Common Lottery Algorithm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
There is no point in arguing with you, you either refuse to understand it or you are trying purposefully to mislead people. You acknowledge weighting for sibs and IB (which only applies for PS/PK), but you are denying that you are also weighted on your ranking. That makes you half right, HALF WRONG.

There isn't weighting of sibs and IB. Those are in effect separate lotteries. IB goes first, then sibs, then everyone else. If there are more people in the IB round than there are slots everybody in the sibs or general rounds has zero chance. Zero chance -- not a slim chance, zero chance.

There is no weighting.

Wow, now people are just making random rules up. This is ridiculous. Also, note the lack of verifiable source for this post as well. Believe at your own risk.

From the FAQ:
"When there are more students than spaces at a school, students who have a preference (such as a sibling preference) will be the first to be offered spaces. Then, random selection decides which other students will be offered spaces.

Students will be matched with no more than one school. My School DC will try to match each student with their 1st choice, then their 2nd choice, and so on through the student’s list."

No weighting. Priority. Random selection. Students matched in order of their choices.
http://www.myschooldc.org/faq/#common-3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong, afraid to call them youself and confirm that you're full of crap? Yes, you are, because you know you're full of crap. The person I spoke to was quite able to explain the algorithm, was not reading off a script, gave examples, and answered my specific "What if...?" questions with ease. I'll take their accurate, relevant info over your admittedly (because if you had an official, verifiable source you would have posted it by now) not-official musings/misleading.

I read your posting of your conversation with the lottery person, and I can see where you misunderstood. There is a difference between weighting and priority. Weighting means you have a better chance. Priority means the person with priority gets it every time over the person without priority. We do not have a weighted system, we have a priority system. IB first priority, sibs second priority, then priority by lottery number.

What the nice person in the lottery office was saying to you is that even if you have a good lottery number, there might be a higher priority person than you who gets the spot. The "might" isn't whether they get the spot, if they exist they get it, the "might" is they might exist.

In my experience DCPS doesn't like to admit that it's a strict priority system, they tend to waffle around that point because it's so depressing for the people who don't have priority.

I don't care if I sound like a broken record. Wrong info on this is too damaging, even though no one should be relying totally on anything said here.

Re: your post, post a verifiable official source for your take on the lottery, or I don't believe it. I did not misunderstand what I was told, as I asked the specific question re: whether someone with no sibling preference or inbound but who ranked a school #1 could get in over someone with sibling or IB preference but who ranked it #2, and was told yes that is absolutely possible. There are several variables re: who the computer even looks at first and what the other applicants who are being looked at before/at the same time had re: rankings or preferences.

I won't argue terms "priority" vs. "weighting". I just know that ranking a school #1 gives you as much of an advantage as having a sibling at the school but ranking it #2... who gets that particular spot depends on who the computer looks at first. In one pull it could be the #1/no sib who gets it, in another it could be the #2 w/sib who gets it. But in either pull, #3 with or without sib or IB or not is not getting it unless they are pulled ahead of the others and don't get into their 1 or 2.

If ranking didn't matter or wasn't weighted, it wouldn't give you just as much an advantage as IB or sibling. And it was explained to me repeatedly as being just as important, giving you the same edge as IB or sibling. (Although a combo of #1, sib and IB (for PS/PK) will be hard to beat.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
There is no point in arguing with you, you either refuse to understand it or you are trying purposefully to mislead people. You acknowledge weighting for sibs and IB (which only applies for PS/PK), but you are denying that you are also weighted on your ranking. That makes you half right, HALF WRONG.

There isn't weighting of sibs and IB. Those are in effect separate lotteries. IB goes first, then sibs, then everyone else. If there are more people in the IB round than there are slots everybody in the sibs or general rounds has zero chance. Zero chance -- not a slim chance, zero chance.

There is no weighting.

Wow, now people are just making random rules up. This is ridiculous. Also, note the lack of verifiable source for this post as well. Believe at your own risk.

From the FAQ:
"When there are more students than spaces at a school, students who have a preference (such as a sibling preference) will be the first to be offered spaces. Then, random selection decides which other students will be offered spaces.

Students will be matched with no more than one school. My School DC will try to match each student with their 1st choice, then their 2nd choice, and so on through the student’s list."

