Just talked to a former AD about how she did her selection...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:and there really is no magic formula. Here is what she said. First they look for obvious reasons to EXCLUDE and she said that is straight forward. Mostly very low test scores or evidence of a severe LD that they cannot accommodate. Or an overly pushy parent or an parent who says things in the interview that indicate that child's personality and school are not a good match. Or a really bad playdate (although sometimes they would invite kids back if there was a seperation issue.... so bad playdate was a misbehaving child although she said that was easier to identify in the older kids because, well, pre-K applicants are often just 3 and much can be excused.) She said these need to be fairly obvious and strong reasons because they want to be as inclusive as possible.. but all they same this can bring down the applicant pool to about 80 percent of where it started. Then they look for reasons to INCLUDE.... did the teachers like your child. She said that she asked teachers if they really liked any of the kids, if any of the kids did anything special or was especially nice to others, they like to have nice kids in their schools. High test scores get you a closer look but do not guarantee anything you need something extra. As a result of this, they create a short-list of maybe twice the size of the incoming class, for her school this was always about 50 percent of the applicant pool. Then they have a brain storming session and ask what group makes for an interesting class. The obvious ones here are boys and girls and ethnicity but they also want a mix of personalities: extroverts, introverts, artistic talent, mathematical ability, verbal ability, big brothers, little brothers, big sisters, little sisters, and onlys, world travelers, sporty types, etc.

I guess I get it, but it does not seem impartial. How do you determine if a kid is truly "mean?"

Maybe they overhear a child calling another child a name. Happened to my child on a play visit last fall.

Do they correct that type of behavior? Even the best behaved child can slip and say something mean to another child. But I suppose the other factors the OP mentioned will be taken into consideration, too.