My dd was late (10 minutes at most) but I called and it was on a snowy day. She was accepted.

My dd was late (10 minutes at most) but I called and it was on a snowy day. She was accepted.

A couple years ago, I was one of the volunteer parents helping out at the admissions playdate session for my DS's school, and I was assigned to stand by the front door and help direct families to the right classrooms. There must have been 10 families that arrived 5-10 minutes late, and another half dozen families that arrived 15-30 minutes late. As we reached the 30-minute mark, one of the ADs came out to tell me I could leave for the day. AD said she felt sad for the families arriving so late, since their children would not get a fair chance to show their stuff in the classroom evaluations. I don't know for sure how ADs score things, but from the way she phrased her comments, my impression was that the ADs were not down-grading families who arrived late, and were not even keeping track, but that the children might indirectly suffer since they would have less time in the classrooms to interact with the playdate group. HTH.

FWIW, I'd definitely try to arrive on time for the playdate. They seem really wild and chaotic with so many children, and I'd want my child (and myself) to be as calm and organized as possible. But maybe that's just me.

Being late might make a difference in admissions, not because it reflects badly on your character -- we all are late sometimes -- but because it can be taken as a sign of how much you wants this spot at the school compared with another applicant, who makes the effort to be on time. Next time, leave earlier, much earlier. I don't care if I have to sit in the car for half an hour because I arrived early.

It's not going to kill your chances and hopefully they won't remember but if it comes down to you and one other candidate it may give them a reason to go w the other fsmily

The bigger issue is probably that your child is being tossed into the playdate late, while the other kids have had a little more time to adjust. And if you were stressed about being late some of that stress may have impacted him/her.

A friend of mine got into NCRC after being late to the play date. I'm not sure if she offered an excuse (I believe it was that she couldn't find parking), apologized, or what.

Definitely apologize

Agree on the apology. The more important stuff at playdates happens in the 2nd half anyway (one on one assessments, etc.).

Did you apologize profusely and have a good excuse? When someone is late, it's all the more annoying if they act as if it were no big deal.

What's done is done. I wouldn't waste energy worrying about it.

It doesn't make a good first impression, but around this area unforeseen traffic issue do arise. You apologize, offer an explanation and move on. Nothing much else you can do.

and does it matter if it was just five minutes or ... 15?