No weighting. Priority. Random selection. Students matched in order of their choices.
http://www.myschooldc.org/faq/#common-3

I'm not arguing terms anymore. Call and ask them if "students with a preference" includes students who ranked that school #1 or not, even with no sibs or IB. Ask. Report back on that specific question. What you quoted doesn't go against what I was told, it just doesn't clarify that ranking that school #1 is just as important as having a sib, and having both is best. Whether that's weighting or a preference, I don't care... in the end, your #1 ranking means a LOT and you need to use it super carefully.

[Anonymous]

19:58, you keep freaking out when I don't think you're actually disagreeing with 19:55. They don't pull multiple applicants at once, they pull one at a time and then work the lists accordingly. If you have preference (either sib or boundary/proximity) you boot someone off the list, that person gets moved down. If you don't have preference you get the first available spot per your rankings. The only way you are then booted is if someone with PREFERENCE comes after you, not if someone who ranked the school higher comes after you. They're simply SOL because they were drawn later.

You're making it too complicated and YOU are doi a disservice to people here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Re: your post, post a verifiable official source for your take on the lottery, or I don't believe it.

http://www.myschooldc.org/faq/#common-3

Anonymous wrote:
I did not misunderstand what I was told, as I asked the specific question re: whether someone with no sibling preference or inbound but who ranked a school #1 could get in over someone with sibling or IB preference but who ranked it #2, and was told yes that is absolutely possible. There are several variables re: who the computer even looks at first and what the other applicants who are being looked at before/at the same time had re: rankings or preferences.

There is a chance that someone with no preference gets in over someone with preference who ranked a school #2: if the person with preference got into their #1. It has nothing to do with who the computer "looked at first."

Anonymous wrote:
I won't argue terms "priority" vs. "weighting". I just know that ranking a school #1 gives you as much of an advantage as having a sibling at the school but ranking it #2... who gets that particular spot depends on who the computer looks at first. In one pull it could be the #1/no sib who gets it, in another it could be the #2 w/sib who gets it. But in either pull, #3 with or without sib or IB or not is not getting it unless they are pulled ahead of the others and don't get into their 1 or 2.

This is absolutely not true.

Anonymous wrote:
If ranking didn't matter or wasn't weighted, it wouldn't give you just as much an advantage as IB or sibling. And it was explained to me repeatedly as being just as important, giving you the same edge as IB or sibling. (Although a combo of #1, sib and IB (for PS/PK) will be hard to beat.)

Either you didn't understand, or the person who explained it to you didn't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm not arguing terms anymore. Call and ask them if "students with a preference" includes students who ranked that school #1 or not, even with no sibs or IB. Ask. Report back on that specific question. What you quoted doesn't go against what I was told, it just doesn't clarify that ranking that school #1 is just as important as having a sib, and having both is best. Whether that's weighting or a preference, I don't care... in the end, your #1 ranking means a LOT and you need to use it super carefully.

Further down in the FAQ:
"What are preferences (sibling preference, proximity preference, in-boundary preference)?
Students may have a preference at one or more schools. Students with a preference at a particular school are offered space at that school before students who don’t have a preference.

There are four types of preferences:
Sibling preference (DCPS and public charter schools). Your child will have a sibling preference at a school where a sibling is currently enrolled. Some schools also offer a preference in the lottery and/or on the waiting list to siblings of accepted students. 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. These preferences vary by school, so if you have questions, it’s best to contact the school. If your child is admitted with a sibling preference, be prepared to prove that your children are siblings when you enroll them. (DCPS specialized high schools do not offer a sibling preference.)

Proximity preference (DCPS only). Your child will receive a preference if he or she lives within a reasonable walking distance of a school. (DCPS high schools do not offer a proximity preference.)

In-boundary preference (DCPS PK3 and PK4 only). PK3 and PK4 students receive a preference at their in-boundary DCPS schools.

Adams-boundary preference (Oyster-Adams Bilingual School only). In 2007, John Quincy Adams Elementary School merged with Oyster Bilingual School. Students living in the boundary of the former Adams Elementary School get a preference when applying to Oyster-Adams."

