Potomac School Fourth Grade vs. Seventh Grade Admissions

[Anonymous]

If anyone has any recent information on admission rates, number of spots, etc. for these two admission years I would appreciate it. Child would be coming from FCPS AAP with no connection to the school. Also, is seventh grade early enough to make sure child can be in honors math. Thank you for any information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anyone has any recent information on admission rates, number of spots, etc. for these two admission years I would appreciate it. Child would be coming from FCPS AAP with no connection to the school. Also, is seventh grade early enough to make sure child can be in honors math. Thank you for any information.

I do not have any actual data, but I think those are the two best admission years to target and they probably have roughly similar rates. There is a huge difference between 7th and 9th and a less big, but still noticeable difference between 4th and K. But 4th and 7th have always seemed roughly comparable to me. Maybe someone has better data, but that is what seems to be true as a long time parent at the school.

[Anonymous]

7th grade is statistically the easiest entry point into Potomac. 4th has a smaller (~8-10) vs 7th (~20) incoming class but roughly getting same number of applicants. Additionally, 4th typically has more sibling entries.

Re: math honors - there's an advanced level of math that's more independent work and challenging problems covering the same curriculum. Potomac uses their own math curriculum that was developed in house so they advise new students to get acquainted with that and track into honors in 8th grade

[Anonymous]

They do take some kids in 6th grade too if you want to get in to take advantage of the IS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do take some kids in 6th grade too if you want to get in to take advantage of the IS.

And 6th might be preferable to 7th because it allows more time to adapt to their math curriculum...

[Anonymous]

OP here! Thank you everyone. Your replies have been very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Op,

I have 2 kids at Potomac.

7th will be 20 kids added. It is competitive as there will be about 150-200 applicants.

4th is generally harder. 8-12 admits. Probably 120-150 applicants. Many siblings here get priority.

6th is 5-6 kids with about 70-80 applicants.

So the easiest admit is for K by far.

9th bus super difficult as they take 30 kids, but have 300 applicants and they do reserve spots for recruits.


I thinks 7th will be the best time to try. Yo can try for 6th and they again for 7th if you don’t get in. They do track previous applications and will help you if you show continued interest in the school.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op,

I have 2 kids at Potomac.

7th will be 20 kids added. It is competitive as there will be about 150-200 applicants.

4th is generally harder. 8-12 admits. Probably 120-150 applicants. Many siblings here get priority.

6th is 5-6 kids with about 70-80 applicants.

So the easiest admit is for K by far.

9th bus super difficult as they take 30 kids, but have 300 applicants and they do reserve spots for recruits.


I thinks 7th will be the best time to try. Yo can try for 6th and they again for 7th if you don’t get in. They do track previous applications and will help you if you show continued interest in the school.

Good luck.

"So the easiest admit is for K by far." .. you may think just looking at the numbers in a vacuum that it's the easiest but unfortunately out of the 48 admits, 30-35 of those slots go to sibling/legacy/deep connections. so you're at about 10-15 real spots available for no connections of about 200 or so applications. (total K applicants around 250). K is near impossible with no connection. 7th is the easiest to get in for OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op,

I have 2 kids at Potomac.

7th will be 20 kids added. It is competitive as there will be about 150-200 applicants.

4th is generally harder. 8-12 admits. Probably 120-150 applicants. Many siblings here get priority.

6th is 5-6 kids with about 70-80 applicants.

So the easiest admit is for K by far.

9th bus super difficult as they take 30 kids, but have 300 applicants and they do reserve spots for recruits.


I thinks 7th will be the best time to try. Yo can try for 6th and they again for 7th if you don’t get in. They do track previous applications and will help you if you show continued interest in the school.

Good luck.

That sounds pretty accurate, so it seems like PP is either part of the community or getting info from someone who is. Just to clarify, at a recent school "event", leadership shared the latest admission cycle numbers, and for 7th grade, the number of applicants is closer to 100 than 150.

[Anonymous]

My child joined in 7th from public and was placed in accelerated math, then honors for 8th so it’s not too late