Potomac School Admissions

[Anonymous]

How hard is it to get into the Potomac School for kindergarten? Do they turn down a lot of kids?

[Anonymous]

yes they do turn down a lot of families. They have many more apply then they have spots for. Siblings get priority as they see themselves as a family school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yes they do turn down a lot of families. They have many more apply then they have spots for. Siblings get priority as they see themselves as a family school.

Eh, I beg to differ here. I know of a handful of families off the top of my head who where existing and siblings were declined. At least one was for K. If there's a priority, it's super soft.

[Anonymous]

Well what are the looking for in a candidate and who has the best chance of getting selected?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well what are the looking for in a candidate and who has the best chance of getting selected?

Rich families who donate and volunteer and who went to top schools, plus smart neurotypical kids who will someday go to one of their parents’ schools but will give Potomac credit for it.

[Anonymous]

My child got in for K. (We ended up not going.)

WPPSI was very good.
Did well at the play date.
DH and I acted like normal humans at the parent interview.

Other than that, a lot of times it's numbers. They need X amount of diverse kids, boys, girls, and yes they have spots taken up for siblings. I have a family member who does admissions for private K-5. They need to build out the class they are looking for and a lot of it is out of your control and depends who applies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child got in for K. (We ended up not going.)

WPPSI was very good.
Did well at the play date.
DH and I acted like normal humans at the parent interview.

Other than that, a lot of times it's numbers. They need X amount of diverse kids, boys, girls, and yes they have spots taken up for siblings. I have a family member who does admissions for private K-5. They need to build out the class they are looking for and a lot of it is out of your control and depends who applies.

+1. It’s a numbers game for sure - there are 48 spots for K, but most of the spots go to siblings/alumni children/staff children. So maybe there are 16 spots for new families…and usually 200ish applications. If the siblings are mostly girls, it will be harder to get a new girl in, for instance. They are putting together a class. And a lot has to do with parents at the K level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child got in for K. (We ended up not going.)

WPPSI was very good.
Did well at the play date.
DH and I acted like normal humans at the parent interview.

Other than that, a lot of times it's numbers. They need X amount of diverse kids, boys, girls, and yes they have spots taken up for siblings. I have a family member who does admissions for private K-5. They need to build out the class they are looking for and a lot of it is out of your control and depends who applies.

+1. It’s a numbers game for sure - there are 48 spots for K, but most of the spots go to siblings/alumni children/staff children. So maybe there are 16 spots for new families…and usually 200ish applications. If the siblings are mostly girls, it will be harder to get a new girl in, for instance. They are putting together a class. And a lot has to do with parents at the K level.

Less than 10% admission rate for the unconnected? Not worth it

[Anonymous]

I attended the LS admission session this morning. The HOS doesn’t seem to know the school very well. Granted she’s new, but…

[Anonymous]

Any possibility of getting admitted for 8th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well what are the looking for in a candidate and who has the best chance of getting selected?

Rich families who donate and volunteer and who went to top schools, plus smart neurotypical kids who will someday go to one of their parents’ schools but will give Potomac credit for it.

This is spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well what are the looking for in a candidate and who has the best chance of getting selected?

Rich families who donate and volunteer and who went to top schools, plus smart neurotypical kids who will someday go to one of their parents’ schools but will give Potomac credit for it.

This is spot on.

Sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well what are the looking for in a candidate and who has the best chance of getting selected?

Rich families who donate and volunteer and who went to top schools, plus smart neurotypical kids who will someday go to one of their parents’ schools but will give Potomac credit for it.

For kindergarten, assuming that the child has no red flags testing and behavior-wise, admission is almost all about the parents and whether the family helps the diversity and balance of the new class as PP noted. You can't control who else is applying and who is a sibling/legacy/child of faculty or staff. Some years your chances would be better than others. Admissions offices usually can't draw a lot of useful distinctions between a bunch of four year-olds.

[Anonymous]

Do they ask for parent's income or where they went to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they ask for parent's income or where they went to college?

No. Potomac is no different in its admissions process than any of the schools held in high esteem on this board.