DCI Feeder Lottery and Sibling Preference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is on a real upward trajectory and getting better and better every year.

We visited and toured Latin and Basis and IMO DCI is so much better in terms of curriculum offerings. It blows both of the other schools away with facilities, sports, clubs, and extracurriculars. We are not interested in either over DCI.

What an incredibly silly statement. You were able to assess the relative strength of the curricula...because you visited and toured?

It’s not hard. Just look at the course offerings of the school. Talk to the kids and staff at the open house or tour.

Bigger schools offer a lot more in terms of variety and expensiveness.. DCI has multiple tracks that are able to meet different kids and specialities such as computer science, allied health, etc…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is on a real upward trajectory and getting better and better every year.

We visited and toured Latin and Basis and IMO DCI is so much better in terms of curriculum offerings. It blows both of the other schools away with facilities, sports, clubs, and extracurriculars. We are not interested in either over DCI.

What an incredibly silly statement. You were able to assess the relative strength of the curricula...because you visited and toured?

It’s not hard. Just look at the course offerings of the school. Talk to the kids and staff at the open house or tour.

Bigger schools offer a lot more in terms of variety and expensiveness.. DCI has multiple tracks that are able to meet different kids and specialities such as computer science, allied health, etc…

Typo expansiveness

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCI is on a real upward trajectory and getting better and better every year.

We visited and toured Latin and Basis and IMO DCI is so much better in terms of curriculum offerings. It blows both of the other schools away with facilities, sports, clubs, and extracurriculars. We are not interested in either over DCI.

What an incredibly silly statement. You were able to assess the relative strength of the curricula...because you visited and toured?

It’s not hard. Just look at the course offerings of the school. Talk to the kids and staff at the open house or tour.

Bigger schools offer a lot more in terms of variety and expensiveness.. DCI has multiple tracks that are able to meet different kids and specialities such as computer science, allied health, etc…

Are you the poster that was unhappy with how the Latin principal or head of school answered your question at the open house?

You have to understand, many poster have gone to all the open houses too .. and came away with a different sense of which schools would be best for their kids. This isn't about if DCI is better than Latin or Basis. It's about parents at DCI feeders wanting the option to attend.

[Anonymous]

Well, my 6th grade WL numbers for French and Chinese dropped about 30 spots each today. So that would seem to imply uptake is not 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, my 6th grade WL numbers for French and Chinese dropped about 30 spots each today. So that would seem to imply uptake is not 100%.

It could be that some people are removing themselves from the waitlist as they enroll at other schools.

It doesn’t mean that all those spots are openings at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, my 6th grade WL numbers for French and Chinese dropped about 30 spots each today. So that would seem to imply uptake is not 100%.

It could be that some people are removing themselves from the waitlist as they enroll at other schools.

It doesn’t mean that all those spots are openings at the school.

Well yes. But 30 within an hour or so seems unlikely to be the result of random people doing whatever they are doing separately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, my 6th grade WL numbers for French and Chinese dropped about 30 spots each today. So that would seem to imply uptake is not 100%.

It could be that some people are removing themselves from the waitlist as they enroll at other schools.

It doesn’t mean that all those spots are openings at the school.

Well yes. But 30 within an hour or so seems unlikely to be the result of random people doing whatever they are doing separately.

Sure but the school could also have waited to notify and update their waitlist until now. I highly doubt they called and offered all those families seats within an hour or even a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, my 6th grade WL numbers for French and Chinese dropped about 30 spots each today. So that would seem to imply uptake is not 100%.

It could be that some people are removing themselves from the waitlist as they enroll at other schools.

It doesn’t mean that all those spots are openings at the school.

Well yes. But 30 within an hour or so seems unlikely to be the result of random people doing whatever they are doing separately.

Sure but the school could also have waited to notify and update their waitlist until now. I highly doubt they called and offered all those families seats within an hour or even a day.

I would think they made offers a week ago, and those offers all expired at the same time.

There's no need to call when extending an offer. It can be done with a few clicks in the system.

[Anonymous]

Here is the data from the waitlist of your chances of matching on result day if you are not in DCI feeder

Basis - 30%
Latin - 12%
DCI Chinese - 4%
DCI French - less then 1%
DCI Spanish - 1%

Waitlist movement after match day will increase those numbers, but I think it’s incremental and not anything significant.

Lastly there is 10 French feeder students on the DCI waitlist who are the top 10 numbers so if French waitlist is moving then these are the students getting in first.

