Anonymous wrote:How the hell can you pick from 500 kids? All with straight A’s? That’s ridiculous. We did not get the email and our kid did not get a four point now. This is frustrating. JR here we come. My child will be happy because waltz was not their first choice but I’m just gonna make the assumption now.

Anonymous wrote:How many interviews do they do each year? To 500 kids get invited for interviews or what is the number?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I meant that they did not get an email at all. Will there be another email for folks getting interviews? Or is the lack of email mean that their kid did not make the cut?

Wondering the same. Has anyone gotten an interview with less than a 4.0 so far?

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Anonymous wrote:Mom of ASD kid here. My point isn’t just that process seems arbitrary—it also strikes me as discriminatory.

It’s also a crappy admissions process. Part of DC’s race to the bottom.

Very simple-don't apply. Every school is not a fit for all types of kids. Top GPA and an interview is very clear. Not liking something doesn't make it arbitrary.

Having an interview be a major determinant of admissions allows SWW to shape their class, intentionally or unintentionally. It's a huge opportunity for bias. We also know that interview length and questions vary, so it's not like there's a standard set of questions and rubric. That is arbitrary.

But the problem is not that there's one school in DC that does this, it's that there are zero schools in DC where a kid with high grades and test scores is guaranteed admission and where they'll get anything approaching an appropriate education. You either live in a particular neighborhood, you win the lottery to a couple of charters, you win the interview lottery to a couple of selective admissions high schools, or all DC has for you are schools where a rounding error number of kids are going to have your academic needs.

So private schools interview so no complaining about them. We went thru that and was no different than SWW. What it sounds like is that you are pissed that you can't "prepare" for it. People have been doing that and gaming the testing system for years. Last I checked Banneker also.provides a good education for the type of kids you described. What's wrong with applying there?

Banneker is also not transparent and bases 60% of its decision on the interview. Thats HUGE.

Anonymous wrote:I don't especially care if current students with siblings applying conduct interviews.

Hopefully there's a policy of recusing yourself with anyone you know, and obviously if the applicant is related. Otherwise, even if you don't have a sibling in the applicant pool, you still might know someone from church, camp, soccer, the neighborhood, etc.

Anonymous wrote:It's quite possible that a cut-off is a 4.0.

They're looking at one year of grades.

A 4.0 allows kids to get a B+, A-, A- and A in those quarters in each class.
Most kids are able to do this and any kid going into an application high school SHOULD be able to do this. It's not a high standard.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, I meant that they did not get an email at all. Will there be another email for folks getting interviews? Or is the lack of email mean that their kid did not make the cut?

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Anonymous wrote:It's almost impossible to not have a 4.0 at Deal. grading had been very lenient in recent years.
You can get quarters of B+, A-, A- and A and still get an A for the class.

That’s not a Deal policy but DCPS.

Anonymous wrote:Is this the only email that will go out? We have friends with a kid with very similar grades to our kid (who did get an email) but didn't get an invite.