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Hello, we are thinking about applying to private high schools and are doing our research regarding St. Mark's. For the 9th grade, would they have about 20-25 openings? And what is the most important factor the school will consider for admission? Is there a certain grade cut for ISEE test? Or will it consider the sportsmanship, instruments, etc. If the sport plays an important role, like swimming, what competition level is considered great from their perspective?
Sorry I have a lot questions. Generally I would like to know what kind of student is most likely to be admitted so that we can compare that to our kid. TIA.
Hello, we are thinking about applying to private high schools and are doing our research regarding St. Mark's. For the 9th grade, would they have about 20-25 openings? And what is the most important factor the school will consider for admission? Is there a certain grade cut for ISEE test? Or will it consider the sportsmanship, instruments, etc. If the sport plays an important role, like swimming, what competition level is considered great from their perspective?
Sorry I have a lot questions. Generally I would like to know what kind of student is most likely to be admitted so that we can compare that to our kid. TIA.
1. Not sure of the approximate number, but 9th grade is a big opening year. Their website says that 15-20 spots are expected.
2. St. Mark's is the high school equivalent to Harvard, Yale, Stanford etc. Good test scores are the minimum -- strong grades, good disciplinary records, a strong interview, and participation in other activities come into play as well. There isn't a super hard ISEE cutoff, but the averages are likely to be very high (I couldn't find statistics on this). Inversely, no ISEE score would guarantee admission
If St. Mark's is the only school you're looking at, then be prepared for a disappointing cycle because 4/5 applicants get waitlisted or rejected. Like I said earlier, it's the high school equivalent of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT etc. I would have a solid backup plan in place, whether it is another private or a strong public school district. Good luck
Hello, we are thinking about applying to private high schools and are doing our research regarding St. Mark's. For the 9th grade, would they have about 20-25 openings? And what is the most important factor the school will consider for admission? Is there a certain grade cut for ISEE test? Or will it consider the sportsmanship, instruments, etc. If the sport plays an important role, like swimming, what competition level is considered great from their perspective?
Sorry I have a lot questions. Generally I would like to know what kind of student is most likely to be admitted so that we can compare that to our kid. TIA.
I recommend doing a search for St Mark’s on here as well as reading their website thoroughly as a lot of the answers are there. There are several regular posters on here who have kids at St Marks. 9th grade per their website is 15-20 planned openings. About 1 in 5 applicants are admitted, maybe closer to 1 in 6 as of this year.
From my experience in the community, you can usually spot a Marksman right away. They are - at almost every age - confident, courteous, well-spoken, very bright, very driven. The whole “boys into good men” thing permeates from 1st grade to graduation and beyond. A boy that is well respected by his peers and his teachers will do well there.
Your son will need very strong ISEE’s although boys with perfect scores get rejected every years and boys with a weak category test will get in. Teacher recs will be VERY important. They’re looking for a well-rounded class of outstanding boys so most all 9th grade applicants will have some “hook”, maybe two hooks, whether it’s a musical instrument or a sport or a talent for filmmaking or forensics or serving a particular cause. I would guess they are also trying to balance the current 8th grade class out so that could add a wrinkle if they already have a ton of strong baseball players but not a lot of water polo or tennis players. Or they have more theatre actors than musicians…then they’re specifically looking to fill those gaps when they’re looking at the dozens of students who clearly meet the academic criteria.
Admissions season starts a full year in advance so you will be able to start tours in late September with applications due in January. The schools seem to have their websites updated my early to mid August with dates for next year. And cast a wide net if your public is not an option - applying to St Marks is like applying to an Ivy, you’ll want to add some “top 50’s” and “safety’s” to ensure you get a spot somewhere.
I recommend doing a search for St Mark’s on here as well as reading their website thoroughly as a lot of the answers are there. There are several regular posters on here who have kids at St Marks. 9th grade per their website is 15-20 planned openings. About 1 in 5 applicants are admitted, maybe closer to 1 in 6 as of this year.
From my experience in the community, you can usually spot a Marksman right away. They are - at almost every age - confident, courteous, well-spoken, very bright, very driven. The whole “boys into good men” thing permeates from 1st grade to graduation and beyond. A boy that is well respected by his peers and his teachers will do well there.
Your son will need very strong ISEE’s although boys with perfect scores get rejected every years and boys with a weak category test will get in. Teacher recs will be VERY important. They’re looking for a well-rounded class of outstanding boys so most all 9th grade applicants will have some “hook”, maybe two hooks, whether it’s a musical instrument or a sport or a talent for filmmaking or forensics or serving a particular cause. I would guess they are also trying to balance the current 8th grade class out so that could add a wrinkle if they already have a ton of strong baseball players but not a lot of water polo or tennis players. Or they have more theatre actors than musicians…then they’re specifically looking to fill those gaps when they’re looking at the dozens of students who clearly meet the academic criteria.
Admissions season starts a full year in advance so you will be able to start tours in late September with applications due in January. The schools seem to have their websites updated my early to mid August with dates for next year. And cast a wide net if your public is not an option - applying to St Marks is like applying to an Ivy, you’ll want to add some “top 50’s” and “safety’s” to ensure you get a spot somewhere.
