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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]While I really would like to understand this myself, how do the details change anything about what each of us does as parents?  The main issue I needed to resolve for myself was whether my ranking of the schools matters.  It does, a lot, even though there are other factors that also matter or maybe even matter more.

So if you make sure you rank the schools according to which school you want the most, next most, etc, do the details of how the algorithm works change anything about what we do when we apply?[/quote]

Yes, thank you. People getting their panties in a bunch when the simple advice, repeated over and over again here and by lottery folks, to [b]rank in order in which you wish to attend[/b] holds true.[/quote]

Indeed.  And I think the other piece of advice is the same as it has been in the past: don't waste one of your 12 slots on a school that you have literally no chance of getting in to, because it does not have space for out-of-boundary or non-sibling kids.  This only really applies to a couple of DCPS schools, and maybe one or two charters.  Just because you put Janney as your number 1 slot for PK4, if you don't live in the boundary you will not get in.  And by doing that you knock off a school that you might have a chance at, even it's small, like a Capital City or LAMB.[/quote]

I'm sure you mean well and I'm not necessarily questioning your point, but NO ONE should believe this to be true (about not "wasting" a choice on an impossible school) without calling the lottery directly and asking them this question.  I'm still putting my true first choices down in order, because I'm not clear that the highest demand schools are really "impossible" even if I have no preference.[/quote]

You are right, it is just my opinion, but I have been watching this pretty closely for the past few years, looking at the lottery lists, talking with people.  There are only a couple of schools to which it applies.  And it doesn't impact my family at all- my interest is academic at this point (went through all of this 2 years ago).  For charters there a couple of schools which in the past have had no non-sibling spots, but it might make sense to apply for a PS3 or PK4 kid if you were also applying for an older kid who had a shot at admission, and then would pull the younger kid in through sibling preference.  I just think people should be realistic.  The other one to which is applies is the PK4 english-dominant at Oyster.  Every year there are in-boundary kids who never get in, and have to wait until K to start.  So why put that on your list if you don't live in boundary and don't have a kid already there?[/quote]

As an example, take a look at Janney for last years PK4 lottery- lottery.dcps.dc.gov.  The first non-preference slot on the waitlist is 61.  They might have pulled in 10-20 kids off the waitlist if they decided to open a new classroom or add a kid or two to the existing classrooms.   But there's no way they went 61 deep.  Same for Lafayette- 26 deep before non-preference, with probably 60 or so admitted.  Mann might be possible, they had non-preference kids starting at 7 on the waitlist, but that's still a longshot, that school is very small and they probably don't have any way to open up new classes.  Murch went 23 deep before non-preference, that one is probably on the edge also.  For Oyster English dominant- only 10 slots, that is a hard number, and you have to get to 20 on the waitlist until you get to non-preference kids.  I didn't even know how in-demand Stoddert was- you need to get to 62 on the waitlist before you see a non-preference kid.

All of this is to say- a lot of this is logic and probability.  You don't have unlimited slots.  Is there a chance one of those schools might dip into the non-preference waitlist?  Very, very low, like way less than 1%.  If you are reaching, why not put another school like Inspired Teaching or Mundo Verde, which have low odds but will very likely take at least some non-sibling kids?  I'd rather have a 20 in 500 shot than a 1 in 1000.[/quote]

1 in 1000 is still better than 0 in 0.  [/quote]

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