Anonymous
10/24/2023 19:18
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
Oh, come on. Sure, plenty of Bryn Mawr girls play sports. But McDonogh is sportier. Of course what makes an “academic pressure cooker” is subjective, but Bryn Mawr is a heck of a lot closer than McD. I do agree with you that for real old Baltimore money the pipeline is Calvert > Gilman/Bryn Mawr. But for County money, McDonogh is certainly a popular choice.
Do you think that Gilman is “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants”? I do, and we are a Gilman family. But again, I guess “laden” is subjective.
Anyway, I think PP’s post is basically sound information, albeit obvious stuff.
High achieving immigrants? I think there are very few at any of the private schools, including Gilman. And there are Hopkins parents at literally every private in Baltimore including Mcdonogh.
Literally 80% of my kid’s Gilman friend group can be described this way (with plenty of overlap between “immigrants” and “Hopkins” although not 100%). I consider it a plus. He’s learning way more about other cultures than I would’ve expected. If I had to guess I’d say that about 40% of Gilman families are old money country club with the remaining split evenly between immigrants and non-immigrants. The country-club crowd doesn’t socialize too much with the rest of us, but that’s fine, they’re nice and friendly, just in a different groove. The immigrant families have been warm and welcoming to us and we have enjoyed getting to know some awesome families from all over the world.
Lol some people send their kids to private schools for better peers and networking opportunities for their kids. It’s funny that the rich people segregate themselves from the poorer “working class” families.
It's funny that you would assume the immigrants are the poorer of the two. Not necessarily true.
DP. My kid goes to Gilman and the regular families, immigrants and non immigrants, are definitely poorer than the old money “lived in Baltimore for generations” people. The latter has serious generational wealth and multi million dollar homes/land. The other families are all dual income, often live in old, non-renovated, mediocre homes (around 1-1.2m) and stretch a lot to send their kids to these schools.
I live in Baltimore, smack dab in the heart of private school territory. 1.1-1.2M is a good price for an updated home in a nice area. Sure, it goes up from there but it also goes down from there for a nice house. Baltimore is not an expensive market. It's not DC. I'm not going to engage in the battle of redfin/zillow links but your post was both clueless and tone deaf.
Old money Baltimore certainly exists but is also not as wealthy as you might think. Unless you consider real estate families like the Cordishes and Manekins old money, I don't know, perhaps you do. But for every Griswold still around (most have long bailed out for more exciting places) you have multiples of your typical couple generations of UMC wealth with a few mill in the bank and a few gen at the local privates, and plenty of self made people, and that includes most of the Legg Mason / T Rowe Price leadership who look suitably waspy but didn't come from established wealth. Baltimore isn't a major money town, there's no comparable level of wealth that you find in Dallas or Houston or Austin or Miami or any of the other boom cities of the last few decades, it's a steadily declining, long past its prime, midsize city with no real home industry outside - you got it - medicine and JHU.
Anonymous
10/24/2023 15:54
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
Oh, come on. Sure, plenty of Bryn Mawr girls play sports. But McDonogh is sportier. Of course what makes an “academic pressure cooker” is subjective, but Bryn Mawr is a heck of a lot closer than McD. I do agree with you that for real old Baltimore money the pipeline is Calvert > Gilman/Bryn Mawr. But for County money, McDonogh is certainly a popular choice.
Do you think that Gilman is “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants”? I do, and we are a Gilman family. But again, I guess “laden” is subjective.
Anyway, I think PP’s post is basically sound information, albeit obvious stuff.
High achieving immigrants? I think there are very few at any of the private schools, including Gilman. And there are Hopkins parents at literally every private in Baltimore including Mcdonogh.
Literally 80% of my kid’s Gilman friend group can be described this way (with plenty of overlap between “immigrants” and “Hopkins” although not 100%). I consider it a plus. He’s learning way more about other cultures than I would’ve expected. If I had to guess I’d say that about 40% of Gilman families are old money country club with the remaining split evenly between immigrants and non-immigrants. The country-club crowd doesn’t socialize too much with the rest of us, but that’s fine, they’re nice and friendly, just in a different groove. The immigrant families have been warm and welcoming to us and we have enjoyed getting to know some awesome families from all over the world.
Lol some people send their kids to private schools for better peers and networking opportunities for their kids. It’s funny that the rich people segregate themselves from the poorer “working class” families.
