Prestige shapes future success

The school that one attends often influences the student’s life through college admissions, internship opportunities and other forms of general perception.
At St. Mark’s, some hold the name-value of the school to be relatively strong, bolstering their experiences with these aforementioned qualities of student life.
Through the daily actions and activities of the school’s community like Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini’s role as the president of the International Boys School Coalition (IBSC), many students, faculty and staff believe the school has obtained noteworthy name-value.
“I think the message and the reputation of the school is strong in Dallas and throughout much of the United States and among school communities worldwide,” Director of Admission & Financial Aid David Baker said.
The school’s reputation begins with the students. The highly selective admissions process searches for a specific type of student, one who moves the class forward especially through communication and discussion.
“My point is that collaborative engagement is what makes each student beneficial to everybody else,” Baker said. “I want each boy to learn something from the boy sitting next to him, and that’s not going to happen without collaborative engagement. We are invested in each other’s success.”
Baker highlights the process of admission as not only a sign of the level of interest in the school, given the around 800 applicants per year, but also as a key component to the school’s continued success.
As students progress through the different grades and eventually graduate, the vast alumni network plays a key role in how the school is perceived by others.
“Lions are everywhere, and those Lions represent the values and the nature of this institution,” Baker said. “I can’t tell you the number of people who come in here, and their first point of contact with the school was meeting one of our alumni.”
The strong emphasis placed on school values and building a sense of brotherhood and community carries over into life after graduation through the alumni network.
“Having been here so long, sometimes the students that graduate from St. Marks, their connections continue to always be St. Mark’s and not necessarily the college which is different from other high school Students,” Director of College Counseling Veronica Pulido said. “At St. Mark’s, (alumni) really find that this is home, and, potentially, if they go into the business world or whatever, they’re going to (find opportunities through their) St. Mark’s connection much quicker.”
During the college admissions process, the school that one attends plays a role in how colleges view the applicant. According to Pulido, St. Mark’s has an exceptionally strong appeal to college admissions.
“A school like ours is dedicated to academic rigor, in addition to creating a lifestyle of understanding the positive features of growing into young men (like) characteristics, manners, leadership and ethics,” Pulido said. “When a college looks at an applicant from St. Mark’s, they value that a student has decided to come to this institution versus any other school in the country. For that reason alone, I do think colleges are going to take a second look to say, ‘okay, this is an environment where academics comes first, then all the other great things that go along with the St. Mark’s environment add to the whole person.’”
Pulido believes it is beneficial when a college dean looks at an application more than once.
“Once we can get a college to look at our boys twice, three times, four times, that always adds value because it’s not just a ‘one and done, this candidate isn’t qualified,’” Pulido said. “They will take that holistic approach in terms of figuring out who we are as a school and then how the individual student really engages in the St. Mark’s community.”
One note of concern, however, for some students and parents is the change in the school’s ranking as determined by some third-party website. Pulido believes that rankings such as this hold little value in terms of college admission, comparing it to college rankings that also hold little merit in how strong a school is.
“Ultimately, the colleges are smarter than looking at just rankings,” Pulido said. “(For example), they’re going to look to see what has this child engaged in on their campus academically to the best of their ability.”
Additionally, the school’s history of producing strong students also helps out in the college admission process to an extent. According to Pulido, colleges may see the school as one that reliably provides strong and successful community members. Of course, this further stresses the importance of maintaining a strong reputation.
“I think school reputations are fragile things, and the reputation of our school is in our hands—faculty, staff, current students, alumni and parents,” Baker said. “Like it or not, we move through the world as representatives of St. Mark’s School of Texas.”
The environment of the school is striking in many ways; the all-boys nature of the school and general culture and traditions each build upon the student life. For senior Andrew Jin, he applied to the school for first grade after his parents learned about its academic reputation, paying less attention to other aspects. Yet over time, his perspectives on the school opened up.
“I remember for most of Lower School, having a vague sense of like, ‘these people get me; these kids are cool; they’re smart.’” Jin said. “We were interested in creating cars, Legos and Pokemon back then; just really simple thoughts of this place is pretty good. I don’t think I could articulate exactly what made me feel that way, but I would have to imagine it was the environment with teachers like Ms. Carrio who made the whole class feel warm.”
For senior Duncan Ardis, even though he first came to the school in eighth grade, a more matured and rigorous level than when Jin arrived, their reasons for applying are similar with the academic intensity of the school held at the forefront.
During his first few weeks at the school, his expectation and impression of the school shifted from this overly-nerdy, academically-focused student body to a more balanced one. Before St. Mark’s, he attended a public school, experiencing a vastly different environment.
Yet while they both arrived in different grades and at different times in life, they both experienced the same highs and lows that come with the school. In the end, Jin believes that each year has continuously built upon his character, not understating the prominence of how St. Mark’s will affect his future.
“You’re given a key like a couple years in the past,” Jin said. “You don’t know what to unlock. You’re told to keep the key. The key is kind of heavy, but you keep lugging it along, until one day, the door that the key opens is in front of you, and it’s imposing, and you unlock the door and you just walk through. Sometimes you don’t realize the lessons you’ve been given.”