K Feedback / First Choice Letter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s some more from the thread


Not sure if your school director told you (ours told us) but Brearley is doing things differently this year.

They have a new head of admissions who has decided to not do what her predecessor has done. She said you will get very little to no feedback from Brearley now. They plan on looking at all their applicants in a more holistic way in January and you’ll get more comprehensive feedback in January and then won’t find out if you get in until the regular ISAAGNY notification date in Feb.

Anonymous member 836 according to our exmissions director, the new director is apparently a little overwhelmed in the new role. Winifred was amazing and had experience and knowledge. The new person….not as much from what I’m hearing through the grapevine. Winifred kept the lower school admissions tight and on brand. As someone said above, new person is looking for a “holistic” approach which is a new way to look at things for Brearley which is generally very traditional and cerebral. Whether that’s good or bad we will see when next years class is admitted.


I would go with the best feedback you have. If you have solid feedback at other top tiers (Spence, Chapin), id first choice that spot over waiting on Brearley… bird in hand.

We know people who did not take this advice and could have pivoted to a solid tier 1.5/ 2 (NBS) based on early feedback but insisted on taking the risk… when their first choice didn’t pan out, they really had no other options but to go to a tier 3 as they did not embrace the positive feedback they DID get … obviously your gamble, but id take bird in hand. Among Brearley, Spence and Chapin you are really splitting hairs…

I should also add we were in a similar situation 3 years ago with my now 2nd grader where we got lukewarm feedback from Brearley (not negative, but not as positive as others), we first choiced spence and she got in. Was also accepted at NBS and waitlist at Chapin/brearley. Ultimately got a spot at Brearley, but stuck with Spence and have never looked back.

Sounds like an axe to grind from someone annoyed her kid was WLed at Brearley.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone heard back any feedback from Dalton ?

[Anonymous]

I heard some people heard good things from D after the play date … not sure if you are looking for that or more thorough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard some people heard good things from D after the play date … not sure if you are looking for that or more thorough

Did they hear from parent interview or their preschool directors ?

[Anonymous]

Directors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard back any feedback from Dalton ?

At our preschool Dalton has made verbal offers that if a family they’re interested in writes a first choice letter, they’ll get a spot.

[Anonymous]

Are you at a feeder preschool?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you at a feeder preschool?

If you’re asking the poster who got Dalton feedback, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone heard back any feedback from Dalton ?

We heard positive feedback from Dalton from PSD. Unconnected preschool.

[Anonymous]

I have twins and we are leaning toward single sex for K. We are between Chapin/Spence and St Bernard’s/Buckley. If anyone has any intel on the parent culture and also how academic and social pressure evolve as the kids get older, I would appreciate any perspectives. Thank you

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard St Bs very rich and very intense. Would not think a stereotypical “Buckley boy” is a fit there. That being said, the pressure to land for high school does mean both schools need to really teach the boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have twins and we are leaning toward single sex for K. We are between Chapin/Spence and St Bernard’s/Buckley. If anyone has any intel on the parent culture and also how academic and social pressure evolve as the kids get older, I would appreciate any perspectives. Thank you

I see Chapin/St. Bs and Spence/Buckley as the more common sibling pairings.

[Anonymous]

Chapin's really slipped, at least in exmissions to college, in the last few years. By my count the last 5 yrs on their website is now 47% US News top 20 + liberal arts top 10 and 20% Ivy+SM; that sounds amazing but both are down 10-20 pts from 7-8 years ago.

Plus they now give acceptances now, in addition to matriculations, which is a dead giveaway they feel like the main stat is weaker and they have to offer something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chapin's really slipped, at least in exmissions to college, in the last few years. By my count the last 5 yrs on their website is now 47% US News top 20 + liberal arts top 10 and 20% Ivy+SM; that sounds amazing but both are down 10-20 pts from 7-8 years ago.

Plus they now give acceptances now, in addition to matriculations, which is a dead giveaway they feel like the main stat is weaker and they have to offer something else.

The acceptances are actually very interesting data because you can compare them to some schools that don't publish anything but those numbers. For example, Bronx Science got 748 kids into Ivy+SM schools in the same 5-year period that Chapin got 120, which happens to be pretty close to the size of their respective graduating classes. Admittedly the Bronx Science kids have much higher SAT scores, but the Chapin kids have a lot more family connections to those schools (and a lot more fundraising potential); a girl who doesn't get into Brearley or Spence but does well enough to test into a top-3 SHSAT school might find that she'd rather attend the public school to be with smarter kids and save her family $300k.

[Anonymous]

Is Spence that more academic than Chapin? Some people told me that they get a warmer vibe at Chapin than Brearley or Spence.