It's funny that you would assume the immigrants are the poorer of the two. Not necessarily true.
DP. My kid goes to Gilman and the regular families, immigrants and non immigrants, are definitely poorer than the old money “lived in Baltimore for generations” people. The latter has serious generational wealth and multi million dollar homes/land. The other families are all dual income, often live in old, non-renovated, mediocre homes (around 1-1.2m) and stretch a lot to send their kids to these schools.
Lol. Try $400k! And yes, we are full pay (now). No way we could be if we owned a house like that though… our tuition payment is 1/3 more than our mortgage! No regrets. Gilman has been absolutely amazing.
Anonymous
10/24/2023 10:58
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
It is possible if you have a child who is broadly talented at academics and likes to compete academically, or is not bothered by being around children who want to compete academically, then you might not consider BM an academic pressure cooker because it suits your child's tendencies. But I'm really not sure if it's possible to have a child going to BM or who has friends at BM and not be aware that it has a reputation for being academically intense and that some families seek it out for their daughters for that reason and other families avoid it for that reason.
Do you have a child at Bryn Mawr?
Because my point was that “reputation” is just another word for stereotype and is often not accurate. And wasn’t accurate in the paragraph by the Mcdonogh parent in which there were only positives for Mcdonogh and none for BM.
Yes, I have a child who attended Bryn Mawr. i know children who have thrived there, and children who did not. My child doesn't deal well with competition and academic pressure and was not a good cultural fit for Bryn Mawr. Not surprisingly, RPCS is an excellent fit for my child in terms of the more nurturing academic experience. On the other hand, she has friends at RPCS who specifically seek out BM classes because they prefer the academic environment there, and possibly would have been better served transferring to Bryn Mawr for upper school.
That's one of the weird things about these K-12 Baltimore privates, from my perspective as someone who didn't grow up in the Baltimore private environment. It seems like once you start in one, moving to another isn't that common. Surprising, since it's unlikely the child you know at 4 or 5 is the same child at 10 or 11 or 13 or 14. I am an academically competitive person myself, and when I toured Bryn Mawr and spoke to the administration, teachers, and students, was sold on it. What a fantastic environment for a girl! It just turned out to not be a fantastic environment for my particular girl.
I can understand being upset if you feel that a particular analysis was all "pro" one school and "anti" another. But I honestly cannot understand your attempt to argue that Bryn Mawr doesn't have a deserved reputation for being an academic pressure cooker. It's known as a/the top girls school in the area, and is often contrasted with RPCS's reputation as an easier environment. Does RPCS not rightly deserve that reputation? I'd argue it does. A child at RPCS could seek out an intense academic experience, but it wouldn't be the default. A child at Bryn Mawr could navigate a less intense path, but it wouldn't be the default.
Pp here, I agree it’s academic rigorous and not the right fit for every girl. But for girls who need thar level of challenge, it’s not an academic pressure cooker. The girls are collaborative and most are also heavily involved in sports, theatre and other ecs. I don’t think academically rigorous and pressure cooker are synonyms.
+1
Anonymous
10/24/2023 09:40
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
Oh, come on. Sure, plenty of Bryn Mawr girls play sports. But McDonogh is sportier. Of course what makes an “academic pressure cooker” is subjective, but Bryn Mawr is a heck of a lot closer than McD. I do agree with you that for real old Baltimore money the pipeline is Calvert > Gilman/Bryn Mawr. But for County money, McDonogh is certainly a popular choice.
Do you think that Gilman is “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants”? I do, and we are a Gilman family. But again, I guess “laden” is subjective.
Anyway, I think PP’s post is basically sound information, albeit obvious stuff.
High achieving immigrants? I think there are very few at any of the private schools, including Gilman. And there are Hopkins parents at literally every private in Baltimore including Mcdonogh.
Literally 80% of my kid’s Gilman friend group can be described this way (with plenty of overlap between “immigrants” and “Hopkins” although not 100%). I consider it a plus. He’s learning way more about other cultures than I would’ve expected. If I had to guess I’d say that about 40% of Gilman families are old money country club with the remaining split evenly between immigrants and non-immigrants. The country-club crowd doesn’t socialize too much with the rest of us, but that’s fine, they’re nice and friendly, just in a different groove. The immigrant families have been warm and welcoming to us and we have enjoyed getting to know some awesome families from all over the world.
