If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Did your DC take the practice exam that was offered over the summer? If so, and they did better on that one, I would absolutely send those scores over. If they didn't, I'd reach out to admissions, explain the situation and ask for their advice. I think it depends on things like where you are looking, if you are Catholic, and if you are coming from a Catholic K-8. You will probably be ok at a school like BI or DJO if you are Catholic/coming from K-8, they take a wide range of students and prioritize Catholics. You will have a much harder time at schools like Visi/Gonzaga unless there is another hook like star athlete or legacy. Good luck, this is a really stressful time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted to SJC, GC, and DeMatha.

Wow. Good to hear. Is your son an athlete? Did you apply to Gonzaga?

Generally DeMatha, GC and SJC are easier to get in than Gonzaga. Although SJC continues to be a very popular place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Are you coming from a Catholic K-8? Where did he apply? The NoVA diocesan schools intend to provide an education across the spectrum, so it shouldn’t be a barrier there.

BI has gotten popular and takes a limited number, so it might be an issue if you’re coming from a public school, as they prioritize kids from Catholic schools. The other diocesan schools should be fine.

It might be more of a concern if he’s applying to an independent school like Gonzaga. Those are more competitive.

We are coming from public school. Not catholic... DC worked REALLY hard on the Gonzaga application. Now we're just trying to accepted anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Are you coming from a Catholic K-8? Where did he apply? The NoVA diocesan schools intend to provide an education across the spectrum, so it shouldn’t be a barrier there.

BI has gotten popular and takes a limited number, so it might be an issue if you’re coming from a public school, as they prioritize kids from Catholic schools. The other diocesan schools should be fine.

It might be more of a concern if he’s applying to an independent school like Gonzaga. Those are more competitive.

We are coming from public school. Not catholic... DC worked REALLY hard on the Gonzaga application. Now we're just trying to accepted anywhere.

Did he apply to the diocesan schools? They take kids with all kinds of scores. Much less competitive than Gonzaga. Also, are you Catholic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Are you coming from a Catholic K-8? Where did he apply? The NoVA diocesan schools intend to provide an education across the spectrum, so it shouldn’t be a barrier there.

BI has gotten popular and takes a limited number, so it might be an issue if you’re coming from a public school, as they prioritize kids from Catholic schools. The other diocesan schools should be fine.

It might be more of a concern if he’s applying to an independent school like Gonzaga. Those are more competitive.

We are coming from public school. Not catholic... DC worked REALLY hard on the Gonzaga application. Now we're just trying to accepted anywhere.

Did he apply to the diocesan schools? They take kids with all kinds of scores. Much less competitive than Gonzaga. Also, are you Catholic?

Somewhat related question for this thread. When we took the test, we just put two schools. I think my son will be able to get into one of them, and we aren't totally against public schools. But if we decided to/needed to add another school, are there any schools that offer 'late' application windows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Are you coming from a Catholic K-8? Where did he apply? The NoVA diocesan schools intend to provide an education across the spectrum, so it shouldn’t be a barrier there.

BI has gotten popular and takes a limited number, so it might be an issue if you’re coming from a public school, as they prioritize kids from Catholic schools. The other diocesan schools should be fine.

It might be more of a concern if he’s applying to an independent school like Gonzaga. Those are more competitive.

We are coming from public school. Not catholic... DC worked REALLY hard on the Gonzaga application. Now we're just trying to accepted anywhere.

Did he apply to the diocesan schools? They take kids with all kinds of scores. Much less competitive than Gonzaga. Also, are you Catholic?

Somewhat related question for this thread. When we took the test, we just put two schools. I think my son will be able to get into one of them, and we aren't totally against public schools. But if we decided to/needed to add another school, are there any schools that offer 'late' application windows?

The diocesan schools do if there is room. It is just a numbers thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Are you coming from a Catholic K-8? Where did he apply? The NoVA diocesan schools intend to provide an education across the spectrum, so it shouldn’t be a barrier there.

