This is sheer curiosity from me, doesn't much matter for anything for our numbers, we aren't getting in. But I am surprised to be seeing waitlist movement this early. We were 58th on Mundo Verde Cook's waitlist on match day. Yesterday we improved to 52. Today we have improved to 48. Our numbers haven't changed for other schools. What would be driving such substantial waitlist movement this early? Are people really removing themselves from waitlist in large numbers so soon? Our friends who were 28 on the list dropped to 18 yesterday, no change today.
Interesting process this is! |
It depends how quick each school's staff is about processing enrollments and decline calls.
MV is probably very closely managing their list because they have to host Calle Ocho preschoolers at Cook for a year so they need to be careful of their enrollment. |
Could also be that they are getting notice of kids leaving that had completed intent to return forms. If so they have more spots to fill ASAP. |
Families could be removing themselves from the WL as well if they know they're leaving DC, going private, etc. |
Reasons could be:
low re-enrollment among current students opening another classroom for the grade families choosing private school or moving sibling enrolled elsewhere, giving the kid in your kid's grade a higher preference and they get in |
Just beware of the number going up! That really threw me last year. |
I know sometimes schools put a lower number in the lottery than is their true target for that grade level. Leaving open a few spots can allow schools to manage the waitlist better as preferences like “sibling offered” pop up. It’s smart, because otherwise you can have matched families decline when their siblings are shut out. |
This!! Was feeling somewhat good about our waitlist prospects since we were #2 somewhere but we are now #7... Every day I check it gets worse! |
How does that even happen? |
sibling preference. |
But wouldn't those students already be higher on the waitlist on match day? Sibling enrollment gets you sibling attending preference, but sibling offered is still higher than no preference. Unless people adding their child post-lottery once the sibling offered a spot on match day? |
Say your first grader is#1 on the wait-list. They get the offer. You take it. Now your pk3er who was 678 on the wait-list now jumps up near the top because they now have an enrolled sibling. |
Ah. I hadn't considered that schools are already making waitlist offers. |