Summary:

Of 3 schools, best chance to get into any of the 3 is from DCI feeder into DCI

Getting into DCI as a non-feeder is basically 0 starting next year due to multiple feeder school’s expansion. The feeder kids will get all the seats not filled by any of the feeder schools.

Lastly, every year those percentages will go down as more families need seats and play the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the data from the waitlist of your chances of matching on result day if you are not in DCI feeder

Basis - 30%
Latin - 12%
DCI Chinese - 4%
DCI French - less then 1%
DCI Spanish - 1%

Waitlist movement after match day will increase those numbers, but I think it’s incremental and not anything significant.

Lastly there is 10 French feeder students on the DCI waitlist who are the top 10 numbers so if French waitlist is moving then these are the students getting in first.

Summary:

Of 3 schools, best chance to get into any of the 3 is from DCI feeder into DCI

Getting into DCI as a non-feeder is basically 0 starting next year due to multiple feeder school’s expansion. The feeder kids will get all the seats not filled by any of the feeder schools.

Lastly, every year those percentages will go down as more families need seats and play the lottery.

Historically, waitlist movement makes a huge difference to your chances at some of these schools.

Look at SY23-24:

BASIS - 67% offered (44% on match day)
Latin I - 21% offered (18% on match day)
Latin II - 42% offered (25% on match day)
DCI Chinese - 24% offered (0% on match day)
DCI French - 21% offered (19% on match day)
DCI Spanish - 5% offered (0% on match day)

[Anonymous]

Three thoughts:

(1) I think we will see the Latin II % drop over the next couple of years to be essentially equal to the Latin I number.

(2) This is why CH parents are so upset by the proposed expansion of BASIS to include K-4. Sure, a 67% offer rate isn't 100% but it's a MUCH better shot than anything else (which would no longer be true if 5th grade offered only 20 new spots instead of 135).

(3) Most of the people thinking about DCI feeder spots are thinking about the Spanish track spots. The 5% offered number above tells me that this is already where the biggest crunch is, and that if you strike out (increasingly likely if you're a 5th grader without an older sibling in 2026 onward, especially in MV and DCB) you're out of luck.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the posters that provided the chances per school. People talk about how 40% chance to get into DCI from a feeder is so low. However, it is similar to the % probability that they have to get into Basis or Latin from their elementary.

Families at DCI feeder are not disqualify to lottery for Basis and Latin. This means that DCI parents have more options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the data from the waitlist of your chances of matching on result day if you are not in DCI feeder

Basis - 30%
Latin - 12%
DCI Chinese - 4%
DCI French - less then 1%
DCI Spanish - 1%

Waitlist movement after match day will increase those numbers, but I think it’s incremental and not anything significant.

Lastly there is 10 French feeder students on the DCI waitlist who are the top 10 numbers so if French waitlist is moving then these are the students getting in first.

Summary:

Of 3 schools, best chance to get into any of the 3 is from DCI feeder into DCI

Getting into DCI as a non-feeder is basically 0 starting next year due to multiple feeder school’s expansion. The feeder kids will get all the seats not filled by any of the feeder schools.

Lastly, every year those percentages will go down as more families need seats and play the lottery.

Historically, waitlist movement makes a huge difference to your chances at some of these schools.

Look at SY23-24:

BASIS - 67% offered (44% on match day)
Latin I - 21% offered (18% on match day)
Latin II - 42% offered (25% on match day)
DCI Chinese - 24% offered (0% on match day)
DCI French - 21% offered (19% on match day)
DCI Spanish - 5% offered (0% on match day)

These Latins and Basis numbers don't account for siblings. Latin I may be 21% overall, but half have preference so the real odds for non-siblings/staff is closer to 10%. I also agree that Latin II will be closer to Latin I's 10-20% overall within another year or two. And BASIS is a hard one - my older DC would not be a good BASIS student, but what happens if we pass on a BASIS seat for fifth then strike out for DCI in sixth??

Anyways, I think it really just comes down to individual families' risk tolerance. We are not an easily portable family (have an elderly parent in the house, pets, etc.) and would really have to stretch financially to buy and sell to move with current interest rates as they are. "More options" are cold comfort when you get a bad lottery draw and are left having to make really hard choices under tight time constraints. Maybe other families have more financial resources to move easily or are just more zen, but I'm just worried and wondering whether other families are starting to think about back up plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the data from the waitlist of your chances of matching on result day if you are not in DCI feeder

Basis - 30%
Latin - 12%
DCI Chinese - 4%
DCI French - less then 1%
DCI Spanish - 1%

Waitlist movement after match day will increase those numbers, but I think it’s incremental and not anything significant.