BI has gotten popular and takes a limited number, so it might be an issue if you’re coming from a public school, as they prioritize kids from Catholic schools. The other diocesan schools should be fine.

It might be more of a concern if he’s applying to an independent school like Gonzaga. Those are more competitive.

We are coming from public school. Not catholic... DC worked REALLY hard on the Gonzaga application. Now we're just trying to accepted anywhere.

Depending on where you are located, I'd call O'Connell and BI, I know of a few kids who have been able to submit late applications there. It will be an uphill battle as both are popular and do prioritize Catholics but there are typically more slots than students in Catholic K-8's so they definitely take from public. Especially if DC is a strong student. I'm sorry this is happening, it's so stressful and we had a similar experience with DC's top choice, it's a difficult time. When you say below average, what do you mean? Like in the 40's or way lower? I know kids accepted to BI with HSPT's in the 20-30's.

[Anonymous]

I wish they would separate the HSPT timing and score delivery timing from applications.

We hear endlessly about how the top schools receive 1,200 applications for 250-300 spots. Isn't part of that because we have kids applying before they know if they are even really qualified? Or, put another way, wouldn't we be better able to direct kids to the right high school for them if we had this information?

If my kid gets average SAT scores, they probably aren't applying to an Ivy League school either.

[Anonymous]

My DS got into Gonzaga last year with lower than average scores. He was unhooked too, so not sure how he got admitted but we weee very thankful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS got into Gonzaga last year with lower than average scores. He was unhooked too, so not sure how he got admitted but we weee very thankful.

Can you share what score? Assuming you were coming from a Catholic school? How are they faring now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would separate the HSPT timing and score delivery timing from applications.

We hear endlessly about how the top schools receive 1,200 applications for 250-300 spots. Isn't part of that because we have kids applying before they know if they are even really qualified? Or, put another way, wouldn't we be better able to direct kids to the right high school for them if we had this information?

If my kid gets average SAT scores, they probably aren't applying to an Ivy League school either.

Some kids get in even with lackluster HSPT scores. (My kid did.)

Schools are looking for lots of things, not just this test score. Grades, activities, etc. matter.

Religion can matter (catholic schools want at least some catholic kids).

Being able to pay full tuition on time helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to start this thread up again. My DC completely bombed the HSPT. Really bombed. Below average. I'm very surprised and gutted. I'm concerned no one will take us now. A/B student, NJHS, extracurriculars, pretty good essays. We never assessed DC for learning disability. Did anyone get into a school with a below average score?

Our kid absolutely bricked the test but got in to SJC (currently a freshman). Essays and recs are clearly more important. This is coming from a DCPS middle school, good enough grades, no huge extracurriculars beyond being a second-stringer for the (very good) basketball team. Not Catholic or even religious, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS got into Gonzaga last year with lower than average scores. He was unhooked too, so not sure how he got admitted but we weee very thankful.

Can you share what score? Assuming you were coming from a Catholic school? How are they faring now?

I am not sure how to read this results, but I still have the sheet. It says a composite score of 534 which was around 67? He is in the average range for total cognitive skills, but above for basic skills (because he's very good in math). Not coming from a Catholic school. He has a 4.0 and is doing well there so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC scored right below 50% is from a public school and an athlete. I’m worried he won’t get into first choice school and was really hoping to get of public schools and now I see how different the learning environment is between public and private. Straight A honor student, extracurricular activities, great teacher recommendations and no discipline issues. I feel chances are very low and am regretting not applying to other schools.

Which schools did you apply to?

GZ, SJC, Dematha

[Anonymous]

The new OP here, when I say below average I mean below the national average, not the DCUM average (which seems to be very high).

I really don't know what happened. Again, honor roll all through middle school, NJHS, not an athlete but several extracurriculars and community service. A/B student.

I do appreciate the positivity.