I have a daughter at one of these and close friends' daughters at the other. My daughter has close friends at her school and the other school.

Visi is more conservative
SR is more liberal
Both have families that are from various ends of the spectrum including prominent/not prominent families.

Visi has more legacy students (and therefore, more legacy moms/grandmothers).

Both have strong athletics and are relativevly evenly matched. Each has significant number of athletic recruits in most years -- some girls use it as a hook to get into better schools, others go to schools that are strong in that sport.

Both have strong academics. Visi seems to have more homework. This is probably because of a different schedule. Some students have strong preferences regarding the different schedule patterns.

College admissions. Both tend to have up years and down years in high ranking colleges. Some of that is driven by student preferences since for some cohorts top students are looking at schools that are not high status by DCUM standards with students preferring schools like BC, ND, Wake Forest, Tulane over other schools. So it's hard to tell from Instagram posts whether one school had "better" college admissions. Especially since many SR and Visi families believe good college admissions should be about a student going to a school that they want to attend that is a good fit vs one that is DCUM high status.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they are really different, and I would think your kid will have a clear preference. Visi is going to have way more alumni moms.

Yes, unfortunately.

You realize your daughter will one day be an alum? I mean, isnt that the point of sending her?

Anonymous wrote:SR has the MOST competitive moms & girls. VISI is the better choice for most.

Not my family’s experience. The class is 100. There were plenty of smart, kind and non- competitive students in my girls’ classes.

Non- competitive girls tend to have the same type of parents. I thought girls and parents were great!

Anonymous wrote:SR has the MOST competitive moms & girls. VISI is the better choice for most.

Probably true. Visi has lots of airhead alum moms who show up to everything.

SR has the MOST competitive moms & girls. VISI is the better choice for most.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that they have a different feel and your daughter will likely have a preference.

I think the academics and the matriculations are equivalent.

VISI has a reputation for having a pressure cooker culture. Something to consider. SR seems more balanced, reasonable, and accommodating

This - not just academically but the girls are also competitive with another. Your daughter has to be prepared for that.

Anonymous wrote:I agree that they have a different feel and your daughter will likely have a preference.

I think the academics and the matriculations are equivalent.

VISI has a reputation for having a pressure cooker culture. Something to consider. SR seems more balanced, reasonable, and accommodating

I agree that they have a different feel and your daughter will likely have a preference.

I think the academics and the matriculations are equivalent.

Anonymous wrote:VISI stronger in every way

Absolutely, Visi is stronger in adherence to its MAGA principles

Anonymous wrote:I think they are really different, and I would think your kid will have a clear preference. Visi is going to have way more alumni moms.

Yes, unfortunately.

You have to look at college matriculations over a period of years, and even then it is difficult to factor in the athletic recruits and legacies. My daughter graduated from SR in 2022, and the matriculation outcomes were outstanding that year. Over the last couple years, the results have not been as good. I’d probably give the nod to Visi on this factor. Overall, the schools are pretty similar.

VISI stronger in every way

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VISI doesn't seem to be doing very well in college matriculations this year. Not sure what is going on. They have always been just a bit stronger than SR. On Instagram right now with about a third of their class posting so far, only 10% of the are heading T20 USNWR schools. Typically they end up around at least 20%. SR is currently at 14% with some athletic recruits going to Yale and Princeton and other non-recruits to Michigan and Notre Dame. I heard at VISI a lot of girls got shut out of Vandy this year...apparently big surprise/disappointment in college admissions there.

I really hope parents are not choosing between Visi and SR based on misleading/irrelevant statistics about college matriculation.

Let’s look at the same data more carefully:

Out of the 40 Visi girls who have posted, 1 is going to Cornell, 1 to Dartmouth, 1 to Northwestern and 1 to Columbia; the Dartmouth and Cornell admits are athletic recruits.

Out of the 34 SR girls who have posted, 1 is going to Princeton, 1 to Yale, 2 to Michigan, and 1 to Notre Dame; the Princeton and Yale admits are athletic recruits.

Taking out the athletic recruits, one is left with 1 Cornell and 1 Columbia versus 2 Michigan and 1 Notre Dame.

Hardly a meaningful difference!

I am the PP who posted about the matriculations earlier. I pointed out that VISI is typically stronger than SR. So the fact that there is little difference is what I was pointing out.

I think they are really different, and I would think your kid will have a clear preference. Visi is going to have way more alumni moms.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think at the end of the day, Visi has more of a “nose in the air” feel, which is helped by location and the number of V.I.P. kids who attend. SR seems more down to earth. Decide which type of girl your child is and go there.

As a VISI parent I do not get that sense at all. Very nice people. Even the VIPs are nice.

You probably have your nose in the air too.