No dc school can compare to Andover, Exeter etc. you basically have nice day schools here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The truth is that STA and Sidwell are schools that are as well known as Andover and Exeter in the top echelons of this country. Other than that, there are a handful of schools in the DC area that are well regarded outside of the area (basically the list a PP posted of the top tier) but not at that same level.

I never heard of St. Albans (or any of the DC privates) before moving here.

Yeah, no way they’re as well known as the NE prep schools. Sidwell is only known as that school Chelsea Clinton and the Obama kids went to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's confusion over what rigor means in this context, muddled more as it's wedded with test prep in OP's title.

AP calc, bio, psychics are the same everywhere, aren't they? Depth and rigor really shows itself in writing ability, grasp of the classics, debate/public speaking and critical thinking...

Some private schools go beyond AP.

That’s what they would like you to think.

I went to one. It’s 100% true.

Anonymous wrote:The truth is that STA and Sidwell are schools that are as well known as Andover and Exeter in the top echelons of this country. Other than that, there are a handful of schools in the DC area that are well regarded outside of the area (basically the list a PP posted of the top tier) but not at that same level.

I never heard of St. Albans (or any of the DC privates) before moving here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's confusion over what rigor means in this context, muddled more as it's wedded with test prep in OP's title.

AP calc, bio, psychics are the same everywhere, aren't they? Depth and rigor really shows itself in writing ability, grasp of the classics, debate/public speaking and critical thinking...

Some private schools go beyond AP.

That’s what they would like you to think.

Anonymous wrote:i) Hiring higher caliber administrators and teachers is VERY expensive.

ii) Even the bottom of the incoming class at top tier privates is darn impressive. If mid-tier privates could afford to reject their bottom quartile, the remaining gap between mid-tiers and top tier privates would be quite small.

Everything else is window dressing. And "elite" college admissions is juked with athletic recruits, legacies and URMs.

But the teachers at private schools, even top privates, make peanuts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need to pay teachers more and be able to turn away students they don't think can meet their rigor. That would be turning away money.

So your view is the top private high schools do nothing different — they merely admit superior students, while also having the privilege of rejecting students who would bring down median stats?

NP here but yeah, I thought this was well understood. The kids in the so called top privates are not actually receiving a better education.

The truth is that STA and Sidwell are schools that are as well known as Andover and Exeter in the top echelons of this country. Other than that, there are a handful of schools in the DC area that are well regarded outside of the area (basically the list a PP posted of the top tier) but not at that same level.

Anonymous wrote:We pulled our kids out of "Big 3" because kids were not happy. We sent them to a "second tier" school instead. Overall, while there have been tradeoffs, kids are happier.

We would not want our "second tier" school to turn into Sidwell, GDS or St. Albans.

By the way, if you are worried that the "second tier" doesn't have smart kids, you should know that most of them have many high achievers, just not as many as the Big 3.

What are the tradeoffs?

Yeah, and why can’t George Mason just be Yale? You know, start rejecting a lot of applicants and get a couple billion $$ and separate from the state and, umm, just be Yale?! So easy!

Anonymous wrote:Because their students couldn’t handle a more rigorous curriculum.

Late to this thread, but the top 20 type kids at our relaxed k-8 landed at top 20 and top of the top 20 colleges and universities. Some went top Dc private after the k-8, some went to public. There are significant differences in the depth of resources between public and private. Aside from fantastic athletic facilities, the big plus is individualized feedback on work due to small class size. But smart and hard-working can succeed via many paths. “Rigor” in Elementary/ lower school is not part of the formula, including in your Apparently coveted schools.

We pulled our kids out of "Big 3" because kids were not happy. We sent them to a "second tier" school instead. Overall, while there have been tradeoffs, kids are happier.

We would not want our "second tier" school to turn into Sidwell, GDS or St. Albans.

By the way, if you are worried that the "second tier" doesn't have smart kids, you should know that most of them have many high achievers, just not as many as the Big 3.

Anonymous wrote:Since when does strong STEM = effective?

Effective at what?

I’m the pp that mentioned genius being captured at no one institution 100%. That’s not limited to sidwell, or juliard, or TJ, or any non-private/top tier school that has genius. The only advantage non-private has from ratio is because of the population ratios. And it’s all about pulling the potential out of a child. That environment/mission of course differs as it should.

Since when does strong STEM = effective?