9th grade applications

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think partially what adds to the stress of the process is that a lot of families are applying to schools that maybe aren’t a great fit for their kid. We are at a small school and know everyone very well. I have worked at a couple of area privates and have a good sense of who does well where and this fall I’ve been biting my tongue a lot in convos with fellow parents. There are a few families who are opting to apply to a bunch of schools (that aren’t necessarily good fits for their kid but have the “right prestige level”) and then figure it out once they see where DC gets in. That approach by a few is what seems to be driving the tension in our class.

I’m new to this as this is my oldest child, but how can people avoid doing this?! I have a sense, based purely on the visits, talking to other parents, etc of which schools would be a fit for my kid, but I don’t think I’ll know for sure until he’s in. Meanwhile, I’m also aware that it’s very competitive and although he has as good a chance as any, that might mean he doesn’t get in to any of those schools. So we have applied to the 3 that seem like a great fit and also added another couple that seem good, even if not quite as good a fit, because he needs to get in somewhere!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think partially what adds to the stress of the process is that a lot of families are applying to schools that maybe aren’t a great fit for their kid. We are at a small school and know everyone very well. I have worked at a couple of area privates and have a good sense of who does well where and this fall I’ve been biting my tongue a lot in convos with fellow parents. There are a few families who are opting to apply to a bunch of schools (that aren’t necessarily good fits for their kid but have the “right prestige level”) and then figure it out once they see where DC gets in. That approach by a few is what seems to be driving the tension in our class.

I’m new to this as this is my oldest child, but how can people avoid doing this?! I have a sense, based purely on the visits, talking to other parents, etc of which schools would be a fit for my kid, but I don’t think I’ll know for sure until he’s in. Meanwhile, I’m also aware that it’s very competitive and although he has as good a chance as any, that might mean he doesn’t get in to any of those schools. So we have applied to the 3 that seem like a great fit and also added another couple that seem good, even if not quite as good a fit, because he needs to get in somewhere!

There’s no way to be sure it’s a good fit even once you’ve been accepted. Go to the Open Houses, have your student shadow, follow the school on social media, go to sports/arts events, and engage with current parents—all of this will help you get a sense of the school. No place is perfect but if you encounter something that feels really off, don’t ignore that and dig a little deeper on whatever that thing is.

Our school administrators are frank with families about fit—be it academic or otherwise, but some families don’t hear that feedback because they don’t want to believe that Larla isn’t Harvard bound or think they know better or because they view private high school as a commodity to be bought. If your school is telling you it’s not a great fit, believe them and move on. If you don’t have school administrators helping, do the due diligence as best you can.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I am doing it wrong but I am not finding it to be that bad. We are only applying to a couple schools because unless we are really excited about a school, it is not worth the money and hassle of sending our kid to private. And our kids are in public now and doing great so we are comfortable keeping them there if they don;t get into a private. In my mind that is what makes this less stressful than the impending college application process - we have a solid fallback option of a public high school.

[Anonymous]

I spent more time on my kid's 9th grade applications than I spent on getting my current almost 7 figure job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am doing it wrong but I am not finding it to be that bad. We are only applying to a couple schools because unless we are really excited about a school, it is not worth the money and hassle of sending our kid to private. And our kids are in public now and doing great so we are comfortable keeping them there if they don;t get into a private. In my mind that is what makes this less stressful than the impending college application process - we have a solid fallback option of a public high school.

Yes if you are happy with your public high school the 9th grade application process is a “let’s see what happens” type of thing. For those of us for whom public high school is not an option, the process is a smidge more stressful.

We feel good about our list of schools and based on what we know think they are a good match for DC, but there’s a lot of work involved, we won’t have admissions answers until March, and there’s no way to be sure you are picking the best fit for your kid because there are a million variables/unknowns. So we are doing our best to ask questions and take in as many data points as possible. May need to do a second round of visits after acceptance.