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Please convince my DH that 99th percentile doesn't mean that much
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Anonymous
| DH thinks DS can now have his pick of schools because he scored in the 99th percentile on the WPPSI. He scored 99th overall, 99th in two of the subcategories, and 81st in the last one. I have read on this board that lots of kids are in the 99th percentile but I can't find it by searching and I need to convince DH that it is still very hard to get into these schools. So help please! |
Anonymous
| Well maybe you should focus him on the 81st percentile, which means more than the 99 percentile scores. |
Anonymous
99th percentile DOES mean a lot (you have a very very bright kid!), but unfortunately it doesn't ensure entry into any school. But it certainly helps. |
Anonymous
| Tell your DH that 99th percentile compared to a national sample is like 80th percentile for private school applicants. Meaning that about 20% of kids applying will have similar scores. So yes, that is wonderful but no, it won't give you your pick of schools. |
Anonymous
|
It's excellent.
But it is not about academics alone. |
Anonymous
|
There are more applicants with those scores than slots available. ADs look at WPPSIs but they also look at a lot of other factors (and some will key in on the 81 percentile to the exclusion of all the other scores because there are apps who scored in the 90s in all categories - one AD told us, in so many words, "we don't need to look at kids with subcategories of 80 or below because we already have a sufficient pool in the 90s"). And there are some factors over which your DH has no control: the number of legacies, sibs, faculty kids who are applying for slots for the 2011-12 school year. When our DS applied there were an inordinate number of sibling brothers and faculty sons in the pool. A school may take 20 kids for K but there may be only 6-10 slots for unaffiliated kids - they may now need to fill all those slots with girls in order to balance the class.
Our DS got into our first pick, but it was mainly due to luck, not his high WPPSI scores. We applied to a range of schools because we knew the odds were long. I would suggest to your DH that you all do the same for your son. At the end of the day, there are many great independents in the area and your son will probably be able to thrive at many of them. Best of luck to you and your family. |
Anonymous
|
If the 81% was on the processing, I wouldn't worry about it too much. My understanding is that schools care less about that subtest than the others.
As for the number of candidates in the 99th percentile, I do think there are quite a few. But if your DC's scores are at the very top -- 99.9% overall -- then I think there are only a handful in that category. But, of course, this is based only on anecdotal evidence. |
Anonymous
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Honestly, each of the 4 kids I know who applied to private schools in this area (with varying degrees of success) had scores in the 99% percentile. It's a very common scenario in DC.
We have yet to go through this madness (kids are 3 and under). |
Anonymous
| I asked the psychologist who administered the WPPSI to my child if there would be plenty of other 99.9% kids in his classroom (at a particular school). He said it's pretty common in some local schools. |
Anonymous
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99 will give your child a second look, but no guarantee. Also, there is a statistically significant difference between children who score 99 and 99.9--the latter being extremely rare anywhere, but 99 being not uncommon in NW DC, parts of MoCo and NoVa.
Here is a thread from urbanbaby that might give you some idea about the prevalence of high scores in a well-educated urban area: http://www.urbanbaby.com/talk/posts/52316299 |
Anonymous
|
OP,
You are correct. Your son is a contender. That's it. Slots in the early years are slim, since legacy, sibling and connected get preference. I know a student who got 99% on his SSATs, straight A's, music studies, athlete and yet he was rejected by Sidwell for middle school! |
Anonymous
| Tell you DH that yes, your son is bright and no, it does not mean he gets into any school. To drive the point home, call an admissions office of a school you are not applying to and ask them how many 99% apps they get. Sobering. |
Anonymous
| No school wants a class full of off the chart kids. That's on reason why not all 99% scores get admitted everywhere. Social/emotional count for a lot. So does ethnicity, race, legacy and who the parents are. So apply to several schools and have a back up plan. |
Anonymous
| There is a huge gap between 99% for all students and 99 percent for kids in the independent schools. I don't know if that's reflected in the test results you have. |
Anonymous
| You are under the mistaken impression that the process is a meritocracy and that merit is based on a test score. Wrong and wrong. |