Virginia and Maryland schools are often grouped together as part of the DMV, but are they really that similar?

I will compare DeMatha to my old Virginia public school, Langley High School in both Academics, and Cultural.

Academics at Langley are taken very seriously. Everyone there expects to have at least a 4.0 GPA, a rigorous course load of AP and Honor classes and an all-around expectation of perfection. If you’re not first, you’re last. At DeMatha, a combination of strong classes and good teachers creates a welcoming, but still challenging environment. At DeMatha, I still feel that I am getting the best out of myself academically, while not feeling the overwhelming pressure to be absolutely perfect.

Culturally Langley and DeMatha are very different. While Langley mainly focuses on succeeding academically, DeMatha is much more prominent athletically. DeMatha is renowned around the country for their sports such as basketball or football. With this reputation comes an expectation for the teams to win their selective championships, as well as an expectation to be the best at their craft. Langley’s sports teams are not nearly as elite as DeMatha’s, a good season for a Langley sports team would be to make the playoffs, opposed to DeMatha’s expectation to win it all.

The cafeteria food is much better at DeMatha then at Langley, at Langley the food is all frozen and heated with many strict regulations by the county on what food can be served. Meanwhile DeMatha does not have the same regulations and the staff make much better food as well as much more of a variety.

Langley is a coed school while DeMatha is an all-boys school. That difference changes the attitude of the students; at an all-boys school the students are not always trying to flex on each other to attract girls. At Langley however, the boys are always putting each other down to impress girls. Langley also does not have a uniform, leading to a variety of outfits for both the boys and girls.

Overall the difference between a Virginia public school and a Maryland private school is much greater than one would first think. Both Langley and DeMatha are great schools with different vibes and expectations.