Senior parents at Sidwell/GDS/NCS/STA; are you happy with college results?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Happy kid, happy parents.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not share where you are touring schools. There will always be a mom in your kid's class who will take it upon herself to decide whether your kid is qualified to be touring said school.

2. Advise your kid to hide his/her grades from nosey peers. These kids are often grilled by their parents to try to figure out if your kid might be competition for theirs.

3. Trust the college counselors as counselors. They can't get your kid in, they can only advise what may or may not be possible and direct your kid in ways to help him/her give each application its best shot.


My kid is very happy with results. I think his/her results surprised some, but only because he/she kept stats close to the vest -- wanted to stay off of other's radar.

Finally, my kid had decent rigor and grades, but so do a lot of kids. I think his/her standardized testing and faculty recommendations are what set them apart. There will always be exceptions, but we just recently learned that most of the kids in their class who got into the top schools did submit test scores.

Good luck!

Not all of the schools listed by OP have counselors that will advise......just sayin'. It's ridiculous, but true. Ours literally gave ZERO advice or feedback and clearly did not know the kids. Pure paper pushing and making sure each student has a true likely. (..which most of our DC's friends already had).

can you share which school so we can avoid?

Not the previous poster but Sidwell is notorious for having a totally dysfunctional college counseling office.

Did your kid go there?

I’m certain the answer is no. People love to talk sh!7 about Sidwell…based purely on rumor and speculation.

No, based on the pain of parents who have had to deal with the nothing burger CCO.

The real answer:
No, based on the fact that your children were rejected by Sidwell. Now you spend your free time posting lies on DCUM about the school, including the CCO, because you’re angry and bitter.

You have no idea what is happening at Sidwell. Focus on what’s happening at the school that actually chose your children.

Another head in the sand. PP - you DO realize that Sidwell parents have parent friends at other Big3 schools and that they talk to one another. This is how, for example, a Sidwell parent knows they are getting less from CCO than a STA parent. Likewise, the STA parent hears (and is shocked by) what the Sidwell parent is not getting. Both have a sense of the CCO at the other school (especially when it's not just one Sidwell parent and not just one STA parent....the stories align...it's not fiction...the STA parent never wanted to be at Sidwell and the Sidwell parent never wanted to be at STA. It's not a jealousy thing.)

You don’t know me and you don’t know what my experiences have been with Sidwell’s CCO. I’ve been through the process, and it sounds like the Sidwell parents you know need/expect a lot more mollycoddling than I needed.

Based on my daughter’s stats, I knew which colleges were reaches, targets, and safeties.
The SCOIR data provided some surprises, but a lot was as expected. I don’t have a son, but I definitely would not have preferred STA’s requirement that I sit in the CCO to view SCOIR data, or that I wait until the second half of my junior’s year.

Likewise. Yet, you doubted others' experiences and sent out accusations putting them down. The same wasn't done to you. Perhaps you should be open to the idea that not everyone is in your shoes. It's great that you are happy - that doesn't mean others are and it doesn't mean that they are asking too much.

FYI - SCOIR tells you nothing if you don't know about hooked status or whether test scores were sent in (but I am not asking for these details...) . SCOIR was NOT predictive in our case for many top schools. But that isn't our complaint - as Sidwell cannot know how tides are changing or how one DC will fit into the applicant pool of a given year.

I'd much prefer to be required to speak with STA in the office about the SCOIR information if they are going to add in context as part of the conversation. I have never heard of STA not providing SCOIR when asked. And having a two way conversation and information flow is MUCH more useful than seeing your child has a dot in the 90% predicted box.

That’s where we differ. I’m not a child and I don’t need the STA nanny to monitor or control my access to SCOIR. And I certainly don’t want to drive to STA’s campus every time I need to look something up. I can’t imagine that nonsense! When I had questions about Sidwell’s SCOIR data, or the college application process, I simply emailed the CC. I’m an adult, so I neither need nor want the infantilizing treatment STA and GDS provides.

You seem to have gotten answers to these questions.....the point is that others get nothing of any substance. CCO was useless - might as well not reach out (their wish I suppose). Glad your experience was different. Not everyone had the same success.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:From what I have read on boards over the years and have observed as a parent at one of these schools.

StA/NCS seem to be the most granular and open about prior data and such.
Sidwell cco office seems to be unpopular but unclear how much of that is from parents expectations
GDS seems most opaque and hard to get scoir data and emphasizes student fit and feel. People complain about the limit on how many applications.

All and all, these are hard jobs esp in fluid era. From what it seems from instagram, students at places that post seem to have done quite well this years in that they are going to lots of wonderful schools.

