Anonymous
Post 05/19/2025 17:39     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:So there are only three Big 3s (well 4 if you count NCS and STA separately). And this thread will have you believe that:

1. Those who come in at 9th have worse skills and they lifers dominate.
2. Those who came in at 6th or so do the best.
3. Those who came in at 9th rise to the top.

So either we truly are talking about three different schools or y'all simply have no idea what you're talking about because you are giving wildly different responses.


Different people have different data, so they reach different conclusions. Not a surprise on DCUM.
Anonymous
Post 05/19/2025 17:07     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:So there are only three Big 3s (well 4 if you count NCS and STA separately). And this thread will have you believe that:

1. Those who come in at 9th have worse skills and they lifers dominate.
2. Those who came in at 6th or so do the best.
3. Those who came in at 9th rise to the top.

So either we truly are talking about three different schools or y'all simply have no idea what you're talking about because you are giving wildly different responses.


Some people agree that STA/NCS are Big 3, but ok.
Anonymous
Post 05/19/2025 15:29     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Thinking about applications to various schools next year and how to think about the later grades and whether to do K8 or K12. Not sure if there is any way to know this, but are the kids who enter at 9th grade typically the strongest academically in the more competitive schools? I mean, in a K12, does it generally track that the later the student enters, the stronger academically they have to be? Or does it not really work like that because the more competitive schools are really good at teaching the kids they have so they all kind of even out?


Yes. It is very clear in everything not just academics. The new kids entering in 9th grade push the lifers to the side. It is not even close. The most competitive schools are picking the very top students and athletes.


+1000, the arriving 9th graders have been chosen to cover a variety of niches and many, many excel


Presence of parents with kids who entered a top school in 9th is strong for this topic! LOL.

Reality is some of those entering in 9th will be among top in class, as will be many who are lifers/entered earlier. Many of those entering in 9th will also be pretty strong academically but admitted for their athletic abilities in a particular sport or talent in robotics/music, etc. At our top K-12, the vast majority of the kids at the top of the class (attending Ivies/Top Colleges) entered the school in the early (think 4th and lower) grades. Contrary to what everyone wants to believe, the top privates are not just looking for academic powerhouses. They want kids who will do well academically (they need to be able to handle the work), but are well-rounded and will contribute in other ways to the community, too.


The problem with being lifer, especially a lifer who got a leg up through legacy or being a sibling, is that it can be harder to leave if everything isn’t going well. Schools can be more reluctant to intervene and so can parents.
Anonymous
Post 05/17/2025 21:22     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
So there are only three Big 3s (well 4 if you count NCS and STA separately). And this thread will have you believe that:

1. Those who come in at 9th have worse skills and they lifers dominate.
2. Those who came in at 6th or so do the best.
3. Those who came in at 9th rise to the top.

So either we truly are talking about three different schools or y'all simply have no idea what you're talking about because you are giving wildly different responses.
Anonymous
Post 05/17/2025 17:13     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
At our big three top students mostly kids came in 6th or earlier. A few who came in 9th for sure but not most. I think the writing skills taught are different.
Anonymous
Post 05/17/2025 11:59     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.


Different at our Big 3. I was expecting the new admitted 9th grade students to be stellar but they have been average at best. Apparently much of them are in the lower level math classes and aren't all that academically impressive. My lifer was pleased because they had heard all this talk about incoming students in high school. Though I bet that this varies from year to year.
Anonymous
Post 05/17/2025 10:10     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Some athletes are good students, some are not. But there’s a thumb on the scale if you are the right kind of athlete, even if you aren’t a good student. Even at the HS level.

Weird world.
Anonymous
Post 05/16/2025 18:29     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Everyone knows HS is tough. I was simply responding to PP who implied that the MS education and experience is somehow subpar.
Anonymous
Post 05/16/2025 15:40     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:Middle school academics has been hardly a breeze at our Big 3. Lots of homework and studying, on top of all the sports.


Wait till high school. The workload goes through the roof.
Anonymous
Post 05/16/2025 11:42     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Three kids entering GDS from our school are great and straight A students or athletes.
Anonymous
Post 05/16/2025 01:16     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.


Not my kid and what a jealous thing to say. Athletes tend to be excellent students because they have incredible focus and avoid a lot of nonsense.


Totally agree! It is such an old, tired trope about " dumb jocks".


Many of the jocks/athletic recruits I have personally encountered are not the most studious (I don’t want to use the word dumb).
Anonymous
Post 05/16/2025 01:14     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.


Must be Sidwell. NCS does not recruit for sports whatsoever, and STA does very little, especially for 9th.


I don’t know how much recruiting STA does, but I know a baseball recruit who joined STA in 9th grade.
Anonymous
Post 05/16/2025 00:38     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.


Must be Sidwell. NCS does not recruit for sports whatsoever, and STA does very little, especially for 9th.


Likely.
Anonymous
Post 05/15/2025 21:17     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.


Not my kid and what a jealous thing to say. Athletes tend to be excellent students because they have incredible focus and avoid a lot of nonsense.


Totally agree! It is such an old, tired trope about " dumb jocks".
Anonymous
Post 05/15/2025 21:03     Subject: Are the new 9th graders the top of the class?
Anonymous wrote:At our Big 3, the academically strongest students tend to be new 9th graders (unless they’re athletic recruits). I have yet to come across an athletic recruit who was also a top student academically. The recruits tend to be average students, at best.


Must be Sidwell. NCS does not recruit for sports whatsoever, and STA does very little, especially for 9th.