HSPT Results

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if a child has straight A's, solid recommendations and scored in 96% do they have a chance at a grant of some sort? Or, do you need 99% how does that work or is that a whole other thread? grants aren't that much money, either way, just curious

Nope. I wouldn't expect anything. We are also full-pay though. My firstborn got a 99% and straight As, great recs and nothing. I got the impression this is fairly common in this area. At least reading this board it sounds like a lot of kids achieve this.

He did get invited to apply for a scholarship at one of the Catholic HS, but he did not get it. I also wonder if that might be need-based factor to the awards.

Younger brother just got a 93% and I really think Covid was a factor. We did some test prep after seeing some of his practice test results. Some kids were home an entire year with synchronous and asynchronous while some Catholic k-8 were in person full-time, so kids that had more school learning time were at a disadvantage. Our public wouldn't even introduce new material when Covid first came out. The learning loss was bigger for these kids.

[Anonymous]

^ kids with more in-person, full classroom time were at an advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if a child has straight A's, solid recommendations and scored in 96% do they have a chance at a grant of some sort? Or, do you need 99% how does that work or is that a whole other thread? grants aren't that much money, either way, just curious

Nope. I wouldn't expect anything. We are also full-pay though. My firstborn got a 99% and straight As, great recs and nothing. I got the impression this is fairly common in this area. At least reading this board it sounds like a lot of kids achieve this.

He did get invited to apply for a scholarship at one of the Catholic HS, but he did not get it. I also wonder if that might be need-based factor to the awards.

Younger brother just got a 93% and I really think Covid was a factor. We did some test prep after seeing some of his practice test results. Some kids were home an entire year with synchronous and asynchronous while some Catholic k-8 were in person full-time, so kids that had more school learning time were at a disadvantage. Our public wouldn't even introduce new material when Covid first came out. The learning loss was bigger for these kids.

This was a few years ago, but my DS got the Presidential scholarship at SJC with a 99% HSPT. I don't recall the amount, but none of these merit awards are full tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if a child has straight A's, solid recommendations and scored in 96% do they have a chance at a grant of some sort? Or, do you need 99% how does that work or is that a whole other thread? grants aren't that much money, either way, just curious

Nope. I wouldn't expect anything. We are also full-pay though. My firstborn got a 99% and straight As, great recs and nothing. I got the impression this is fairly common in this area. At least reading this board it sounds like a lot of kids achieve this.

He did get invited to apply for a scholarship at one of the Catholic HS, but he did not get it. I also wonder if that might be need-based factor to the awards.

Younger brother just got a 93% and I really think Covid was a factor. We did some test prep after seeing some of his practice test results. Some kids were home an entire year with synchronous and asynchronous while some Catholic k-8 were in person full-time, so kids that had more school learning time were at a disadvantage. Our public wouldn't even introduce new material when Covid first came out. The learning loss was bigger for these kids.

This was a few years ago, but my DS got the Presidential scholarship at SJC with a 99% HSPT. I don't recall the amount, but none of these merit awards are full tuition.

Thanks. My son did not apply to SJC.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Are the school choice numbers listed on the upper right in a certain order (such as numerical)? I do not recall being prompted to indicate a rank ordering. Also, do the high schools see these? [/quote]

Yes, they are in numerical order. We (Parents) were not asked to list 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 78% good enough for Gonzaga and SJC? Thanks.

Not from our k-8 Catholic last year unless your son is a direct legacy -- only father or brother legacy. Only 2 boys admitted who were non-direct legacies from the 11 boys who applied last year. My DS scored mid-90s. The other non legacy boy admitted was certainly higher (based on knowing this boy for 9 years). Great recs and solid applications otherwise, too.

This is weird because my son was admitted last year as a non Catholic from public school with a 85%. he's an athlete but not recruited and not future D1 material.

[Anonymous]

Take heart. My son scored in the high 80's last year and was admitted to the schools of his choice. He is currently sailing through SJC in his first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 78% good enough for Gonzaga and SJC? Thanks.

