Reply to Common Lottery Algorithm

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The main thing EVERY family doing the common lottery this year needs to understand is this:

Research your choices and make sure our #1 is really the school you would be happiest with if you got in.  You ranking it #1 will affect both your chances of actually getting any available lottery slots, as well as your position on the waitlist.  And rank in your true rank order.

Can we all at least agree that that is the approach families should take to ranking their 12 choices?[/quote]

I am the PP who said that if the Denver system is adopted, there is a real incentive for families not to rank in the true rank order and instead to think strategically about what schools should be listed early on.[/quote]

But in a way, since you would be stuck with that school if you got in and placed it 1st (and would be out of running for any other schools), in a way you're allowing that to be your first choice (after you take everything into consideration).  You're basically saying "This is the school we think we have the best shot at and would be happy with".  What is wrong with prioritizing that?[/quote]

There's nothing wrong with it, and I will certainly be strategic in making my selections if necessary. But if they system wants to maximize people getting into their top choices, and people aren't honest about their top choices, then it seems like a real problem. I know when I talked to the DME office about it, they emphasized that they wanted a system where people would offer their true preferences in the ranking and not feel they had to be strategic. This is why I don't think they are going to do it exactly the way Denver does it, unless there is, as PP said, a mathematical way that they get rid of the incentive to reorder your preferences strategically.[/quote]

I guess I'm taking issue with the idea of "being honest about your top choice".  It's kind of like people who adore Cap City but live all the way across DC and say "Yes, that would be my 1st choice, but no way am I making that commute twice a day".  If they put a closer school as #1, are they "not being honest about their top choice", or are they just taking all the factors they care about into consideration and coming up with their top choice based on that?

I think if it's the school you feel best about both having a chance at and being fine/thrilled with going to, it doesn't make sense to say "that's not honestly your top choice".  We are all calculating a lot of factors into which schools we prioritize, and likelihood of getting in is a huge one.[/quote]

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