Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good pyramid is more important than getting into an AAP. Just buy in Woodson and let everything fall into places.

The in-pool cut-off is top 10% of combined COGAT and NNAT score of LOCAL SCHOOL. For example if you have 80 kids in second grade of an elementary school, there would be 8 kids in-pool.

Ok, but what if I want both, like many do? But it's not just top 10% right? There's also parent referral kids, which will partially overlap with the in-pool kids. Is 10% the total number selected from the base school?

Of course we all want both, that's why there are preps. All I am saying is that don't buy in less competitive HS just to go to AAP.

The 10% is the in pool threshold. The top 10% of the kids in that elementary school will be in pool, no more, no less. The total AAP kid from a school is way more than that. Because in my son's elementary school there are 88 kids, so in pool is ~ 9. But the center school has approx one class for each feeder elementary school, so the total AAP kid from his school would be in the 20+.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good pyramid is more important than getting into an AAP. Just buy in Woodson and let everything fall into places.

The in-pool cut-off is top 10% of combined COGAT and NNAT score of LOCAL SCHOOL. For example if you have 80 kids in second grade of an elementary school, there would be 8 kids in-pool.

Ok, but what if I want both, like many do? But it's not just top 10% right? There's also parent referral kids, which will partially overlap with the in-pool kids. Is 10% the total number selected from the base school?

There are about 20% of the FCPS kids in AAP but the in-pool from a school represents the top 10% of students on the NNAT and CoGAT.

In-pool is probably less important at the higher SES schools than it is in the Title 1 schools. The parents at the higher SES schools are better informed and preparing to refer if their child isn’t in-pool. The parents at Title 1 schools are less likely to be aware of AAP and less likely to parent refer. The pool is meant to capture kids who need to be challenged but are less likely to be considered without the pool or Teacher referrals.

Local scores for each school means that the top kids from each kids will be considered and yes, the kids from a Title 1 school will look very different then the kids at a higher SES school.

This is interesting to think about. If we assume--hypothetically--that at a high SES school 100% of the parents of kids who are in pool also refer their kids, then that essentially would mean all 20% are parent referred, with half also having the highest scores and the other half who knows...parent could do a lot to make the overall package look strong in the absence of top NNAT/CogAT scores.

Contrast this with a hypothetical low SES school where 0% of parents refer their kids, then you could in theory have the top 20% of test takers (assuming no teacher referrals in this hypothetical example). So in reality, what would happen in such a case? Would the other 10% come from teacher referrals or would the cutoff for in-pool be lowered to include more students? I would imagine that when teachers refer, they are probably looking at the test scores too.

That all said, I think it's a fiction that academically strong children at low SES schools are not prepped or do not have involved parents. Yet their parents may be less likely strategize to get their children admitted in the way that high SES parents do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good pyramid is more important than getting into an AAP. Just buy in Woodson and let everything fall into places.

The in-pool cut-off is top 10% of combined COGAT and NNAT score of LOCAL SCHOOL. For example if you have 80 kids in second grade of an elementary school, there would be 8 kids in-pool.

Ok, but what if I want both, like many do? But it's not just top 10% right? There's also parent referral kids, which will partially overlap with the in-pool kids. Is 10% the total number selected from the base school?

There are about 20% of the FCPS kids in AAP but the in-pool from a school represents the top 10% of students on the NNAT and CoGAT.

In-pool is probably less important at the higher SES schools than it is in the Title 1 schools. The parents at the higher SES schools are better informed and preparing to refer if their child isn’t in-pool. The parents at Title 1 schools are less likely to be aware of AAP and less likely to parent refer. The pool is meant to capture kids who need to be challenged but are less likely to be considered without the pool or Teacher referrals.

Local scores for each school means that the top kids from each kids will be considered and yes, the kids from a Title 1 school will look very different then the kids at a higher SES school.

Anonymous wrote:No it’s about 20%.

Ok so it could be that 10% in pool overlaps with parent referred kids significantly, so it's definitely more than the top 10% of the kids in that grade.

No it’s about 20%.

Anonymous wrote:A good pyramid is more important than getting into an AAP. Just buy in Woodson and let everything fall into places.

The in-pool cut-off is top 10% of combined COGAT and NNAT score of LOCAL SCHOOL. For example if you have 80 kids in second grade of an elementary school, there would be 8 kids in-pool.

Ok, but what if I want both, like many do? But it's not just top 10% right? There's also parent referral kids, which will partially overlap with the in-pool kids. Is 10% the total number selected from the base school?

Anonymous wrote:A good pyramid is more important than getting into an AAP. Just buy in Woodson and let everything fall into places.

The in-pool cut-off is top 10% of combined COGAT and NNAT score of LOCAL SCHOOL. For example if you have 80 kids in second grade of an elementary school, there would be 8 kids in-pool.

or the top 8 scores as kids can have the same score

A good pyramid is more important than getting into an AAP. Just buy in Woodson and let everything fall into places.

The in-pool cut-off is top 10% of combined COGAT and NNAT score of LOCAL SCHOOL. For example if you have 80 kids in second grade of an elementary school, there would be 8 kids in-pool.

Anonymous wrote:I think the strongest indicator of inpool cutoffs is the FARMS rate, rather than the pyramid. Even in the Mclean pyramid, there is variation among the ESs.

But what about being a center vs a non-center elementary school? Wouldn't cutoffs be higher at a center school, all else equal?

Anonymous wrote:Two years ago, a 137 COGAT didn't cut it for my DS to be in the pool in the Woodson pyramid. It truly didn't matter though as he got into AAP on the first round anyhow.

Second DC had a 131 this year, also not in pool.

But what was the elementary school? In-pool cutoff will vary by elementary right?

Congrats on raising two bright children. Sorry to hear these scores are not in pool.

Anonymous wrote:As you can search on this forum, there are plenty of cases where even being in 99th percentile across the criteria was not enough to get into AAP. Yes, this is because most AAP-inclined parents are also wealthier and can afford those pyramids. A practically guaranteed loophole is to attend a school that traditionally sends less kids to AAP where a high-performer outshines everyone.

I mean cut offs for in-pool test scores not percentiles. I know 99th percentile is not meaningful (although parents miss no opportunity to drop that number into a thread).

Two years ago, a 137 COGAT didn't cut it for my DS to be in the pool in the Woodson pyramid. It truly didn't matter though as he got into AAP on the first round anyhow.

Second DC had a 131 this year, also not in pool.

As you can search on this forum, there are plenty of cases where even being in 99th percentile across the criteria was not enough to get into AAP. Yes, this is because most AAP-inclined parents are also wealthier and can afford those pyramids. A practically guaranteed loophole is to attend a school that traditionally sends less kids to AAP where a high-performer outshines everyone.

I think the strongest indicator of inpool cutoffs is the FARMS rate, rather than the pyramid. Even in the Mclean pyramid, there is variation among the ESs.

Does anyone know what the cutoff is for these schools? Buying a house and focusing on this pyramid. Presumably the cutoffs at the center schools will be higher because more families buy there with AAP in mind?