Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least one kid applying to Brown was top 5 percent of the class and deferred. Friends were very surprised.

Agree. At least one of my DC's good friends took most challenge courses (both math and science) and get almost all As got deferred.

What race were all these deferred kids?

Anonymous wrote:Prior parent here who was there during the college counselor upheaval a few years ago. SFS does not tell any senior that an Ivy League school is a target school.There are a handful of students who have unrealistic expectations despite being told repeatedly in meetings, emails, and 1:1 appointments that elite schools (<20% acceptance) are considered a reach for any SFS student.

My DC took the most challenging curriculum and had fantastic grades, top test scores, APs etc. The college counselors individualize safety/target/reach schools and did not offer false hope. If anything they undershot the list for my child. They cannot force families to abide with their advice but do require the kids to apply to a few safety schools to avoid a complete shutout.

Can you share your DC's GPA, test scores, and where DC were accepted? TIA

Anonymous wrote:I went to Exeter in the 90s and despite having all As, was dissuaded from applying to too many Ivy and reach schools. My college counselor was clear that i wouldn't get in. But i wasnt not allowed to apply. I still applied wherever I wanted. My older brother had gone from an average public school to Stanford, but he had perfect SATs, and was a national merit seni finalist. I had good grades but didnt take the most challenging (stem) courses, wasnt an athlete or standout campus leader. I came from a barely upper middle class Asian family. I got waitlisted at Brown, but in at Penn, Michigan, Berkeley… i chose another school that was more exciting to me that was not as elite— nyu, where I was a merit scholar in the business school. Had fun, but ended up transferring my sophomore year.

Anyway, my kids now go to DCPS and wont likely go to private for high school. I actually wish we could afford it because it’s an excellent education. But it is no guarantee of acceptance by an ultra elite college.

So, your Exeter college counselor was clearly wrong. You got into Penn.

I went to Exeter in the 90s and despite having all As, was dissuaded from applying to too many Ivy and reach schools. My college counselor was clear that i wouldn't get in. But i wasnt not allowed to apply. I still applied wherever I wanted. My older brother had gone from an average public school to Stanford, but he had perfect SATs, and was a national merit seni finalist. I had good grades but didnt take the most challenging (stem) courses, wasnt an athlete or standout campus leader. I came from a barely upper middle class Asian family. I got waitlisted at Brown, but in at Penn, Michigan, Berkeley… i chose another school that was more exciting to me that was not as elite— nyu, where I was a merit scholar in the business school. Had fun, but ended up transferring my sophomore year.

Anyway, my kids now go to DCPS and wont likely go to private for high school. I actually wish we could afford it because it’s an excellent education. But it is no guarantee of acceptance by an ultra elite college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In DC’s immediate circle, all got their first choice schools in EA. My sense is that it’s going well but how would we know at this point. It’s all anecdotal.

I will say without question that Sidwell (6th through 12) gave my kid an amazing education and foundation. And helped my kid mature into a decent, thinking human.

Congratulations to you. Unfortunately in my DC's immediate circle students who took most difficult math and science courses, most are deferred or rejected. Most of the students who got in EA are either URM or big connection.

+1. And you state the true reality. The DMV has a ton of well qualified kids applying to the top schools. So being URM or connected gives the boost in where Others are flat out rejected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least one kid applying to Brown was top 5 percent of the class and deferred. Friends were very surprised.

Agree. At least one of my DC's good friends took most challenge courses (both math and science) and get almost all As got deferred.

Brown is extremely difficult to access. There are thousands of kids applying that are top 5 percent of class. They cannot admit them all.

Anyone who expects entry to Brown's tier of school, no matter which HS, is arrogant and foolish. Times have changed.

Prior parent here who was there during the college counselor upheaval a few years ago. SFS does not tell any senior that an Ivy League school is a target school.There are a handful of students who have unrealistic expectations despite being told repeatedly in meetings, emails, and 1:1 appointments that elite schools (<20% acceptance) are considered a reach for any SFS student.

