Why so hard to get into private school

[Anonymous]

What or how to prepare to get into private school. Seem so hard to get accepted.

[Anonymous]

It’s not hard. The key is to enter in kindergarten or an expansion year. Only a small handful of schools are competitive in kindergarten, and even then, I mean, the kids are so little. The school is mostly trying to get a full and sustainable roster. So if you apply to a few schools, you’re very likely to get into at least one.

The problem is that for very many of us, we want private schools as a lifeboat to escape public schools we feel aren’t serving our kids. That means a lot of people are applying in grades when the private schools only have a few seats available, which makes it much more competitive.

If you can pay and you’re willing to commute a bit, there is always a private school ready to serve you. More if you’re religious or okay with religion. But if “getting into private schools” to you means starting Sidwell in second grade or bust, then yeah.

[Anonymous]

Not hard at all. Every kid from my child's 5th grade class who applied, got into private. Maybe not the top 3 but all others.
I did not think my kid would get in anywhere even though he is in top 10% in his class. Everyone getting in changed my view on it all.
If you want private, apply.

[Anonymous]

I did apply to Hilton and did not get.

[Anonymous]

Ultimately, it depends what you’re looking for. If you are applying to the most competitive schools in the most competitive entry year (9th), there is markedly more demand for these places than there is supply.

There are plenty of schools that have more supply than demand. Some are even on the cusp of failure for that very reason.

Generally speaking, the earlier you start the better. The wider your net of targets, the better.

If you’re real goal is have your kid in a private for whatever reason, you’ll succeed as long as you include as many options as possible. Don’t put all of your eggs in the GDS/SFS/NCS/STA/Maret/Holton basket and you’ll be fine.

[Anonymous]

Ok. We are looking at 3 rd grade. Seems competitive even that young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did apply to Hilton and did not get.

Be thankful, Holton is trash.

[Anonymous]

It can be very hard. Apply to several schools.

Preparation depends on your kids age and what school they’re applying to.

You’ll also have no idea what exactly the school is looking for as most are intentional about how they build and balance each cohort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. We are looking at 3 rd grade. Seems competitive even that young.

Yes you should have just spent the extra $200k and started in K.

[Anonymous]

It's easy for some, very hard for others, and the rest are in between. Why paint private schools with such a broad brush?

[Anonymous]

Not hard whatsoever. Just apply to at least three or four schools and you will get in one of them.

[Anonymous]

At our school, the admission rate for expansion years like Kindergarten is about 30% and significantly lower in other years. They have to reject alumni kids and faculty kids.

Admissions is competitive during all years.

[Anonymous]

Some are harder than others, so apply widely. What age or grade you are looking for also makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

This is really no different from applying to colleges. You have reaches, targets, and safeties. Ideally, have schools in all three boxes.

[Anonymous]

Who wrote your application including essays, and how did you prepare for your interviews? I don’t think it’s hard if you are a family who is familiar with the process and culturally in line with the school but if this is all a new world to you it would be very hard.