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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]20:30, say more about these unfair decisions.  In the pipeline, so curious to know.[/quote]

I'm not 20:30, but I think it's fair to say that many decisions are totally arbitrary- I don't know if I'd necessarily say unfair. [b] Honestly, how can you judge a 4-5 year old child applying for PK or K? [/b] The WPPSI isn't reliable (especially since almost everyone gets 90%+).  [b]There is only so much a kid can do to make a negative or positive impression on a 1.5-2 hour playdate.[/b]  [b]Most teacher recs are biased.  [/b]The AD only has so many slots to work with after accounting for siblings, faculty children, legacies, etc.  It's as much of a crapshoot for the ADs selecting the kids as it is for the parents applying.

Also, I think the reason ADs get bombarded with phone calls on Mondays is because most schools tend to waitlist everyone.  I don't know which is worse- receiving a letter outright rejecting your child or being strung along to hope your child will be accepted off a waitlist.  I really wish the ADs would keep the WLs to a minimum so the WL actually meant something vs. a soft rejection.  Kudos to Sidwell for taking this approach.[/quote]

I don't agree with these statements.  I look at my DC's class of 15 or so PK kids, and they are all very different.  Some can sit still, some cannot.  Some are nice kids, some are not.  Some are loud, some are not.  Some talk out of turn, some do not.  Some can focus, some cannot.  Some are easygoing, some are not.  Some are confident, some are not.  Some are independent, some are not.  They're all really different and if I was an AD, there are some kids I'd want and my school, and some I would not.

Now, what about the playdate?  I think you can probably figure out a good amount in 2 hours.  20 minute playdates for preschool are different.  But at playdates (at least for K), they get a chance to see how kids cooperate, separate, listen.  They also test some basic K readiness skills, so I imagine that can be quite telling.

What makes you think all the teacher recs are biased?  I've never read them, so I don't know.  But I imagine you haven't either unless you've worked at one of these schools.  Preschools (some in particular) have an interest in having independent schools trust their recs.  If they gave everyone a glowing rec, and the kid turned out to be a problem student, that doesn't serve the preschool well in the long run.  So I wouldn't be surprised if letters of rec look very different, especially in comparison to others.  In isolation, your child's letter might look pretty good, but not when it's compared to another child's (perhaps even another child from the same preschool).

So I don't believe this is all a crapshoot, frankly.  I think a lot goes into these decisions (even at the PK or K level).  I also think that the WPPSI is more useful than people admit -- especially for identifying those at the very, very top.  I'm talking about the 99.9% crowd with IQs around 145-150.  There aren't that many of those kids and they look very different than kids in the 99% range from what I understand.[/quote]

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