More info on common lottery algorithm

[Anonymous]

Oops, corrected:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Newbie here. This thread has been helpful. Thanks to all for the good info.

Do I have this right: we are IB for Hearst for PK. It seems like given past numbers we would likely get a spot. But I work near where Mundo Verde is moving and DH works near Ross. So if we put 1. Mundo Verde. 2. Ross. 3. Hearst and choose nothing else we likely would get wait list for 1 and 2 but get into Hearst? Do I have that right?

We would be happy with Hearst but Spanish immersion would be nice and proximity to DH work a bonus. Thanks.

yes, that is correct. The only risk you raise is if you get into MV or Ross in rounds 1 or 2 the decision is made and you lose your Hearst spot.

Yeah, you should order them in your true preference. So if MV is really #1, then leave it there.
I don't think you have a shot at all at Ross, given how many IB students want in and can't get in before K, but it never hurts if you don't have anything else that you want. And I agree that based on past trends, you are likely to get into Hearst.

We know an OOB family that got into PK4 at Ross off the waiting list (after school had already started). But it does happen, so it's not completely impossible... maybe just highly highly unlikely.

And OP should def apply there if she is interested and only has 3 schools total. I would say not worth it if you had filled up all your slots with other schools, but def worth it if you haven't.

Wait, why does the number of slots matter? If you rank Ross #1, you stay on their waitlist, period, end of story. If you get into your #7 or #3, you still stay on Ross's waitlist. Why would picking 2 other schools, vs picking 12 schools total, affect your chances at Ross at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oops, corrected:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Newbie here. This thread has been helpful. Thanks to all for the good info.

Do I have this right: we are IB for Hearst for PK. It seems like given past numbers we would likely get a spot. But I work near where Mundo Verde is moving and DH works near Ross. So if we put 1. Mundo Verde. 2. Ross. 3. Hearst and choose nothing else we likely would get wait list for 1 and 2 but get into Hearst? Do I have that right?

We would be happy with Hearst but Spanish immersion would be nice and proximity to DH work a bonus. Thanks.

yes, that is correct. The only risk you raise is if you get into MV or Ross in rounds 1 or 2 the decision is made and you lose your Hearst spot.

Yeah, you should order them in your true preference. So if MV is really #1, then leave it there.
I don't think you have a shot at all at Ross, given how many IB students want in and can't get in before K, but it never hurts if you don't have anything else that you want. And I agree that based on past trends, you are likely to get into Hearst.

We know an OOB family that got into PK4 at Ross off the waiting list (after school had already started). But it does happen, so it's not completely impossible... maybe just highly highly unlikely.

And OP should def apply there if she is interested and only has 3 schools total. I would say not worth it if you had filled up all your slots with other schools, but def worth it if you haven't.

Wait, why does the number of slots matter? If you rank Ross #1, you stay on their waitlist, period, end of story. If you get into your #7 or #3, you still stay on Ross's waitlist. Why would picking 2 other schools, vs picking 12 schools total, affect your chances at Ross at all?

I was just saying that if OP had more than 12 schools she was interested in, including Ross, then she would probably need to start thinking about the probability of getting in as a factor. I'm OOB for Ross for PK3 and would never apply there--there are too many other schools I'm interested in where I might have an actual shot. But PP (sorry, should have said PP rather than OP) is only interested in taking up three slots, so it really doesn't affect her that she has almost no shot at getting into Ross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a spot opens up in one of your higher (more preferred) ranked picksafter the first round, do you automatically get booted out of your current pick? How long do you have to decide whether to accept a spot off the waitlist? And would that be handled by myschooldc or by individual schools?

I think it is handled by the individual schools, and you have to tell the school with which you have enrolled that you no longer want the spot. However, I talked to some of the school reps at the expo about it, and they said that there is going to be regular auditing to make sure that schools are gong in the correct order on the waitlist and to make sure that people are not holding two spots. I don't know if there are uniform timeframes for making a decision about a spot--I would think that would be up to the school.

Thanks for the reply!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a sibling at the school, you still need to put in an application. The PP who says siblings need not apply is WRONG. And no one has filled out an intent form in any school at this point, I'd imagine. I call BS.

Speak for yourself. Sibling intent forms were due more than a month ago at our charter.

Which charter is that, PP? Is the intent for a requirement for sibling preference or is it just optional? That is, is the school just trying to get a sense of how many siblings are interested? Will those who did not submit the sibling intent form on time be denied sibling preference?