Sidwell gives parents access to the 3 most recent years of SCOIR data, the summer after 10th grade.

My children don’t attend NCS/STA, but my understanding is that you can only access SCOIR data at those schools if you’re in person (at the CCO). If that’s true, that doesn’t seem very open. Correct me if I’m wrong.

the bolded is not true

Someone posted here that STA only allows you to access SCOIR data if you go into the office and sit at the CC’s desk. That doesn’t seem very open.

Another post says that NCS/STA don’t make the SCOIR data available until the second half of 11th grade.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/1163943.page

Class of 23 STA parent here and that is true (but the system is naviance). But I didn’t find it to be a problem and actually appreciated that my kid couldn’t obsess over the numbers all night at home, which kids with home access do. The data is useful to know if your kid is in range but that is about it.

Maybe what the PP means about being open and granular is STA provides lists of where graduates with similar GPAs got in, which we found helpful bc you see beyond where kids matriculate. The CC also was candid and correct about my kid’s match list.

STA may not care that outsiders know data but we felt supported as a family.

And this not how we felt at Sidwell (and neither did our DC). It wasn't like they had anything against us, it was like indifference and then when we reached out - never an answer that had anything meaningful (might was well not ask) or never followed through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I have read on boards over the years and have observed as a parent at one of these schools.

StA/NCS seem to be the most granular and open about prior data and such.
Sidwell cco office seems to be unpopular but unclear how much of that is from parents expectations
GDS seems most opaque and hard to get scoir data and emphasizes student fit and feel. People complain about the limit on how many applications.

All and all, these are hard jobs esp in fluid era. From what it seems from instagram, students at places that post seem to have done quite well this years in that they are going to lots of wonderful schools.

Sidwell gives parents access to the 3 most recent years of SCOIR data, the summer after 10th grade.

My children don’t attend NCS/STA, but my understanding is that you can only access SCOIR data at those schools if you’re in person (at the CCO). If that’s true, that doesn’t seem very open. Correct me if I’m wrong.

the bolded is not true

Someone posted here that STA only allows you to access SCOIR data if you go into the office and sit at the CC’s desk. That doesn’t seem very open.

Another post says that NCS/STA don’t make the SCOIR data available until the second half of 11th grade.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/1163943.page

Class of 23 STA parent here and that is true (but the system is naviance). But I didn’t find it to be a problem and actually appreciated that my kid couldn’t obsess over the numbers all night at home, which kids with home access do. The data is useful to know if your kid is in range but that is about it.

Maybe what the PP means about being open and granular is STA provides lists of where graduates with similar GPAs got in, which we found helpful bc you see beyond where kids matriculate. The CC also was candid and correct about my kid’s match list.

STA may not care that outsiders know data but we felt supported as a family.

And this not how we felt at Sidwell (and neither did our DC). It wasn't like they had anything against us, it was like indifference and then when we reached out - never an answer that had anything meaningful (might was well not ask) or never followed through.

Is your kid happy with the college your kid will be attending?

[Anonymous]

DP here. We had a very positive experience with Sidwell CCO. Our DC is at a T10 school now. The common feature of Sidwell parents who complain about the CCO is 1. They (mistakenly) think their kid is in the top 10% of the class and because Sidwell doesn’t explicitly rank they operate with an erroneous belief. The kids in the grade know who the top students are but the parents are completely delusional. 2. They (the parents) typically don’t understand top rigor either. The kid is not in top math or science tracks. 3. The teacher recs are “puts in strong effort” and “has affinity for the subject area” types and decidedly not “one of the best students I have ever taught” and “has a genuine love of learning and inspires his classmates” types, which a few of his peers applying to the same college are getting. Big differentor. The parents’ flawed understanding of their kid’s relative strength as an applicant is the issue and not the Sidwell CCO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP here. We had a very positive experience with Sidwell CCO. Our DC is at a T10 school now. The common feature of Sidwell parents who complain about the CCO is 1. They (mistakenly) think their kid is in the top 10% of the class and because Sidwell doesn’t explicitly rank they operate with an erroneous belief. The kids in the grade know who the top students are but the parents are completely delusional. 2. They (the parents) typically don’t understand top rigor either. The kid is not in top math or science tracks. 3. The teacher recs are “puts in strong effort” and “has affinity for the subject area” types and decidedly not “one of the best students I have ever taught” and “has a genuine love of learning and inspires his classmates” types, which a few of his peers applying to the same college are getting. Big differentor. The parents’ flawed understanding of their kid’s relative strength as an applicant is the issue and not the Sidwell CCO.

