Anonymous
04/19/2026 18:54
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What were the college placements at NCS?
Holton and NCS are pretty much the same — mix of Ivies, Ivy+, and hard to get into state schools like Michigan.
Stone Ridge is right behind but not quite as many top schools.
As a parent at one of the above schools I can say Sidwell did better than all three of the girls’ schools. Really impressive.
NCS is much much better than Holton this year. Definitely not the same. I see 1 Ivy or Ivy+ admit at Holton in the RD round. The rest is state schools or third tier
Anonymous
04/19/2026 18:41
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
The Ivies are under the gun to course correct after an era that most reasonable people would agree where progressivism got out of control. Have to think students from activist schools like GDS will have a tougher time over the next few years.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 14:10
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:What were the college placements at NCS?
Holton and NCS are pretty much the same — mix of Ivies, Ivy+, and hard to get into state schools like Michigan.
Stone Ridge is right behind but not quite as many top schools.
As a parent at one of the above schools I can say Sidwell did better than all three of the girls’ schools. Really impressive.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 13:00
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
What were the college placements at NCS?
Anonymous
04/17/2026 17:22
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
There are 17 Ivies posted on Sidwell’s IG account, and I know of at least one other Ivy admit that hasn’t posted. There are actually 15 UChicago admits, but only 12 have posted. And there are 2 Duke admits, but one hasn’t posted. There’s also an Oxford-bound student.
If you include the 2 Stanford admits, that’s 37 Ivy plus admits, or 30% of the grade. If you expand the list to T25 universities/T10 SLACs, about 50-60% of the class will attend those schools. I know some of y’all love to hate Sidwell, but you have to admit that sending over half the grade to T25U/T10S is impressive. That percentage doesn’t even include reputable schools like NYU, BC, and Tufts.
Very impressive.
Yea yeah my kid went to T-10 from a public school. Guess how much I paid the high school? $0.
So? Some people like private school and don’t mind to pay.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 21:53
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
There are 17 Ivies posted on Sidwell’s IG account, and I know of at least one other Ivy admit that hasn’t posted. There are actually 15 UChicago admits, but only 12 have posted. And there are 2 Duke admits, but one hasn’t posted. There’s also an Oxford-bound student.
If you include the 2 Stanford admits, that’s 37 Ivy plus admits, or 30% of the grade. If you expand the list to T25 universities/T10 SLACs, about 50-60% of the class will attend those schools. I know some of y’all love to hate Sidwell, but you have to admit that sending over half the grade to T25U/T10S is impressive. That percentage doesn’t even include reputable schools like NYU, BC, and Tufts.
Very impressive.
Yea yeah my kid went to T-10 from a public school. Guess how much I paid the high school? $0.
Guess the percentage of students from your kid’s public school who went to a T10? It wasn’t 30-35% of the grade, I guarantee you! Argue with yourself.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 20:26
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
There are 17 Ivies posted on Sidwell’s IG account, and I know of at least one other Ivy admit that hasn’t posted. There are actually 15 UChicago admits, but only 12 have posted. And there are 2 Duke admits, but one hasn’t posted. There’s also an Oxford-bound student.
If you include the 2 Stanford admits, that’s 37 Ivy plus admits, or 30% of the grade. If you expand the list to T25 universities/T10 SLACs, about 50-60% of the class will attend those schools. I know some of y’all love to hate Sidwell, but you have to admit that sending over half the grade to T25U/T10S is impressive. That percentage doesn’t even include reputable schools like NYU, BC, and Tufts.
Very impressive.
Yea yeah my kid went to T-10 from a public school. Guess how much I paid the high school? $0.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 20:09
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Once again, being a legacy is not a real hook. Stop acting like it devalues the academic profile of an Ivy admit. Sounds jealous.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 18:20
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
There are 17 Ivies posted on Sidwell’s IG account, and I know of at least one other Ivy admit that hasn’t posted. There are actually 15 UChicago admits, but only 12 have posted. And there are 2 Duke admits, but one hasn’t posted. There’s also an Oxford-bound student.
If you include the 2 Stanford admits, that’s 37 Ivy plus admits, or 30% of the grade. If you expand the list to T25 universities/T10 SLACs, about 50-60% of the class will attend those schools. I know some of y’all love to hate Sidwell, but you have to admit that sending over half the grade to T25U/T10S is impressive. That percentage doesn’t even include reputable schools like NYU, BC, and Tufts.
Very impressive.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 17:14
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Remember, it all depends on who the parents are in the grade. When you have a less connected group the results dip.
Maybe it's different at the NW privates, but we're at a VA k-12. Last year and this year, none of the ivy commits were "connected" or there from any sort of special circumstance. Also, many of the kids going to the top colleges at our school don't post on instagram. Remember that these are student led, and it's on the kids to submit. A lot don't want to appear braggy and do not. You should look at the actual school matriculations list if you are really interested.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 17:09
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
There are 17 Ivies posted on Sidwell’s IG account, and I know of at least one other Ivy admit that hasn’t posted. There are actually 15 UChicago admits, but only 12 have posted. And there are 2 Duke admits, but one hasn’t posted. There’s also an Oxford-bound student.
If you include the 2 Stanford admits, that’s 37 Ivy plus admits, or 30% of the grade. If you expand the list to T25 universities/T10 SLACs, about 50-60% of the class will attend those schools. I know some of y’all love to hate Sidwell, but you have to admit that sending over half the grade to T25U/T10S is impressive. That percentage doesn’t even include reputable schools like NYU, BC, and Tufts.
Anonymous
04/16/2026 17:08
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
Correct. And out of the Ivies + Stanford, there are only around 4 or 5 who got in on merit. For UChicago, probably close to everyone got in on merit, I believe. UChicago is not heavy on the legacy + donor combination for Sidwell kids.
- Sidwell parent
Anonymous
04/16/2026 14:13
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:s why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.
But if you've been reading the threads carefully, most are legacy, trustee contacts, etc. Some are truly academic
Anonymous
04/16/2026 13:50
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:It's pretty bad and far behind Sidwell in the top 20, and Ivy admits, at least until now. Hope a few Ivy admits will post on IG.
This post is stupid. But it is also kind of important. After all, parents DO send their kids to a very expensive private school for good college outcomes. And the higher the number of Ivy+ admits, the more elite the alumni network would be. This will, of course, affect the donations down the road.
Anonymous
04/15/2026 21:11
Subject: GDS college enrolmments
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:
I don't know if an exceptionally connected cohort at Sidwell, a strong reputation or grades that are slightly bumped up. My guess is that's a combo of all 3. On the last point, if you grade to a class average of a 3.7 you're going to have much better results across all kids than if you grade to a 3.5. Some of the other privates are still grading to something like a 3.5 (like it's still 1998). I imagine Sidwell has adjusted upwards as college results have become more difficult and this is why they're doing better across the board.
Sidwell does NOT bump up grades...sometimes it feels like they purposefully make it harder for students. Sidwell so far has not done great this year with the Ivies, I am surprised people are staying that...the ones who did get in to certain schools used connections...the two Harvard admits are purely deserving and great students...some of the rest? Not so much
Sidwell still has 16 Ivies and 12 U. Chicago, plus a couple of Stanford.