It seems strange to me that a charter would opt into the lottery, thereby embracing the deadline of 2/3 or 3/3 for application submission, but impose an earlier binding deadline on current families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a sibling at the school, you still need to put in an application. The PP who says siblings need not apply is WRONG. And no one has filled out an intent form in any school at this point, I'd imagine. I call BS.

Speak for yourself. Sibling intent forms were due more than a month ago at our charter.

Which charter is that, PP? Is the intent for a requirement for sibling preference or is it just optional? That is, is the school just trying to get a sense of how many siblings are interested? Will those who did not submit the sibling intent form on time be denied sibling preference?

It seems strange to me that a charter would opt into the lottery, thereby embracing the deadline of 2/3 or 3/3 for application submission, but impose an earlier binding deadline on current families.

Not PP, but it could be a charter outside the common lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a sibling at the school, you still need to put in an application. The PP who says siblings need not apply is WRONG. And no one has filled out an intent form in any school at this point, I'd imagine. I call BS.

Speak for yourself. Sibling intent forms were due more than a month ago at our charter.

Which charter is that, PP? Is the intent for a requirement for sibling preference or is it just optional? That is, is the school just trying to get a sense of how many siblings are interested? Will those who did not submit the sibling intent form on time be denied sibling preference?

It seems strange to me that a charter would opt into the lottery, thereby embracing the deadline of 2/3 or 3/3 for application submission, but impose an earlier binding deadline on current families.

Not PP, but it could be a charter outside the common lottery.

Perhaps, but the discussion was about the need to submit a common lottery application in order to claim sibling preference. Why would the PP have raise the issue of the intent form if the school did not participate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a sibling at the school, you still need to put in an application. The PP who says siblings need not apply is WRONG. And no one has filled out an intent form in any school at this point, I'd imagine. I call BS.

Speak for yourself. Sibling intent forms were due more than a month ago at our charter.

Which charter is that, PP? Is the intent for a requirement for sibling preference or is it just optional? That is, is the school just trying to get a sense of how many siblings are interested? Will those who did not submit the sibling intent form on time be denied sibling preference?

It seems strange to me that a charter would opt into the lottery, thereby embracing the deadline of 2/3 or 3/3 for application submission, but impose an earlier binding deadline on current families.

Not PP, but it could be a charter outside the common lottery.

Perhaps, but the discussion was about the need to submit a common lottery application in order to claim sibling preference. Why would the PP have raise the issue of the intent form if the school did not participate?

its because the charters want to hold spots OUT of the lottery for returning students and sibling preferences which is allowed.

just an additional layer of protecting their existing student body

[Anonymous]

Okay, gang. Here is how it works:

(1) Think of the lottery taking place in rounds. There are 12 rounds, one for each set of ranked preferences.

(2) For this explanation, assume there is one non-charter school, and we are applying for PK3. Let's call it Awesome School. Awesome School has 30 PK3 spaces.

(3) Round 1: 40 people rank Awesome School as their #1 preference. So, we have a list of 40 people and 30 spaces. At the top of the list, we have students with preferences -- in-bounds, siblings, etc. Then the rest. The order of the rest is random, based on a randomly assigned lottery number. So, we now of 30 people who are temporarily "in" and 10 people on a waiting list.

(4) Round 2: 10 people rank Awesome School as their #2 preference. They are added to our first list, so now we have a list of 50 people. Some of these new students have in-bound preferences. If there are students on the temporary "in" list without sibling/inbound/etc. preferences, these students will be bumped down to the waiting list by the new crop that have preferences. It is unclear whether these Round 2 candidates will be placed below the Round 1 waitlisted students, or whether the list is re-ordered based on the randomly assigned lottery # at the beginning of the process (if someone has clarity on this point, please let me and the community know!).

Voila.

[Anonymous]

Oh man. As if this weren't stressful enough. I *think* the list is re-ordered based on the randomly assigned #. If it isn't, I have some changing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, gang. Here is how it works:

(1) Think of the lottery taking place in rounds. There are 12 rounds, one for each set of ranked preferences.

(2) For this explanation, assume there is one non-charter school, and we are applying for PK3. Let's call it Awesome School. Awesome School has 30 PK3 spaces.