This. Parents assume their kid is top 10 or 15%. They don't realize that there is an entire, often undercover tier of kids getting a 3.95+ while taking several math classes beyond calculus (or equivalent in other subjects). These are the kids getting "best in the graduating class" recs (and no, not all recs are the same). The kids know most of them but even with them there are classmates who ride under the radar.

[Anonymous]

What I want to know is how so many parents claim to know what is being said about their kid in the teacher recs. How can you possibly know for sure-unless your kid went to look at their admission file in college.

[Anonymous]

Our child was waitlisted at all of the Ivies. We’re outraged. We’re considering a lawsuit against the school. Plus we didn’t get into the CC Country Club. How will we face the crowd at Millie’s? Considering leaving Spring Valley and moving to Ashburn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where can I find STAs results? They don’t post.

Send a boy to the school. The results are posted every summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child was waitlisted at all of the Ivies. We’re outraged. We’re considering a lawsuit against the school. Plus we didn’t get into the CC Country Club. How will we face the crowd at Millie’s? Considering leaving Spring Valley and moving to Ashburn.

lol

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We found college counseling at GDS to be hit-or-miss — its value very much depended on the counselor the kid was working with. Overall, though my kid is happy with the ultimate result, it was a bumpy process and I do think the office failed to provide consistently good guidance in a couple areas (namely, school selection and essay topic selection). Among other things, there was what I felt to be an undue focus on what they call “foundational” schools, and what the rest of us call safety schools. Even though our child was admitted early to a safety school that he would have been happy with, they insisted that he still apply to other safety schools rather than use those those slots for reaches or hard targets. GDS limits the number of applications a student can submit, so this had a real impact.

I'm sure this is because there are so many parents who have an inflated sense of where their kid could or should get in. My kids are (were) at another Big3 and we're on our second rising senior. With our first I knew so many kids who tried to ED to an Ivy with grades that were completely out of range. (Range frankly being a 3.8+ even with legacy, etc). But there are a gazillion legacies (or non-legacies) who think they're going to make it in with lesser grades. The reality is that they don't. Legacy may give you a 0.1 bump in GPA. t's not going to compensate for a 3.6 unless you are literally donating 6 figures. So college counseling exists to continually bring peoples' feet back down to earth. And they don't want the inevitable crisis when the kid doesn't get in anywhere or to only their 4th choice safety.

Yeah, I get it. It just makes less sense when your kid has already been accepted to a safety school they’d be satisfied with, and they are deciding what additional schools to apply to.

I'm wondering if a school reports its acceptance rates at colleges to parents and so didn't want your kid taking chances with their remaining admissions such that it would have an effect on their acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I want to know is how so many parents claim to know what is being said about their kid in the teacher recs. How can you possibly know for sure-unless your kid went to look at their admission file in college.

Can't know for sure, but at our school the teachers write detailed comments on the midterm reports. DC picked recommenders based on who wrote the best ones and we assume they used similar language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child was waitlisted at all of the Ivies. We’re outraged. We’re considering a lawsuit against the school. Plus we didn’t get into the CC Country Club. How will we face the crowd at Millie’s? Considering leaving Spring Valley and moving to Ashburn.

Consider yourself lucky on all counts.

[Anonymous]

Happy with results (Big-3), but we hired a private counselor immediately after meeting with the high school college counselor and were appalled by their self-righteous incompetence. Did not feel like the school was advocating for our kid, but rather force-feeding a philosophy of nonchalance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DP here. We had a very positive experience with Sidwell CCO. Our DC is at a T10 school now. The common feature of Sidwell parents who complain about the CCO is 1. They (mistakenly) think their kid is in the top 10% of the class and because Sidwell doesn’t explicitly rank they operate with an erroneous belief. The kids in the grade know who the top students are but the parents are completely delusional. 2. They (the parents) typically don’t understand top rigor either. The kid is not in top math or science tracks. 3. The teacher recs are “puts in strong effort” and “has affinity for the subject area” types and decidedly not “one of the best students I have ever taught” and “has a genuine love of learning and inspires his classmates” types, which a few of his peers applying to the same college are getting. Big differentor. The parents’ flawed understanding of their kid’s relative strength as an applicant is the issue and not the Sidwell CCO.

We are not in any of your categories. Glad you had a great experience. Not everyone does - and it's not "just the parents".

That said - I fully agree with all of the categories you list....and the presence of those parents/kids. But that doesn't explain away the valid feedback by others who had bad experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happy with results (Big-3), but we hired a private counselor immediately after meeting with the high school college counselor and were appalled by their self-righteous incompetence. Did not feel like the school was advocating for our kid, but rather force-feeding a philosophy of nonchalance.

please share your outside contact!