Lottery Debrief

[Anonymous]

Shut out of lottery but fortunately wait listed into a very HRCS (with a separate lottery) for PK3. Feeling very fortunate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We applied to 12 schools. At least half were schools that I didn't think were particularly popular and we had a shot at. But this was for K and there aren't many spots for K at many schools.

We weren't matched anywhere in the lottery. I was disappointed because prior to the lottery we were given the impression that we'd have 12 separate chances to get in, but really our luck with any of those choices depended on a single draw. As far as I could tell we were about at the midway point in most of the waitlists that we joined (probably in the top 45 percent).

But, by the end of May we were offered spots at Lee, Bridges and Shining Stars. We're going to Lee and happy with it.

Unfortunately we know many others who still don't have options for K.

Thank you for reinforcing my scepticism regarding the common lottery. Yes, all the popular schools have WLs in the hundreds. However, back when they each ran their own lotteries, you had more than one shot at a decent number. Now it's just one bad number and you're screwed everywhere.

[Anonymous]

PK3 got into our title 1 priority IB and a couple of Appletrees but no long term options. After seeing the DCCAS results not sure we'll even stay here long term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We applied to 12 schools. At least half were schools that I didn't think were particularly popular and we had a shot at. But this was for K and there aren't many spots for K at many schools.

We weren't matched anywhere in the lottery. I was disappointed because prior to the lottery we were given the impression that we'd have 12 separate chances to get in, but really our luck with any of those choices depended on a single draw. As far as I could tell we were about at the midway point in most of the waitlists that we joined (probably in the top 45 percent).

But, by the end of May we were offered spots at Lee, Bridges and Shining Stars. We're going to Lee and happy with it.

Unfortunately we know many others who still don't have options for K.

Thank you for reinforcing my scepticism regarding the common lottery. Yes, all the popular schools have WLs in the hundreds. However, back when they each ran their own lotteries, you had more than one shot at a decent number. Now it's just one bad number and you're screwed everywhere.

I really wish the lottery computer would run separate lotteries for each school in the common lottery. Can't see any reason it couldn't look at each applicant and each school and do mini lotteries for each school, sort by preference group, and fill slots. Then the overall process would be one common lottery, but each applicant would have 12 different chances to get a good number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We applied to 12 schools. At least half were schools that I didn't think were particularly popular and we had a shot at. But this was for K and there aren't many spots for K at many schools.

We weren't matched anywhere in the lottery. I was disappointed because prior to the lottery we were given the impression that we'd have 12 separate chances to get in, but really our luck with any of those choices depended on a single draw. As far as I could tell we were about at the midway point in most of the waitlists that we joined (probably in the top 45 percent).

But, by the end of May we were offered spots at Lee, Bridges and Shining Stars. We're going to Lee and happy with it.

Unfortunately we know many others who still don't have options for K.

Thank you for reinforcing my scepticism regarding the common lottery. Yes, all the popular schools have WLs in the hundreds. However, back when they each ran their own lotteries, you had more than one shot at a decent number. Now it's just one bad number and you're screwed everywhere.

I really wish the lottery computer would run separate lotteries for each school in the common lottery. Can't see any reason it couldn't look at each applicant and each school and do mini lotteries for each school, sort by preference group, and fill slots. Then the overall process would be one common lottery, but each applicant would have 12 different chances to get a good number.

If they did this, then there would be trades possible where I get into A but prefer B and you get into B but prefer A. The way it works now, everyone gets into the highest choice school possible.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I think this is the only way to do it. It sucks if you're in the back - but it's a lottery, you get lucky or you don't.

[Anonymous]

I think the common lottery restored some sanity to the process. Having observed the madness over the last couple of years, this year was great in terms of less shuffling and switching and moving. If you're new to the process this year, you have no idea how insane it was in the past for both parents and schools.

I know some folks did not get into their school of choice. However, as someone who--over the years--has made several school moves, if you don't bail on the city, you'll land at a school you're very happy with by 2nd grade if not much sooner. I encourage you to call the schools that you are interested in through October and don't be afraid to make a mid Sept/Oct switch. Your kid will adjust just fine.

Those of us who stayed in the game understand that--in the end--it all works out AND... there is no such thing as the perfect school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the common lottery restored some sanity to the process. Having observed the madness over the last couple of years, this year was great in terms of less shuffling and switching and moving. If you're new to the process this year, you have no idea how insane it was in the past for both parents and schools.

