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I just wanted to thank everyone who recommended we schedule a report review with Dr. Anderson. We had our review and she was able to put us at ease that she did not believe the "borderline" CATS scores accurately represented our child's intellect, that it was obvious anxiety/discomfort causing a "freeze up", resulting in distorted scores. She said that she included her assessment in the full report sent out to the schools, so that's some comfort. Though, it's possible that apparent testing anxiety will be as much of a deterrent for admissions offices as low scores, who knows.
She was able to give specific examples of what occurred during testing, like that the examiner didn't recognize until midway through testing that it was reluctance/apprehension (rather than failure to comprehend) and began to be more firm in encouraging our kid to answer or keep going - the result being that the last two subsets were significantly higher scoring. Dr. Anderson said it's hard for an examiner to know how much to push a kid they don't know, and that's one of the significant limitations on a test administered this way.
Overall, talking with her helped us understand why our two comparable kids had such vastly different scores - younger is more carefree and older is a bit more anxious and that was reflected in their approach to the testing session.
They aren’t expanding. They won’t expand. Hockaday has basically the same amount of kindergarteners as they did 40 years ago when I was a kid and the population was 1/3 what it is today. My high school boyfriend graduated from St Marks in the late 1990’s and they’re about 100 boys in the class. That’s pretty much within 10 students of today’s senior class enrollment.
Wow, that's incredible! Makes sense most or all the prominent schools are happy with their current student body numbers, and if we were already admitted I would be too, I'm just moaning and feeling sorry for myself that the era we are applying in is when schools are reportedly doubling their previous record-breaking application numbers. But our family is probably applying for most of the same reasons so many others are, on top of an expanding metroplex population, so we just have to make peace with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
Plus, the schools have zero incentive to open more spots for younger grades. Especially because the honest truth is that the kids who are admitted in 5th and 9th usually end up being a stronger group than the lifers. Hard to predict how a 3 or 4 year old will perform in high school; easy to predict how an 8th grader will.
Our kid’s school also had a record number of Lower School open house attendees; first year it was more than upper grades. I think parents are just getting savvier with trying to apply early - especially at the “one and done” schools.
One of the lower school open houses we attended was so packed (and thus seemed badly managed) it was an ordeal and almost turned us off of the school.
I think we have less of a shot at being admitted in these lower school entry grades because we may be somewhat vanilla applicants (though we certainly think our kids are awesome, would do great yada yada) and don't have any connections, etc. And that if our kids are truly [insert school name here] material, their best opportunity is at the older entry points. But what we really value about the private schools we are applying to is the approach, opportunities, enrichment and in-depth attention they provide specifically in early childhood. But I'm sure we're not unique in that. What's a "one and done" school?
Wow, that's incredible! Makes sense most or all the prominent schools are happy with their current student body numbers, and if we were already admitted I would be too, I'm just moaning and feeling sorry for myself that the era we are applying in is when schools are reportedly doubling their previous record-breaking application numbers. But our family is probably applying for most of the same reasons so many others are, on top of an expanding metroplex population, so we just have to make peace with it.
One of the lower school open houses we attended was so packed (and thus seemed badly managed) it was an ordeal and almost turned us off of the school.
I think we have less of a shot at being admitted in these lower school entry grades because we may be somewhat vanilla applicants (though we certainly think our kids are awesome, would do great yada yada) and don't have any connections, etc. And that if our kids are truly [insert school name here] material, their best opportunity is at the older entry points. But what we really value about the private schools we are applying to is the approach, opportunities, enrichment and in-depth attention they provide specifically in early childhood. But I'm sure we're not unique in that. What's a "one and done" school?
I had the exact same feeling from one of the lower school open houses. We spent an hour hearing speeches in a large group then toured the school via the "open house" and I came away with no feeling about the school at all, I almost didn't submit an application because of it.
She didn’t say if it was one year or all around. Tbh, she seemed really overwhelmed at it herself. Like, she was really surprised by the amount of applicants. The event was a LS event.
Thanks for the response. I do feel like there's probably more applicants overall for entry years and especially for "non-entry" years. I know many people applying for "non-entry" years at places like Hockaday and St. Marks where they basically only let one or two kids in. The parents I've talked to who do this are saying they want the schools to get to know their kids so that once it is another year where they let in more kids, their kids will have an advantage.
I just wanted to thank everyone who recommended we schedule a report review with Dr. Anderson. We had our review and she was able to put us at ease that she did not believe the "borderline" CATS scores accurately represented our child's intellect, that it was obvious anxiety/discomfort causing a "freeze up", resulting in distorted scores. She said that she included her assessment in the full report sent out to the schools, so that's some comfort. Though, it's possible that apparent testing anxiety will be as much of a deterrent for admissions offices as low scores, who knows.
She was able to give specific examples of what occurred during testing, like that the examiner didn't recognize until midway through testing that it was reluctance/apprehension (rather than failure to comprehend) and began to be more firm in encouraging our kid to answer or keep going - the result being that the last two subsets were significantly higher scoring. Dr. Anderson said it's hard for an examiner to know how much to push a kid they don't know, and that's one of the significant limitations on a test administered this way.
Overall, talking with her helped us understand why our two comparable kids had such vastly different scores - younger is more carefree and older is a bit more anxious and that was reflected in their approach to the testing session.
Thanks so much for the update. I'm so glad she was able to explain a little bit to you and it is also good to hear that information was also included in the full assessment they send to the schools.
