Dear D.C. Urban Mothers (and fathers),

This thread has made it apparent that many of you are jealous of Sidwell’s recent successes in the college admissions process. I can write on and on about Sidwell’s amazing students who continue to show why their main rivals are students at NYC’s finest prep schools. Before Maret and GDS parents start raging, why don’t you focus on getting your kids into a decent college. MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Penn, Chicago, and Northwestern know that Sidwell students are a mile above their competitors in the DMV.

Please don’t take this post the wrong way. The other schools make good employees.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares about how many kids from Sidwell get into top schools. It’s a miserable experience to go there. The kids can’t stand each other and can’t wait to leave. But hey - we got into Columbia !

And the cheating is so rampant. Great combo for the formative years: a painful experience wrapped in morally suspect behavior!

Cheating is so common with this generation. It is everywhere and in college too. I think it is a combination of the unreal expectation for perfection, AI, and the fact that the pandemic normalized cheating while doing school from zoom/home.

Our Sidwell kid never mentioned cheating there - but they say it is rampant at college.

Anonymous wrote:oh my, the fighting on this thread is embarrassing. Is this what it's like at a Sidwell parent meeting? How do you all handle carpool together??

Everyone is tight lipped in person and after the fact, it was clear that most were taking the approach that you must hide your cards so you can have the best possible outcome over anyone else. We met a few genuinely nice down to earth parents and even a few who were nice in person while being tight lipped and tactical behind the facade. Generally - it's all surface (for those that even bother to show up to parent gatherings) and is not a warm HS parent community as a whole.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody has info about NCS/STA?

Sta has a ton of Boston college, UVA and Uchicago

Typical.

There are also multiple Princeton, Yale, Harvard and MIT bound kids. Top to bottom, the admits will be strong.

MIT? I am surprised usually they admit one every few years at MIT.

Anonymous wrote:Who cares about how many kids from Sidwell get into top schools. It’s a miserable experience to go there. The kids can’t stand each other and can’t wait to leave. But hey - we got into Columbia !

Or all of the above - without the "but hey" result.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Sidwell list is just heavily athletes and legacies. It seems unhooked kids have better chances at less competitive schools.

Untrue. I’m a Sidwell US parent, and at least 1/2 of unhooked Sidwell students were admitted to T25 schools during the RD round last year.

And yet - the same was not true the year before.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares about how many kids from Sidwell get into top schools. It’s a miserable experience to go there. The kids can’t stand each other and can’t wait to leave. But hey - we got into Columbia !

And the cheating is so rampant. Great combo for the formative years: a painful experience wrapped in morally suspect behavior!

Cheating is so common with this generation. It is everywhere and in college too. I think it is a combination of the unreal expectation for perfection, AI, and the fact that the pandemic normalized cheating while doing school from zoom/home.

Anonymous wrote:CNU seems strongly represented on a few of these lists. Has this school gotten stronger over the years? I'm surprised to see it on so many lists.

CNU fills the space JMU occupied.

It is accessible for students with B+ averages and is really pretty. Their business and nursing programs are strong.

The President is from the NOVA area and seems to appreciate students that navigated the pressure cooker of the DMV area.

I don't have a kid there, but we liked it a lot!

Anonymous wrote:oh my, the fighting on this thread is embarrassing. Is this what it's like at a Sidwell parent meeting? How do you all handle carpool together??

Especially with the rampant cheating. “No no no, last Tuesday was mine, you have the next three.”

oh my, the fighting on this thread is embarrassing. Is this what it's like at a Sidwell parent meeting? How do you all handle carpool together??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anybody has info about NCS/STA?

Sta has a ton of Boston college, UVA and Uchicago

Typical.

There are also multiple Princeton, Yale, Harvard and MIT bound kids. Top to bottom, the admits will be strong.

Anonymous wrote:How many boys at Sidwell and how many girls? Aren’t those numbers more relevant for comparisons with STA/NCS?

What is the purpose of this?

Anonymous wrote:The rest of us are not that invested in this Sidwell fight, so please stop.

I have a question for those of you who seem to know what it takes to get into these schools. My MS DD wants to go to Barnard or similar school. Gets mostly A/A- so a strong student but not the top student. Still years out so can improve grades or strengthen portfolio in other areas. What else does she need to do to get in? Thanks.

For Barnard or similar from Sidwell you'll need all As/A minuses or if you have a few Bs you'll otherwise need all As. The standards for grades for admission to Barnard/similar are surprisingly high, even though Sidwell is known for being excellent and the grading hard.

How many boys at Sidwell and how many girls? Aren’t those numbers more relevant for comparisons with STA/NCS?

CNU seems strongly represented on a few of these lists. Has this school gotten stronger over the years? I'm surprised to see it on so many lists.