I know some folks did not get into their school of choice. However, as someone who--over the years--has made several school moves, if you don't bail on the city, you'll land at a school you're very happy with by 2nd grade if not much sooner. I encourage you to call the schools that you are interested in through October and don't be afraid to make a mid Sept/Oct switch. Your kid will adjust just fine.

Those of us who stayed in the game understand that--in the end--it all works out AND... there is no such thing as the perfect school.

This. The lottery is a huge improvement and actually seems to be working extremely well. But, it is still a lottery.

[Anonymous]

Any others willing to share their lists?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We applied to 12 schools. At least half were schools that I didn't think were particularly popular and we had a shot at. But this was for K and there aren't many spots for K at many schools.

We weren't matched anywhere in the lottery. I was disappointed because prior to the lottery we were given the impression that we'd have 12 separate chances to get in, but really our luck with any of those choices depended on a single draw. As far as I could tell we were about at the midway point in most of the waitlists that we joined (probably in the top 45 percent).

But, by the end of May we were offered spots at Lee, Bridges and Shining Stars. We're going to Lee and happy with it.

Unfortunately we know many others who still don't have options for K.

Thank you for reinforcing my scepticism regarding the common lottery. Yes, all the popular schools have WLs in the hundreds. However, back when they each ran their own lotteries, you had more than one shot at a decent number. Now it's just one bad number and you're screwed everywhere.

I really wish the lottery computer would run separate lotteries for each school in the common lottery. Can't see any reason it couldn't look at each applicant and each school and do mini lotteries for each school, sort by preference group, and fill slots. Then the overall process would be one common lottery, but each applicant would have 12 different chances to get a good number.

If they did this, then there would be trades possible where I get into A but prefer B and you get into B but prefer A. The way it works now, everyone gets into the highest choice school possible.

Everyone would still get into their highest choice possible, because once the computer does the individual school lotteries it reconciles the bigger list, dropping people off of any matched slot or waitlist slot lower than their highest accepted slot. It would still give everyone the highest choice they got into, but not damn you with one single number for all 12.

[Anonymous]

Here's our list for PK4, very much in the order of true preference for our family:

Inspired Teaching
Capital City
Mundo Verde
Eaton
Powell - our IB
Shepherd
Hearst
Lafayette
Lee Montessori
West
Tubman
Cleveland

I'm not sure if the tracking number is the lottery number that was pulled, but it was something above 23,000. We were matched, and have enrolled, at Powell. Our lowest WL # was at 100 at Cap City and the highest was 229 at Eaton.

I thought it was pretty wild that we pulled such a poor lottery number but still got matched at our IB school, and I'll always wonder if the ranking had anything to do with getting in or if it was just the number of other PK4 applicants there.

We're excited about the prospect of contributing to a rising neighborhood school and will stay in through 5th if it proves to be a good environment for our kid. I felt overall very pleased with the unified lottery because it was so much easier to research and consider schools that weren't even on my radar in the previous year. In hindsight of the former lottery process, we were making some pretty uninformed decisions based on the opinions of others. And I was doing it all myself with DH just waiting to hear the results. This time, there was much deeper research and many, many discussions with my husband about what we wanted and what would work within our expectations and household needs.

It was rather like throwing darts as opposed to throwing up a handful of chips to see where they fall. Did we get exactly what we wanted? No, but at least we were aiming for something specific and I think we came much closer to what we wanted than we would have with the previous process.

[Anonymous]

After tons of research, our number was pretty bad, and we ended up at our IB school, which I really never thought I'd send my daughter to, but considering how close it is, the moderate buzz (potentially one of those over-hyped schools), and the fact that a neighbor-friend is also sending their kid, we're going. This leads me to wonder whether one of the side goals of the common lottery was to get people applying for schools they never would have considered otherwise. I even *visited* public schools I never would have even known about, had it not been for my desire to find the best possible public school. So -- we'll see how it goes. Well, I hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We applied to 12 schools. At least half were schools that I didn't think were particularly popular and we had a shot at. But this was for K and there aren't many spots for K at many schools.

