Anonymous wrote:Landon of course is the best way to go.

Could be. Depends on who you are.

I have a problem understanding how these two wildly different schools end up competing for any students whatsoever.

I can see St. Albans or Potomac School or St Stephens/St Agnes as alternatives to Landon. Gonzaga or St Anselms or The Heights are competition to Prep.

Catholic families that make this choice should be aware that to many this will appear to be a thumb in the eye of the larger "community". And the fallout goes on forever. It takes a very "tone deaf" family to not get this.

Landon of course is the best way to go.

Prep of course is the best way to go.

Both schools had a surge of ivy level admissions in the 90's as their lax programs became nationally known. Even though they were athletic recruits, few if any had a problem handling the workload. Now, ironically, many of the lax players at both schools are more recently choosing to go to less academically prestigious schools like Penn State or Ohio State to play lacrosse where they can get athletic scholarships. So the notion that somehow all or most of these Ivy level admissions are sports based is not accurate. Each graduating class has about 10 lacrosse players, only a handful will play in college.

Beyond lacrosse, there is no other sport at either school that has a similar national standing or consistent production of college athletes.

How many GP graduates get into the ivy leagues because of their academic qualifications?

Is the truth that neither schools have a large group of top academic students in any given class, but many athletes? And it's the athletic recruitments that make these schools' college placements look good? Does anyone know if these schools' ivy league placements have mainly been for top athletes verse top students?

[quote=Anonymous][i][b][i][b]Landon and Prep get kids in to excellent colleges because of their performance on the athletic field. [/b][/i]


Agree. We are surprised by how average the student body and academics are at Prep and Landon. When you look closer the truth appears. What does the list of college placement look like at these schools without the placements based on athletic scholarships/recruitments? [/b][/i]

Good question from another subject line: [u]"What does the list of college placement look like at these schools without the placements based on athletic scholarships/recruitments? [/u][quote][/quote]

Pretty easy to approximate.

Largest group of people benefitting is lacrosse players. If the schools graduate 10 lacrosse players each that go on to play in college, that's alot.

Not all of these will go to top colleges. Maybe 4 or 5 of them. There's also a fair number who go to Lehigh, Fairfield, Penn State, etc

In football, its been a long time since there have been any football players in the Ivy league from either school.

In basketball, GP has had two boys go to Georgetown in the past several years.

So at GP with a class of 100 maybe 5 or 6 in a year benefit. Depends on what your definition of "Top" schools is.

There is, however, no doubt in my mind that almost every lacrosse player ends up in a better school than they would have if they hadn't played the sport. That's why you have this rush to it. Without lacrosse, these boys are not "recruited athletes" in any other sport.

[i][b][i][b]Landon and Prep get kids in to excellent colleges because of their performance on the athletic field. [/b][/i]


Agree. We are surprised by how average the student body and academics are at Prep and Landon. When you look closer the truth appears. What does the list of college placement look like at these schools without the placements based on athletic scholarships/recruitments? [/b][/i]

Good question from another subject line: [u]"What does the list of college placement look like at these schools without the placements based on athletic scholarships/recruitments? [/u][quote]

Pretty common problem with schools with history ranging back 50+ years. Alumni and board of directors pretty much own the schools and sometimes the administration doesn't have enough power since they also have to keep Alumni and board directors happy. In this case, the "board of directors and alumni" at Landon is The Father's Club.

...actions of their current students and lack of administrative action... Good summation.

Opinionated response here. I believe there's too much Landon bashing going on in the DC Metropolitan area. Some of it deserved because of the actions of their current students and lack of administrative action. However, there's also a good amount that is unreasonable. For example, I'm not quite sure why the whole Geroge Hugely incident always hits Landon. If the same incident occurred at Prep or say Gonzaga, people would be criticizing equally. However, I guess the DC Metropolitain area will just have to let time play Landon's cards out and see how much progress they make as a school in the next 5-10 years.

Anonymous wrote:Complete BS, I am not a Landon parent but just because the reputation one's school takes a hit, that doesn't always translate to worse candidates. I can relate since my DC's school was also with many incidents 4-5 years ago and the admissions enrollment was not a problem, received just about the same amount and quality of applicants.

You may be aware that there's an economic downturn going on. It's in all the papers.

Housing values even in Bethesda-Potomac are down 20%+ versus "3 or 4 years ago". Large law firms employment is down. Increased income taxes on incomes over $250K are likely.

Against this backdrop, the pool of people who are willing and able to fork over $120,000 for 4 years of high school is shrinking. These schools jacked their prices up during the boom and they are still priced at the same levels.

At least some of those who have been turned away in the past are situations where the family will willingly pay the price, but where there are academic or behavioral issues or both. As the pool shrinks, the school will fill all its available seats from whatever the candidates it has. Their budgets are based on achieving their student enrollment targets.

i love every post that begins withmy I'm not a parent at...or my daughter's friend....or I don't have a dog in this fight.

Complete BS, I am not a Landon parent but just because the reputation one's school takes a hit, that doesn't always translate to worse candidates. I can relate since my DC's school was also with many incidents 4-5 years ago and the admissions enrollment was not a problem, received just about the same amount and quality of applicants.

Landon has an enrollment problem for the upcoming year, so they are going to take what they can take for next year.