Not from our k-8 Catholic last year unless your son is a direct legacy -- only father or brother legacy. Only 2 boys admitted who were non-direct legacies from the 11 boys who applied last year. My DS scored mid-90s. The other non legacy boy admitted was certainly higher (based on knowing this boy for 9 years). Great recs and solid applications otherwise, too.

This is weird because my son was admitted last year as a non Catholic from public school with a 85%. he's an athlete but not recruited and not future D1 material.

That makes perfect sense. Your kid was not competing against a bunch of classmates with fathers/brothers at Gonzaga. All those boys go to the head of the admissions line (at least from our k-8). So then there's only room for 2 non-legacy boys, and they have mid 90s+ HSPT scores, all As, etc. So that's who gets accepted. There are just no more spots for anyone more or anything less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 78% good enough for Gonzaga and SJC? Thanks.

Not from our k-8 Catholic last year unless your son is a direct legacy -- only father or brother legacy. Only 2 boys admitted who were non-direct legacies from the 11 boys who applied last year. My DS scored mid-90s. The other non legacy boy admitted was certainly higher (based on knowing this boy for 9 years). Great recs and solid applications otherwise, too.

This is weird because my son was admitted last year as a non Catholic from public school with a 85%. he's an athlete but not recruited and not future D1 material.

That makes perfect sense. Your kid was not competing against a bunch of classmates with fathers/brothers at Gonzaga. All those boys go to the head of the admissions line (at least from our k-8). So then there's only room for 2 non-legacy boys, and they have mid 90s+ HSPT scores, all As, etc. So that's who gets accepted. There are just no more spots for anyone more or anything less.

Not sure about that. My kid had 4 kids in same class as his public MS that were legacies (brothers there) and I know two kids had 98 and 99 HSPT, straight As, as they are good friends. Remember, they do not take as many from a non-Catholic/public school and you usually have to be exceptional w/out a hook or legacy. You also don't have any staff with relationship with the admissions office or anyone pulling for you, arguing your case coming from a public school.

Also, fwiw, don't be so sure legacies don't also have very high HSPTs and straight As. Both my boys scored in the 90s on the HSPT, older one a 98 and younger one a 95. It bothers the younger one when others say 'well, his brother goes there'. It's kind of a shitty thing to say about kids that may also work very hard and achieve their spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 78% good enough for Gonzaga and SJC? Thanks.

Not from our k-8 Catholic last year unless your son is a direct legacy -- only father or brother legacy. Only 2 boys admitted who were non-direct legacies from the 11 boys who applied last year. My DS scored mid-90s. The other non legacy boy admitted was certainly higher (based on knowing this boy for 9 years). Great recs and solid applications otherwise, too.

This is weird because my son was admitted last year as a non Catholic from public school with a 85%. he's an athlete but not recruited and not future D1 material.

That makes perfect sense. Your kid was not competing against a bunch of classmates with fathers/brothers at Gonzaga. All those boys go to the head of the admissions line (at least from our k-8). So then there's only room for 2 non-legacy boys, and they have mid 90s+ HSPT scores, all As, etc. So that's who gets accepted. There are just no more spots for anyone more or anything less.

Not sure about that. My kid had 4 kids in same class as his public MS that were legacies (brothers there) and I know two kids had 98 and 99 HSPT, straight As, as they are good friends. Remember, they do not take as many from a non-Catholic/public school and you usually have to be exceptional w/out a hook or legacy. You also don't have any staff with relationship with the admissions office or anyone pulling for you, arguing your case coming from a public school.

Also, fwiw, don't be so sure legacies don't also have very high HSPTs and straight As. Both my boys scored in the 90s on the HSPT, older one a 98 and younger one a 95. It bothers the younger one when others say 'well, his brother goes there'. It's kind of a shitty thing to say about kids that may also work very hard and achieve their spot.

Point is that you can't conclude that "it's weird" that one Catholic elementary boys needed higher scores than the one kid from a public school. The catholic school boys are likely competing against each other first.
I don't make broad generalizations, but I can say in my son's class, knowing these boys for 9 years, the legacies/athletes had the lowest HSPT scores in the class (so the boys said) and did not have great grades (not in 8th grade Algebra and were not in any of the honor societies). So in son's case, legacies+athletics outweighed everything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 78% good enough for Gonzaga and SJC? Thanks.

