Walls Test Results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is my understanding of how it works. I asked these questions last year so I am not sure whether anything has changed since then. I have a 9th grader there now.

They interview the top 250 scores. If the cut off for getting 250 ends up with more than 250 (meaning what if 15 kids get the same score) then they interview all those kids. The applicants are ordered by a combination of test scores and interview scores. Then this order of students is submitted to the DC lottery. It is combined with the order in which the kids prioritize their preferences. So if a student gets into Walls and Banneker but the student”s first choice is Banneker, the student will be matched with Banneker and taken off the Walls list. The first 140 matched students are accepted to Walls. The remaining students interviewed are on the waitlist in order of their combined scores.

The interviews are generally with 2 students and one faculty member. How it is scored is unknown to me.

Thanks. This is helpful. Anyone know what they are looking for in the interview. Also, how much does the parent interview matter?

Don’t know for a fact but if you are from ward 7 or 8, you are probably an in.

Translation: I know absolutely nothing about the process, but it's fun for me to weave conspiracy theories centered around race and impugn the motives of people I know nothing about.

Guess you did not read the Washington post article a few months back how they said they want better ward representation at the school........

[Anonymous]

Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/does-every-dc-child-have-a-fair-shot-at-attending-an-elite-high-school-the-city-is-trying/2019/12/01/f0be55e0-f01b-11e9-89eb-ec56cd414732_story.html

[Anonymous]

The interview is how they bump up POCs, poor kids, kids from underrepresented middle schools, etc. So, some of what they’re looking for in the interview is not something your kid can do anything about. (And, btw, this isn’t intended to be a criticism of the school. It is so much harder to meet the interview qualifying score from a disadvantaged background than I have no problem at all with the kind of AA the school does.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The interview is how they bump up POCs, poor kids, kids from underrepresented middle schools, etc. So, some of what they’re looking for in the interview is not something your kid can do anything about. (And, btw, this isn’t intended to be a criticism of the school. It is so much harder to meet the interview qualifying score from a disadvantaged background than I have no problem at all with the kind of AA the school does.)

Yes, this is how it probably goes and why there is absolutely no transparency with the interview process and/or grading of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is my understanding of how it works. I asked these questions last year so I am not sure whether anything has changed since then. I have a 9th grader there now.

They interview the top 250 scores. If the cut off for getting 250 ends up with more than 250 (meaning what if 15 kids get the same score) then they interview all those kids. The applicants are ordered by a combination of test scores and interview scores. Then this order of students is submitted to the DC lottery. It is combined with the order in which the kids prioritize their preferences. So if a student gets into Walls and Banneker but the student”s first choice is Banneker, the student will be matched with Banneker and taken off the Walls list. The first 140 matched students are accepted to Walls. The remaining students interviewed are on the waitlist in order of their combined scores.

The interviews are generally with 2 students and one faculty member. How it is scored is unknown to me.

Thanks. This is helpful. Anyone know what they are looking for in the interview. Also, how much does the parent interview matter?

Don’t know for a fact but if you are from ward 7 or 8, you are probably an in.

Translation: I know absolutely nothing about the process, but it's fun for me to weave conspiracy theories centered around race and impugn the motives of people I know nothing about.

Guess you did not read the Washington post article a few months back how they said they want better ward representation at the school........

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dcs-plan-to-diversify-one-of-its-most-selective-high-schools-is-delayed-by-a-year/2019/02/09/2cceb9a4-2b18-11e9-b2fc-721718903bfc_story.html

[Anonymous]

Don't be an asshole.

To meet the cut score, your kid has to do really, really well. The interviews are pretty subjective, but that doesn't mean that ward 7/8 kids are getting in with lower scores than other wards.

I'm a ward 6 parent with a kid who went to SWW and another kid who tested and got waitlisted and eventually admitted. The number of kids testing went up hugely, and the cut score was adjusted accordingly. Our experience is that all the Deal/Ward 2/3 kids and their parents become convinced that there were different cut scores for NW kids. Um, not. They're looking for the equivalent of 95+ percentile scores. A ton of older kid's classmates tested into gifted/CTY-type programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be an asshole.

