Anonymous wrote:
They don't disclose any information about scores or college placements, but look at the number of National Merit Semifinalists as a good proxy for that. It's the only publicly available information out there about Sidwell. And as noted earlier in this thread, Sidwell had twice as many National Merit Semifinalists as any other private school in the area.

This year was particularly good year for NMSSFs at Sidwell, but not all recent years have been this good. A while back SAM2 did a spreadsheet on these measures, if anyone knows where to find it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

I would recommend that you look up what a revealed preference ranking is.

I'm not saying it's your first choice, but, all else equal, Sidwell is the top choice locally.

NP here, and an economist. The Gonzaga numbers somebody provided above above give a pretty clear indication about a preference for Gonzaga, unless you can provide Sidwell figures that exceed the Gonzaga numbers. If you're trying to make some sort of point about revealed preference as measured by total money spent by parents (Sidwell is way more expensive than Gonzaga), then you need to remember that utility is maximized subject to a budget constraint, and Sidwell is not in most families' budgets.

Most private school parents don't give a hoot about Ivy schools and National Merit Scholars.

People on this board overly represent the Type A parent that need this type of notch in their belt to feel good about their kids (and the money they spend).

Not so much for most of us who are just looking for a place for our kids to enjoy learning and go on to do what they want in life.

Jesuit education is more about being a good citizen that the almighty dollar.

There is a reason why Gonzaga is the most popular school in the DC area. Its a good academic school but its also the largest school. Its over 1,000 boys - roughly 250 boys per grade. Because of its sheer size, it has the luxury of having some brilliant academic kids but also has the ability to admit every year some borderline student athletes who most likely could not get into the IAC schools or MAC schools.

Gonzaga is a great school but its college placement list is nothing to brag about base on the number of kids graduating in a given class. (i.e. sending 10 kids to an Ivy league school when you have a class of 250 students compared to a school like STA who can send 12 out of the 80 boys to an Ivy league school is much more impressive)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

Perhaps, but not for us. I really do not understand the Sidwell fascination. I have met several students and I am no more more impressed by them than any other Private school kid. I think it is all hype. They do not disclose any information about scores or college placements so basically everyone is going off of the high profile of the parents of the students and not the actual achievements of the students. I do realize atheletics are not important to everyone but I think it is pretty important to many and as a result, many parents do not select Sidwell as their top choice because sports are important to their kids and them.

They don't disclose any information about scores or college placements, but look at the number of National Merit Semifinalists as a good proxy for that. It's the only publicly available information out there about Sidwell. And as noted earlier in this thread, Sidwell had twice as many National Merit Semifinalists as any other private school in the area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the make up of Marets basketball team you would think Maret is a predominantly an inner city school. The same could be said for Bullis. Both teams are 80% black when I suspect both schools are more or less 75% white. It seems like a some schools in the MAC (Maret and Saint Andrews) are really trying to improve their athletic image by building a basketball program. The same can be said at Bullis. If you saw their football team play this Fall you would have thought the school was from PG county.

Sidwell's basketball team is 80% white with one HELL of a basketball player.

I suspect that the teams -- basketball, football, whatever -- are chosen on merit. Perhaps some of the white kids weren't good enough to cut the mustard. Perhaps they weren't interested in trying out for the team. My kid attended a school where the math team was all Asian and instrumental music ensembles predominantly so -- not at all reflective of the school's over all demographics. So what?

The teams are definitely chosen on merit. And they should be.

The only point I think anyone has tried to make here is that Maret's team is an outlier when compared to its student body and the basketball teams of the other schools in the conference, which tend to reflect their student body more closely. It's just one of the examples that demonstrates how heavily Maret has recruited for basketball relative to the other teams in the league.

And the other point is that, while you can be recruited to go to Sidwell, that doesn't mean you're getting in. Three of Maret's best players applied to Sidwell and were rejected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

I would recommend that you look up what a revealed preference ranking is.

