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Anecdotal, but I was one of those kids who screwed up testing as a 4-year-old and had scores so low that I did not “qualify” for admissions to the top private schools in Houston, despite being a legacy. I ended up being a National Merit Finalist and getting into top 10 undgrad and law schools primarily off of test scores, so the testing issue did not last. I think at that at that age, I just had trouble concentrating and distinctly remember making a mistake on the test, and when I asked for a new piece of paper because I couldn’t erase my mistake and redo it quickly enough, was told not to worry about it. So I have some obvious biases but am skeptical about the value of testing at this age. I’m still debating about putting my 2- and 3-year-olds through the process next year, which is why I’ve been lurking. NGL, this thread is giving me a little anxiety. We’re zoned to Lakewood, which seems fine and is much more convenient than the “top” privates, but I don’t think we’d do the public middle school here and know the transition will be harder later.
In any event, good luck to everyone here, and don’t read too much into the results. At the end of the day, it’s just kids’ school.
There's nothing to fear. Long and Woodrow are great schools. No need to mess with all this private school admissions mumbo jumbo. Also, these test don't really account for how your child will develop later. When I was 4 I was just struggling to speak more than 2 words a day and Bam! I graduated top of my class this past May!
I'm finally all done with the application process! This weekend had child observations at two schools. My daughter is applying pre-k. While the child is being "observed", the parents waited. It was obvious that many parents already have a child attending the school (they chatted about each other's kids and how they ran into three families from this school while skiing in Utah), and now they are trying to get a sibling in.
At one school, the parents were asked to introduce themselves, and indeed, half of them already have a child in. Among the other half, half of those (so 1/4 of total) had their children waitlisted last year, and they are applying again this year. I'm shocked. My daughter is applying for pre-k -- I thought that was already so early, but there was a grade before pre-k??? What can the kid be tested on at age 2?
Even though there are supposed to be 32 seats, I felt that my daughter is really trying to compete for just a few...
I'm finally all done with the application process! This weekend had child observations at two schools. My daughter is applying pre-k. While the child is being "observed", the parents waited. It was obvious that many parents already have a child attending the school (they chatted about each other's kids and how they ran into three families from this school while skiing in Utah), and now they are trying to get a sibling in.
At one school, the parents were asked to introduce themselves, and indeed, half of them already have a child in. Among the other half, half of those (so 1/4 of total) had their children waitlisted last year, and they are applying again this year. I'm shocked. My daughter is applying for pre-k -- I thought that was already so early, but there was a grade before pre-k??? What can the kid be tested on at age 2?
Even though there are supposed to be 32 seats, I felt that my daughter is really trying to compete for just a few...
1. Try not to stress. There is nothing else you can do between now and March. Easier said than done, I know. The reality is that current families tend to want their kids at the same school and they want them together as soon as possible so they apply early. They won’t all get in, but you’ll see at least half the PK applicants are siblings and then hardly any of the upper grade entry year applicants (5th, 9th) are siblings because they’ve already gotten in. At our school, the PK grade was about 60% siblings / staff / legacies. We were unconnected.
2. Several schools have PK3 (Lamplighter, ESD, Parish) so there was a chance to apply last year. I know at ESD there has recently only been 1 section of PK3 (“Beginners”) with maybe 14 or 16 kids in the class. So logic would prevail that the majority of applicants would not get in for that PK3 year even if they are siblings or legacies or faculty kids.
3. Other schools like Hockaday or St Marks have probably a good number of young applicants (January - August birthdays and heavy on the summer end of that) who can apppy to PK4 (or 1st grade in the case of St Marks) two years in a row because their birthdays would allow placement in two grades. Many of younger kids need another year of maturity especially when you’re talking about 3-5 year olds.
4. Lastly, there really are a handful of schools where a good number of students do have to apply multiple times before gaining admission. Hock & SM are the two main ones but not the only ones where kids try multiple times.
Anecdotal, but I was one of those kids who screwed up testing as a 4-year-old and had scores so low that I did not “qualify” for admissions to the top private schools in Houston, despite being a legacy. I ended up being a National Merit Finalist and getting into top 10 undgrad and law schools primarily off of test scores, so the testing issue did not last. I think at that at that age, I just had trouble concentrating and distinctly remember making a mistake on the test, and when I asked for a new piece of paper because I couldn’t erase my mistake and redo it quickly enough, was told not to worry about it. So I have some obvious biases but am skeptical about the value of testing at this age. I’m still debating about putting my 2- and 3-year-olds through the process next year, which is why I’ve been lurking. NGL, this thread is giving me a little anxiety. We’re zoned to Lakewood, which seems fine and is much more convenient than the “top” privates, but I don’t think we’d do the public middle school here and know the transition will be harder later.