Not from our k-8 Catholic last year unless your son is a direct legacy -- only father or brother legacy. Only 2 boys admitted who were non-direct legacies from the 11 boys who applied last year. My DS scored mid-90s. The other non legacy boy admitted was certainly higher (based on knowing this boy for 9 years). Great recs and solid applications otherwise, too.

This is weird because my son was admitted last year as a non Catholic from public school with a 85%. he's an athlete but not recruited and not future D1 material.

That makes perfect sense. Your kid was not competing against a bunch of classmates with fathers/brothers at Gonzaga. All those boys go to the head of the admissions line (at least from our k-8). So then there's only room for 2 non-legacy boys, and they have mid 90s+ HSPT scores, all As, etc. So that's who gets accepted. There are just no more spots for anyone more or anything less.

Not sure about that. My kid had 4 kids in same class as his public MS that were legacies (brothers there) and I know two kids had 98 and 99 HSPT, straight As, as they are good friends. Remember, they do not take as many from a non-Catholic/public school and you usually have to be exceptional w/out a hook or legacy. You also don't have any staff with relationship with the admissions office or anyone pulling for you, arguing your case coming from a public school.

Also, fwiw, don't be so sure legacies don't also have very high HSPTs and straight As. Both my boys scored in the 90s on the HSPT, older one a 98 and younger one a 95. It bothers the younger one when others say 'well, his brother goes there'. It's kind of a shitty thing to say about kids that may also work very hard and achieve their spot.

Point is that you can't conclude that "it's weird" that one Catholic elementary boys needed higher scores than the one kid from a public school. The catholic school boys are likely competing against each other first.
I don't make broad generalizations, but I can say in my son's class, knowing these boys for 9 years, the legacies/athletes had the lowest HSPT scores in the class (so the boys said) and did not have great grades (not in 8th grade Algebra and were not in any of the honor societies). So in son's case, legacies+athletics outweighed everything else.

DP. My kids were public school K-8. People laughed and said we would have zero chance of getting in if our kid didn't score in the mid-upper 90s and have all As since we were coming out of a public. It freaked my kid out. There just aren't that many spots for public school kids and the ones that choose it generally had a father or brother who went there. In our public MS, there are a lot of kids that are legacy and many boys applying to GZ. It surprised me, but driving around our neighborhood and in the school parking lot, there are A LOT of GZ stickers on the cars. The few boys I know that did get in without that legacy were very top students. They were kids that were in all of the advanced/GT courses, and from what my son said also scored upper 90s.

Like another poster, I was also told the essay could really, really help and make up for a less competitive transcript/scores. There are many great kids out there that will make a wonderful contribution to the school that may not be 'perfect on paper'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Took the test first weekend in Dec got results this morning. Kid bombed with scores of 42 and 480. I guess it's public school for us.

I got you beat. Kid scored 22 and 427 😂.

My kind of people! Someone asked earlier, no kid went in cold. Can’t afford prep classes.

[Anonymous]

It's definitely worth applying to see -- you just never know!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's definitely worth applying to see -- you just never know!

I really think the Covid factor is at play. I think depending on what happened in 7th-8th for students (different schools handled Covid differently) will be seen in the test results.

We saw a definite decrease in academic assessments given by our public MS for a timeframe during Covid. Frankly, they had a wasted year+ March 2020-June 2021. It was not equivalent to what older sibling had being in person for all of 7th-8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's definitely worth applying to see -- you just never know!

I really think the Covid factor is at play. I think depending on what happened in 7th-8th for students (different schools handled Covid differently) will be seen in the test results.

We saw a definite decrease in academic assessments given by our public MS for a timeframe during Covid. Frankly, they had a wasted year+ March 2020-June 2021. It was not equivalent to what older sibling had being in person for all of 7th-8th.

Every non Diocesan k-8 kid is in the same boat, right? Admissions realizes that.