I'm not saying it's your first choice, but, all else equal, Sidwell is the top choice locally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the make up of Marets basketball team you would think Maret is a predominantly an inner city school. The same could be said for Bullis. Both teams are 80% black when I suspect both schools are more or less 75% white. It seems like a some schools in the MAC (Maret and Saint Andrews) are really trying to improve their athletic image by building a basketball program. The same can be said at Bullis. If you saw their football team play this Fall you would have thought the school was from PG county.

Sidwell's basketball team is 80% white with one HELL of a basketball player.

I suspect that the teams -- basketball, football, whatever -- are chosen on merit. Perhaps some of the white kids weren't good enough to cut the mustard. Perhaps they weren't interested in trying out for the team. My kid attended a school where the math team was all Asian and instrumental music ensembles predominantly so -- not at all reflective of the school's over all demographics. So what?

+1. I have coached in this area for many years and I do not know of any diverse schools where every sports team was a perfect reflection of the school's demographics - whether it was field hockey, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, etc. At my oldest DD's high school (local private), the girl's bball team was mostly AA, the field hockey and lacrosse teams were all White, the soccer team had more Whites and Hispanics although the best players were AA (and sisters). Tennis and golf teams were mostly Asian.

I agree with you wholeheartedly when you ask "so what?" The school was wonderfully diverse.

Anonymous wrote:If you look at the make up of Marets basketball team you would think Maret is a predominantly an inner city school. The same could be said for Bullis. Both teams are 80% black when I suspect both schools are more or less 75% white. It seems like a some schools in the MAC (Maret and Saint Andrews) are really trying to improve their athletic image by building a basketball program. The same can be said at Bullis. If you saw their football team play this Fall you would have thought the school was from PG county.

Sidwell's basketball team is 80% white with one HELL of a basketball player.

I suspect that the teams -- basketball, football, whatever -- are chosen on merit. Perhaps some of the white kids weren't good enough to cut the mustard. Perhaps they weren't interested in trying out for the team. My kid attended a school where the math team was all Asian and instrumental music ensembles predominantly so -- not at all reflective of the school's over all demographics. So what?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

Wrong. If you are looking at applications, Gonzaga (which I have no affiliation with) is far and away the most popular private school in the area, even though it is single sex. The school had well over 1,000 application for about 250 spots last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

Perhaps, but not for us. I really do not understand the Sidwell fascination. I have met several students and I am no more more impressed by them than any other Private school kid. I think it is all hype. They do not disclose any information about scores or college placements so basically everyone is going off of the high profile of the parents of the students and not the actual achievements of the students. I do realize atheletics are not important to everyone but I think it is pretty important to many and as a result, many parents do not select Sidwell as their top choice because sports are important to their kids and them.

If you asked every single family in the area what school is their top choice it would not be Sidwell. For many reasons. This is not because I have anything against Sidwell it's just not the top choice of most families in the DC/MD/VA area.

Get off this site and visit the real world - only on this site do I see so many people talk about Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

Anonymous wrote:+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

It's a personal choice. It's not right for everyone. For example, lacrosse or football players would be much more likely to go to Gonzaga or STA, which are both excellent schools. But I think the admissions numbers support the hypothesis that, if one were to do a revealed preference ranking of area parents' choices for private schools, Sidwell would be far and away the top choice.

+1 There are multiple schools on my list above Sidwell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't there any white kids at Maret who were rejected by Sidwell? Doesn't seem like much of an indictment.

Of the 10 basketball players, only 2 (the two white players) were there before high school. So there's no way the white students could have been rejected by Sidwell. That's the only reason for the black/white gap in reported rejections here.

It's clear that Sidwell, all else equal, is the preferred choice among DC private schools. So it's not surprising that many of Maret's recruited athletes applied to, and were rejected by, Sidwell. Being recruited doesn't get you into Sidwell.

Not true. For boys, schools like Gonzaga and STA are just as popular, if not more so. Especially for those boys who have an interest in athletics.