Lol some people send their kids to private schools for better peers and networking opportunities for their kids. It’s funny that the rich people segregate themselves from the poorer “working class” families.
It's funny that you would assume the immigrants are the poorer of the two. Not necessarily true.
DP. My kid goes to Gilman and the regular families, immigrants and non immigrants, are definitely poorer than the old money “lived in Baltimore for generations” people. The latter has serious generational wealth and multi million dollar homes/land. The other families are all dual income, often live in old, non-renovated, mediocre homes (around 1-1.2m) and stretch a lot to send their kids to these schools.
This makes me chuckle a bit. My home isn't worth close to 1 mil and my kid goes to private school. I'm happy to be one of those people who is dragging down the average parental income and keeping things real.
Anonymous
10/24/2023 09:34
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
I don’t agree that it’s uncommon for kids to switch, it usually occurs around the entry years for middle and upper school, sometimes the year before.
Anonymous
10/24/2023 09:31
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
It is possible if you have a child who is broadly talented at academics and likes to compete academically, or is not bothered by being around children who want to compete academically, then you might not consider BM an academic pressure cooker because it suits your child's tendencies. But I'm really not sure if it's possible to have a child going to BM or who has friends at BM and not be aware that it has a reputation for being academically intense and that some families seek it out for their daughters for that reason and other families avoid it for that reason.
Do you have a child at Bryn Mawr?
Because my point was that “reputation” is just another word for stereotype and is often not accurate. And wasn’t accurate in the paragraph by the Mcdonogh parent in which there were only positives for Mcdonogh and none for BM.
Yes, I have a child who attended Bryn Mawr. i know children who have thrived there, and children who did not. My child doesn't deal well with competition and academic pressure and was not a good cultural fit for Bryn Mawr. Not surprisingly, RPCS is an excellent fit for my child in terms of the more nurturing academic experience. On the other hand, she has friends at RPCS who specifically seek out BM classes because they prefer the academic environment there, and possibly would have been better served transferring to Bryn Mawr for upper school.
That's one of the weird things about these K-12 Baltimore privates, from my perspective as someone who didn't grow up in the Baltimore private environment. It seems like once you start in one, moving to another isn't that common. Surprising, since it's unlikely the child you know at 4 or 5 is the same child at 10 or 11 or 13 or 14. I am an academically competitive person myself, and when I toured Bryn Mawr and spoke to the administration, teachers, and students, was sold on it. What a fantastic environment for a girl! It just turned out to not be a fantastic environment for my particular girl.
I can understand being upset if you feel that a particular analysis was all "pro" one school and "anti" another. But I honestly cannot understand your attempt to argue that Bryn Mawr doesn't have a deserved reputation for being an academic pressure cooker. It's known as a/the top girls school in the area, and is often contrasted with RPCS's reputation as an easier environment. Does RPCS not rightly deserve that reputation? I'd argue it does. A child at RPCS could seek out an intense academic experience, but it wouldn't be the default. A child at Bryn Mawr could navigate a less intense path, but it wouldn't be the default.
DP with a kid who is happy at Bryn Mawr. In fact, so much happier there than at her old school. I agree that BMS has a reputation for being academically rigorous. I just don't like it when people use the word "pressure cooker" because this implies it is all negative. My kid is not there to compete with other kids, but is there to learn because she loves to learn, and she just wasn't getting the kind of challenge she needed to thrive at her previous school. The faculty have been lovely and supportive and the level of challenge is right for her.
I 100% agree that parents cannot have enough info to pick a middle school or high school for a 5 year old. That is why it is shame to hear that people don't switch schools more often, when there are so many great options available in our area.
Anonymous
10/24/2023 09:21
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
It is possible if you have a child who is broadly talented at academics and likes to compete academically, or is not bothered by being around children who want to compete academically, then you might not consider BM an academic pressure cooker because it suits your child's tendencies. But I'm really not sure if it's possible to have a child going to BM or who has friends at BM and not be aware that it has a reputation for being academically intense and that some families seek it out for their daughters for that reason and other families avoid it for that reason.
Do you have a child at Bryn Mawr?
Because my point was that “reputation” is just another word for stereotype and is often not accurate. And wasn’t accurate in the paragraph by the Mcdonogh parent in which there were only positives for Mcdonogh and none for BM.
