could afford private but chose against it. Experience the true high school life in a large tough environment. Feel what it feels like to not be the smartest most high achieving but yet not the kid who is vaping in the bathroom or involved in a fight. These are all life lessons that those scooting away to private school will not be able to have. I know many will kill me for saying this but I am glad my kids are seeing the real world and not in a private school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SAT, AP, EC.

National Merit Semifinalist. AP Scholars.

300 have 4.0 weighted, not unweighted. Huge difference.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/high-schools/r-w/woottonhs/uploadedfiles/counseling/school_profile__wootton_high_2017-2018.pdf

Yeah. My daughter had a 4.4 something and wasn’t in the top 30% of her class. Grade inflation is insane.

Anonymous wrote:It’s literally cut and paste, students who excel in math, take a million AP classes, play violin, piano, etc. Doesn’t it hurt to be part of a class like this? Won’t colleges just look at your impressive profile and say - oh geez another one? Wouldn’t it be better to go to a lower ranked high school and excel there so your profile is unique?

I don’t get it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats why you are better off at a non-w school which is why those who are at W schools don't realize some of us purposely avoid them.

This now makes sense.

Our babysitters who are graduating from Einstein have all confirmed this. They're getting into UMD etc. when their friends at WJ down the street, who have the same stats, aren't.

And yet hundreds at WJ get into UMD every year. Yes it is getting harder but it isn’t impossible

I think what the PP is saying is that the same stat kid from Einstein can get into UMD but not from WJ. That's possible since WJ has a lot more higher achieving kids than Einstein, and UMD is not going to accept 90% of WJ students.

It's the "big fish little pond" scenario.

But, I would take it further. If you really want a higher chance for your kid to get into UMD, don't live in MoCo. As a UMD admissions rep stated, "This is not the University of Montgomery County". They could fill the entire college with MoCo kids using stats alone. You're better of living in a different county than MoCo.

Great point but I don’t think Asian families will ever leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats why you are better off at a non-w school which is why those who are at W schools don't realize some of us purposely avoid them.

This now makes sense.

Our babysitters who are graduating from Einstein have all confirmed this. They're getting into UMD etc. when their friends at WJ down the street, who have the same stats, aren't.

And yet hundreds at WJ get into UMD every year. Yes it is getting harder but it isn’t impossible

I think what the PP is saying is that the same stat kid from Einstein can get into UMD but not from WJ. That's possible since WJ has a lot more higher achieving kids than Einstein, and UMD is not going to accept 90% of WJ students.

It's the "big fish little pond" scenario.

But, I would take it further. If you really want a higher chance for your kid to get into UMD, don't live in MoCo. As a UMD admissions rep stated, "This is not the University of Montgomery County". They could fill the entire college with MoCo kids using stats alone. You're better of living in a different county than MoCo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats why you are better off at a non-w school which is why those who are at W schools don't realize some of us purposely avoid them.

This now makes sense.

Our babysitters who are graduating from Einstein have all confirmed this. They're getting into UMD etc. when their friends at WJ down the street, who have the same stats, aren't.

And yet hundreds at WJ get into UMD every year. Yes it is getting harder but it isn’t impossible

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats why you are better off at a non-w school which is why those who are at W schools don't realize some of us purposely avoid them.

This now makes sense.

Our babysitters who are graduating from Einstein have all confirmed this. They're getting into UMD etc. when their friends at WJ down the street, who have the same stats, aren't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats why you are better off at a non-w school which is why those who are at W schools don't realize some of us purposely avoid them.

This now makes sense.

Our babysitters who are graduating from Einstein have all confirmed this. They're getting into UMD etc. when their friends at WJ down the street, who have the same stats, aren't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the logic for avoiding Ws if you’re confident your child will achieve and college outcomes are your long game. But there’s something to be said for the benefits of a higher achieving cohort that is generally engaged, academically inclined, and invested in education. I’d love for my kid to attend a great college. But more than that I’d like a high school experience that looks like what someone gets at Wootton or Churchill and I am happy to play the college games that come with it. The choice, if you are lucky enough to have one, is not attend DCPS or private and go to an Ivy or attend Wootton and go to Towson. Thats way overly simplified and reflects status panic…not really in a teen’s holistic best interest if you ask me.

I agree with this completely. We are a Wootton family who like many in the area could afford private but chose against it. Experience the true high school life in a large tough environment. Feel what it feels like to not be the smartest most high achieving but yet not the kid who is vaping in the bathroom or involved in a fight. These are all life lessons that those scooting away to private school will not be able to have. I know many will kill me for saying this but I am glad my kids are seeing the real world and not in a private school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats why you are better off at a non-w school which is why those who are at W schools don't realize some of us purposely avoid them.

This now makes sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is confirmation to me that private schools are the way to go. We live in a W school district but chose private for both of our kids. The outcomes were extremely good and probably would have been very different had our kids attended public school. Both kids attended strong Catholic high schools that had students at diverse academic levels. Both kids were stand outs in their schools and were admitted to top 20 schools. It is better to have less competition by the numbers in a school that is well respected by college admissions officers vs. being one of many in a sea of strong academic achievers.

So essentially you’re afraid of the competition.

No. Clearly Asian parents aren’t and they are all scrambling for admission to state schools. No sense in having to compete to be at the top of the class and actually do so all to battle it out with a bunch of Asians whose sole goal is to go to UMD on the cheap. That kind of effort should result in much better prestige and reward. At certain private schools, kids are better positioned to land in T20 schools and they do get in if they have the grades. That’s not guaranteed at Wootton. I think Wootton will eventually become 80% Asian or higher once people realize they are killing themselves to up UMD spots and not more prestigious universities.

You will pay all that money to avoid competing with "those Asians" and your children will still be less successful, because you just don't get it.

It's not avoiding competing with them. It's avoiding the dismal results for extraordinarily hard work. If I told you you could work an 80 hour week and live in a two bedroom house in the hood or work a 40 hour week and live in a beautiful row house in Georgetown, which would you choose - to bust your a$$ for mediocre results or work hard and see the fruits of your efforts? It literally makes no sense. My parents pay for my kids to attend a private high school and you should see our college admissions results - extremely impressive and I can say firsthand that the kids had a well rounded high school experience.