Lastly there is 10 French feeder students on the DCI waitlist who are the top 10 numbers so if French waitlist is moving then these are the students getting in first.

Summary:

Of 3 schools, best chance to get into any of the 3 is from DCI feeder into DCI

Getting into DCI as a non-feeder is basically 0 starting next year due to multiple feeder school’s expansion. The feeder kids will get all the seats not filled by any of the feeder schools.

Lastly, every year those percentages will go down as more families need seats and play the lottery.

Historically, waitlist movement makes a huge difference to your chances at some of these schools.

Look at SY23-24:

BASIS - 67% offered (44% on match day)
Latin I - 21% offered (18% on match day)
Latin II - 42% offered (25% on match day)
DCI Chinese - 24% offered (0% on match day)
DCI French - 21% offered (19% on match day)
DCI Spanish - 5% offered (0% on match day)

These Latins and Basis numbers don't account for siblings. Latin I may be 21% overall, but half have preference so the real odds for non-siblings/staff is closer to 10%. I also agree that Latin II will be closer to Latin I's 10-20% overall within another year or two. And BASIS is a hard one - my older DC would not be a good BASIS student, but what happens if we pass on a BASIS seat for fifth then strike out for DCI in sixth??

Anyways, I think it really just comes down to individual families' risk tolerance. We are not an easily portable family (have an elderly parent in the house, pets, etc.) and would really have to stretch financially to buy and sell to move with current interest rates as they are. "More options" are cold comfort when you get a bad lottery draw and are left having to make really hard choices under tight time constraints. Maybe other families have more financial resources to move easily or are just more zen, but I'm just worried and wondering whether other families are starting to think about back up plans.

SY23-24 non-sibling:

BASIS - 57% offered (35% on match day)
Latin I - 12% offered (10% on match day)
Latin II - 36% offered (19% on match day)
DCI Chinese - not enough information to calculate
DCI French - 18% offered (16% on match day)
DCI Spanish - not enough information to calculate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the data from the waitlist of your chances of matching on result day if you are not in DCI feeder

Basis - 30%
Latin - 12%
DCI Chinese - 4%
DCI French - less then 1%
DCI Spanish - 1%

Waitlist movement after match day will increase those numbers, but I think it’s incremental and not anything significant.

Lastly there is 10 French feeder students on the DCI waitlist who are the top 10 numbers so if French waitlist is moving then these are the students getting in first.

Summary:

Of 3 schools, best chance to get into any of the 3 is from DCI feeder into DCI

Getting into DCI as a non-feeder is basically 0 starting next year due to multiple feeder school’s expansion. The feeder kids will get all the seats not filled by any of the feeder schools.

Lastly, every year those percentages will go down as more families need seats and play the lottery.

Historically, waitlist movement makes a huge difference to your chances at some of these schools.

Look at SY23-24:

BASIS - 67% offered (44% on match day)
Latin I - 21% offered (18% on match day)
Latin II - 42% offered (25% on match day)
DCI Chinese - 24% offered (0% on match day)
DCI French - 21% offered (19% on match day)
DCI Spanish - 5% offered (0% on match day)

These Latins and Basis numbers don't account for siblings. Latin I may be 21% overall, but half have preference so the real odds for non-siblings/staff is closer to 10%. I also agree that Latin II will be closer to Latin I's 10-20% overall within another year or two. And BASIS is a hard one - my older DC would not be a good BASIS student, but what happens if we pass on a BASIS seat for fifth then strike out for DCI in sixth??

Anyways, I think it really just comes down to individual families' risk tolerance. We are not an easily portable family (have an elderly parent in the house, pets, etc.) and would really have to stretch financially to buy and sell to move with current interest rates as they are. "More options" are cold comfort when you get a bad lottery draw and are left having to make really hard choices under tight time constraints. Maybe other families have more financial resources to move easily or are just more zen, but I'm just worried and wondering whether other families are starting to think about back up plans.

We are like you and can’t move easily for various reasons. If we completely bomb the lottery (DCI from a feeder, the Latins, Inspired, Stuart Hobson) we would consider St. Anselms or another Catholic. I am a teacher so our last resort would be for me to get a job at our preferred school, which is not ideal since I love my current job.