Anonymous wrote:if you're worried, jump in during MS years.

Middle school - particularly for girls - is pretty much the worst part of a kid's childhood socially, so I would be very cautious about taking a kid from public and putting them into private for 6-8 unless they're either a) in a position finance/confidence/connections-wise to be one of the 'popular kids' or b) enough of an introvert that people will simply ignore them and they won't mind that.

A high-achieving upper-middle-class public school kid coming in in 6th grade and disrupting everybody's little pecking order might as well be walking around with a giant target on their back.

if I had it to do again, I would have sunk all that k-8 money into a bigger apartment in a great public school district. private for HS and college. I think we would have been happier and certainly richer, by a lot.

in retrospect, those social circles formed are important but the kids who came in during HS did just as well in every regard. and I think there's a myth out there that you can't get in during HS years and that's just not true. if you're worried, jump in during MS years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What schools offered zoom calls?

Spence

They offered the call to everyone that applied.

Anonymous wrote:What schools offered zoom calls?

Spence

What schools offered zoom calls?

Yes, we got offered those zoom calls too but I didn’t have any further questions so wasn’t sure what to do with it!

Everyone*

Have other families been offered zoom calls with admissions teams to answer any "last minute" questions about the process the last few days? Does this mean anything? Or is this offered to everything?

Personally, as somebody with two happy thriving well-adjusted middle schoolers who attended a crappy suburban public school (including through COVID!) for most of their elementary careers: it doesn't matter, your kid will turn out great either way, the fact that you care enough to go through this process means they're already 90% of the way there, by all means enjoy the suspense and excitement but don't let it deflate you if you don't get the result you want.

This forum has brought me immense joy, information and entertainment through the private K admissions process. My family has basically kept to ourselves so we share little info tips (eg, hey sign up for this event that just opened if you want), but haven’t had anything substantial to share or process until just recently. Easy to not gossip! And luckily - we are at peace with what may be - so kind of just want to keep to myself reading the MS gossip here until decision date. But I can tell not everyone has this same mindset. What are your tips to be supportive to others, also not gossip and avoid annoying our preschool? Maybe time to ask chat gpt but also asking here. Thanks!