In any event, good luck to everyone here, and don’t read too much into the results. At the end of the day, it’s just kids’ school.
This reminded me one of the magnet school interviews. My poor 4 yo was asked to write numbers until 100. He told me he was able to write until 38, then stopped, because he was so tired )
Even though there are supposed to be 32 seats, I felt that my daughter is really trying to compete for just a few...
We are feeling the similarly, that all the info coming in about how especially competitive it is this year, the record breaking # of applicants, all the ways you can be "connected"... is just pointing to how unlikely it is we'll get a positive admission decision on our first try. And gosh at this point I can't imagine doing it all over again. Everyone says you have to apply to at least a handful of schools, but when you've got that many applications, visits, interviews, observations, parent statements, teacher recommendations to coordinate (x2) it's not for the faint of heart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80
3. Other schools like Hockaday or St Marks have probably a good number of young applicants (January - August birthdays and heavy on the summer end of that) who can apppy to PK4 (or 1st grade in the case of St Marks) two years in a row because their birthdays would allow placement in two grades. Many of younger kids need another year of maturity especially when you’re talking about 3-5 year olds.
4. Lastly, there really are a handful of schools where a good number of students do have to apply multiple times before gaining admission. Hock & SM are the two main ones but not the only ones where kids try multiple times.
Both of our kids fall within that young/summer birthday age band, and while we feel that may be working against us this year, I didn't realize we could try for the exact same grade next year (instead of the next grade which for our oldest could be a non-entry point/attrition only grade), - is that not frowned upon, viewed as gaming the system? What if they've already completed that grade you're applying for somewhere else?
I'm finally all done with the application process!
At one school, the parents were asked to introduce themselves, and indeed, half of them already have a child in. Among the other half, half of those (so 1/4 of total) had their children waitlisted last year, and they are applying again this year. I'm shocked. My daughter is applying for pre-k -- I thought that was already so early, but there was a grade before pre-k??? What can the kid be tested on at age 2?
Sounds kinda like ESD last year. It was a massive turn off for me and the Mrs. to sit and listen to the parents introduce themselves, which really meant spend time humble bragging.
To your other point about it feeling like there are so very few PK slots for unconnected applicants, you are sadly exactly right. I honestly felt like there were exactly none at lamplighter and ESD, in fact, for PK3. Like I commented last year, it really made me wish that schools would either just be honest and save you the trouble of applying if all of the space is allocated to others or at least carry your application material forward to the next year, as well.
We have an (optional) coffee date scheduled at Hockaday. Has anyone done one of these? The description said it was with a parent and admissions staff. Will this be similar to the parent interview where the focus is primarily on us (our family and daughter) or is it really an opportunity to get to know parents and learn from them (so the focus is more on getting them to talk about their experience)?
We are feeling the similarly, that all the info coming in about how especially competitive it is this year, the record breaking # of applicants, all the ways you can be "connected"... is just pointing to how unlikely it is we'll get a positive admission decision on our first try. And gosh at this point I can't imagine doing it all over again. Everyone says you have to apply to at least a handful of schools, but when you've got that many applications, visits, interviews, observations, parent statements, and teacher recommendations to coordinate (x2) it's not for the faint of heart.
Both of our kids fall within that young/summer birthday age band, and while we feel that may be working against us this year, I didn't realize we could try for the exact same grade next year (instead of the next grade which for our oldest could be a non-entry point/attrition only grade), - is that not frowned upon, viewed as gaming the system? What if they've already completed that grade you're applying for somewhere else?
I don't think it's going to be frowned upon. It is a thing, especially for boys -- it has an official term "redshirting." The Atlantic had an article in October 2022: "REDSHIRT THE BOYS: Why boys should start school a year later than girls." After reading this article, you may feel if you don't redshirt your late spring/summer boy, you are not being a good parent.
My boy was born in December, and applying during the normal cycle. I know two boys applying to St. Mark's whose birthdays are in the spring, so they are 8-9 months older than my boy.
"The value of a later start, which many teachers and administrators call “the gift of time,” is an open secret in elite circles. And it’s a gift overwhelmingly given to boys. In the past few months, I’ve interviewed dozens of private-school teachers, parents, educational consultants, and admissions officers, largely in the D.C. metro area. I learned that a delayed school entry is now close to the norm for boys who would otherwise be on the young side. One former head of an elite private school who now consults with parents on school choice and admissions told me, “There are effectively two different cutoff dates for school entry: one for boys and one for girls.”
Nationally, delayed entry is uncommon. Before the pandemic (which seems to have caused a surge in the practice), about 6 percent of children waited an extra year before beginning kindergarten. But here, too, some children were much more likely to be held back than others: specifically, those with affluent or well-educated parents, and who were white, young for their year, and male. Among summer-born boys whose parents have bachelor’s degrees, the rate was 20 percent in 2010."
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