My DC took the most challenging curriculum and had fantastic grades, top test scores, APs etc. The college counselors individualize safety/target/reach schools and did not offer false hope. If anything they undershot the list for my child. They cannot force families to abide with their advice but do require the kids to apply to a few safety schools to avoid a complete shutout.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least one kid applying to Brown was top 5 percent of the class and deferred. Friends were very surprised.

Agree. At least one of my DC's good friends took most challenge courses (both math and science) and get almost all As got deferred.

Brown is extremely difficult to access. There are thousands of kids applying that are top 5 percent of class. They cannot admit them all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least one kid applying to Brown was top 5 percent of the class and deferred. Friends were very surprised.

What's the rough GPA of the top 5 percent of the class at Sidwell?

Depending which courses you take. If you take regular math/science, GPA 3.8 is not uncommon.

Not true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least one kid applying to Brown was top 5 percent of the class and deferred. Friends were very surprised.

What's the rough GPA of the top 5 percent of the class at Sidwell?

Depending which courses you take. If you take regular math/science, GPA 3.8 is not uncommon.

Anonymous wrote:At least one kid applying to Brown was top 5 percent of the class and deferred. Friends were very surprised.

Agree. At least one of my DC's good friends took most challenge courses (both math and science) and get almost all As got deferred.

Anonymous wrote:Not Sidwell, but know a kid with a 4.0 u/w GPA in most rigorous classes (no APs offered at school) 36 across the board ACT, 5 800 SAT subject tests, NMSF, Presidential Scholar nominee, published research, varsity captain, outstanding ECs...and deferred at the school getting a lot of coverage here. Nicest kid, very socially engaged. Three other kids admitted - also great kids, though none were legacy nor with these highest stats. Even the school was shocked.

What school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened with Brown? Why a washout?

An oversized number of kids applied ED and none were admitted and several were rejected outright.

Seems like Brown is sending a message to the Sidwell - you're letting too many apply.

I heard that something like 15 kids from Sidwell applied early to Brown. There's no way that all 15 were in the top 20% of the class (or whatever a reasonable cut-off for an Ivy acceptance is).
So basically you had a lot of kids/parents with inflated sense of their own desirability and Brown responded by cancelling out the entire group.
Sidwell should really limit where kids can apply (like Andover and Exeter do) if this is what happens.

Yes, it was 0 for 15 I heard.

Sidwell provides very little information for kids/parents to know where they fall in the class. It is much more a lack of information and context than an inflated sense of desirability. And on top of that there is very little advising from the counseling office that might dispense a dose of reality.

To my knowledge even more than 15

Anonymous wrote:In DC’s immediate circle, all got their first choice schools in EA. My sense is that it’s going well but how would we know at this point. It’s all anecdotal.

I will say without question that Sidwell (6th through 12) gave my kid an amazing education and foundation. And helped my kid mature into a decent, thinking human.

Congratulations to you. Unfortunately in my DC's immediate circle students who took most difficult math and science courses, most are deferred or rejected. Most of the students who got in EA are either URM or big connection.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Sidwell, but know a kid with a 4.0 u/w GPA in most rigorous classes (no APs offered at school) 36 across the board ACT, 5 800 SAT subject tests, NMSF, Presidential Scholar nominee, published research, varsity captain, outstanding ECs...and deferred at the school getting a lot of coverage here. Nicest kid, very socially engaged. Three other kids admitted - also great kids, though none were legacy nor with these highest stats. Even the school was shocked.

Not this year, though, rt?

This year. Kid has an EA to a state flagship, now waiting on RD.

When did they take the subject tests?

ah, now you trying to catch me out. you could take up to 3 in a single day - think the kid took 3 at end of 9th and two more in junior - maybe one in fall/winter sophomore. Mix of math, science, humanities. Not my kid - know this from my own DC who is good friends/study partner and took one of the subject tests with the kid and the kid's mom. IDK the exact dates only my DC giving me updates, "So and so got another 800."

as you can see from the kid's stats, pretty driven. there were a subset of kids at their school who went crazy on subject tests, especially as no APs offered at their school, and had tutors if the school curriculum had gaps.