What is the most elite NYC preschool?

[Anonymous]

7 kids from WSMS and 6 kids from PCDS to Brearley? So 25% of Brearley incoming K (50, right?) is from these 2 schools? Something sounds off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7 kids from WSMS and 6 kids from PCDS to Brearley? So 25% of Brearley incoming K (50, right?) is from these 2 schools? Something sounds off.

I can confirm the six from PCDS. You don’t have to trust me, but I know the kids.

Brearley incoming is 50-55 spots I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Souls posted their ex missions results to their Instagram. All the TTs represented except Horace Mann.

I saw the list - looks pretty good to me! Where is the All Souls mom that was posting about her disappointment? Hopefully the waitlist worked for them.

I’m not that mom but know another one. I think these things can be a little lumpy. One would think the players would anticipate that each year but i have heard only more examples of kids getting with only waitlists and rejections at different preschools on day 1. I have only anecdotal evidence but the boys seemed to not work out as well this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Souls posted their ex missions results to their Instagram. All the TTs represented except Horace Mann.

I saw the list - looks pretty good to me! Where is the All Souls mom that was posting about her disappointment? Hopefully the waitlist worked for them.

I’m not that mom but know another one. I think these things can be a little lumpy. One would think the players would anticipate that each year but i have heard only more examples of kids getting with only waitlists and rejections at different preschools on day 1. I have only anecdotal evidence but the boys seemed to not work out as well this year.

Are you saying only a few kids got into these schools? Sorry I’m a little confused by what you’re saying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Souls posted their ex missions results to their Instagram. All the TTs represented except Horace Mann.

I saw the list - looks pretty good to me! Where is the All Souls mom that was posting about her disappointment? Hopefully the waitlist worked for them.

I’m not that mom but know another one. I think these things can be a little lumpy. One would think the players would anticipate that each year but i have heard only more examples of kids getting with only waitlists and rejections at different preschools on day 1. I have only anecdotal evidence but the boys seemed to not work out as well this year.

Are you saying only a few kids got into these schools? Sorry I’m a little confused by what you’re saying

No. i am saying i heard of kids at 4 different preschools who did not have an accept from any K school on decision day. The kids had only waitlists/rejects.

I previously thought this was a very rare occurrence, but seemingly not? Or perhaps more common this year as an exceptional one off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these answers... no. Here is the ranking of all the TT pre-schools in Manhattan:

TT of the TT: Episcopal and 92 Street Y

Then: Temple Emanu-El, Brick Church, Park Children's Day on the UWS (huge connections at Brearley)

Then: STMPG, All Souls, West Side Montessori, Washington Market, Garden House, Christ Church

(But even the third tier of the TT are very TT).

This is correct - signed a consultant/UES parent

WSMS exmissions over the past five years has outpaced all of those on your list. The lower school head of Trinity is on the board of WSMS. There’s a billionaire on the board of 92NY who chose WSMS for their children over any of the others. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I tend to agree that there’s been some reshuffling in the TT and that’s certainly true of WSMS, which has been on the rise of late. But listing PCDS as TT is wild.

Why do you say that about PCDS?

Different poster, but a third of PCDS ‘25 class went to public school, and not that many went to a TT. Absolutely nothing wrong with public but that doesn’t feel like a “feeder” profile much less a top tier one.

I noticed that last year, and was also pretty surprised. Especially since it was Betsy's last year. I was surprised to see only 1 to Collegiate - there were clearly at least 5-7 kids interested in all boys SS, since the rest of them ended up at other boys' schools

‘25 was a strange year. ‘24 was much more typical and place numerous kids at TTs. I guess time will tell which direction it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Souls posted their ex missions results to their Instagram. All the TTs represented except Horace Mann.

I saw the list - looks pretty good to me! Where is the All Souls mom that was posting about her disappointment? Hopefully the waitlist worked for them.

I’m not that mom but know another one. I think these things can be a little lumpy. One would think the players would anticipate that each year but i have heard only more examples of kids getting with only waitlists and rejections at different preschools on day 1. I have only anecdotal evidence but the boys seemed to not work out as well this year.