Yes, I have a child who attended Bryn Mawr. i know children who have thrived there, and children who did not. My child doesn't deal well with competition and academic pressure and was not a good cultural fit for Bryn Mawr. Not surprisingly, RPCS is an excellent fit for my child in terms of the more nurturing academic experience. On the other hand, she has friends at RPCS who specifically seek out BM classes because they prefer the academic environment there, and possibly would have been better served transferring to Bryn Mawr for upper school.
That's one of the weird things about these K-12 Baltimore privates, from my perspective as someone who didn't grow up in the Baltimore private environment. It seems like once you start in one, moving to another isn't that common. Surprising, since it's unlikely the child you know at 4 or 5 is the same child at 10 or 11 or 13 or 14. I am an academically competitive person myself, and when I toured Bryn Mawr and spoke to the administration, teachers, and students, was sold on it. What a fantastic environment for a girl! It just turned out to not be a fantastic environment for my particular girl.
I can understand being upset if you feel that a particular analysis was all "pro" one school and "anti" another. But I honestly cannot understand your attempt to argue that Bryn Mawr doesn't have a deserved reputation for being an academic pressure cooker. It's known as a/the top girls school in the area, and is often contrasted with RPCS's reputation as an easier environment. Does RPCS not rightly deserve that reputation? I'd argue it does. A child at RPCS could seek out an intense academic experience, but it wouldn't be the default. A child at Bryn Mawr could navigate a less intense path, but it wouldn't be the default.
Pp here, I agree it’s academic rigorous and not the right fit for every girl. But for girls who need thar level of challenge, it’s not an academic pressure cooker. The girls are collaborative and most are also heavily involved in sports, theatre and other ecs. I don’t think academically rigorous and pressure cooker are synonyms.
Anonymous
10/24/2023 09:17
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
It is possible if you have a child who is broadly talented at academics and likes to compete academically, or is not bothered by being around children who want to compete academically, then you might not consider BM an academic pressure cooker because it suits your child's tendencies. But I'm really not sure if it's possible to have a child going to BM or who has friends at BM and not be aware that it has a reputation for being academically intense and that some families seek it out for their daughters for that reason and other families avoid it for that reason.
Do you have a child at Bryn Mawr?
Because my point was that “reputation” is just another word for stereotype and is often not accurate. And wasn’t accurate in the paragraph by the Mcdonogh parent in which there were only positives for Mcdonogh and none for BM.
Yes, I have a child who attended Bryn Mawr. i know children who have thrived there, and children who did not. My child doesn't deal well with competition and academic pressure and was not a good cultural fit for Bryn Mawr. Not surprisingly, RPCS is an excellent fit for my child in terms of the more nurturing academic experience. On the other hand, she has friends at RPCS who specifically seek out BM classes because they prefer the academic environment there, and possibly would have been better served transferring to Bryn Mawr for upper school.
That's one of the weird things about these K-12 Baltimore privates, from my perspective as someone who didn't grow up in the Baltimore private environment. It seems like once you start in one, moving to another isn't that common. Surprising, since it's unlikely the child you know at 4 or 5 is the same child at 10 or 11 or 13 or 14. I am an academically competitive person myself, and when I toured Bryn Mawr and spoke to the administration, teachers, and students, was sold on it. What a fantastic environment for a girl! It just turned out to not be a fantastic environment for my particular girl.
I can understand being upset if you feel that a particular analysis was all "pro" one school and "anti" another. But I honestly cannot understand your attempt to argue that Bryn Mawr doesn't have a deserved reputation for being an academic pressure cooker. It's known as a/the top girls school in the area, and is often contrasted with RPCS's reputation as an easier environment. Does RPCS not rightly deserve that reputation? I'd argue it does. A child at RPCS could seek out an intense academic experience, but it wouldn't be the default. A child at Bryn Mawr could navigate a less intense path, but it wouldn't be the default.
Anonymous
10/23/2023 23:40
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:One is co-ed, one is all-girls
One is way out in the suburbs, one is in Baltimore City
One has a reputation for well-rounded kids with an emphasis on sports, one has a reputation for being an academic pressure cooker
One seems popular with long-time Baltimore families and is a bit more conservative, one is laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high-achieving immigrants
It's a little surprising you need all of these differences laid out for you. How did you pick these 2 schools? Have you set foot on either campus?
