Private School Admissions - 2019 (transfer to, middle school, kindergarten)

[Design_Dist]

Originally Posted by Waterdragon8212

I don't think anyone (outside of the admissions committee members) could actually tell you and it is complicated by the fact that many parents outright lie about their kids CATS scores - both those that are accepted and declined...and especially on anonymous forums. There are MANY threads detailing hypotheses about CATS scores that would be "acceptable" and even more saying their kid scored "99th percentile across the board" and wasn't admitted. My personal thought (if I am to believe the parents that have confided in me), is that if your kid scores high average or above on all (or most) of the subscales and the FSIQ, they have a decent shot - even at the most competitive privates. That said, there are MANY kids that score mostly in the superior to very superior range on all subtests that still don't get admitted.

I think there is likely some type of formula. If your kid's CATS scores are decent (but not great), they will need to make up for it in their social skills, their personality, interview, and the parent/child fit for the school. On the other hand, if you kid's scores are sky high, they may lose out on admission if those other areas are weak. Connections also play a role, but none of us (again, outside of the admissions people) truly know how much that factors in. IQ testing kids that are 3-6 years old is notoriously unreliable, so I'm guessing they take that into consideration. If I were to guess, each school has a formula that assigns a weighted score to each part of the application, prioritizing the parts that fit the school's values (i.e. assigning more weight to the areas they care most about.) Then, as they always have more qualified applicants than spots, they argue for and against the people that make the "formula cutoff", likely taking into consideration connections, personal impressions, and instinctual favorites. The cynical part of me thinks that ability to pay AND donate also factors in. If I'm even close to right about this process, there is no way to tell specifically what CATS scores make a candidate viable - especially when there are like 10 other variables that would go into the formula.

You really summed this up well. I would also add that ethnic and even religious diversity is very important to many private schools as well.

[Littledragon]

Originally Posted by cjw0918

Our child was very young for his grade with a late Aug bday. CATS, parent interviews, and applications went well. We were also coming from a DISD school, and I have a hunch the other applicants were more advanced than our child in some areas. That combined with the late Aug bday was a no-go. Try not to over-analyze. There's only so much you can do. It is what it is.

We applied SM 1st grade last year for our son who also had the summer birthday. They put him at the waitlist primarily due to his birthday. A lot people told us last year that we had a very little chance to get accepted but we still wanted to give him a try. Unfortunately, there was no movement at 1st grade waitlist in the summer..... so here we come again!

[cjw0918]

Originally Posted by Littledragon

We applied SM 1st grade last year for our son who also had the summer birthday. They put him at the waitlist primarily due to his birthday. A lot people told us last year that we had a very little chance to get accepted but we still wanted to give him a try. Unfortunately, there was no movement at 1st grade waitlist in the summer..... so here we come again!

That's great you got waitlisted. I would bet you're in a good position this year for SM. We didn't even get waitlisted, so I am not getting my hopes up.

[Littledragon]

Originally Posted by cjw0918

That's great you got waitlisted. I would bet you're in a good position this year for SM. We didn't even get waitlisted, so I am not getting my hopes up.

I think our boy has a much better chance compared to last year. It is the same for your boy and others who had summer birthday and are applying the 1st grade for the second time. Good Luck!!!

[NTxUSA]

Anyone have any thoughts on Parish or Good Shepherd

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by NTxUSA

Anyone have any thoughts on Parish or Good Shepherd

Lots of people on here have thoughts on one or both. Both are good schools where your kid can get a solid education. If you have specific questions you are likely to get answers to what you actually wonder about each.

[NTxUSA]

Do the schools ever try and recruit the applicants/parents. I mean, they also know there are multiple options to choose from, do they ever reach out to try and get you to accept their offer or hint that they will be offering admission?

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by NTxUSA

Do the schools ever try and recruit the applicants/parents. I mean, they also know there are multiple options to choose from, do they ever reach out to try and get you to accept their offer or hint that they will be offering admission?

Most of these schools are in selling mode despite the fact that they get more applications than they have spaces. When you're applying, they're "selling" you on the school, despite the fact that they know a small % of those applying will be offered a spot. The schools want to maintain reputations and they want to accurately convey their quality to all interested parties. But you should think about the school's overall effort in selling you specifically (as opposed to the entire applicant pool) as being inversely proportional to the selectivity of the school. I wouldn't sit at home waiting for a call from the head of Parish to encourage you to put your best foot forward in the application.

[debtex]

Originally Posted by NTxUSA

Do the schools ever try and recruit the applicants/parents. I mean, they also know there are multiple options to choose from, do they ever reach out to try and get you to accept their offer or hint that they will be offering admission?

Once offer letters go out, many schools offer prospects another shadow day to get one more exposure to the school before they make a final decision. The admissions offices are inundated with questions from applicant families in the weeks after the letters go out.

Never heard of a school "hinting" that an offer is forthcoming. That would be pretty unprofessional and all the admissions staff we met during the process were consummate pros.

[Momof475230]

I love Parish. My kids flourished there, and we may very well return once they are fluent in Spanish. The teachers really care, my kids were able to work at their level, they gave me pushback when I wanted my daughter to repeat preK because of her Summer birthday, we did do Primer a few years later. The other parents were pleasant and less clickish than we've experienced elsewhere.

I toured Good Sheppard and liked it. I wasn't blown away but it's a preferance thing. My girlfriend is there for her 3rd year and is VERY happy. Her kids are flourishing.

At the end of the day, if it's the right fit for your kid, they will be happy and so will you. I thought Alcuin was the perfect place for my son. He didn't enjoy his visiting day, so we passed. I actually tried to convince him to give it a chance, but he had ZERO interest.