Admissions process and Acceptance Rates at Private Schools in Austin (Houston: university, high income) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

dcleftwing · 02-23-2016, 03:03 PM

How competitive are schools like Regents, St. Andrews, Trinity, St. Gabriels, etc. to get into? Does anyone know much about the admission process and reasons why students are accepted, or reasons why students are rejected? We have applied to a couple of these schools and the admissions process seems so intense. I am wondering if we are setting ourselves up for failure, or what kind of expectations we should have.

GreenPlastic · 02-23-2016, 03:30 PM

Depends on what grade your student is attempting to enter. I have rough stats for St Andrews, if that is one of the schools to which you applied. Outside of kindergarten and first grade (this year only due to new kindergarten), a new applicant can only be accepted in the lower school if a student leaves. Attrition has been low in the lower school, so normally there are only a handful of openings per year. In some grades, virtually none.

centralaustinite · 02-23-2016, 07:42 PM

I have a lot of experience in this area. Honestly, it varies WIDELY from year to year. Compared to Dallas (OMG, the pressure) or Houston, private school admissions in Austin are still very low key.

BUT overall, the population of Austin is increasing faster (and a lot of newcomers are high income) than slots at Austin private schools -- there has been an increase in seats at most private schools (compared to 20 years ago especially).

As was mentioned above, there are grades that are easier to enter, obviously the lowest grade offered (K or 6th grade or 9th grade), otherwise, current families are offered contracts first, and then how many decide to stay determines how many slots can go to qualified applicants. Often there are just a handful of slots. Some schools may have say K-2 at 3 sections and then add a section at 3-5th grade, so there can be room where-ever that point is.

When did you complete the admission process? Often there is a time element to admission with the waiting list in chronological order from the time the admission process was completed (application, testing if required, parent interview and student shadowing) usually at this point qualified candidates are placed on the waiting list and are offered contracts on a rolling basis as current families return (or fail to return) their contracts for the next year. This process is well under way right now at most schools.

Also, many private schools will not take new students in 12th grade.

Does this answer your questions? Private schools are looking for students who will be a "good fit" and who seem to be a match for the type of education offered. If they don't think they can serve a student's needs, then they usually aren't admitted. But your child could be a perfect match and still not get a slot just because there is no space available.

blakely · 02-23-2016, 08:15 PM

Echoing some of the comments above.

Compared to other cities I've lived in, I don't think the private school admissions process in Austin is nearly as intense. Alignment with the school's mission and demonstrated interest can often matter as much or more than grades or test scores. It will vary by school. The more academically rigorous schools put more emphasis on grades and ability, but even there, I have seen kids who "fit better" get admitted while others with top scores don't always make the cut. Admissions is holistic, and schools are looking at lots of factors while also trying to build a balanced class. Then of course you have sibling preference and other factors that can also sway the numbers.

Are you submitting a lot of applications or have you found "the perfect school" you hope your child will be admitted to?

clarksvillemom · 02-24-2016, 06:21 AM

I think St. Stephens, St. Andrews, Trinity and Regents are more intense than others, partly because there are lifers who got in at the lowest grade, siblings, legacy, etc. They can all afford to be picky so academics count but anecdotally (just rumor really), if the kid is known to be a troublemaker or the parents come off arrogant or strange in the interview, it can be a negative. There are also some "feeder schools" to some of these private schools in the area, where large percentages of say a kinder class gets into St. Andrews, for ex.

centralaustinite · 02-24-2016, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarksvillemom

I think St. Stephens, St. Andrews, Trinity and Regents are more intense than others, partly because there are lifers who got in at the lowest grade, siblings, legacy, etc. They can all afford to be picky so academics count but anecdotally (just rumor really), if the kid is known to be a troublemaker or the parents come off arrogant or strange in the interview, it can be a negative. There are also some "feeder schools" to some of these private schools in the area, where large percentages of say a kinder class gets into St. Andrews, for ex.

HA! this absolutely happens at every private school! Private schools are by their very nature, a private endeavor, they do not have to take all comers. St. Andrews has an honor code that applies to parents as well as kids, Regents has a statement of faith that families must sign, if they think that the family can't or won't adhere to their principles, then it is much easier not to admit them up front, than to try to dismiss them later.

SAS used to have feeder schools because they didn't have their own kindergarten, that changed this year. St. Andrews now has their own kindergarten but it can still be helpful to be Episcopal, especially in the lower school, high school, not so much. Just like it is very helpful to be Catholic if you want to attend St. Gabriel's (again lower school, there are many non-Catholics at St. Michael's High School.)

GreenPlastic · 02-24-2016, 08:37 AM

St. Andrews had a record number of applications this year and a record number of out of town applicants. The town is growing...

centralaustinite · 02-24-2016, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenPlastic

St. Andrews had a record number of applications this year and a record number of out of town applicants. The town is growing...

The same thing is happening at colleges in the region, applications are up quite a bit at St. Edwards, Trinity University (SA) and others. And the pool of applicants is getting bigger and deeper and from farther and farther away. 20 years ago, St. Edwards was primarily a commuter college. Now they have students from New England, the mid-Atlantic, California, and they are moving to a residential model, all freshman must live on campus and most sophomores choose to live on campus.

Not surprised to hear about St. Andrews, it is a great school and Austin is drawing an increasing number of high earners, I need to find the cite but a significant portion of newcomers to Austin have six-figure incomes. It isn't all about money though. They offer financial aid and nearly all private schools in Austin would prefer a kid who is a great fit and will contribute to the school but who needs financial aid over a super-rich, entitled kid (and parents) who just barely met academic requirements.

COCUE · 02-24-2016, 11:05 AM

This is an interesting thread for us. Oldest kiddos just started kindergarten and we are potentially looking at private schools in the next few years, maybe. The only issue for us is that we live in North Austin and all the schools that I've heard mentioned here are way more central and with 2 working parents, we just can't imagine that commute and even having a nanny drop them off, commute would still be horrendous. So my question is, what are the private school options for families that live in North Austin or at least further away from the popular schools that is often takes about.

centralaustinite · 02-24-2016, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COCUE

This is an interesting thread for us. Oldest kiddos just started kindergarten and we are potentially looking at private schools in the next few years, maybe. The only issue for us is that we live in North Austin and all the schools that I've heard mentioned here are way more central and with 2 working parents, we just can't imagine that commute and even having a nanny drop them off, commute would still be horrendous. So my question is, what are the private school options for families that live in North Austin or at least further away from the popular schools that is often takes about.

St. Francis School, Paragon Prep are both north central and secular.

If you want something similar to Regents (Christian/Classical) then Brentwood Christian or Hill Country Christian. Hyde Park Baptist high school is north. Holy Family and St. Theresa are both Catholic (sub for St. Gabriels and less expensive).