Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 13:34     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Not in a feeder preschool so maybe I’m totally off. Do we really expect negative feedback? I mean, of course there will be positive feedback. These are little kids going through assessments with little objective measures to decide admission. No one is going to say little Johnny did not color coordinate the balls so they’re likely not to get in. Positive feedback means your kid is great but doesn’t mean he has to be accepted.


We got negative feedback from our preschool director -- but we made it clear from the start I wanted candor and wouldnt be hurt... that we wanted the best fit for our child and any school that didnt think he was the right fit was probably correct in that assessment.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 13:24     Subject: Re:K Decisions
Did anyone apply to ECFS open to both Fieldston Lower and EC?
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 13:19     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:I didn’t know that either. I thought waitlist was rejection except for the true waitlist.


I had the same understanding. I’m curious which schools typically have a true waitlist?
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 13:06     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not in a feeder preschool so maybe I’m totally off. Do we really expect negative feedback? I mean, of course there will be positive feedback. These are little kids going through assessments with little objective measures to decide admission. No one is going to say little Johnny did not color coordinate the balls so they’re likely not to get in. Positive feedback means your kid is great but doesn’t mean he has to be accepted.


We know many people who received direct negative feedback from various schools. A good PSD will convey this.


seconding this. You should't be only getting positive feedback. it should be realistic from your PSD.


Our experience was that the PSD was as gentle as she could be. If we were excited about a place and it was not shaping up, she was clear it was not going to be a match. We moved on, so I agree you need to hear the good and bad. I wish ours had been a bit earlier on the negative because we probably wasted a couple weeks wishing away.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:46     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not in a feeder preschool so maybe I’m totally off. Do we really expect negative feedback? I mean, of course there will be positive feedback. These are little kids going through assessments with little objective measures to decide admission. No one is going to say little Johnny did not color coordinate the balls so they’re likely not to get in. Positive feedback means your kid is great but doesn’t mean he has to be accepted.


We know many people who received direct negative feedback from various schools. A good PSD will convey this.


seconding this. You should't be only getting positive feedback. it should be realistic from your PSD.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:37     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Not in a feeder preschool so maybe I’m totally off. Do we really expect negative feedback? I mean, of course there will be positive feedback. These are little kids going through assessments with little objective measures to decide admission. No one is going to say little Johnny did not color coordinate the balls so they’re likely not to get in. Positive feedback means your kid is great but doesn’t mean he has to be accepted.


We know many people who received direct negative feedback from various schools. A good PSD will convey this.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:34     Subject: K Decisions
Not in a feeder preschool so maybe I’m totally off. Do we really expect negative feedback? I mean, of course there will be positive feedback. These are little kids going through assessments with little objective measures to decide admission. No one is going to say little Johnny did not color coordinate the balls so they’re likely not to get in. Positive feedback means your kid is great but doesn’t mean he has to be accepted.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:18     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Waitlist at Trinity

Straight out rejection from Dalton. Didnt realize schools even send out rejections anymore!


Sorry.

Honestly I wish more of them did, I'd rather not be left in limbo by a school that has no actual chance of taking our kid - if waitlisting was consistently accurate then you would have a better idea of where you stood and what your odds were in each place. (we dealt with this last year and if we had know which of the waitlisted schools we actually had a shot at we would have acted very differently)

Though I'm surprised Dalton would do this since they seem like one of the more spacey / vibes-based admissions offices; HM on the other hand seems incredibly organized and probably has every kid assigned an exact rank order on their waitlist and yet as I understand it they waitlist everyone.


We received a straight out rejection from Brearley even though initial feedback was positive (though we did not FC them).


Wow.. that is really surprising and horrible. I thought it was horrible a few years ago when my friend was told by her PSD that she had really positive feedback from one of the SS to the point where my friend expected admission but got waitlisted. She told me that she was told her daughter would be one of the admits. So, she was so surprised to get WL instead. She still does not know what happened.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:12     Subject: K Decisions
Where did you get in?

We didnt first choice any school so guess we were never actually going to get in... We got in to other 2TT and are happy with those.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:11     Subject: K Decisions
I’d prefer a rejection instead of a waitlist. This whole process is painful and time consuming. Leaving parents in limbo is not necessary.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:08     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:Dalotn's admissions office is not spacey at all. They are extremely deliberate. Weird comment. Regardless, I actually think is preferable to give flat out rejections rather than the false hope of a WL (if there is really no chance the kid would ever get off the WL).


Interesting, maybe they just were so disinterested in my kid that they were slow about processing / responding to stuff for our application specifically (we didn't get in, needless to say) but I definitely came away with the strong impression that they were disorganized.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:06     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Waitlist at Trinity

Straight out rejection from Dalton. Didnt realize schools even send out rejections anymore!


Sorry.

Honestly I wish more of them did, I'd rather not be left in limbo by a school that has no actual chance of taking our kid - if waitlisting was consistently accurate then you would have a better idea of where you stood and what your odds were in each place. (we dealt with this last year and if we had know which of the waitlisted schools we actually had a shot at we would have acted very differently)

Though I'm surprised Dalton would do this since they seem like one of the more spacey / vibes-based admissions offices; HM on the other hand seems incredibly organized and probably has every kid assigned an exact rank order on their waitlist and yet as I understand it they waitlist everyone.


Dalotn's admissions office is not spacey at all. They are extremely deliberate. Weird comment. Regardless, I actually think is preferable to give flat out rejections rather than the false hope of a WL (if there is really no chance the kid would ever get off the WL).
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:05     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Waitlist at Trinity

Straight out rejection from Dalton. Didnt realize schools even send out rejections anymore!


Sorry.

Honestly I wish more of them did, I'd rather not be left in limbo by a school that has no actual chance of taking our kid - if waitlisting was consistently accurate then you would have a better idea of where you stood and what your odds were in each place. (we dealt with this last year and if we had know which of the waitlisted schools we actually had a shot at we would have acted very differently)

Though I'm surprised Dalton would do this since they seem like one of the more spacey / vibes-based admissions offices; HM on the other hand seems incredibly organized and probably has every kid assigned an exact rank order on their waitlist and yet as I understand it they waitlist everyone.


We received a straight out rejection from Brearley even though initial feedback was positive (though we did not FC them).
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 12:04     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Waitlist at Trinity

Straight out rejection from Dalton. Didnt realize schools even send out rejections anymore!


I am sorry to hear this. Did you first choice letter a different school?


We didnt first choice any school so guess we were never actually going to get in... We got in to other 2TT and are happy with those.



Glad to hear you have other 2TT. I’m guessing one is SS and other is HM? I’m really surprised Dalton would send out straight rejection.


Wow, you got into TT without first choice letter? that's awesome


I think he/she means second tier ?


Yes, I mean second tier. But that was to be expected without sending a first choice. Honestly, none of the schools wowed us so we are happy with going for convienance
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2026 11:57     Subject: K Decisions
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Waitlist at Trinity

Straight out rejection from Dalton. Didnt realize schools even send out rejections anymore!


I am sorry to hear this. Did you first choice letter a different school?


We didnt first choice any school so guess we were never actually going to get in... We got in to other 2TT and are happy with those.



Glad to hear you have other 2TT. I’m guessing one is SS and other is HM? I’m really surprised Dalton would send out straight rejection.


Wow, you got into TT without first choice letter? that's awesome


I think he/she means second tier ?