Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Here's the link:
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/SY2022-23ShortWaitlists/ShortWaitlists
With that in mind, I currently have 15 schools on my list and can only rank 12. The following schools are on my list of 15 AND on the 2022-23 list of schools with short waitlist. If I need to cut my list by 3, any thoughts on which to eliminate based on historical data? The 5 on my list of 15 and and the list of short waitlists are: Thomson, Meridian PCS, Bethune-16th, AppleTree Columbia Heights
I'm a type A worrier, and I'm going to take an educated guess that you are too. So at the end of the day, what you want is a guarantee. A seat that your kid will absolutely get, no matter what. Out of that list, the only one that is a true, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency safety is Meridian. They have had a single digit waitlist on results day every year for the past six years, and every single one of those kids has been offered a slot by June. (
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/aaron2446/viz/MSDCSeatsandWaitlistOfferData_draft/MSDCPublicDisplay).
So if I were you, I would rank your schools in order of true preference, and take the top 12. IF Meridian is not in your top 12, I would drop your #12 off your list and replace it with Meridian. And if you really do not get any of your top 11 and end up matched to Meridian, and you decide that want to try to get a post lottery match at one of those other three schools rather than go to Meridian, then you have a very good chance at doing so AND you're not in a panic situation as you have a solid option locked in.
PP here just to add - I would NOT do what you're thinking of doing, which is essentially removing most of the safety schools from your list because you'll have a shot at them later. That does NOT make sense. You're trying to have it all. At the end of the day, your kid isn't going to 15 schools - he's going to one. If Thomson, Bethune-16th, and AppleTree Columbia Heights are numbers #12, #13, and #14 on your preference list, with Meridian at #15, then yes, drop them, take the sure thing, and you can always try post lottery for one of them if you end up at Meridian, and that'll prob work out anyway. If (for example) AppleTree Columbia Heights is actually, say #8 on your preference list, and you're considering dropping it because you could "get in anyway" why would you do that?? It's nearly a sure thing, and it's what you want! Take it and don't borrow trouble - you could try your plan and then get shut out, it's too risky. Remember, we can see that all the kids waitlisted on results day got in, but it's very possible that one or more years, that filled up the classes and they didn't have slots for the post-lottery.
It sounds like you're trying to kick the can down the road on figuring out what you want. That's a mistake. Figure out what you want NOW and do your ranking accordingly. You're not going to have more information in the post-lottery, but you ARE going to have dramatically fewer options and more risk.