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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=pbraverman][quote=Anonymous]My DD is at the moment in a very good private that goes up to 8th grade. We are interested in Holton Arms as a posible school for her after her current school. Would it be easier to apply to enter at 6th grade or in 9th grade. DD is happy in her current school so I am inclined to let her stay until 8th grade but worry about about the chances for that particular school. Any thoughts?[/quote]

There is a lot of value to finishing something, and your daughter will likely reap a lot of benefit from being "queen of the hill" in eighth grade at her K-8. That's very hard for a middle schooler to get in a K-12 school. (I've worked in both.) She'll also have the thrill of graduation, a rite of passage and an achievement at a critical time for kids, i.e., early adolescence.

Perhaps the strongest reason to stay is that grades 7 and 8 are the years in which almost all kids (especially girls) experience enormous growth in self-awareness. That's not merely incidental; a child who is strongly self-aware is much better equipped to participate in the process of selecting her school than a younger child is. In my last year in a school, a family was in exactly the same position you're in. I encouraged them to consider the advantages of staying, and they decided their daughter would. She finished last year, and the family told me they (and she) were thrilled they finished the process, and how eagerly she dove into the high school search process.

The girl was offered a spot at every school to which she applied, and she's now old enough to apply that success to her college search in four years. I can't even count how many families told me that their college searches were unremarkable because their kids felt so confident as a result of their high school search experience. A sixth-grader is very unlikely to transfer her experience in the same way six years later — both because she's not as self-aware, and because it's a longer time between events.

There are reasons to apply in grade 6, but I think the case is stronger to wait — ESPECIALLY if she's happy where she is. In my experience, there are seldom, if ever, advantages in terms of numbers in the admission pools. Your experience, of course, may differ.

Good luck!
Peter
_____________________

Disclaimer: The anonymity here makes me uncomfortable; it's easy to be uninformed, personal, or simply mean-spirited if people don't identify themselves. For that reason, I have an account so you know whose words you're reading. I have more than 20 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in independent schools, and I hope I can be helpful to some folks. If you don't like something I've said, you're in good company — there's a long line of past students ahead of you. :) If you want to chat further, please feel free to contact me offline: peter &lt;at&gt; arcpd &lt;dot&gt; com

[/quote]

Thanks a lot for this great advice. It really makes sense and you are right, the benefits she will get for being "queen of the hill" as you said will be with her for a long time and will give her confidence for the years ahead. It is rare to find such sincere and well intencioned advice here, so again, many thanks! I think you convinced me to stay.[/quote]

I completely agree that Peter gives wise and rational advice on this and other threads. But I just have one comment, as a parent who in the last few years decided to have her daughter make the switch to Holton (having applied to a range of schools and landed on this as the best fit) from a K-8 after 6th grade. While she was happy at her school and would have benefited, as Peter pointed out, from being "king of the hill," and knowing herself better, there was no denying the data. She wanted--and so did we--a top school and the chances of getting in to any of the top 5 to 6 schools go down substantially when applying for 9th grade. I had admissions people at 2 different schools tell me this themselves. All of Peter's advice is great, if we weren't in DC. If you and your daughter know that she wants to attend there (because you have fully vetted it and know it's a good fit), you may as well go for it in 7th.[/quote]

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