There is no such thing as "#1 pick preference."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong, afraid to call them youself and confirm that you're full of crap? Yes, you are, because you know you're full of crap. The person I spoke to was quite able to explain the algorithm, was not reading off a script, gave examples, and answered my specific "What if...?" questions with ease. I'll take their accurate, relevant info over your admittedly (because if you had an official, verifiable source you would have posted it by now) not-official musings/misleading.

I read your posting of your conversation with the lottery person, and I can see where you misunderstood. There is a difference between weighting and priority. Weighting means you have a better chance. Priority means the person with priority gets it every time over the person without priority. We do not have a weighted system, we have a priority system. IB first priority, sibs second priority, then priority by lottery number.

What the nice person in the lottery office was saying to you is that even if you have a good lottery number, there might be a higher priority person than you who gets the spot. The "might" isn't whether they get the spot, if they exist they get it, the "might" is they might exist.

In my experience DCPS doesn't like to admit that it's a strict priority system, they tend to waffle around that point because it's so depressing for the people who don't have priority.

I don't care if I sound like a broken record. Wrong info on this is too damaging, even though no one should be relying totally on anything said here.

Re: your post, post a verifiable official source for your take on the lottery, or I don't believe it. I did not misunderstand what I was told, as I asked the specific question re: whether someone with no sibling preference or inbound but who ranked a school #1 could get in over someone with sibling or IB preference but who ranked it #2, and was told yes that is absolutely possible. There are several variables re: who the computer even looks at first and what the other applicants who are being looked at before/at the same time had re: rankings or preferences.

I won't argue terms "priority" vs. "weighting". I just know that ranking a school #1 gives you as much of an advantage as having a sibling at the school but ranking it #2... who gets that particular spot depends on who the computer looks at first. In one pull it could be the #1/no sib who gets it, in another it could be the #2 w/sib who gets it. But in either pull, #3 with or without sib or IB or not is not getting it unless they are pulled ahead of the others and don't get into their 1 or 2.

If ranking didn't matter or wasn't weighted, it wouldn't give you just as much an advantage as IB or sibling. And it was explained to me repeatedly as being just as important, giving you the same edge as IB or sibling. (Although a combo of #1, sib and IB (for PS/PK) will be hard to beat.)

Not the PP you are arguing with, but you are now spreading total horseshit if you are claiming that putting a school #1 gives you just as much of an advantage as having sibling preference. I don't care who you talked to, that is absolutely not true. Talk about spreading damaging information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19:58, you keep freaking out when I don't think you're actually disagreeing with 19:55. They don't pull multiple applicants at once, they pull one at a time and then work the lists accordingly. If you have preference (either sib or boundary/proximity) you boot someone off the list, that person gets moved down. If you don't have preference you get the first available spot per your rankings. The only way you are then booted is if someone with PREFERENCE comes after you, not if someone who ranked the school higher comes after you. They're simply SOL because they were drawn later.

You're making it too complicated and YOU are doi a disservice to people here.

Source. What is your source that if you have a preference you boot somoene off. That is NOT what anyone official has said. If you rank a school #1, no sib or IB for PS or PK, and you are pulled first and you get a spot, you KEEP that spot. You will not later be bumped off when the computer later gets to someone else who has a sib if the computer matches you first.

Post a source for you saying you get bumped. This is my last post, because in the end, the most important point is that your ranking matters. If anyone is still doubting that, please please call an official source. Other than that, arguing about the detail you're stating (which was stated to me differently, and again, I have a source and you're not stating your source) is useless. The bottom line for anyone wanting to do this right is still the same: be careful how you rank, and make sure it's the order you really really would want to get in. There is still some luck and randomness involved, but your ranking is key, as is whether you have a sib or you're IB for PS/PK.

Other than that, have at the algorithm, I know what I heard mulitple times, and that's what I believe and will act on.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 19:55, other PP is just getting a little aggressive when they should get off dcum and find the truth.

Weighting and priority are not interchangeable terms.

[Anonymous]

This!^. Please people, rank them according to your true preferred picks. There's no priority given for ranking a school higher than another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What's wrong, afraid to call them youself and confirm that you're full of crap? Yes, you are, because you know you're full of crap. The person I spoke to was quite able to explain the algorithm, was not reading off a script, gave examples, and answered my specific "What if...?" questions with ease. I'll take their accurate, relevant info over your admittedly (because if you had an official, verifiable source you would have posted it by now) not-official musings/misleading.

