What are the chances of being selected from Awty’s wait pool? (Houston: private school, university)

[NTS]

We were put on the wait pool for Pre-K 4. It is not a natural point of entry, which already had our chances of acceptance at a low!!! I’m wondering if I should just move onto our backup choice or is there any hope? I have a little girl — does that increase or hinder her chances? HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!

[Vicman]

Two questions:

• Which school is your backup choice?
• Which school is your public zoned school?

I'd like to figure out how strongly you need your backup choice.

[NTS]

Good morning! Our backup is Kinkaid and we are zoned to Memorial Elementary. Kinkaid is a great school, ranked well but we are leaning towards Awty because, aside from simply just being a much shorter drive, Awty ranks higher for diversity, which is very important to us.

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by NTS

Good morning! Our backup is Kinkaid and we are zoned to Memorial Elementary. Kinkaid is a great school, ranked well but we are leaning towards Awty because, aside from simply just being a much shorter drive, Awty ranks higher for diversity, which is very important to us.

Have you received an offer of admission to Kinkaid? I heard admissions are pretty tough there too.

The NGO Children at Risk ranks Memorial Elementary in Houston (Houston ISD), if this is the school you mean (and not Memorial Drive Elementary in Piney Point Village, Spring Branch ISD), http://childrenatrisk.org/wp-content...TO-UPLOAD2.pdf .... a D+. Sadly I'm not surprised that you aren't interested in this school. My understanding is that the Rice Military/Crestwood families don't use this school.

[KatieKennedy]

I assume you mean Memorial Drive Elementary as the zoned school--which is an excellent public school option. If you enroll your child in Kinkaid, your kid is set until college. Kinkaid typically has many more National Merit Scholars than Awty does, even though Awty's senior class is bigger than Kinkaid's. St. John's has the most. If you are zoned to Memorial High School that is a good option as well. https://www.generalacademic.com/hous...ists-2019.html

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by KatieKennedy

I assume you mean Memorial Drive Elementary as the zoned school--which is an excellent public school option. If you enroll your child in Kinkaid, your kid is set until college. Kinkaid typically has many more National Merit Scholars than Awty does, even though Awty's senior class is bigger than Kinkaid's. St. John's has the most. If you are zoned to Memorial High School that is a good option as well. https://www.generalacademic.com/hous...ists-2019.html

Yep! Memorial Drive Elementary in SBISD makes an A+ http://childrenatrisk.org/wp-content...TO-UPLOAD2.pdf

[Houstonianmom]

Have you received an offer of admission to Kinkaid? We were put on the wait pool there.

[fnh]

One, you cannot compare the percentage of NMSFs at Awty to other schools. Many students at Awty never take the PSAT or American college entrance exams because they know they will attend university abroad. Anyone who understands what an international/French school is will recognize this.

Two, the wait list at Awty does have more movement than a typical American private school but not until June. Expat families may not yet know if they are being reassigned over the summer and even if they do, families frequently hold tight their spot until the absolute last moment. We did this ourselves when we left Awty two years ago after attending for eleven years, not notifying the school until the tuition due date in June and walking away from our deposits. It was worth it to us to keep our options open.

Good luck.

[Vicman]

This is true: Awty absorbed the French international school of Houston, and so French expatriates wanting to remain in the French schooling system while in the United States go to Awty.

The British School of Houston and the Village School are also full of expats; the former has a British educational program and a special program for Dutch kids. There's a reason why the British school moved from the Garden Oaks area to west Harris County, near the Energy Corridor (with BP).

Originally Posted by fnh

One, you cannot compare the percentage of NMSFs at Awty to other schools. Many students at Awty never take the PSAT or American college entrance exams because they know they will attend university abroad. Anyone who understands what an international/French school is will recognize this.

Two, the wait list at Awty does have more movement than a typical American private school but not until June. Expat families may not yet know if they are being reassigned over the summer and even if they do, families frequently hold tight their spot until the absolute last moment. We did this ourselves when we left Awty two years ago after attending for eleven years, not notifying the school until the tuition due date in June and walking away from our deposits. It was worth it to us to keep our options open.

Good luck.

[fnh]

Awty has a decades-old Dutch program. It is less well-known than the Int'l and French programs because it is not generally available, open only to Dutch nationals.

The Village/British Schools were bought by a for-profit venture. The primary reason the British School was moved so far west is because of cheap suburban land, and to consolidate.