WSJ Article on NYC preschool admissions

[Anonymous]

11:05 posting again. Just to be clear, my experience comes from having children at one of the "Big 3" schools.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but a HHI of $400K is NOT "regular" or "run of the mill". That is wealthy. $400K puts a family in the top 1% of HHI incomes for the entire U.S.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people at the schools mentioned in 22:35 are regular, run-of-the-mill families and neighborhoods.

There are only a handful of super rich or "noteworthy" families enrolled.

But what does "regular, run-of-the-mill families" mean? From my observations, it means a wealthy NW DC neighborhood, or maybe a wealthy Bethesda neighborhood. It does not mean what the rest of the country calls "middle class," i.e. an income of around $50,000. I've also noticed that government-worker families are actually a small minority at the top schools, because 2-govt-worker families are unlikely to be able to spare $30K or $60K, and yet they won't qualify for financial aid. We're talking about fairly wealthy -- by the standards of the rest of the country -- people competing against each other for school slots.

""regular, run-of-the-mill" families in DC private schools still have incomes around 400K and 2 professional parents. We're not talking about the kids of one government lawyer. "Regular" does not mean middle class, it means not famous, not VIPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, but a HHI of $400K is NOT "regular" or "run of the mill". That is wealthy. $400K puts a family in the top 1% of HHI incomes for the entire U.S.

Absolutely correct. That's why many PPs are careful to explain that "regular" in this context usually means two working parents with HHI of $200-400k, a single-family house, retirement savings, etc. That's far wealthier than the average for the US, or even the average for the DC/MD/VA region. But it's also a whole lot different than the super-rich, the political celebrities, the big-money donors, the millionaire Congressmen, and other ridiculous classifications that many PPs have used to describe private school families. There's no getting around the fact that private school is an expensive luxury item that requires significant sacrifice for most people.

[Anonymous]

I think the proper term for these people should be "non-VIPs" or "non bold names" (i.e. you won't find them written up in any newspaper and they don't have a Wikipedia page).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry, but a HHI of $400K is NOT "regular" or "run of the mill". That is wealthy. $400K puts a family in the top 1% of HHI incomes for the entire U.S.

Absolutely correct. That's why many PPs are careful to explain that "regular" in this context usually means two working parents with HHI of $200-400k, a single-family house, retirement savings, etc. That's far wealthier than the average for the US, or even the average for the DC/MD/VA region. But it's also a whole lot different than the super-rich, the political celebrities, the big-money donors, the millionaire Congressmen, and other ridiculous classifications that many PPs have used to describe private school families. There's no getting around the fact that private school is an expensive luxury item that requires significant sacrifice for most people.

[Anonymous]

I agree that 400K is about average; we are at a Big 3 with a HHI of just under $300k and while everyone is very friendly, nonjudgemental and welcoming, I sometimes feel poor in comparison!

[Anonymous]

I went to private school along with my other sibs. My children go to private schools. We are not just talking about any private schools. We are talking about the most selective and prestigious. Most of the families are upper middle class from particular zip codes.

I can't speak for all private schools around the various and sundry neighborhood corners.

f you are connected, sibling, legacy and/or got cash you can play with big advantage on the private school school courts. The WPSSI and ERB are immaterial to the decision (walk, talk and chew gum in the midsection of the Bell shaped curve--admission absolutely justifiable and no problem in D.C., Chicago, LA, NY, and Boston)

Just about sums it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that 400K is about average; we are at a Big 3 with a HHI of just under $300k and while everyone is very friendly, nonjudgemental and welcoming, I sometimes feel poor in comparison!

I am with you on this. Parent of Beauvoir kids, and we are probably in the top 1% US incomes, but without doubt we are well in the bottom of that 1%. When it came for annual donations/fund raising, we simply could not compete with the fancy gifts and homes and airline trips that the others generously gave.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I don't think that most private school parents care what the another parent earns. I've never volunteered that information and it would never occur to me to ask others about it. Poor, rich or in between should not matter in your school community, please don't spend a minute worrying about it.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea where we got in yet.. We would be one of the 1% of 1% families but I am curious..how would these schools know. Do they google parents??? I am from an area where this would never be done so this is all new coming to DC. When we went to the parent interview at two of the three schools my husband wasn't there and I can't remember if they asked what he did or I did. We also didn't ask anyone to write anything and here is the reason. We really weren't sure where we wanted to go and felt that if we asked someone, it would be strange if we didn't go to the said school. Maybe a mistake but also felt our child should get in on her own steam and not due to some fake letter. I am now a bit nervous that I should have done more but naively thought that maybe her great WPPSI score and personality (very outgoing) and coming from a great preschool would be enough. Oh..hubby and I dress very laid back..do not need suits for work so I was pretty casual (neat but not dressy) at the meetings and the one that hubby was able to attend he had on pants and button down--I asked to dress up more and he balked. Is anyone else in this pickle??

[Anonymous]

Do you think they can find the appraisal value value of your house for your zip code? You did indicate on your application the address where your child lives?

[Anonymous]

For any school that really, really wants to know ... the actual amount you paid for your house and its current appraisal value can be determined with about three mouse clicks. Your email address often indicated where you work. Your zip code can be a big clue. Your haircut and the quality of your highlights can be a big clue ... or in my case, the lack thereof is probably a hint!! Using the phrase "Is anyone else in this pickle?" is also a hint.

In other words, if they want to know your financial standing, they can probably do so. But I seriously doubt that they go to this trouble. If you are applying for a school where the tuition is approximately $30k and if you are NOT applying for financial aid ... what more do they really need to know? You are definitely in the top 10 percent for the country, and probably higher.

[Anonymous]

ADs are too busy to google all the applicants.

[Anonymous]

Too busy with what? Evaluating the kids and their parents..when I hear that a school is interested in money parents, you have to wonder how they know although..really sad if someone is going to look up house value..that seems going to the extreme.

[Anonymous]

You gotta love DCUM. One person says the thing schools really care about is uber-wealthy parents, another wonders how schools can figure out who the uber-wealthy are, a third suggests that you can google the appraised value of their houses, and a fourth talks about how sad it is that the schools only care about money and the ADs are spending their time googling the parents of applicants. Note that no-one in the chain actually possesses factual knowledge.

[Anonymous]

NP: it is true that you can get info on the appraised value of a home, the amount of the last sale and the taxes paid/owed online with little effort. Whether or not ADs do this is another story.