Thank you for the great information. We are not in the Dalla area and is only looking at St Mark’s due to its excellent academic principles. We would love to have our kids to be in a school where teachers really teach them WHY instead of teaching them to memorize how and just look at the standard test.
With that said, it seems hard to find out what the school currently have in the 8th grade and can’t guess if my boy will fit in. Our current area does have private schools but are considered “old money”schools which I don’t quite like. Not sure if I want to look at other private schools as we don’t want to move to the New England area either.
1. Not sure of the approximate number, but 9th grade is a big opening year. Their website says that 15-20 spots are expected.
2. St. Mark's is the high school equivalent to Harvard, Yale, Stanford etc. Good test scores are the minimum -- strong grades, good disciplinary records, a strong interview, and participation in other activities come into play as well. There isn't a super hard ISEE cutoff, but the averages are likely to be very high (I couldn't find statistics on this). Inversely, no ISEE score would guarantee admission
If St. Mark's is the only school you're looking at, then be prepared for a disappointing cycle because 4/5 applicants get waitlisted or rejected. Like I said earlier, it's the high school equivalent of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT etc. I would have a solid backup plan in place, whether it is another private or a strong public school district. Good luck
What other private schools do you recommend? Thank you!
I recommend doing a search for St Mark’s on here as well as reading their website thoroughly as a lot of the answers are there. There are several regular posters on here who have kids at St Marks. 9th grade per their website is 15-20 planned openings. About 1 in 5 applicants are admitted, maybe closer to 1 in 6 as of this year.
From my experience in the community, you can usually spot a Marksman right away. They are - at almost every age - confident, courteous, well-spoken, very bright, very driven. The whole “boys into good men” thing permeates from 1st grade to graduation and beyond. A boy that is well respected by his peers and his teachers will do well there.
Your son will need very strong ISEE’s although boys with perfect scores get rejected every years and boys with a weak category test will get in. Teacher recs will be VERY important. They’re looking for a well-rounded class of outstanding boys so most all 9th grade applicants will have some “hook”, maybe two hooks, whether it’s a musical instrument or a sport or a talent for filmmaking or forensics or serving a particular cause. I would guess they are also trying to balance the current 8th grade class out so that could add a wrinkle if they already have a ton of strong baseball players but not a lot of water polo or tennis players. Or they have more theatre actors than musicians…then they’re specifically looking to fill those gaps when they’re looking at the dozens of students who clearly meet the academic criteria.
Admissions season starts a full year in advance so you will be able to start tours in late September with applications due in January. The schools seem to have their websites updated my early to mid August with dates for next year. And cast a wide net if your public is not an option - applying to St Marks is like applying to an Ivy, you’ll want to add some “top 50’s” and “safety’s” to ensure you get a spot somewhere.
Regarding the teacher’s recommendation letters, I know the school wants their math and ELA teacher. Would his instrument teacher or coach’s recommendation letter add value?
There are many private schools that teach kids "why" rather than memorization. (There are public schools that do this as well) From some of your posts it looks like you're in the RDU metro area. As an example there I have friends who have sent their kids to Durham Academy who are quite pleased with it. On the public side you have the NC School of Science and Math.
It seems drastic to move halfway across the country for a private school when there are likely options closer to home that will work for you. Also many fine boarding schools in the Southeasst and Northeast.
Thank you for the great information. We are not in the Dalla area and is only looking at St Mark’s due to its excellent academic principles. We would love to have our kids to be in a school where teachers really teach them WHY instead of teaching them to memorize how and just look at the standard test.
With that said, it seems hard to find out what the school currently have in the 8th grade and can’t guess if my boy will fit in. Our current area does have private schools but are considered “old money”schools which I don’t quite like. Not sure if I want to look at other private schools as we don’t want to move to the New England area either.
Like, you would only move here if he got admitted to SM? What?!!? I’m confused FWIW, SM has a very large contingency of “old Dallas money” enrolled in school and also on the board. McDermotts, Hunts, etc. The titans of Dallas business & culture have their names and money entrenched at SM.
We are lucky to have quite a few truly fabulous private schools in the Dallas area…Greenhill (coed non-sectarian), Cistercian (Catholic boys), Jesuit (Catholic boys), Parish (coed Episcopalian), etc. These schools all emphasize critical thinking and analysis skills, not rote memorization or teaching to standardized tests.
There are many private schools that teach kids "why" rather than memorization. (There are public schools that do this as well) From some of your posts it looks like you're in the RDU metro area. As an example there I have friends who have sent their kids to Durham Academy who are quite pleased with it. On the public side you have the NC School of Science and Math.
It seems drastic to move halfway across the country for a private school when there are likely options closer to home that will work for you. Also many fine boarding schools in the Southeasst and Northeast.
We are no longer in RDU area anymore. We moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago. The public schools we are in right now has good rankings but only when the kids experienced it would we know ranking doesn’t mean anything.
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FWIW, SM has a very large contingency of “old Dallas money” enrolled in school and also on the board. McDermotts, Hunts, etc. The titans of Dallas business & culture have their names and money entrenched at SM. 