Wow, that's incredible! Makes sense most or all the prominent schools are happy with their current student body numbers, and if we were already admitted I would be too, I'm just moaning and feeling sorry for myself that the era we are applying in is when schools are reportedly doubling their previous record-breaking application numbers. But our family is probably applying for most of the same reasons so many others are, on top of an expanding metroplex population, so we just have to make peace with it.
One of the lower school open houses we attended was so packed (and thus seemed badly managed) it was an ordeal and almost turned us off of the school.
I think we have less of a shot at being admitted in these lower school entry grades because we may be somewhat vanilla applicants (though we certainly think our kids are awesome, would do great yada yada) and don't have any connections, etc. And that if our kids are truly [insert school name here] material, their best opportunity is at the older entry points. But what we really value about the private schools we are applying to is the approach, opportunities, enrichment and in-depth attention they provide specifically in early childhood. But I'm sure we're not unique in that. What's a "one and done" school?
One and done = the school starts in PK/1 and goes through grade 12. You apply once, and you're done until college. If you look at where Lamplighter sends kids, a few each year go to Good Shepherd. That's crazy to me because you're setting yourself up for 3 private school applications before college (Lamplighter goes to grade 4, GS goes to grade 8). But I'm sure for those families it is the best option and on the flip side I guess they'll be pros by the time college rolls around.
There's a lot of anxiety around private school admissions and I'm not going to discount it. Been there done that. But the thing to think about is that if you can afford the few private schools that have selective admissions, you have LOTS of options to get your kids a great education in DFW, whether that means a great public school or a less selective private school that will still give them lots of personalized instruction and set them up for success.
Similarly, more public choice and magnet schools have popped up in the last few years within Dallas. While built to give more choice to local families, they also have the side affect of keeping more families in public that would otherwise go private. Solar Girls and Solar Boys have opened in last 5 years. Sudie Tag opened 5 years ago - doubly the TAG population and competing for students against Travis. Mata Montessori as well. There are many others of course but these are newer schools pulling many kids that otherwise possibly go private.
To support your point, over the last 10 years, while Dallas ISD as a whole has seen enrollment decline by 10%, the percentage of non-economically disadvantaged students has increased by about 20%, which is about 5,000 additional students in raw numbers.
Still, I am sure that the applicant pool for the private schools has increased dramatically as the metroplex has grown and the number of spots in the most well regarded schools doesn't really change which makes it that much more difficult. This is pure speculation on my part, but I would expect that there has been a spike in interest over the last couple of years even above population growth as families have been less than impressed with many public school's response to COVID and economically there has been a lot of financial security (rising home values, wages, etc.).
To support your point, over the last 10 years, while Dallas ISD as a whole has seen enrollment decline by 10%, the percentage of non-economically disadvantaged students has increased by about 20%, which is about 5,000 additional students in raw numbers.
Still, I am sure that the applicant pool for the private schools has increased dramatically as the metroplex has grown and the number of spots in the most well regarded schools doesn't really change which makes it that much more difficult. This is pure speculation on my part, but I would expect that there has been a spike in interest over the last couple of years even above population growth as families have been less than impressed with many public school's response to COVID and economically there has been a lot of financial security (rising home values, wages, etc.).
last year lots of families from other states applied to private schools in Texas (parents working remotely)
I had the exact same feeling from one of the lower school open houses. We spent an hour hearing speeches in a large group then toured the school via the "open house" and I came away with no feeling about the school at all, I almost didn't submit an application because of it.
I'm sure we're talking about the same open house - that presentation at the beginning was excruciatingly overlong (and almost nothing that hadn't been covered in their marketing materials) and then the open house was aimless and filled with parents all jockeying for face-time with the teachers. We had to put our trust in it's great reputation and enthusiasm of families we know enrolled there to move forward with the application process.
I just wanted to thank everyone who recommended we schedule a report review with Dr. Anderson. We had our review and she was able to put us at ease that she did not believe the "borderline" CATS scores accurately represented our child's intellect, that it was obvious anxiety/discomfort causing a "freeze up", resulting in distorted scores. She said that she included her assessment in the full report sent out to the schools, so that's some comfort. Though, it's possible that apparent testing anxiety will be as much of a deterrent for admissions offices as low scores, who knows.
She was able to give specific examples of what occurred during testing, like that the examiner didn't recognize until midway through testing that it was reluctance/apprehension (rather than failure to comprehend) and began to be more firm in encouraging our kid to answer or keep going - the result being that the last two subsets were significantly higher scoring. Dr. Anderson said it's hard for an examiner to know how much to push a kid they don't know, and that's one of the significant limitations on a test administered this way.
Overall, talking with her helped us understand why our two comparable kids had such vastly different scores - younger is more carefree and older is a bit more anxious and that was reflected in their approach to the testing session.
So glad Dr. Anderson could help! I was hesitant to share this earlier, but, it feels very similar, so I’ll share this story. I know someone who was in a similar situation a couple years back. I believe their child scored below average and it was because they froze up. The parents used that information and put the child in a learning center (Kumon, I believe) so that they could get comfortable being tested by strangers. Fast forward to the next year and the child scored in the superior range. I think it was like a 40 point shift in their cats score in one year. They are now at the Tier 1 school that had rejected them the previous year and child is performing great. It really proved their point because, like you, they knew their child was smart and couldn’t understand the original test results.
I hate that we have to subject our kids to it. I understand that you have to use something, but as Dr. Anderson even notes, there are so many flaws to the process.
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I'm just moaning and feeling sorry for myself that the era we are applying in is when schools are reportedly doubling their previous record-breaking application numbers. But our family is probably applying for most of the same reasons so many others are, on top of an expanding metroplex population, so we just have to make peace with it. 
