Why do schools give preference to siblings? What's the logic?

[Anonymous]

One of the best ways of holding onto the "best kids" is sibling preference

[Anonymous]

....and one way for schools to hold onto the "best kids" is a sibling preference policy.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes, it's just a "bad year" for some applicants. Let it go. Maybe it'll be a really good year when your kid applies to M.I.T. A friend's kid didn't get into a school that my kid now attends. If I'd been on the admissions committee, I probably would have chosen the other kid over my own. In hindsight, I still think the AD made a mistake on that one.... but I also know it was a "bad year" for his particular "demographic/non-sibling status/male etc. And while I wish my friends were here, and the school is missing the contributions (volunteer,know how, etc) from a great set of parents, the good news is: It hasn't ruined the kid's life! He is doing fine. The equation shifts every year, and the sibling factor is the least of it.

[Anonymous]

N = all available slots. The sibling either meets the hurdle or does not - binary decision. X = # of siblings that apply. Let's say 80% meet the hurdle and get accepted. N - .8*X = remaining slots holding diversity and gender constant. If 1/2 the applicants are siblings and 1/2 non siblings and the total number of applicants is about 2x the number of total spots (to keep the math simple) that suggests to me that non siblings have at best a 20% probability of acceptance vs. siblings.

I'm not quite sure I followed your calculation. Are you assuming that siblings have first dibs on all available slots, and could (in theory) fill all the slots to the exclusion of non-siblings? If so, I think you're mistaken. I have heard/read that while many schools are willing to grade sibling admissions on a slight curve, they do not want any class to be dominated by siblings. This is total third-hand info, but I have heard that many schools want no more than half a class to be siblings. They actively want "fresh blood" for the other half of the class. Thus, while some siblings might (in theory) face relaxed requirements for admissions, once half the class is filled with siblings, any other siblings might actually face steeper odds against admission. In practice, I suspect that there are plenty of highly-qualified siblings each season, so any sibling advantage is really marginal.

[Anonymous]

OP here. It's not a revelation to me that the process isn't entirely fair. It's the magnitude and the compounding effect that is worrisome, once I actually did the math on this over a multi-year period. Most people are not offended by the 1/3 - 1/2 of incoming class being siblings -- seems a bit skewed but kind of benign. It's when you look at the applicant pool of non-siblings and the hit rate there and how that compounds negatively over time. Some of these schools have turned down >95% of non sibling, high WPPSI with good playdates and good recommendations over a 5-year period vs. < 10 for siblings with same qualifications (again due to compounding or cumulative probabilities). I can handle a few bigshots' kids getting in and sucking up a few slots, but this sibling thing is outrageous given the numbers involved. Again, I'm sympathetic to the parents of kids who want them to attend the same school. When I take this down to the individual child level, to me the benefits of a sibling policy don't outweigh the costs.

[Anonymous]

OP here. No, in all due respect, you are mistaken -- many schools really do have a first look at siblings and basically make binary calls on them against the total # of slots. They even call the siblings informing them of acceptance earlier than other applicants. Press the schools to tell you how many sibling applicants there were and what the acceptance rate was. I'd love some ADs to contradict me but they cannot. I challenge them to actually post here what the sibling numbers are at these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. No, in all due respect, you are mistaken -- many schools really do have a first look at siblings and basically make binary calls on them against the total # of slots. They even call the siblings informing them of acceptance earlier than other applicants. Press the schools to tell you how many sibling applicants there were and what the acceptance rate was. I'd love some ADs to contradict me but they cannot. I challenge them to actually post here what the sibling numbers are at these schools.

And I know a few families who got calls early to tell them that the sibling was not accepted. As a PP wrote, the schools do not want every slot in a new or expanding class to be taken up by siblings. Yes, they work hard to try to keep families together, but they do not end up keeping every family together.

Please remember that someone had to be the first in the family to apply and that DC was admitted without sibling preference.

