Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here - what are hooks? I understand about being a top athlete or musician - obviously too early to know any of that for our kids. Any other common hooks we should know about?

The only hooks that matter at K are sibling at school, alumni parent, or money/famous/fancy person. Sports are a hook later on but that’s mostly a 9th grade admission things. Music is never a hook but not a bad thing to have on an application

You might want to add “feeder school” to the list for high school. While not as powerful a hook as alumni connection or special sports ability, it could make a difference at the margin. Schools have special, symbiotic relationships with the “feeders” based on history, trust and shared interest. Of course, that could work against a candidate too, as feeders will sometimes informally tout schools off of some candidates based on subjective attributes not captured on applications. This might include information on parental behavior.

Anonymous wrote:Op here - what are hooks? I understand about being a top athlete or musician - obviously too early to know any of that for our kids. Any other common hooks we should know about?

The only hooks that matter at K are sibling at school, alumni parent, or money/famous/fancy person. Sports are a hook later on but that’s mostly a 9th grade admission things. Music is never a hook but not a bad thing to have on an application

Op here - what are hooks? I understand about being a top athlete or musician - obviously too early to know any of that for our kids. Any other common hooks we should know about?

This is great to know and the info I was looking for. Thank you.

in addition to applying early, make sure you look into what the starting grades are, and which years they expand the class. Some schools have programs for 3 year olds, some start in Pre-K and some in K. Also, if you like a school, it can sometimes help to apply a second time if you don’t get in the first time.

Get your kids in early if you want one of the k-12s. Admissions in the early years is about the family and the school’s institutional priorities rather than the student. Merit matters more the older they get but kids without hooks have to be better than those with hooks to get admitted. If you aren’t chasing prestige then merit matters more.

So if you want a particular US, apply as early as you can afford - esp if your student is unhooked.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks for the ideas. Yes, I understand this is a long way off. But it also seems like there is an extensive feeder system and that it doesn’t hurt to be aware.

Re: co-ed, we are open to that for both kids! For single sex, it sounds like there are unique advantages for girls, and unique disadvantages for boys, so we are less open to single-sex education for DS.

You have zero perspective frankly. If I did all the things I said I wouldn’t do when I first had kids, then I’d be a really terrible parent. You don’t know how much you and they will change in the intervening years. Like no travel sports. Haha. Just wait. You’ll grow up really fast in ten years and when your child is 14—all of a sudden—Landon and STA and wherever else might not seem like “unique disadvantages.” You are a toddler and so are they. A decade lady.

Please just go enjoy your *toddlers* and don’t get so wrapped up in all this. You still have a long parenting journey ahead and should try to live in the moment a bit more.