Waitlist number going higher?

[Anonymous]

Child's waitlist # has gone from 23 to 25 at SWW in past 2 days...
Any insight into why it is moving in the wrong direction?

[Anonymous]

Someone with a preference greater than yours applied post-lottery.

[Anonymous]

For Francis Stevens? Could be people with preferences (such as IB) who applied post-lottery. Or sibling movement from kids who matched to other grades.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. Wrong abbreviation...SWWHS

[Anonymous]

That's odd. Take screen shots (hopefully you have both)and call school and Myschooldc

[Anonymous]

Not odd at all. From Q&A on MSDC site:

"Is it possible for my child’s waitlist number to go up?

"Yes. If students who apply after you qualify for a lottery preference (such as in-boundary, sibling enrolled, etc.) that you do not qualify for, then it is possible they will be placed ahead of your child on the waitlist and your child’s number will increase."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not odd at all. From Q&A on MSDC site:

"Is it possible for my child’s waitlist number to go up?

"Yes. If students who apply after you qualify for a lottery preference (such as in-boundary, sibling enrolled, etc.) that you do not qualify for, then it is possible they will be placed ahead of your child on the waitlist and your child’s number will increase."

Sibling preference doesn't apply at an application high school. That's where OPs kid applied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not odd at all. From Q&A on MSDC site:

"Is it possible for my child’s waitlist number to go up?

"Yes. If students who apply after you qualify for a lottery preference (such as in-boundary, sibling enrolled, etc.) that you do not qualify for, then it is possible they will be placed ahead of your child on the waitlist and your child’s number will increase."

Sibling preference doesn't apply at an application high school. That's where OPs kid applied.

She applied to SWW@FS, a PK3-8 school.

[Anonymous]

It's the unforeseen siblings of new kids who got into other grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not odd at all. From Q&A on MSDC site:

"Is it possible for my child’s waitlist number to go up?

"Yes. If students who apply after you qualify for a lottery preference (such as in-boundary, sibling enrolled, etc.) that you do not qualify for, then it is possible they will be placed ahead of your child on the waitlist and your child’s number will increase."

Sibling preference doesn't apply at an application high school. That's where OPs kid applied.

She applied to SWW@FS, a PK3-8 school.

no, she did not. reread the thread.

[Anonymous]

Child is incoming 9th grade and tested, interviewed for school without walls high school. I called and myschooldc could not figure it out...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Child is incoming 9th grade and tested, interviewed for school without walls high school. I called and myschooldc could not figure it out...

OP, stay on top of this one and be a squeaky wheel. Sounds to me like a couple of applicants got added manually by someone (at MSDC or SWW) probably because something got screwed up (applicant has proof that they applied but their child didn't show up in the lottery results, etc.) and to placate those families and remedy the mistake they bumped them to the top of the waitlist. If there was a mistake (and I was on the receiving end) I'd also be demanding satisfaction, so OP, you need to do the same.

[Anonymous]

I saw a lot of numbers go up on my list (like 4 out of the 10 schools on my list pushed me up farther 2-3 spots) the first morning of the lottery results (Friday, before noon) and it made ZERO sense. People kept saying "because of siblings!" but that would mean that people have already accepted schools that they wanted, which, I thought required enrollment. I can NOT believe that people were enrolling at 10am on Friday already, and for the lottery numbers to start moving. For example, on the draw at midnight, I was 31 on a list, but by 10am, I was 33. So two people had already enrolled in a school and had siblings push me back? Doubtful. Manual entry makes more sense, but then that screams of mismanagement/error since a lot of people reported seeing higher numbers moving Friday morning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw a lot of numbers go up on my list (like 4 out of the 10 schools on my list pushed me up farther 2-3 spots) the first morning of the lottery results (Friday, before noon) and it made ZERO sense. People kept saying "because of siblings!" but that would mean that people have already accepted schools that they wanted, which, I thought required enrollment. I can NOT believe that people were enrolling at 10am on Friday already, and for the lottery numbers to start moving. For example, on the draw at midnight, I was 31 on a list, but by 10am, I was 33. So two people had already enrolled in a school and had siblings push me back? Doubtful. Manual entry makes more sense, but then that screams of mismanagement/error since a lot of people reported seeing higher numbers moving Friday morning

Example: Susie and Tommy are new to DC from another jurisdiction. Susie will be entering 1st and Tommy will be in PK4. Susie was accepted at a charter school; while Tommy sibling did not have any preferences when they entered the lottery but by virtue of her being accepted Tommy gets 'sibling accepted' preference.

Once Mom enrolls Susie Tommy can get "sibling enrolled preference."

So yes it could shift ahead of enrollment paperwork coming in. But that should NOT be happening at an application high school.

Also not all schools have 'sibling accepted' and 'sibling enrolled' as separate categories.

Here's an FAQ from My School DC - you need to look at each school to see what preferences they use.

"Sibling preferences. Most schools offer a preference for the siblings of current students, called a sibling enrolled preference. There is a place on the application to indicate that you have a sibling currently attending the school. Before the lottery, the school will verify eligibility for that preference. Some schools also offer a preference in the lottery and/or on the waiting list to siblings or twins of accepted students, called sibling accepted and twin accepted preference. For example, if you have two children applying to the same school this year and one is accepted, the school may offer a preference to the accepted child’s brother or sister. If your child is admitted with a sibling preference, be prepared to prove that your children are siblings when you enroll them. The definition of 'sibling' can vary by school. Please contact the school for further clarification."

[Anonymous]

I know that people get bumped down waitlists all the time...it happened to us a couple years ago. Then it was because more IB families applied after the first lottery and they automatically get bumped to the front of the line. And bumping also happens when a child in another grade is offered a spot and accepts it at which point the sibling(s) get bumped to to the top (behind any IB kids). So I know there are legit ways that it happens.

OP is talking about a very different situation involving an application high school. Boundaries and IB/OOB should not come into play. I guess it's possible to have something to do with twins but because of the timing (waitlists moving over the weekend when schools aren't open, etc.) my bet is on manual changes. In any case, MSDC needs to be pressed on this to explain because it sounds like a lot of shafting some families to make things right with other families who were also shafted.