(3) Round 1: 40 people rank Awesome School as their #1 preference. So, we have a list of 40 people and 30 spaces. At the top of the list, we have students with preferences -- in-bounds, siblings, etc. Then the rest. The order of the rest is random, based on a randomly assigned lottery number. So, we now of 30 people who are temporarily "in" and 10 people on a waiting list.

(4) Round 2: 10 people rank Awesome School as their #2 preference. They are added to our first list, so now we have a list of 50 people. Some of these new students have in-bound preferences. If there are students on the temporary "in" list without sibling/inbound/etc. preferences, these students will be bumped down to the waiting list by the new crop that have preferences. It is unclear whether these Round 2 candidates will be placed below the Round 1 waitlisted students, or whether the list is re-ordered based on the randomly assigned lottery # at the beginning of the process[u] (if someone has clarity on this point, please let me and the community know!).

Voila.

This is also the only piece I'm not clear on. Getting down in the weeds, but the answer may still have an effect on my strategy. So if anyone has an answer, please let us know. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, gang. Here is how it works:

(1) Think of the lottery taking place in rounds. There are 12 rounds, one for each set of ranked preferences.

(2) For this explanation, assume there is one non-charter school, and we are applying for PK3. Let's call it Awesome School. Awesome School has 30 PK3 spaces.

(3) Round 1: 40 people rank Awesome School as their #1 preference. So, we have a list of 40 people and 30 spaces. At the top of the list, we have students with preferences -- in-bounds, siblings, etc. Then the rest. The order of the rest is random, based on a randomly assigned lottery number. So, we now of 30 people who are temporarily "in" and 10 people on a waiting list.

(4) Round 2: 10 people rank Awesome School as their #2 preference. They are added to our first list, so now we have a list of 50 people. Some of these new students have in-bound preferences. If there are students on the temporary "in" list without sibling/inbound/etc. preferences, these students will be bumped down to the waiting list by the new crop that have preferences. It is unclear whether these Round 2 candidates will be placed below the Round 1 waitlisted students, or whether the list is re-ordered based on the randomly assigned lottery # at the beginning of the process[u] (if someone has clarity on this point, please let me and the community know!).

Voila.

This is also the only piece I'm not clear on. Getting down in the weeds, but the answer may still have an effect on my strategy. So if anyone has an answer, please let us know. Thanks!

The only thing that matters is your preference level and your lottery number. What you ranked a school doesn't matter. You only get considered for a lower-ranked school if when your turn comes around in the lottery all of your higher-ranked schools are full. So at that point whatever is left is effectively your number one.

This is deliberate. The intention is to eliminate strategy. Rank your schools in your true order of preference. If you get a good lottery number you'll get you're top preference. If you get a poor number you'll do no worse than you would have with any other ordering.

[Anonymous]

There's no longer a Round 2. See the bottom of Other Questions on the myschooldc FAQ: http://www.myschooldc.org/faq/faqs/

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think they should take away sibling preference if you're OOB in the lottery. It honestly isn't fair for others.

OOB is a privilege, not a right. I don't think that privilege should transfer from one kid to the rest in the family. OOB is tough. It means sacrifice, but that's what you chose to do when you didn't go to your IB school.

I think it would do a lot to help improve other schools in the DCPS system if the OOB sibling preference was removed.

[Anonymous]

There's a video explaining the algorithm in detail now. Long but was worth the watch for me: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPFEGpx2Wng&feature=youtu.be

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I think they should take away sibling preference if you're OOB in the lottery. It honestly isn't fair for others.

OOB is a privilege, not a right. I don't think that privilege should transfer from one kid to the rest in the family. OOB is tough. It means sacrifice, but that's what you chose to do when you didn't go to your IB school.

I think it would do a lot to help improve other schools in the DCPS system if the OOB sibling preference was removed.

The point of sibling preference is to keep siblings together to create a school community, and to prevent parents from having to do multiple dropoffs. IB kids get preference over OOB siblings, unless you are in a language immersion school, so why should an IB person care who gets the OOB spots? Your school will have a much better community if those spots go to the siblings of the OOB kids curretly in school with your child.

If you are an OOB applicant, any school that you realistically have a chance of getting into will be one of those that take a lot of OOB applicants. Those school communities are only cohesive and desirable if OOB parents can focus their energies on one school. I know that to be true at Hearst for example. Lots of very involved OOB parents with more than one kid at that school.