Hi, I have a son entering Kindergarten in August. I applied for the lottery because Arlington Traditional was my first choice. I had to apply to both ATS and Campbell because I do not want my son to go to Carlin Springs where we live. I did not realize that the lottery was this hard. We are spot #114 for ATS and #13 for Campbell. Any chance that he may get into Campbell?

I really wish I could have found somewhere in the Arlington Science Focus boundary but I had to move quickly due to a divorce so now I'm really worried. Worse come to worse are there any diverse private schools that parents recommend?

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have an older sibling at Claremont also. I’m out and can’t check the status but got an offer for another school. 😬I’ve NEVER heard of sibling preference NOT working out so it will probably all be fine, right🤣

PP here--we just got the Claremont offer a few minutes ago! What a relief! Sounds like there must have been several schools that did not update yesterday from what I'm seeing on social media.

We did too! yes, I believe some offer’s didn’t go out yesterday.

Anonymous wrote:We have an older sibling at Claremont also. I’m out and can’t check the status but got an offer for another school. 😬I’ve NEVER heard of sibling preference NOT working out so it will probably all be fine, right🤣

PP here--we just got the Claremont offer a few minutes ago! What a relief! Sounds like there must have been several schools that did not update yesterday from what I'm seeing on social media.

Anonymous wrote:In the past, how far down has the ATS lottery moved? We received a number that was lower than I expected, but I don't see many people dropping out there. We are wondering how to evaluate that if there are other options that we need to decide on.

Last year we were on the list for ATS at #11 or #12, and we moved about ten spots but did not get in. I think it just depends every year so it’s really hard to guess. The waiting game is hard!

In the past, how far down has the ATS lottery moved? We received a number that was lower than I expected, but I don't see many people dropping out there. We are wondering how to evaluate that if there are other options that we need to decide on.

We have an older sibling at Claremont also. I’m out and can’t check the status but got an offer for another school. 😬I’ve NEVER heard of sibling preference NOT working out so it will probably all be fine, right🤣

Are others getting notifications? We have an older sibling at Claremont and that still only says “submitted”. Giving me some anxiety.

Think about your preferences in terms of whether you’re willing to pass on any school hoping your number comes up at another school later. People definitely post their wait list numbers here so come back once results are out and start a thread for a school you are interested in if someone else hasn’t already. We’re at a language immersion school we wanted to get into. We were NOT trying to get away from out neighbor school. I knew someone who got off the waitlist for our school in august. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:Yes, go back and look for older threads. It's not a true lottery in the sense you think it is. Over the years APS has got better about being even less transparent on how it works.

What does that even mean? It is a blind lottery- each school has their own so, while unlikely, you can get into more than one. Once you choose one though, you drop off the waitlist of any other you entered. Some people will turn down a spot at a less preferred option if they think there is a chance they will get into their top choice. Also, not every person's first choice is ATS.

The best lottery is the one with a ticket out of APS.

Yes, go back and look for older threads. It's not a true lottery in the sense you think it is. Over the years APS has got better about being even less transparent on how it works.

^ also forgive the typos and good luck!

I’m not sure how many schools you applied to, but it would be very unlikely to have a choice. If you applied to more than 2 lotteries, I assume you are in the group of people that are hoping to lottery OUT of your neighborhood school rather than lottery IN to a specific option school. So you will go to ATS as your first choice, any other school, and neighborhood school as your last choice. It’s very unlikely that you’ll have a choice other than 1 lottery school and your neighborhood school. So if anything, I would only recommend analyzing if you would REALLY are crossing that neighborhood school of your list, rather than rating the various option schools against each other.

Your chance of getting in are about 4% so don't think about it. Once waitlisted, the waitlist will move as people choose their schools. Many enter more than one lottery. That will happen over the first week. After that, don't look at the waitlist again until August. That's the real number. Good luck

Is there anything our family should be thinking about ahead of the lottery results being distributed? Do we just think now about ranking our preferences in the very off chance that we get offered more than 1 spot on day 1? This is our first go around at this. Once the results are posted I am wondering how helpful it will be to track on here whether the waitlist moves or not. We applied to ATS like pretty much every family we know as our preference, but also other option schools.