Highly UNscientific proof that the common lottery worked

[Anonymous]

I still think there will be some last minute movement. Maybe not as much as precious years, but some movement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lottery is an advertisement for improving neighborhood by right schools.

The lottery is a way of managing the incredible growth in demand for seats in PK and early Elementary (about 1200 more 3&4 year-olds last year than this year). Hopefully it will start to seed some schools with middle class families who want to settle down and help build better neighborhood schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand that logically, a randomized process is always going to be the most fair option, and that ranking schools cuts down on the shuffle and general chaos. But I was one of the people entirely shut out, so if asked this question I am always going to respond that it was a total failure. That's the difference between cold hard logic and reason and my personal situation. This process has turned me into someone who is anti-lottery and a big supporter of good quality neighborhood schools.

Boo hoo hoo, you have a guaranteed spot for K. Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

yes, it worked quite well for you. I think there's a sense of inherent unfairness from people who got low #s--here you got into #2, with a shot at #1, where people on the bottom didn't even get into #12, or near it on a waitlist. The top lottery winners have a very good chance of getting into their top schools, but those at the bottom have a poor shot of getting into their last choice. The lottery works well now, in terms of waitlsits and efficiency, but for the people who had poor luck, it sucks. You only have one number and if its bad, well, too bad for you. Under the old, chaotic system, you had 12-15 chances of drawing a decent number. I say this as someone who already has a slot from last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

You've got to be effing joking! You've "made peace" with your number 2 spot?????!! Do you know how many of us didn't even get the option of "making peace with" our NUMBER TWELVE choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that logically, a randomized process is always going to be the most fair option, and that ranking schools cuts down on the shuffle and general chaos. But I was one of the people entirely shut out, so if asked this question I am always going to respond that it was a total failure. That's the difference between cold hard logic and reason and my personal situation. This process has turned me into someone who is anti-lottery and a big supporter of good quality neighborhood schools.

Someone (possibly you) would have been entirely shut out in past years too. The difference is that you know it now, not next October. That was a hard six months for almost everyone, and it served nobody any good.

I don't know anyone who was COMPLETELY shut out in previous years. Very few got into their top choice. (Actually I know just two in the past five years). And some got into very popular schools that they are happy with, or would have been in their top 5. But many people, myself included, were shut out in the past and then got multiple offers as summer went on.

In fact, for PS3 (two years ago) we got a spot at DC prep in the lottery (turned it down), then offered Appletree LP (120s) in July, Bridges (50-60s) in early August and Shining Stars in early September. Once everything shook down, all the families I know were happy with their placement even though it wasn't their first choice. This year, I don't think that will be the case. There seems to be very little movement, particularly for PS3. If you are shut out your waitlist numbers are likely so high for every school you applied to that your chance of getting in somewhere is tiny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

You've got to be effing joking! You've "made peace" with your number 2 spot?????!! Do you know how many of us didn't even get the option of "making peace with" our NUMBER TWELVE choice?

Yea, I thought that was bad too (and I lucked out on #5).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

You've got to be effing joking! You've "made peace" with your number 2 spot?????!! Do you know how many of us didn't even get the option of "making peace with" our NUMBER TWELVE choice?

Yea, I thought that was bad too (and I lucked out on #5).

Completely agree! We just got into our #5 spot from the waitlist and we're THRILLED! (Previously hadn't matched anywhere).

[Anonymous]

This all reminds me of the recent studies showing that when someone is "privileged" (high number in the lottery and matched with a choice school), they start to believe that THEY were responsible for their "success."

Have you seen the video of studies where college students and other subjects were given privileged status and immediately started treating others as if they were "hired help" and talking as if they earned their status with no awareness they were doing it?

To listen to the responses on this board, I'd think it was a social experiment we could learn something from folks. Think about it...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

yes, it worked quite well for you. I think there's a sense of inherent unfairness from people who got low #s--here you got into #2, with a shot at #1, where people on the bottom didn't even get into #12, or near it on a waitlist. The top lottery winners have a very good chance of getting into their top schools, but those at the bottom have a poor shot of getting into their last choice. The lottery works well now, in terms of waitlsits and efficiency, but for the people who had poor luck, it sucks. You only have one number and if its bad, well, too bad for you. Under the old, chaotic system, you had 12-15 chances of drawing a decent number. I say this as someone who already has a slot from last year.

