Anonymous wrote:It is not an admissions test, it is a placement test, hsPt P for Placement, meaning that it determines which classes your child will be in when he or she attends the school. This is what I was told when I expressed concerns about my DC's low score. They didn't seem at all concerned about DC gaining admission, and they have a long record of being a feeder school to DC's first HS choice.

I've found that Catholic schools in this area really don't focus as much on getting the top scoring students, otherwise why even are there "regular" "honors" "college prep" levels of English, Math, etc., which all have similar number of students per class? The schools are looking for other things, either children of alumni, or good teacher recommendations, or good athletes, and yes, good students as well, but they are not trying to just pick a class full of 99th %ile students.

Best of luck everyone!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not an admissions test, it is a placement test, hsPt P for Placement, meaning that it determines which classes your child will be in when he or she attends the school. This is what I was told when I expressed concerns about my DC's low score. They didn't seem at all concerned about DC gaining admission, and they have a long record of being a feeder school to DC's first HS choice.

I've found that Catholic schools in this area really don't focus as much on getting the top scoring students, otherwise why even are there "regular" "honors" "college prep" levels of English, Math, etc., which all have similar number of students per class? The schools are looking for other things, either children of alumni, or good teacher recommendations, or good athletes, and yes, good students as well, but they are not trying to just pick a class full of 99th %ile students.

Best of luck everyone!

That is true of every school that has a non-honors track. People on here just don't want to believe it for some reason.

+1. These are not top prep schools. Their mission is to educate everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As for Gonzaga, when I attended a small parent-only tour in 2019, the admissions director made it very clear that being a legacy was not one of the five criteria for admission. And that a legacy is defined as: (1) your father graduated from Gonzaga, or (2) you have a brother currently enrolled at Gonzaga.

Why would legacy need a definition if it wasn’t a factor? Come on now. Common sense.

You need to read more carefully before commenting. The admissions director did not say that being a legacy was not a factor in determining admission. What he did say is that you first must meet the five mandatory criteria for admission before legacy status is even considered.

YOU need to read correctly. A brother currently enrolled is called sibling preference and not legacy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As for Gonzaga, when I attended a small parent-only tour in 2019, the admissions director made it very clear that being a legacy was not one of the five criteria for admission. And that a legacy is defined as: (1) your father graduated from Gonzaga, or (2) you have a brother currently enrolled at Gonzaga.

Why would legacy need a definition if it wasn’t a factor? Come on now. Common sense.

You need to read more carefully before commenting. The admissions director did not say that being a legacy was not a factor in determining admission. What he did say is that you first must meet the five mandatory criteria for admission before legacy status is even considered.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As for Gonzaga, when I attended a small parent-only tour in 2019, the admissions director made it very clear that being a legacy was not one of the five criteria for admission. And that a legacy is defined as: (1) your father graduated from Gonzaga, or (2) you have a brother currently enrolled at Gonzaga.

Why would legacy need a definition if it wasn’t a factor? Come on now. Common sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the percentile is created versus students in the previous testing year? This doesn’t seem correct, as those students had a different test. My understanding is that it compares students who took the same test in the same calendar year.

Out of curiosity, was it the January or December testing date that had many students bomb who normally fare much better? Curious, as my January test-taker didn’t score as well as he normally would, particularly in math, and we chalked it up to the slide from virtual learning. We are considering having him repeat Algebra in high school as a result.

I would prepare yourself that the school may make him repeat algebra. Don't expect to have a choice.

Anonymous wrote:Someone mentioned to me that HSPT is used primarily for placement as oppose to admissions, at lease that’s what they were told at St John’s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As for Gonzaga, when I attended a small parent-only tour in 2019, the admissions director made it very clear that being a legacy was not one of the five criteria for admission. And that a legacy is defined as: (1) your father graduated from Gonzaga, or (2) you have a brother currently enrolled at Gonzaga.

Why would legacy need a definition if it wasn’t a factor? Come on now. Common sense.

Anonymous wrote:As for Gonzaga, when I attended a small parent-only tour in 2019, the admissions director made it very clear that being a legacy was not one of the five criteria for admission. And that a legacy is defined as: (1) your father graduated from Gonzaga, or (2) you have a brother currently enrolled at Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the percentile is created versus students in the previous testing year? This doesn’t seem correct, as those students had a different test. My understanding is that it compares students who took the same test in the same calendar year.

Out of curiosity, was it the January or December testing date that had many students bomb who normally fare much better? Curious, as my January test-taker didn’t score as well as he normally would, particularly in math, and we chalked it up to the slide from virtual learning. We are considering having him repeat Algebra in high school as a result.

I would prepare yourself that the school may make him repeat algebra. Don't expect to have a choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bump...Just got my son's scores and we could have written the same post! He did really really badly on the HSPT, well below average...and this is a kid who tested as GT in elementary school and a A/B student in public middle school. His top choice is Good Counsel, does anyone think he still has a chance of getting in??

He will be fine.

Anonymous wrote:Bump...Just got my son's scores and we could have written the same post! He did really really badly on the HSPT, well below average...and this is a kid who tested as GT in elementary school and a A/B student in public middle school. His top choice is Good Counsel, does anyone think he still has a chance of getting in??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the percentile is created versus students in the previous testing year? This doesn’t seem correct, as those students had a different test. My understanding is that it compares students who took the same test in the same calendar year.

Out of curiosity, was it the January or December testing date that had many students bomb who normally fare much better? Curious, as my January test-taker didn’t score as well as he normally would, particularly in math, and we chalked it up to the slide from virtual learning. We are considering having him repeat Algebra in high school as a result.

I would prepare yourself that the school may make him repeat algebra. Don't expect to have a choice.