Anonymous wrote:I'm glad you applied to multiple schools and increased your odds, OP. When we went through the process the only schools we felt were a reasonable commuting distance were Potomac and GDS. Our son diligently worked at SSAT prep and scored in the 80s and 90s, did his student visits and tried to show his best side... and then we got waitlisted at both schools.

WOW

I will share my experience. We are one year in elementary. It was stressful and we only applied to one school that goes until 12th. (feel grateful for that) We got in and are very happy. My DD had some specific desires for single gender that made it easier for us. We have good public options and have a child still in public. If it helps, we framed to our child that we don't know what's next until March but we know we have options. I would try really hard to keep positive thoughts about your current public option "worst case". I was prepared to re-apply as many times as needed each year to get the "best fit" rather than "anything but public" -- realize every family is different but our positivity toward public/options was calming.

Anonymous wrote:I think anyone who voluntarily puts themselves through the process of applying to private schools in this area, which is overflowing with outstanding public schools, deserves any stress and misery that comes their way as a result.

I do feel bad for your three, four and five year olds, though -- who you subject to poking and prodding at such young ages just so you can have an impressive bumper sticker for your Volvo.

The sum total of my child’s participation in the application process was a couple of 20-minute video assessment where she said her ABCs and 123s and came away saying she had a good time. Hardly scarred for life!

I actually found the application process (for K) pretty easy. But we have a great public fallback, so I’m not stressed if we get shut out of the two schools we applied to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think anyone who voluntarily puts themselves through the process of applying to private schools in this area, which is overflowing with outstanding public schools, deserves any stress and misery that comes their way as a result.

I do feel bad for your three, four and five year olds, though -- who you subject to poking and prodding at such young ages just so you can have an impressive bumper sticker for your Volvo.

My 4 yo had a blast doing show and tell on zoom, playing games, and getting to visit some cool new playgrounds.

But thanks for feeling bad for them. I will relay your sympathy.

Did you tell him he was being evaluated by strangers, as a four year old, to determine whether he we good enough to be permitted to mix with their tribe?

Anonymous wrote:I think anyone who voluntarily puts themselves through the process of applying to private schools in this area, which is overflowing with outstanding public schools, deserves any stress and misery that comes their way as a result.

I do feel bad for your three, four and five year olds, though -- who you subject to poking and prodding at such young ages just so you can have an impressive bumper sticker for your Volvo.

My 4 yo had a blast doing show and tell on zoom, playing games, and getting to visit some cool new playgrounds.

But thanks for feeling bad for them. I will relay your sympathy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a lot. We were going to apply to four for high school but ended up narrowing it down to three.

DC is applying to 6 for high school and I was naive about how much work this involved. My DC just wants it to be done. I really regret going to a k-8 and forcing this process onto my 13 year old. This has consumed their entire 8th grade year so far!

It does feel all consuming for 8th, but I will share I have a high schooler who went through the admissions process from a k-8 to high school and it definitely prepares you for the college process. My child is comfortable with the idea of testing, applications and doing extra curriculars in HS for the college app. Compared to their friends that have done k-12, I feel like my child is better prepared for the process.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The process is indeed stressful but I’ve found that the when it’s over I realized that I put a lot of that stress on myself.

Rest assured that you will be accepted to at least one school that is a top choice and you will be happy.

For now, just relax until March, which I know is hard to do because this has been such a significant commitment of your time over the past few months.

Huh? We were shut out for 7th grade with an awesome kid.

Reapplied for 9th. Know many kids (10+) who were shut out.

I get being positive but this is not truthful unless you are applying to lower tier schools.

7th is not an entry year - so being shut out - when you knew the chances were close to 0 is not something to complain about.

huh? 7th is an entry year for most schools.

Wrong. 6th and 9th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think anyone who voluntarily puts themselves through the process of applying to private schools in this area, which is overflowing with outstanding public schools, deserves any stress and misery that comes their way as a result.

I do feel bad for your three, four and five year olds, though -- who you subject to poking and prodding at such young ages just so you can have an impressive bumper sticker for your Volvo.

Well, aren't you a peach?

Yea, well, I just don't get it. And I feel sorry for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:I think anyone who voluntarily puts themselves through the process of applying to private schools in this area, which is overflowing with outstanding public schools, deserves any stress and misery that comes their way as a result.

I do feel bad for your three, four and five year olds, though -- who you subject to poking and prodding at such young ages just so you can have an impressive bumper sticker for your Volvo.

Well, aren't you a peach?

I think anyone who voluntarily puts themselves through the process of applying to private schools in this area, which is overflowing with outstanding public schools, deserves any stress and misery that comes their way as a result.

I do feel bad for your three, four and five year olds, though -- who you subject to poking and prodding at such young ages just so you can have an impressive bumper sticker for your Volvo.

I see how stressed these 8th graders get and decided I wasn’t doing that to my kid, especially with the current youth mental health crisis. We applied to two schools and will go public if it doesn’t work out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a lot. We were going to apply to four for high school but ended up narrowing it down to three.

DC is applying to 6 for high school and I was naive about how much work this involved. My DC just wants it to be done. I really regret going to a k-8 and forcing this process onto my 13 year old. This has consumed their entire 8th grade year so far!

It does become all consuming, which is unfortunate. The kids hear about it at school, at home, etc. It’s constantly on in the background of everything else.

Good luck, six is a lot!

Anonymous wrote:It’s a lot. We were going to apply to four for high school but ended up narrowing it down to three.

DC is applying to 6 for high school and I was naive about how much work this involved. My DC just wants it to be done. I really regret going to a k-8 and forcing this process onto my 13 year old. This has consumed their entire 8th grade year so far!

I didn’t mind the k-8 application process for 9th. It gave my kids a chance to think about where they’re going, and understand a little what college apps might be like.

I think some folks need to calm down about Top schools. The DMV has a lot of extremely good schools. Catholic schools. Public schools. Outside EC available to kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The process is indeed stressful but I’ve found that the when it’s over I realized that I put a lot of that stress on myself.

Rest assured that you will be accepted to at least one school that is a top choice and you will be happy.

For now, just relax until March, which I know is hard to do because this has been such a significant commitment of your time over the past few months.

Huh? We were shut out for 7th grade with an awesome kid.

Reapplied for 9th. Know many kids (10+) who were shut out.

I get being positive but this is not truthful unless you are applying to lower tier schools.

I agree with PP. We applied to competitive schools from a good private elementary school and got our 3rd choice. We are not happy now and wondering what we will do for HS. It's not a good fit... academically it is, but not culturally. It's frustrating to pay 40k+/yr for something were not really happy with.

Thing is, that's really hard to know (unfortunately) until you get there and start attending. It might seem great during the process, but once you're there it's different.