Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Simple answer. SAAS families are less wealthy than STA families and quite often will choose a less expensive in-state option or a lower ranked school that offers good merit aid.

-SAAS parent

+1. Two more reasons..... SAAS does not have the handful of Ivy athletic recruits that STA has every year. Nor does SAAS have the high percentage of Ivy legacy applicants that STA does.

+2 And though they are Ivy legacies, our sons chose non-Ivy schools for early decision and never applied to any of the Ivy equivalents. Those were not their first choice.

But it isn't true that they "rarely" send anyone to those schools -- boys get into those schools every year. Not everyone who gets in chooses to go though; sometimes they get better offers. You may not think there is a better offer than Ivy, but many of these guys disagree.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Simple answer. SAAS families are less wealthy than STA families and quite often will choose a less expensive in-state option or a lower ranked school that offers good merit aid.

-SAAS parent

+1. Two more reasons..... SAAS does not have the handful of Ivy athletic recruits that STA has every year. Nor does SAAS have the high percentage of Ivy legacy applicants that STA does.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Simple answer. SAAS families are less wealthy than STA families and quite often will choose a less expensive in-state option or a lower ranked school that offers good merit aid.

-SAAS parent

+1. Two more reasons..... SAAS does not have the handful of Ivy athletic recruits that STA has every year. Nor does SAAS have the high percentage of Ivy legacy applicants that STA does.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the point above about scholarships, there is a profile in the catholic standard about the student in the 2020 class who is going to Vanderbilt, which mentions that he is on a full tuition merit scholarship...

40% of the boys at SAAS receive need-based financial aid (from a much lower tuition than charged by the Sidwells of the world). So naturally cost will be a factor in where a significant portion of the school's graduates attend college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly do you think a school will be able to tell you they will not be able to support your kid when they know they can easily get 30k a year from you in this era of diversity and inclusion? All private schools, whether parochial or not are run like businesses these days... sorry to say.

This is such a weird (and really negative) reply.

I have an older child who doesn't have these issues and I am CERTAIN that there are plenty of highly competitive DMV schools that would not be a good match for this sort of student. Having gone through placement with the older child and knowing their classmates that have some hurdles and/or might need support - it was my experience that the competitive schools are up front in saying they don't provide support or accommodations (kid needs to work it out) and/or would just not accept the student. There are plenty of families to pay full tuition whose kids don't need support.

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

This puzzles me as well. Is it money and connections? Is it the focus on Catholic education, which continues? Weak college counseling office? I can't imagine colleges don't know about the school....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read on another thread that this school is for gifted boys. Is this correct?

"Gifted" is a loaded term. SAAS administers admissions tests (the OLSAT and SCAT) that are quite different from the SSAT/HSPT that most private schools use in that they are more abstract and harder to prepare for. I don't konw what score they look for, but I think it is more about whether they think your DS is a good fit and can handle the rigor, with or without the gifted label. I think there is general consensus that the academics at SAAS are more rigorous than the other all-boys Catholic schools (e.g., Prep, Gonzaga and Heights) in that all classes are at least honors level and many are AP. It's also much smaller (about 40 per graduating class) so you probably get more homogeneity in terms of academic abilities ranges. That said, by all accounts it not a pressure-cooker, cutthroat atmosphere, and the boys there seem to be very bright and welcoming, if somewhat more inclined to march to the beat of their own drum.

Anonymous wrote:I would not send a POC kid there. They have work to do in that area.

Anonymous wrote:I would not send a POC kid there. They have work to do in that area.

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?

Simple answer. SAAS families are less wealthy than STA families and quite often will choose a less expensive in-state option or a lower ranked school that offers good merit aid.

-SAAS parent

Anonymous wrote:I know that the SAAS boys work really hard but why is it not reflected in college admissions? Someone in one of these posts compares it to STA and SAAS boys take far more classes than STA boys.
And yet SAAS rarely sends anyone to the Ivy League or equivalent. Their college admissions are published each year in the local Catholic periodical (I'm forgetting the name). They are fine but nothing
to write home about. Meanwhile STA will send 20% of the class to the Ivy League and the rest to top 50 schools. Does anyone know why this is? Do colleges just not know about SAAS?