To meet the cut score, your kid has to do really, really well. The interviews are pretty subjective, but that doesn't mean that ward 7/8 kids are getting in with lower scores than other wards.

I'm a ward 6 parent with a kid who went to SWW and another kid who tested and got waitlisted and eventually admitted. The number of kids testing went up hugely, and the cut score was adjusted accordingly. Our experience is that all the Deal/Ward 2/3 kids and their parents become convinced that there were different cut scores for NW kids. Um, not. They're looking for the equivalent of 95+ percentile scores. A ton of older kid's classmates tested into gifted/CTY-type programs.

No one is saying ward 7 or 8 gets are getting in who did not make the test cut off. People are saying that these kids who did make the test cut off will get in with the interview being a formality.

If you don’t believe that, you have not been paying much attention to the goals of DCPS......

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be an asshole.

To meet the cut score, your kid has to do really, really well. The interviews are pretty subjective, but that doesn't mean that ward 7/8 kids are getting in with lower scores than other wards.

I'm a ward 6 parent with a kid who went to SWW and another kid who tested and got waitlisted and eventually admitted. The number of kids testing went up hugely, and the cut score was adjusted accordingly. Our experience is that all the Deal/Ward 2/3 kids and their parents become convinced that there were different cut scores for NW kids. Um, not. They're looking for the equivalent of 95+ percentile scores. A ton of older kid's classmates tested into gifted/CTY-type programs.

No one is saying ward 7 or 8 gets are getting in who did not make the test cut off. People are saying that these kids who did make the test cut off will get in with the interview being a formality.

If you don’t believe that, you have not been paying much attention to the goals of DCPS......

If the whitest, richest, most well-resourced public high school in DC is giving the handful (a lot of kids wont even apply because of transportation logisitics) of ward 7 & 8 students that meet the admissions criteria acceptance preference well good for them. They absolutely should!

[Anonymous]

Appreciated the tips about student interviews. Wondering if there is any insight about questions asked during parent interviews. We didn't apply to private and neither of us has experience with being interviewed in regards to something our kid wants to do. Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Appreciated the tips about student interviews. Wondering if there is any insight about questions asked during parent interviews. We didn't apply to private and neither of us has experience with being interviewed in regards to something our kid wants to do. Thanks in advance!

It is incredibly short. They want to make sure you are on board with Walls. This is not something you need to worry about. Unless you say negative things about the school or fail to show up it won’t hurt your kid. And even if that happened, a good kid is going to get in.

[Anonymous]

They asked us about whether our kids is a self starter and could advocate for himself. The school sees itself as being best suited for toward independent, self driven students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They asked us about whether our kids is a self starter and could advocate for himself. The school sees itself as being best suited for toward independent, self driven students.

NP. True. And G*d help you if your child develops any sort of medical or mental health issue, an addiction (more common than you may imagine) or has a 504. BTDT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They asked us about whether our kids is a self starter and could advocate for himself. The school sees itself as being best suited for toward independent, self driven students.

NP. True. And G*d help you if your child develops any sort of medical or mental health issue, an addiction (more common than you may imagine) or has a 504. BTDT.

What does "BTDT" mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They asked us about whether our kids is a self starter and could advocate for himself. The school sees itself as being best suited for toward independent, self driven students.

NP. True. And G*d help you if your child develops any sort of medical or mental health issue, an addiction (more common than you may imagine) or has a 504. BTDT.

What does "BTDT" mean?

Been there done that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They asked us about whether our kids is a self starter and could advocate for himself. The school sees itself as being best suited for toward independent, self driven students.

NP. True. And G*d help you if your child develops any sort of medical or mental health issue, an addiction (more common than you may imagine) or has a 504. BTDT.

What does "BTDT" mean?

Been there done that.

Thanks. What was your experience? I think my DD has ADD, anxiety & depression and will need an IEP. I've been holding on testing for ADD out of fear of stigmatizing and weakening chances for school selection. The anxiety & depression symptoms are newer and she's scheduled to see a psychotherapist next week. So any insight you have as we rank schools (SWW, Latin, DCI, Wilson, Banneker) would be helpful. She is in a paraochial school now. Thanks.