Private School Admissions - 2020 (to buy, design, donation)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by pangpangfish

I want to add one more data point to your collection. My daughter applied for Hockaday this year and she got accepted into the 5th grade. Hockaday is the only school she applied for. She wrote her ISEE test once and received a score of 34 (9,9,9,7). Both parents are professionals, and we have no connection to the School.

Those are herculean scores. Good for your daughter.

[Dallasperson]

Originally Posted by DallasMom698

So - is it safe to assume that any waitlist spots resulting from the percent of new admits that told the schools they were coming last Friday have been filled, and now it's just a question of whether someone changes their mind on going there between now and the start of school?

I am wondering the same thing....

[gsoy]

The next step is in June when current families need to commit to paying the tuition for next year. If anyone decides to drop due to any reason that will be revealed at that time.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by gsoy

The next step is in June when current families need to commit to paying the tuition for next year. If anyone decides to drop due to any reason that will be revealed at that time.

Not necessarily. Many kids are admitted to multiple schools. Most schools have some small amount of movement after the commitment deadline from kids declining spots. As far as I know, there has been no movement at all post the March 27 commitment date. Maybe there really just isn’t going to be any. But yes, then the next wave is when tuition payments are due in June.

[DallasMom698]

Thanks, numbersguy. Do you know anything about when any movement normally is after the March 27 day? I’m not sure if they normally meet Monday so they can get their class full ASAP or if it might be a week or two before they go back through their wait pool and pick any additional. I guess I want to have a sense of when to tell myself this initial movement, if any, is probably over and it’s time to move on.

[dallastexasresident]

We live in a different world now, and the economy is on a down swing with possible slow recovery curve. That might make some parents reconsider private school for their kid(s). There might be some movement when that first big payment comes in June.

[Waterdragon8212]

Originally Posted by DallasMom698

Thanks, numbersguy. Do you know anything about when any movement normally is after the March 27 day? I’m not sure if they normally meet Monday so they can get their class full ASAP or if it might be a week or two before they go back through their wait pool and pick any additional. I guess I want to have a sense of when to tell myself this initial movement, if any, is probably over and it’s time to move on.

Because of the circumstances this year, this is going to be more difficult to ascertain. Admissions is working remotely, and considering many of them have children they have to supervise or homeschool, it is challenging to get everyone on a video conference to discuss which applicants would fit into slots that are vacated. Add to this that as waitlist spots open, spots at other schools are often vacated, which causes additional movement. In my best estimation, the movement will be spread out more this year than ever before, but the June 1st payment deadline is a good marker on when chances go down to almost nil.

We personally know of multiple families at the big 3 schools that are weighing their options to decide whether they can afford to continue paying $30K a year - especially when they are essentially teaching their own children. Not to belittle the schools' efforts at distance learning - they are really putting effort into it - but my younger son is in lower school and needs nearly constant supervision on how to use the technology components. So, despite their tremendous efforts, the younger kids are definitely not self-sufficient. This is especially challenging for dual working families, so if this thing lasts longer than May, I'm guessing a few of the people we know will decide to drop out for next year.

[DallasMom698]

Thanks very much Waterdragon, that is helpful.

[JTC Mom]

So little interest in this topic this year! But for those keeping track. I know one person who got into Ursuline 9th off the waitlist last week, and have heard there are others. The incoming class has more than 230 students, which is a little more than the typical incoming class size (215) reported on the school website.

[DallasMom698]

Thank you! It is encouraging to hear when anyone gets in off a waitlist, just because it seems like lots of people always report being wait listed, and very few ever say they got it. So nice to hear that it does happen (and is happening).

Originally Posted by JTC Mom

So little interest in this topic this year! But for those keeping track. I know one person who got into Ursuline 9th off the waitlist last week, and have heard there are others. The incoming class has more than 230 students, which is a little more than the typical incoming class size (215) reported on the school website.