@bluebayou that was the schools stated reason for it,
Interesting that there needs to be a physical injury for emotional distress! I know (from experience) that emotional distress can elevate cortisol which can in turn elevate inflammation in the body and ultimately cause some auto immune or similar diseases, which might not appear right away. I wonder if she could show at some point a bodily response like that they might reconsider?
From all of the complaints, I just get the feeling the school did NOT act in her best interest when she was a student as was their duty to do. I think they retaliated and acted in their teachers/facultyâs best interests.
Someone above mentioned thatâs why you donât want to be a squeaky wheel and you want the school to like you. I think the school should have been more professional and risen above that. Come on a smart girl like that didnt get into any colleges ? I feel she might have been directed better than that by guidance It appears she was a poor minority student in a wealthy school- it doesnât seem fair but thats just my opinion.
How could one opine with so few facts?
Oh, I can opine on anything lol. I read the court filing and those were my impressions. I said they have no basis in legality as I have zero experience with the law.
I feel someone should have made sure a straight A student (apparently) and an athlete left the school with at least 1 college acceptance. By that not happening someone dropped the ball. Just my opinion
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Agreed. The complaint also said she was turned down by Spelman. Her stats must have been quite mediocre.
My guess would be that Sidwell advised her to have a more balanced list and the family refused. That happens. They canât MAKE her apply to more safeties, and all of these (except McGill) are holistic, elite colleges that rely heavily on recommendations. Itâs important that the student makes sure they are good. IMO.
Yes, a straight A, athlete should have one college acceptance. But itâs not a guarantee when you apply to 13 of the most selective schools. Thatâs why they common thought is to apply to safety, matches and reaches. Not just reaches and then be upset that you didnât get into any of them.
Do we know that she was a straight A student? We donât know what her standardized testing scores are. We donât know what the college counselor advised the student as to schools to apply to.
Itâs not a right as far as I know that when you go to Sidwell that you are guaranteed to attend any school you want to. It seems like after this and the other article linked (the one about the counseling staff resigning) that the Sidwell parents think so.
If she had posted here on CC with that list, we all would have told her it was dumb and she needed more matches and likelies/safeties. I bet the college counseling office at Sidwell explained the same thing.
Being an athlete doesnât count unless you are being recruited.
Ok Love that she is a track runner and her dad is named Nike! 
She at the very least had an A in Calculus⊠She graduated from Penn Engineering -definitely not for mediocre students! It is a rigorous program.
Sidwell advertises they have a 100% college matriculation rate for its graduating high school seniors, I do think somehow she should have had at least 1 acceptance then. How do we know the family refused to apply to safeties or a more balanced list?
Well I did say "guess."That list reeks of Unrealistic Parental Aspirations, not something that a school like Sidwell would have suggested, for this very reason.
I suggest reading the documents referenced in post #1. Iâm not all the way through, and itâs one-sided, but there are allegations that with regard to McGill, for example, the school didnât send her Chem Subject Test and maybe didnât send her mid-year report, and that for Spelman the school missed deadlines. There are other things in there as well.
I canât speak for Sidwell (none of us can), but I went to a school of similar stature. The College Counseling Office there always advised students to apply to a mix of reach/match/safety. For that matter, it was strongly suggested that we limit to 10 colleges including 3 safeties and the state flagship (which may or may not be a safety) As said upthread, they canât force anyone to apply to safeties. But my counseling office works diligently with every student to compile a list of colleges that fit that student. The message the counseling office gave was clear - every student must be realistic in their approach because there are no guarantees in college admissions. I strongly suspect Sidwell follows a similar path.
As I have said on other threads, it is unlikely a school would guarantee admission to any college. Mine certainly never said that. But what parents/students took away from any presentationâŠletâs just say hearing and listening have 2 different meanings.
Apparently she was being recruited.
The claimed grievance about the chemistry subject test is odd, since the applicant is supposed to have that sent directly from the College Board. Though if the school missed deadlines on sending midyear reports or recommendations, that would be a more valid grievance.
I think the key ingredient hereâŠwhat was done during the gap year. Itâs very possible that whatever she did during that time helped raise her application to the accepted pile.
Old timers here will remember Andisonâs story. A very accomplished young man with excellent stats, but really he had no clear safety school the first time around and was totally shut out. He did a gap year, and applied anew with a different list (IIRC, there might have been one duplicate from round one). His happy ending was that he graduated from MITâŠso clearly not a sloucher.
This gal graduated from Penn. I have to wonderâŠwhat exactly is her beef? Her gap year could easily have been the thing that helped her get accepted.
My kids monitored their applications and supporting materials to make sure they were sent. They made NO last minute requestsâŠand made sure that everything was sent in a timely fashion.
Did this student do that? Or did she just âassumeâ that all would be well and she didnât have to deal with it.
I think her beef is that she had a contract w the school due to perceived discrimination w regards to her math grade and another grade- the school settled with her out of court; reviewed the grades and changed at least one, and paid her 50K then promised not to retaliate. She felt they retaliated by making it difficult for her to get any college acceptances. so she sued.
The court ruled in a summary judgement for the school. She thought it should have been ruled on its merits not a summary judgement, bc they in fact disagree on the merits and she was ordered to pay Sidwellâs costs of 37+K $$ She doesnât want to pay those costs. The court said they filed too close to date to decide if costs were reasonable or something like that. Sounds like she needed a better lawyer
@runswimyoga I did a quick google search (so take it with that in mind) and on chocranfirmdc.com I found this for Washington DC law on emotional distress:
DC statute on damages for emotional distress
Restatement (Third) of Torts, sec. 46:
§ 46 Negligent Conduct Directly Inflicting Emotional Disturbance on Another
An actor whose negligent conduct causes serious emotional
disturbance to another is subject to liability to the other if the
conduct:
(a) places the other in immediate danger of bodily harm and the
emotional disturbance results from the danger; or
(b) occurs in the course of specified categories of activities,
undertakings, or relationships in which negligent conduct is
especially likely to cause serious emotional disturbance.
DC injury laws allow victims to recover compensation for both pecuniary damages (monetary) and non-monetary damages for pain and suffering, including emotional distress. Washington, DC courts have outlined several types of cases where victims can recover damages for emotional distress, including:
Pain and suffering directly resulting from a personal injury, such as an auto crash or medical malpractice event
Negligent conduct likely to cause emotional distress where defendants have a legal duty to care for the wellbeing of the victim, such as a doctor delivering positive diagnosis which turns out to be false
Spouses filing suit against negligent parties for the loss of consortium (emotional enjoyment), husbands and wives suing the defendant for the loss of time spent with their spouse
Emotional distress from being placed in the âzone of danger,â being near a dangerous accident where the plaintiff believed he or she would suffer a serious injury
Intentional infliction of emotional distress in âextreme and outrageousâ situations, repeated harassment, stalking, or death threats (see below for more details)
She started at Sidwell when she was 4. Youâd think she, and her parents, would know how things work, how much support to expect and that if they didnât like the school theyâd have left long ago. Parents had filed other grievances against the school. For this one they received $50k.
In the linked docket, the student claims she was disqualified at McGill due to the school not including a SAT II chemistry score (she received a 720). The school disputes this, saying the student is responsible for submitting scores, not the HS. The docket also mentions,some mediocre grades, particularly in math. For example, the docket states,
"At this point, it was clear that Koziebrodzkaâs misconduct had had its intended effect. Dayoâs overall performance in Math II (per Koziebrodzkaâs appraisal) of C+/C was insufficient for matriculation to Math III. "
How does it work with McGill? In common app schools, you have to send the SAT IIs yourself.