Bad Lottery Number

[Anonymous]

My eldest’s teacher told me about a family who didn’t get into any of the schools on their original lottery list. That sounds absolutely terrifying. Has the happened to you or anyone you know?

[Anonymous]

Yes. Once for each of my kids. We made alternate childcare plans and tried again the next year.

[Anonymous]

You’re looking for reassurance that we can’t offer you. I say that with empathy as someone who has gone through this.
One of these things will happen:

1. You get a good lottery number and get into one of the schools on your list
2. You get a bad lottery number and don’t get in. this happens to lots of people.

You can’t control it but if you want to minimize your chances of #2, make sure you add a few safety schools. There are plenty of schools that don’t have wait lists or don’t have high waiting lists. If you’re not willing to go to ANY of those schools, then you’ve decided that your fall back is private.

[Anonymous]

We made sure to put on a safety school or two that gets panned here, but has worked out super well for us. Next year our lottery list was much shorter and we were much less stressed about needing something RIGHT NOW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My eldest’s teacher told me about a family who didn’t get into any of the schools on their original lottery list. That sounds absolutely terrifying. Has the happened to you or anyone you know?

Yes - there is a chance you will get shut out.

If your objective is to only lottery for a school where your child has a known path through middle school, your chances of getting shut out are higher.

If your objective is to get FREE PreK3 - think what that means to you and put appropriate schools on your list. If you will only do 4 schools that are either near your house or directly on your path to work, you might not get it.

[Anonymous]

We got shut out completely our first time in the lottery. Around July we started getting waitlist calls and by mid August we were in our third choice school. As long as you put a couple of “safety” options on your list- you are bound to have something by the first day of school.

[Anonymous]

It does happen, but only to people who didn't do enough research to identify safety schools. Or to people who just aren't willing to attend a school they aren't happy with. Happened to my neighbor but he only put 5 schools on his list and was content with his daycare.

[Anonymous]

Happened to us for PK3 — we didn’t match anywhere. Later figured out based on our wait list numbers and the number of people on each wait list that we probably had one of the last numbers in the whole system. But on the first day of school that summer, we wound up getting into our second pick despite being 155th or something on the list after the lottery. We had to forfeit 25 percent of the tuition for the private preschool we were planning to send our kid back to, but withdrew and took the spot...

[Anonymous]

OP here - We’ve listed two safety schools, so I’m sure we will be fine. I hope so at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - We’ve listed two safety schools, so I’m sure we will be fine. I hope so at least.

Tell us what they are and we'll tell you if they're really safe. It's amazing how few are really 100% safe anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - We’ve listed two safety schools, so I’m sure we will be fine. I hope so at least.

Tell us what they are and we'll tell you if they're really safe. It's amazing how few are really 100% safe anymore.

So true. I remember last year everyone thought Langley was a safety. Not anymore! I'm stressing because I have a rising PreK 4 kid at an OOB early action school and even with the sibling attending preference, my rising PreK 3'er will probably be wait listed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - We’ve listed two safety schools, so I’m sure we will be fine. I hope so at least.

Tell us what they are and we'll tell you if they're really safe. It's amazing how few are really 100% safe anymore.

So true. I remember last year everyone thought Langley was a safety. Not anymore! I'm stressing because I have a rising PreK 4 kid at an OOB early action school and even with the sibling attending preference, my rising PreK 3'er will probably be wait listed.

Me too. I remember when there were only two PK3 classrooms at Langley and they were not even full for most of the year! And that was just four years ago. People still fret about Langley but no longer about whether they can stomach PK3. Now they fret about getting in OOB, whether they can keep up with their PTA responsibilities, and whether it'll be ok past Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

As someone who got a bad lottery number— high 100 and 200s waitlist numbers at schools 1-11 and matched at 12th school— I would say expect and prepare for the worst. If you do not have a viable private option for PK3, take the time to find some safer bets to put in your list but ONLY put them on your list if you can truly see yourself being ok with sending your child there. I was not mentally prepared for a worst case scenario and felt as though we had no options even though we got matched somewhere because at the end of the day, I wasn’t actually comfortable with our 12th school. If you can find twelve schools that you can actually see your DC attending, you will feel so much more at ease leading up to results day. I know that’s easier said than done, but try to fully wrap your head around ending up at even your lowest ranked schools. Don’t put a school as a safety just to tell yourself you have some safeties. Assume that they will end up at school number 12. Of you can’t actually see your child there, find a solid private/daycare option so that you are able to only play your hand at schools you actually want to attend.

It is so hard to avoid the anxiety, frustration, jealousy that this system perpetuates. But I can say from my own experience, it will be ok and even if you don’t end up at a school you think you want now, your family will end up at the right school eventually and will ultimately thrive. I will also say that many of my friends that matched with those highly sought after charter schools we all think we want ended up being disappointed and those who felt they “lost” were so pleasantly surprised by the school they ended up at.

You will get through this and your child will be ok. They clearly have parents who are deeply invested in their education and overall well-being and that’s worth much more than any one school’s test scores or buzz or convenience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who got a bad lottery number— high 100 and 200s waitlist numbers at schools 1-11 and matched at 12th school— I would say expect and prepare for the worst. If you do not have a viable private option for PK3, take the time to find some safer bets to put in your list but ONLY put them on your list if you can truly see yourself being ok with sending your child there. I was not mentally prepared for a worst case scenario and felt as though we had no options even though we got matched somewhere because at the end of the day, I wasn’t actually comfortable with our 12th school. If you can find twelve schools that you can actually see your DC attending, you will feel so much more at ease leading up to results day. I know that’s easier said than done, but try to fully wrap your head around ending up at even your lowest ranked schools. Don’t put a school as a safety just to tell yourself you have some safeties. Assume that they will end up at school number 12. Of you can’t actually see your child there, find a solid private/daycare option so that you are able to only play your hand at schools you actually want to attend.

It is so hard to avoid the anxiety, frustration, jealousy that this system perpetuates. But I can say from my own experience, it will be ok and even if you don’t end up at a school you think you want now, your family will end up at the right school eventually and will ultimately thrive. I will also say that many of my friends that matched with those highly sought after charter schools we all think we want ended up being disappointed and those who felt they “lost” were so pleasantly surprised by the school they ended up at.

You will get through this and your child will be ok. They clearly have parents who are deeply invested in their education and overall well-being and that’s worth much more than any one school’s test scores or buzz or convenience.

[Anonymous]

Friendship Armstrong is what I’m considering to be our true safety. Based on last year’s waitlist movement, I think Shining Stars is as well.