Banneker interviews

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t they have to meet the deadlines for MySchoolDC lottery? So at least a first interview by the end of March?

They have to complete interviews before the end of the month; lottery results come out March 29th. Maybe there are special circumstances where they would conduct an interview after--I'm not sure--but in general, yes, they have to finish their interviews before decisions go out.

[Anonymous]

What happens at Banneker if in the lottery, the number of matches is less than the seats available? Is there a second round of the process?

[Anonymous]

If you search the archives on Banneker interviews, you'll probably find a concerned post from last year that I initiated. We were possibly the final interview and we'd already accepted that Banneker (DC's first choice) just wouldn't be an option. Received a call after the deadline per the portal's timeline and our interviews were for the next day.

I'm sharing this in case other parents run into the same. DC is now a freshman at Banneker and happy. As stressful as waiting was, we felt really good post-interview. The school has its largest freshman class ever (255 students, up from 150 or so). I don't believe that they have enough resources at the moment to accomodate the timeline reflected in the portal along with expansion efforts. Admissions really is holistic. DC's profile wasn't great on paper and I could tell from the interview that their application had been thoroughly read based on the questions asked.

Hopefully this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happens at Banneker if in the lottery, the number of matches is less than the seats available? Is there a second round of the process?

With over 1000 applicants, this is a non-issue. In fact, per DC, most of their close friends got in from the waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens at Banneker if in the lottery, the number of matches is less than the seats available? Is there a second round of the process?

With over 1000 applicants, this is a non-issue. In fact, per DC, most of their close friends got in from the waitlist.

Really? Because when I look at the data here https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay, I see for SY 22-23 that 220 seats were offered, 171 kids matched, and 0 were waitlisted. So what happened to those 49 unmatched seats?

In SY 23-24, it says 240 seats offered, 240 matches and 72 waitlisted, and then 70 offers made. So maybe they exhausted the waitlist, maybe there were two kids left on the waitlist. But if they had exhausted the waitlist and still had spots, how would they be filled?

[Anonymous]

And the same question for McKinley Tech-- last year 300 seats offered, 176 matches and nobody on the waitlist-- what happens to the unmatched seats?

[Anonymous]

they just do not fill the unmatched seats. Sometimes they decide there are more seats than qualified applicants. They can't fill MORE than the allocated seats but they can fill fewer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:they just do not fill the unmatched seats. Sometimes they decide there are more seats than qualified applicants. They can't fill MORE than the allocated seats but they can fill fewer.

So the incoming classes just vary a lot in size? That seems like a waste of perfectly good seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they just do not fill the unmatched seats. Sometimes they decide there are more seats than qualified applicants. They can't fill MORE than the allocated seats but they can fill fewer.

So the incoming classes just vary a lot in size? That seems like a waste of perfectly good seats.

They’re not real seats, though. I’m sure it’s been decades since there have been 300 freshmen at McKinley. They don’t have teachers to teach those kids, or computers or resources for them. Nothing real is going to waste. 300 is just a number the school gives the lottery, because it makes the lottery process work better for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they just do not fill the unmatched seats. Sometimes they decide there are more seats than qualified applicants. They can't fill MORE than the allocated seats but they can fill fewer.

So the incoming classes just vary a lot in size? That seems like a waste of perfectly good seats.

They’re not real seats, though. I’m sure it’s been decades since there have been 300 freshmen at McKinley. They don’t have teachers to teach those kids, or computers or resources for them. Nothing real is going to waste. 300 is just a number the school gives the lottery, because it makes the lottery process work better for the school.

Okay, but what do they do when they can't fill the number of seats they want to fill?

I just feel like this process, at all the schools, is so arbitrary and non-transparent, and I have so little faith in the integrity and honesty of the people in charge, that this kind of vagueness opens the door to insider placement a la Antwan Wilson. I don't even have a rising 9th grader and it aggravates me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens at Banneker if in the lottery, the number of matches is less than the seats available? Is there a second round of the process?

With over 1000 applicants, this is a non-issue. In fact, per DC, most of their close friends got in from the waitlist.

Really? Because when I look at the data here https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay, I see for SY 22-23 that 220 seats were offered, 171 kids matched, and 0 were waitlisted. So what happened to those 49 unmatched seats?

In SY 23-24, it says 240 seats offered, 240 matches and 72 waitlisted, and then 70 offers made. So maybe they exhausted the waitlist, maybe there were two kids left on the waitlist. But if they had exhausted the waitlist and still had spots, how would they be filled?

Their info seems to always be off, but I have no clue by how much. I do not know how many students they accepted overall, but there are 255 freshman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens at Banneker if in the lottery, the number of matches is less than the seats available? Is there a second round of the process?

With over 1000 applicants, this is a non-issue. In fact, per DC, most of their close friends got in from the waitlist.

Really? Because when I look at the data here https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay, I see for SY 22-23 that 220 seats were offered, 171 kids matched, and 0 were waitlisted. So what happened to those 49 unmatched seats?

In SY 23-24, it says 240 seats offered, 240 matches and 72 waitlisted, and then 70 offers made. So maybe they exhausted the waitlist, maybe there were two kids left on the waitlist. But if they had exhausted the waitlist and still had spots, how would they be filled?

Their info seems to always be off, but I have no clue by how much. I do not know how many students they accepted overall, but there are 255 freshman.

That's exactly what I'm saying. There's something not adding up, not transparent, and my 10+ years of experience with DCPS has taught me not to trust that things are being done ethically.

[Anonymous]

Quick question: I read/heard somewhere that there was an in-person essay that students had to write on the day of their interview. But I don't see anyone reference that here. Can someone who has been through the interview stage comment on this? Also, separately, does the interview also go with a tour at all? I ask because we just attended the virtual open house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quick question: I read/heard somewhere that there was an in-person essay that students had to write on the day of their interview. But I don't see anyone reference that here. Can someone who has been through the interview stage comment on this? Also, separately, does the interview also go with a tour at all? I ask because we just attended the virtual open house.

They are given a list of prompts and are asked to pick one and write 1-2 paragraphs. No tour, but you are in the building of course and get some sense of it. There are helpful students around to ask questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens at Banneker if in the lottery, the number of matches is less than the seats available? Is there a second round of the process?

With over 1000 applicants, this is a non-issue. In fact, per DC, most of their close friends got in from the waitlist.

Really? Because when I look at the data here https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay, I see for SY 22-23 that 220 seats were offered, 171 kids matched, and 0 were waitlisted. So what happened to those 49 unmatched seats?

In SY 23-24, it says 240 seats offered, 240 matches and 72 waitlisted, and then 70 offers made. So maybe they exhausted the waitlist, maybe there were two kids left on the waitlist. But if they had exhausted the waitlist and still had spots, how would they be filled?

Their info seems to always be off, but I have no clue by how much. I do not know how many students they accepted overall, but there are 255 freshman.

FWIW, the school has grown a LOT since it moved into the new building. So they clearly have found qualified kids for the additional seats--I don't think there has been a problem with exhausting the waitlist.

I asked a question at my kid's interview this year about whether the staffing resources had grown with the student body and was told 1. yes, it had, and 2. the school has reached its peak size and this coming year's 9th grade may actually be a bit smaller than the current year's.