Sibling Application for prek - do we need backups?

[Anonymous]

We have a child in a "Big 3." School is clear that they give siblings preference but it's not automatic. We are debating applying to a backup, however we applied to other schools and then rejected them for our oldest, so think that our youngest is unlikely to get in to these (why would the school accept them knowing we rejected them before?). We really only want our youngest to attend our oldest's school.

Should we find another school we didn't apply to for our oldest to be our youngest's backup? How are others doing this? If it matters, our oldest is well liked at the school, we volunteer, aren't big donors but we donate, and are pretty chill with admin.

[Anonymous]

Personally I would always have backup options. But that's just my personality.

I think when siblings get rejected from a school that's known as sibling-friendly, it's either because the sibling has special needs or something that the school thinks makes them not a good fit, or the gender balance of the incoming sibling group is an issue.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the same boat and I wasn't planning on doing backups.

[Anonymous]

Can child stay at current school for pre-K? If yes, then I wouldn't worry about applying to a back up- that's your back up. If no, then I think it depends on your children and you relationship with the school. Are you or spouse at all a difficult parent for the school? Is your first child struggling at all? If no to both, then is child 2 as strong or stronger a candidate than child 1? If yes, then you'll probably be okay. Otherwise, it's much more of a gamble to not apply to back ups.

[Anonymous]

What’s your public backup?

[Anonymous]

If you are good with your local public, then sure. But a big 3 is going to have a single digit acceptance rate and "priority" applicants including siblings are not guaranteed a spot.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s your public backup?

no thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are good with your local public, then sure. But a big 3 is going to have a single digit acceptance rate and "priority" applicants including siblings are not guaranteed a spot.

Is this true even for prek? There is no way there's single digit acceptance for prek. We are nobodies, no way would we have got our oldest in if that's true.

[Anonymous]

OP here - when applying to a backup, how do I handle the fact that the older sibling is at a different (more competitive) school? Won't it be obvious that we are considering them as a backup? Why would they accept my child knowing that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - when applying to a backup, how do I handle the fact that the older sibling is at a different (more competitive) school? Won't it be obvious that we are considering them as a backup? Why would they accept my child knowing that?

Families have their kids at different schools for a variety of reasons... But I think you should ask admissions if you need backups and that you'd prefer not to, but you also can't leave your kid without a spot next fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - when applying to a backup, how do I handle the fact that the older sibling is at a different (more competitive) school? Won't it be obvious that we are considering them as a backup? Why would they accept my child knowing that?

I don’t understand your reasoning here. If you don’t have a ‘backup’ and your younger child doesn’t get in, then they’re going to public. How is that a better result?

[Anonymous]

If you’re ok with your public option as a back up for a year, then no, you don’t need to apply to other schools. If your youngest doesn’t get in this year, they likely will in a subsequent year (barring some issue).

[Anonymous]

My private school had siblings that didn’t get in. Always have a backup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are good with your local public, then sure. But a big 3 is going to have a single digit acceptance rate and "priority" applicants including siblings are not guaranteed a spot.

Is this true even for prek? There is no way there's single digit acceptance for prek. We are nobodies, no way would we have got our oldest in if that's true.

For at least Sidwell, there are 20 spots in PK with roughly half of them for priority candidates (e.g., siblings, legacy, faculty kids). I know at least two or three families who fall into one on of the priority categories and their child did not get accepted for PK. That said, there is a higher likelihood that the same child would be accepted for K because there are more openings.