Finally, it is green to keep families together rather than having everyone driving around the metro area and collecting their kids at different schools.

[Anonymous]

If a private school decided not to give strong preference to siblings, almost all families with more than one child would go to another private school, one that does have sibling preference. It's that simple. Parents don't want all of their children scattered at different schools.

[Anonymous]

Oh, good lord. Are the posts about the unfairness of the process beginning already? Sibling pref, financial aid, affirmative action, diversity, blah blah blah. It's like how the stores used to put up holiday decorations after Thanksgiving, and then it became after Halloween, and now they are out at the same time as the back to school stuff. It's July, people.

I will be sending in applications for my second kid this year. I think I am just going to log off DCUM now and not log back on until May. As a second timer I am not sure I can do this level of hysteria.

[Anonymous]

That's the beauty of freedom of choice. If it's too hot get out of the kitchen. Your participation has been appreciated.

[Anonymous]

OP: FYI, many schools in the area (ie: Sidwell) admitted numerous applicants this year (to the dismay of current families) over siblings. At the private school my child is at, some siblings were not accepted this year. The AD flat out said that they could fill the class size 3 times over with sibs, and never accept a new applicant--which clearly they have no intention of doing.

[Anonymous]

Look on the bright side. If you're a new family, either you have an only child (in which case that might be an advantage if schools are nervous about all the PreK/K slots going to sibs!) or you have multiple kids in (in which case, assuming comparable abilities, the subsequent admissions will be easier).

We were a new family. Got in in PreK. If we hadn't, we would have applied again in K. It's not impossible. And there are lots of schools. And no one gives a damn where you went to elementary school or middle school. And to the extent that HS matters wrt college admissions, the internal competition at a private school can turn out to be more of an obstacle to admission at a particular elite college than applying from a public school would be.

The stakes are just not that high at this stage. These aren't decisions that will make or break the future of kids from relatively affluent and well-educated families.

[Anonymous]

OP - I must ask - do you have any children? If so, how old are they?

[Anonymous]

Are you assuming that siblings have first dibs on all available slots, and could (in theory) fill all the slots to the exclusion of non-siblings? If so, I think you're mistaken. I have heard/read that while many schools are willing to grade sibling admissions on a slight curve, they do not want any class to be dominated by siblings.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. No, in all due respect, you are mistaken -- many schools really do have a first look at siblings and basically make binary calls on them against the total # of slots. They even call the siblings informing them of acceptance earlier than other applicants. Press the schools to tell you how many sibling applicants there were and what the acceptance rate was. I'd love some ADs to contradict me but they cannot. I challenge them to actually post here what the sibling numbers are at these schools.

I think we should just agree to disagree on whether schools are willing to fill an entire class with siblings. I heard with my own ears a comment from an AD similar to what 19:09 reported, explicitly saying the school could easily fill a class with siblings alone, but would rather bring in fresh blood for half the class. I also have seen others report the same point on DCUM, as indicated by the examples below:

I've been told that they try to hold about half the spaces in preK and K for kids with no connection to the school - not sibs, not alumni kids. Don't know the precise numbers, though.
(http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30342.page#192973)

We just got our acceptance letter yesterday for nursery at St. Patrick's. Our children are a year and a half apart so we would apply our second next fall. From what I understand, there is preference for siblings. However, they did tell us at our tour and then on the visiting day that in an effort to bring new families to the school they may "defer" current families for a year.
(http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/8423.page#44926)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's when you look at the applicant pool of non-siblings and the hit rate there and how that compounds negatively over time. Some of these schools have turned down >95% of non sibling, high WPPSI with good playdates and good recommendations over a 5-year period vs. < 10 for siblings with same qualifications (again due to compounding or cumulative probabilities).

Are you saying that only 5% of the non-sibling applicant pool gets admitted, while 90% of the sibling applicant pool is admitted? If so, could you please explain how you calculate that? I must be misunderstanding you, because that does not seem correct.