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Anyone shocked by who from your preschool did get in?
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Anonymous
| Maybe the admissions folks see something you don't. Probably parents that aren't obnoxious. |
Anonymous
| 8:48 It was not just me who thought this. I privately thought it but didn't say anything and then a number of parents expressed their surprise outright. Shock in fact. The student struggled academically for several years at the new school (one of the most selective in DC) and needed tutors so maybe the community that knew the student had better instincts than the admissions folks. Admissions folks are the first to admit they blow it sometimes! I wish this student the best, the point is that OP's question highlights another aspect of this process: the admit surprise factor. Let's not pretend it isn't there. It happens with rejections. Of course it happens with admits, too! |
Anonymous
| I had the complete opposite reaction in my DS's preschool. I thought most of the kids ended up in the 'right' spot. The super sweet, super smart little girl with the amazing vocabulary has her choice between Sidwell and Beauvoir. One sweet adorable little boy has the spot his parents wanted for him at Beauvoir. The smart kid with the very liberal parents is headed to GDS. The 'granola' family is headed to Burgandy Farm (which was also their first choice as it is in their neighborhood). There were at least two bilingual kids applying to WIS, and, in my view, the family that was the better match got in. The little boy that was redshirted not because of any real reason but because he is over-indulged got shut out (he did kick one of the teachers at a playdate at one school!). (please no flaming on the redshirted issue, it is simply true in this case and I am not making any general statements so lets not get the thread off-track). I really think that for the most part the kids that get in are 'right' for the schools... that doesn't mean of course that the kids that did not get in are not also 'right' for the school and that we cannot be disappointed but I do think the schools know what they are doing! |
Anonymous
| Give me a break! If you saw my child at school or on the playground you would never get a glimpse of his intellectual ability. First of all, THESE ARE FOUR and FIVE YEAR OLDS, secondly on the playground he would be running around the whole time looking just like any other 5 year old. I have never told anyone his test score (99.9, yes, its true), that he can read (yes, it is true) that he can write etc. etc. He does very well with adults, so he did well on his playdates as far as the in-school "test" goes. However, none of my snobby "friends" at our feeder preschool (yes, we go to one, and let me say that there are nice people there as well) would ever guess he "deserves" to go into one of the two "top three" that he go into, especially since I am yet to wear my Tory Burch's to a class party. But he got in because it he is a good, solid candidate. It is so predictable that some moms might have a wonderful, charming conversation about what he does or does not deserve behind his back. I guess it stinks to be jealous. |
Anonymous
| We too had the opposite reaction to OP. One DC (not ours) who by common acknowledgment among the pre-school parents was the one who was most likely to do the best in the admissions process, did less well than expected. |
Anonymous
| Wow. OP, that's pretty low. |
Anonymous
| It is totally human nature (sadly) to be sort of catty about one's peers ... to compare how your own child does in any realm with how child's peers do. And an anonymous board is a safe place to admit your humanity ... but don't be surprised that others tag you for being an unpleasant person for publicly airing your not very nice views. Keep them to yourself like the rest of us try to do. |
Anonymous
| I am totally with the OP, althoguh looking at it from a higher grade level. Sometimes the top schools made surprising picks from the class. The picks were more likely to be kids who were performing in the bottom half of the class than the top half. |
Anonymous
| 9:55 This was for middle school. On the other end, a student everyone expected to get into a top school did not. |
Anonymous
Quote of the Year! Kudos, this is right up there with the time the protagonist of the BBC series "Black Books" said to a parent, "I've never said it before because I'm too nice, but your son has the cold, dead eyes of a killer." If your child didn't get in, it could be because you've got the attitude of a caricature Mom from an 80s John Hughes comedy. No offense. |
Anonymous
| What one person values in their child (outgoing, funny, charming) is NOT what another person (ADMISSIONS) may need. They may need the quiet and thoughtful child, rather than a classroom full of chatty cathy's. Your child (OP) is just right for YOU, but an entire school needs to mix it up. |
Anonymous
| This is such a sick post. |
Anonymous
Or to be so bitter and resentful even when you feel vindicated by the process. |
Anonymous
|
Oh come on. We're all participating in a cutthroat process. What is sick is the competitiveness to get a kid into pre-K at the "right" school with 10% odds of admission.
Anyone who has been a teacher knows some 4 year olds are just more special than others. But that is not necessarily what the admissions committee is looking for. So sometimes the more special kids don't get in, and regular kids do, for other reasons (connections, race, gender, wealth, lack of wealth, whatever). |
Anonymous
| I've always thought it's pretty random - just potluck. And the whole admissions procedures are just there to make out to the parents that there's some science to it. You're all reading way too much into it. |