Are you saying only a few kids got into these schools? Sorry I’m a little confused by what you’re saying

No. i am saying i heard of kids at 4 different preschools who did not have an accept from any K school on decision day. The kids had only waitlists/rejects.

I previously thought this was a very rare occurrence, but seemingly not? Or perhaps more common this year as an exceptional one off?

No offers even from safety schools?

[Anonymous]

I wonder to what extent this year’s crazy admissions cycle will come back to bite schools in a few years when the people who went private due to Trump or Mamdani or whatever change their minds and switch back to public or leave NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Souls posted their ex missions results to their Instagram. All the TTs represented except Horace Mann.

I saw the list - looks pretty good to me! Where is the All Souls mom that was posting about her disappointment? Hopefully the waitlist worked for them.

I’m not that mom but know another one. I think these things can be a little lumpy. One would think the players would anticipate that each year but i have heard only more examples of kids getting with only waitlists and rejections at different preschools on day 1. I have only anecdotal evidence but the boys seemed to not work out as well this year.

Are you saying only a few kids got into these schools? Sorry I’m a little confused by what you’re saying

No. i am saying i heard of kids at 4 different preschools who did not have an accept from any K school on decision day. The kids had only waitlists/rejects.

I previously thought this was a very rare occurrence, but seemingly not? Or perhaps more common this year as an exceptional one off?

Any more context? Only applied to TT or also rejected from safety schools? Full pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All Souls posted their ex missions results to their Instagram. All the TTs represented except Horace Mann.

I saw the list - looks pretty good to me! Where is the All Souls mom that was posting about her disappointment? Hopefully the waitlist worked for them.

I’m not that mom but know another one. I think these things can be a little lumpy. One would think the players would anticipate that each year but i have heard only more examples of kids getting with only waitlists and rejections at different preschools on day 1. I have only anecdotal evidence but the boys seemed to not work out as well this year.

Are you saying only a few kids got into these schools? Sorry I’m a little confused by what you’re saying

No. i am saying i heard of kids at 4 different preschools who did not have an accept from any K school on decision day. The kids had only waitlists/rejects.

I previously thought this was a very rare occurrence, but seemingly not? Or perhaps more common this year as an exceptional one off?

Any more context? Only applied to TT or also rejected from safety schools? Full pay?

New poster but I’ve heard similar. Only one story I’ve heard was “TT or bust” (which is always risky but seemed really insane this year). Most are boys and were even shut out of the k-8s. Secondary round apps into Caedmon, Birch Wathen, or contemplating leaving the city because their kid would be pushed to public 1st grade in the city.

[Anonymous]

And I believe all were full pay if I had to make an educated guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:contemplating leaving the city because their kid would be pushed to public 1st grade in the city.

I seriously think people should be less hung up about that - I have an October kid in public school and in part because of NYC's aggressive age policies, they really don't cover that much in a public kindergarten that you wouldn't also get in a high-quality preschool.

If your kid can read Elephant & Piggie books on their own and write mostly-correct sentences and knows the names of shapes and colors and can count to 100 and do simple arithmetic with no carrying, they should have no trouble joining a public school at 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

I don’t disagree, but if it’s your first kid I understand the panic. Everyone talks about how academic kindergarten is now and most private preschools are very play-based. I’m not saying it’s not reactionary, I just see why they panic.

[Anonymous]

*because most preschools are definitely not teaching the skills you listed— they’re kindergarten skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t disagree, but if it’s your first kid I understand the panic. Everyone talks about how academic kindergarten is now and most private preschools are very play-based. I’m not saying it’s not reactionary, I just see why they panic.

That's fair, but a good 'play-based' school is still going to have those Montessori elements of teachers steering kids towards specific skills to master and monitoring their progress; you're not just paying to have somebody lead your kids in fun games all day.

My kids' experience with kindergarten was that around half of the kids in their classes - most of whom had gone to one of a couple of local chain preschools - knew most of the material already, were bored out of their minds in math and were reading 'just right' (this was back in the bad old Calkins days) books that were level G or H or whatever the chart considered to be 1st/2nd grade.