socool17 wrote:So with that said, is it even worth listing any of the "popular" schools on your lottery then?

It is for charters, if you get lucky with a good number. The popular DCPS schools don't admit any OOB students in PK, so they will be a wasted spot if you have others to list (you can check last year's data to see if they have admitted OOB in the past).

Also, the DC Lottery website indicates it doesn't matter how early you submit your application as long as it's done prior to the March 1 deadline. Is this also true?

Yikes. The master number is the number you're assigned once you submit? Sorry, I'm new to this lol.

socool17 wrote:So with that said, is it even worth listing any of the "popular" schools on your lottery then?

Of course. Because you get a master number and if you get a really good one, you will get into one of your top choices, even if that one is a "popular" school.

But you could get a poor master number, and only get into your IB, or if your IB is at a popular school, you could be waitlisted there.

socool17 wrote:So with that said, is it even worth listing any of the "popular" schools on your lottery then?

Sure. If you have empty spots, go ahead and list the popular ones.

socool17 wrote:My daughter's in bound school is Backus. The ratings for this school are poor, from what I'm reading. I was going to list them...but as selection 12.

"The ratings" may not give you a full picture. For one thing, most DCPS do early childhood education fairly well. The curriculum is very standardized, naps are built in, most activities occur in the classroom, and class sizes are small.

"The ratings" probably means test scores, which only apply to grade 3 and above. 3yo do not take standardized tests. My advice is to go to the school and ask for a tour. I don't see any open houses listed on their MySchoolDC profile, so maybe call and ask if there are any scheduled soon. Make your own decisions based on actually seeing the school.

If you list them as #12 and get in, which is likely, you will remain on the waitlist for the 11 schools you rank above it.

So with that said, is it even worth listing any of the "popular" schools on your lottery then?

It can easily happen if you don't list any safeties. We lotteried twice for PK with twins, so four shots. Didn't get into any of the popular schools. It was ok because we did get into a safety with which we were happy for PK and we had a good IB to go to for K. If that hadn't been the case we would have had to move. Just to say, the odds are not great for the popular schools.

My daughter's in bound school is Backus. The ratings for this school are poor, from what I'm reading. I was going to list them...but as selection 12.

socool17 wrote:smh dam really?! The stress of all this!

Lottery Strategy 101:

1) List your in-bounds school, unless you would truly be unwilling to send your 3yo there.
2) List 11 other schools, unless you cannot identify 11 other schools you'd be willing to send your 3yo to.
3) Have a backup plan in case you do not get into any of those schools.

Most people get into one of their choices. The only people I know who have been truly "shut out" have only listed very popular charter schools or OOB DCPS.

It doesn't actually have to be stressful. You just have to recognize that the odds of your child getting into one of the popular schools - charter or DCPS - are very, very low.

smh dam really?! The stress of all this!

Happened to us two years in a row. Have a backup plan.

Thank you!

It happens. http://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/dc/sites/myschooldc/page/L_applications_yearoveryear_04182017.pdf

There are more seats available than students who lottery for them at every grade -- even Pk3 -- but they are not necessarily where you are willing to send your child.

You can find this data sliced a few ways on the data page of msdc. http://www.myschooldc.org/resources/data

Hello everyone! Has anyone ever NOT had any of their lottery choices selected? What is the likelihood of this happening?