I am PP who had really bad luck too, but I don't think the process is unfair. The fact is that even under the old system, the same # of people would have been locked out, since the lottery can't add seats to the pool. I think one positive here is that at least we know sooner and can make alternative plans, and that those who got matched really want their seats. It's not like one person got into Cap City when they preferred Two Rivers, while another person preferred Cap City but got into Two Rivers, and they would be better off by trading. It sucks to be on the losing end, but you'd have just as much probability of having that happen in the old system. Basically, someone has to win, and someone has to lose no matter what system is used to allocate seats. At least this way, those who get seats are more likely to be in schools they really want.

Despite my bad luck, I hope all the charters join the common lottery next year.

[Anonymous]

The lottery did not work for the application HS at all. See the threads about SWW not filling its freshman class. These schools should not be in the common lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

You've got to be effing joking! You've "made peace" with your number 2 spot?????!! Do you know how many of us didn't even get the option of "making peace with" our NUMBER TWELVE choice?

In all fairness to the first poster I also got in my 2nd choice and have made "peace" with it, but trust me it's nowhere any of you would be jealous of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was matched with my #2 school and have made peace with that choice. To me it seems to have worked very well, because I am waitlisted in the top ten at my #1 choice, and have not yet received a call asking if I want that spot. This means that those who matched truly wanted those spots, and weren't just grabbing as many spots as they could.

You've got to be effing joking! You've "made peace" with your number 2 spot?????!! Do you know how many of us didn't even get the option of "making peace with" our NUMBER TWELVE choice?

In all fairness to the first poster I also got in my 2nd choice and have made "peace" with it, but trust me it's nowhere any of you would be jealous of.

Well why did you list it #2 then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that logically, a randomized process is always going to be the most fair option, and that ranking schools cuts down on the shuffle and general chaos. But I was one of the people entirely shut out, so if asked this question I am always going to respond that it was a total failure. That's the difference between cold hard logic and reason and my personal situation. This process has turned me into someone who is anti-lottery and a big supporter of good quality neighborhood schools.

Someone (possibly you) would have been entirely shut out in past years too. The difference is that you know it now, not next October. That was a hard six months for almost everyone, and it served nobody any good.

I don't know anyone who was COMPLETELY shut out in previous years. Very few got into their top choice. (Actually I know just two in the past five years). And some got into very popular schools that they are happy with, or would have been in their top 5. But many people, myself included, were shut out in the past and then got multiple offers as summer went on.

In fact, for PS3 (two years ago) we got a spot at DC prep in the lottery (turned it down), then offered Appletree LP (120s) in July, Bridges (50-60s) in early August and Shining Stars in early September. Once everything shook down, all the families I know were happy with their placement even though it wasn't their first choice. This year, I don't think that will be the case. There seems to be very little movement, particularly for PS3. If you are shut out your waitlist numbers are likely so high for every school you applied to that your chance of getting in somewhere is tiny.

I think this lottery has made people realize:

1) there are very few spots available at the sought-after charter schools. The wait lists for the best-known ones keep growing and growing each year. People are becoming aware that the plan to "go charter" is fraught with slim chances and long commutes.

2) it is increasingly difficult or impossible to get into good DCPS schools OOB, especially in the younger grades. It used to be that you could apply OOB to a school in the next neighborhood, but this is less and less possible, even for the mediocre schools, especially at PK3 and PK4. The IB parents and siblings grab all the spots when they get shut out of their higher-ranked choices.

It's not just awareness-raising - it's also the gradual increase of kids in the District. But I think some people probably bought houses in bad school boundaries 5 years ago thinking, it's ok, by the time we have kids the school will be better and if not we can just go OOB or charter. And it turns out that proposition is not such a sure bet.

There are also, of course, people who are living in poor neighborhoods because that's all they can afford. But not many of them post on DCUM. I think a lot of people on DCUM living in bad school boundaries could relate to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The lottery did not work for the application HS at all. See the threads about SWW not filling its freshman class. These schools should not be in the common lottery.

It's not really correct to say the application schools were "in the lottery." There was a common admission process that wasn't lottery-based. Being in the lottery wasn't the problem. The lottery just revealed the shallowness of demand.