Private School Decisions 2022 (Dallas, Huntsville: find a job, buying, to live)

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by arkroyal2223

Got waitlisted at Greenhill which was our top choice so a bit disappointed. Not feeling too optimistic of getting off the waitlist. Anyways, congrats to those who got acceptances.

Dang it. Sorry to hear about this.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by EDS_

I'm happy for you and your family.

Thank you! We visited sooo many schools last fall. They are all fantastic in their own ways. We really are lucky to have so many great ones here in Dallas! (Just wish there weren’t a million people moving here from out of state and another million people trying to flee public schools all vying for the same few spots in privates )

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Thank you! We visited sooo many schools last fall. They are all fantastic in their own ways. We really are lucky to have so many great ones here in Dallas! (Just wish there weren’t a million people moving here from out of state and another million people trying to flee public schools all vying for the same few spots in privates )

I can tell you all worked hard trying to decide/understand which school(s) made sense.

And 100%............the private school scene around here is amazing. However, we don't have enough seats relative to need/desire/competency.

[DallasDadofTwo]

Adding some stats...

Daughter with summer birthday
Hockaday PK waitlist last year / PK admit this year
ESD K admit this year
LL K waitlist this year

Son with late winter birthday
St. Mark's 1st decline this year
ESD 1st admit this year
LL 1st waitlist this year

[CoffeePls]

Our middle school kiddo was waitlisted at GH. We were disappointed.

Now having time to reflect, I though I'd share some tidbits in case it helps another parent out there as they're putting together their applications.

We applied during an expansion year. She had strong ISEE scores (9, 9, 9, 8) and a talent with an instrument. But as others have said, scores and talent alone are no guarantees. Now having seen the result first-hand, all parts of the application truly does need to line up.

For example, her current school does not have rubrics so there weren't grades to speak of. And if her teacher's minimalistic, communication style is any indication, her letters of recommendation were probably 3 sentences long at most. Our kiddo went into her interview like she was having a conversation. In hindsight, it may have come off as unpolished. Hers and ours essays were honest and carefully thought out, but who knows if we could've added more or less. Moral of the story, every piece of the application counts. And the fit of the kid to the school environment counts.

Regardless, we're pretty proud of our kiddo for going through the process. She's a solid and bright kid, and that doesn't change. Onward we go...!

[KidsMom16]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse2

We applied two kiddos this cycle. Older one got into our top choice, St. Mark's. The younger one was WL at our top choice, but admitted into our 2nd choice. So proud of them both!

Congratulations Anonymouse2. Can you provide information which grade was the Older one got into St. Marks and the criteria's which you think that may have helped him to get into? That will be helpful for those who apply next year.

[Anonymouse2]

Originally Posted by KidsMom16

Congratulations Anonymouse2. Can you provide information which grade was the Older one got into St. Marks and the criteria's which you think that may have helped him to get into? That will be helpful for those who apply next year.

1st grade. He scored 99th percentile in the WPSII and I am an alumn.

[KidsMom16]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Well, this is the quietest this board has ever been on the Friday afternoon before Spring Break. It was finally our family’s turn to wait for 4pm this year.

Applied to 3 “tier 1/tier 2” schools for PK. Got accepted to our first choice which is wonderful because it’s only acceptance we got. 2 waitpools including a somewhat shocking wait pool from a “safety” school. I won’t be saying which ones because of the very small number of new students at each school and my fairly active participation on this public forum.

All of the decision letters mentioned “record breaking” applications, an “unconventional and competitive year”, “incredibly difficult decisions”, etc.

Hope that other families on here are celebrating good news this afternoon!

Congratualations!!

We are an out of state application for K applied only GH but declined. Last year also we applied but got only waitlisted. Any idea if out of state applications will be given less priority? Next year planning to apply for St. Marks, GH and other Schools. We are non Christians so don't want too religious schools. Next year I am planning to apply for 5 schools. Can u pls suggest few more schools for grade 1.

Our kid is gifted academically. Can write letters in 5 languages. Can read fluently, Maths regrouping addition and Subtraction, Multiplication (except 9) division (single digit), understands fraction. Can do small animation projects in Scratchmit.edu which is for 8-16 years old. Can identify numbers till billions, understands concepts of physics and biology cell structure, cancer bacteriophage etc. Can name 70% of elements in periodic table. Kurzgesagt, ScienceMax, Aumsum, crash course on biology, anatomy are his favorite programs.

Any information will be helpful. Main draw back in our case I see is out of state application. If we move to state and then if we apply would we able to get a seat?

Would any other schools tier below these schools accept application past March?

Thanks

[KidsMom16]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse2

1st grade. He scored 99th percentile in the WPSII and I am an alumn.

Congratulations again! Is it WPPSI-IV? or WSIC-V? 99th percentile is an excellent score. Can you please give some information on his abilities? Our kid has scored 98th percentile in WPPSI-IV, I have given his abilities in the previous comments. Would like to hear abilities of a 99th percentile kid. If you don't mind can you please give some information? Would applying for a financial aid and not applying for financial aid make any difference?

[Anonymouse2]

Originally Posted by KidsMom16

Congratulations again! Is it WPPSI-IV? or WSIC-V? 99th percentile is an excellent score. Can you please give some information on his abilities? Our kid has scored 98th percentile in WPPSI-IV, I have given his abilities in the previous comments. Would like to hear abilities of a 99th percentile kid. If you don't mind can you please give some information? Would applying for a financial aid and not applying for financial aid make any difference?

Sorry, it was the WPPSI-IV. Not sure on what qualifies as "abilities", but if I were to try to pick something out, when the pandemic started, school was closed, both parents trying to work from home, we handed him an iPad with an app called reading eggs, and he completely taught himself to read. We literally didn't lift a finger to help at all. When school started back up, he was the only child who entered PK4 already knowing how to read.

I highly doubt applying for financial aid makes any difference, but I don't have a ton of visibility into how the sausage is made.