We weren't matched anywhere in the lottery. I was disappointed because prior to the lottery we were given the impression that we'd have 12 separate chances to get in, but really our luck with any of those choices depended on a single draw. As far as I could tell we were about at the midway point in most of the waitlists that we joined (probably in the top 45 percent).

But, by the end of May we were offered spots at Lee, Bridges and Shining Stars. We're going to Lee and happy with it.

Unfortunately we know many others who still don't have options for K.

Thank you for reinforcing my scepticism regarding the common lottery. Yes, all the popular schools have WLs in the hundreds. However, back when they each ran their own lotteries, you had more than one shot at a decent number. Now it's just one bad number and you're screwed everywhere.

I really wish the lottery computer would run separate lotteries for each school in the common lottery. Can't see any reason it couldn't look at each applicant and each school and do mini lotteries for each school, sort by preference group, and fill slots. Then the overall process would be one common lottery, but each applicant would have 12 different chances to get a good number.

If they did this, then there would be trades possible where I get into A but prefer B and you get into B but prefer A. The way it works now, everyone gets into the highest choice school possible.

Everyone would still get into their highest choice possible, because once the computer does the individual school lotteries it reconciles the bigger list, dropping people off of any matched slot or waitlist slot lower than their highest accepted slot. It would still give everyone the highest choice they got into, but not damn you with one single number for all 12.

It would not maximize the number of people who got into high-ranked choices. I might really want Mandarin immersion and put YY first (assuming it is in the common lottery), and have Cap City as, say, my 8th choice. But through separate lotteries, I get into CC but not YY. Someone else gets into YY and not CC. We can't trade spots. Instead, I go to CC and they go to YY, and we both could have crappy waitlist numbers at the schools we prefer.

The algorithm my school dc uses is the best one. Even if it entered you into 12 separate lotteries, that would not change the # of seats available at every school, so the outcome would be the same in terms of # of seats available--only it would be much worse at getting people into the schools that they prefer.

I say this ad someone who had an awful lottery draw and was almost the last PK3 # on the MV waitlist, my first choice. If it were not for IB preference at an unpopular school, I would have been shut out. The really problem is that there are not enough good seats to meet demand. No lottery can change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's our list for PK4, very much in the order of true preference for our family:

Inspired Teaching
Capital City
Mundo Verde
Eaton
Powell - our IB
Shepherd
Hearst
Lafayette
Lee Montessori
West
Tubman
Cleveland

I'm not sure if the tracking number is the lottery number that was pulled, but it was something above 23,000. We were matched, and have enrolled, at Powell. Our lowest WL # was at 100 at Cap City and the highest was 229 at Eaton.

I thought it was pretty wild that we pulled such a poor lottery number but still got matched at our IB school, and I'll always wonder if the ranking had anything to do with getting in or if it was just the number of other PK4 applicants there.

We're excited about the prospect of contributing to a rising neighborhood school and will stay in through 5th if it proves to be a good environment for our kid. I felt overall very pleased with the unified lottery because it was so much easier to research and consider schools that weren't even on my radar in the previous year. In hindsight of the former lottery process, we were making some pretty uninformed decisions based on the opinions of others. And I was doing it all myself with DH just waiting to hear the results. This time, there was much deeper research and many, many discussions with my husband about what we wanted and what would work within our expectations and household needs.

It was rather like throwing darts as opposed to throwing up a handful of chips to see where they fall. Did we get exactly what we wanted? No, but at least we were aiming for something specific and I think we came much closer to what we wanted than we would have with the previous process.

Your tracking number is not your lottery number.

[Anonymous]

Here's our list for PK3:

Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS
Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS
Capital City PCS – Lower School
E.L. Haynes PCS – Kansas Avenue (Elementary School)
DC Bilingual PCS
Lee Montessori
Shepherd Elementary School
Takoma Education Campus

My top school choice was Stokes, but we got a very high wait list number.

Through the common lottery we matched at Inspired Teaching and we're very happy. Given our relatively low wait list number at MV, I'm going to assume that we got a fairly low lottery draw (probably top 300?).

The process was stressful but I think the current lottery system is the most appropriate. The last minute school shuffle from years past must have been so disrupting for schools and families. Frankly, I'm a huge advocate of ALL schools, DCPS and Charters, being required to join the common lottery.

I'm also strong proponent of more high quality seats being available. Demand is outstripping supply.