Other than geographical locations, literally nothing in this quote is accurate.
Huh? Not the person you’re replying to but.. all looks 100% accurate to me. My kid is in a different Baltimore independent school, but everyone knows this stuff about both McDonogh and BMS. Which of these assertions do you dispute?
Well, for one, there is of course well rounded kids at both schools. Bryn Mawr doesn’t recruit athletes but most girls participate in sports and some are quite competitive in the IAAM. Bryn Mawr isn’t an academic pressure cooker. Mcdonogh is not more popular with long time Baltimore families. Bryn Mawr is not “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants.” Doesn’t leave much.
Source: had one daughter and several other family members recently attend Bryn Mawr, son is at Gilman, and know lots of kids at all the other Baltimore private schools including Mcdonogh. I also have one child who applied and was accepted to Mcdonogh but chose not to attend.
Oh, come on. Sure, plenty of Bryn Mawr girls play sports. But McDonogh is sportier. Of course what makes an “academic pressure cooker” is subjective, but Bryn Mawr is a heck of a lot closer than McD. I do agree with you that for real old Baltimore money the pipeline is Calvert > Gilman/Bryn Mawr. But for County money, McDonogh is certainly a popular choice.
Do you think that Gilman is “laden with kids of Hopkins professors and high achieving immigrants”? I do, and we are a Gilman family. But again, I guess “laden” is subjective.
Anyway, I think PP’s post is basically sound information, albeit obvious stuff.
High achieving immigrants? I think there are very few at any of the private schools, including Gilman. And there are Hopkins parents at literally every private in Baltimore including Mcdonogh.
Literally 80% of my kid’s Gilman friend group can be described this way (with plenty of overlap between “immigrants” and “Hopkins” although not 100%). I consider it a plus. He’s learning way more about other cultures than I would’ve expected. If I had to guess I’d say that about 40% of Gilman families are old money country club with the remaining split evenly between immigrants and non-immigrants. The country-club crowd doesn’t socialize too much with the rest of us, but that’s fine, they’re nice and friendly, just in a different groove. The immigrant families have been warm and welcoming to us and we have enjoyed getting to know some awesome families from all over the world.
Lol some people send their kids to private schools for better peers and networking opportunities for their kids. It’s funny that the rich people segregate themselves from the poorer “working class” families.
It's funny that you would assume the immigrants are the poorer of the two. Not necessarily true.
DP. My kid goes to Gilman and the regular families, immigrants and non immigrants, are definitely poorer than the old money “lived in Baltimore for generations” people. The latter has serious generational wealth and multi million dollar homes/land. The other families are all dual income, often live in old, non-renovated, mediocre homes (around 1-1.2m) and stretch a lot to send their kids to these schools.
Anonymous
10/23/2023 22:24
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Paid 4 years Private school tuition and goes to York College. Seems like bad investment to me.
I heard McD offer free tuition for teachers’ kid.
Most of the Baltimore private schools do.
Do Bryn Mawr and Gilman?
I believe so
There are a number of faculty kids at both schools.
Anonymous
10/23/2023 22:23
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Paid 4 years Private school tuition and goes to York College. Seems like bad investment to me.
I heard McD offer free tuition for teachers’ kid.
Most of the Baltimore private schools do.
Do Bryn Mawr and Gilman?
I believe so
Anonymous
10/23/2023 19:54
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Paid 4 years Private school tuition and goes to York College. Seems like bad investment to me.
I heard McD offer free tuition for teachers’ kid.
Most of the Baltimore private schools do.
It was income dependent in the past. Can't see that changing to free for all teachers today.
Anonymous
10/23/2023 19:23
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Paid 4 years Private school tuition and goes to York College. Seems like bad investment to me.
I heard McD offer free tuition for teachers’ kid.
Most of the Baltimore private schools do.
Do Bryn Mawr and Gilman?
Anonymous
10/23/2023 17:54
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Paid 4 years Private school tuition and goes to York College. Seems like bad investment to me.
I heard McD offer free tuition for teachers’ kid.
Most of the Baltimore private schools do.
Anonymous
10/23/2023 17:10
Subject: McDonogh vs Bryn Mawr
Anonymous wrote:Paid 4 years Private school tuition and goes to York College. Seems like bad investment to me.
I heard McD offer free tuition for teachers’ kid.