I read your posting of your conversation with the lottery person, and I can see where you misunderstood. There is a difference between weighting and priority. Weighting means you have a better chance. Priority means the person with priority gets it every time over the person without priority. We do not have a weighted system, we have a priority system. IB first priority, sibs second priority, then priority by lottery number.

What the nice person in the lottery office was saying to you is that even if you have a good lottery number, there might be a higher priority person than you who gets the spot. The "might" isn't whether they get the spot, if they exist they get it, the "might" is they might exist.

In my experience DCPS doesn't like to admit that it's a strict priority system, they tend to waffle around that point because it's so depressing for the people who don't have priority.

I don't care if I sound like a broken record. Wrong info on this is too damaging, even though no one should be relying totally on anything said here.

Re: your post, post a verifiable official source for your take on the lottery, or I don't believe it. I did not misunderstand what I was told, as I asked the specific question re: whether someone with no sibling preference or inbound but who ranked a school #1 could get in over someone with sibling or IB preference but who ranked it #2, and was told yes that is absolutely possible. There are several variables re: who the computer even looks at first and what the other applicants who are being looked at before/at the same time had re: rankings or preferences.

I won't argue terms "priority" vs. "weighting". I just know that ranking a school #1 gives you as much of an advantage as having a sibling at the school but ranking it #2... who gets that particular spot depends on who the computer looks at first. In one pull it could be the #1/no sib who gets it, in another it could be the #2 w/sib who gets it. But in either pull, #3 with or without sib or IB or not is not getting it unless they are pulled ahead of the others and don't get into their 1 or 2.

If ranking didn't matter or wasn't weighted, it wouldn't give you just as much an advantage as IB or sibling. And it was explained to me repeatedly as being just as important, giving you the same edge as IB or sibling. (Although a combo of #1, sib and IB (for PS/PK) will be hard to beat.)

Not the PP you are arguing with, but you are now spreading total horseshit if you are claiming that putting a school #1 gives you just as much of an advantage as having sibling preference. I don't care who you talked to, that is absolutely not true. Talk about spreading damaging information.

I'm not spreading horshit or damaging info. I'm spreading what I was told 3 times by actual Common Lottery staff. It's all about what the computer gets to first. If you don't think ranking #1 is as important as sib preference, then how is it that someone ranking the school #1 but with no sib preference can get in ahead of someone ranking it #2 with a sib? If it's not as important then that couldn't happen. Ok, now really done. Guess I'll have to stop reading the thread, because it's hard to not post when people have a LOT of opinions, but no freaking sources for who said THEIR opinion to them. Done done done.

[Anonymous]

This CAN'T happen, someone with sib preference gets it first!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This!^. Please people, rank them according to your true preferred picks. There's no priority given for ranking a school higher than another.

NP this is totally confusing to me. If no priority is given for ranking one school higher than another, why does it matter what order you rank them in at all? Also what is the alternative to ranking them according to your true preferred picks? How does anything anyone's said tell people to do anything else?

[Anonymous]

Ranking matters, but you don't get PRIORITY for it. You could rank a school #1, but that doesn't mean you get in of you're pulled later in the draw. People,pulled before you will get a spot first if its at the top of their list (even if the top of their list is now their #10 ranked school because their 1-9 is filled.)

Someone earlier up the thread insinuated that if you put a less-desirable school as#1 you'd have a better chance of getting in even if you're a late draw because you ranked it #1. In other words, game the system by ranking a school with more slots (fewer preferenced spots) or that is just less popular as your #1 because this will somehow guarantee you a spot. This is not the case and it only decreases your chances (or removes the chances all together) of getting into your true "preferred schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This!^. Please people, rank them according to your true preferred picks. There's no priority given for ranking a school higher than another.

NP this is totally confusing to me. If no priority is given for ranking one school higher than another, why does it matter what order you rank them in at all? Also what is the alternative to ranking them according to your true preferred picks? How does anything anyone's said tell people to do anything else?

Let's say you pick six schools in the lottery. When it comes to be your turn, you only get into one of them. Which one will that be? The one you ranked highest of the five available.

Ranking it higher doesn't make it more likely to get in, that's determined by the number of people with either higher preference or lower lottery numbers and the number of spots.