That is probably true, yeah -- and yes, I was about 120 last year and something even worse the year before. It was fine b/c I wasn't sure I could make the drive with a brand-new baby, but now I REALLY want DD to get in and have no control over the process. Do you guys know how many applications they typically receive for K and 1st grade, and how many spots they have?

the PK list at Stokes didn't go anywhere. We have no confirmation that they even got to student number 5 on that list.

Anonymous wrote:I wasn't aware of how the waitlist worked the first year so didn't submit my application all that early, but last year I applied on the very first day the lottery opened (though not first thing in the morning b/c I didn't realize how crazy the competition would be -- my calendar beeped mid-morning and I remembered). This year I got it in right on time, but of course it no longer matters.

See, that's the key with Stokes... that's definitely why you didn't get even close to single digits the 1st 2 years. By the time you turned it in last year, you were still probably 100ish on the waitlist, right?. But those who did get in right at the beginning, they got in eventually although not for every grade obviously. As I said, I'm pretty sure they went to almost 15, maybe further on their K list last year. I know one of the two families I know who got in declined the spot, and it was before school had started too (didn't decline it for any reason re: Stokes; there were other issues they had to figure out). So the list did move a bit.

This is so interesting to me re: MV and people not being impressed. I was SO IN LOVE last year when we went to the open house. Granted, we missed the super crowded presentation (and got the 2nd, sparsely attended one later the same night), but I was so so so impressed. Didn't go this year because we're set at the school we're at (not MV), but MV was easily our 2nd fantasy choice last year. We were so sad when we got an impossible number there.

Well, all I can say is... if people are discouraged from applying and ranking it high... so much the better for people like me who loved everything about it! THIS is what is so great about ranking... even if the odds still suck overall, HOPEFULLY somehow the computers will fill the few slots there are with parents who ranked those schools #1. I KNOW that the computer doesn't quite function exactly that way, so please don't turn this thread into an algorithm discussion! But just saying, hopefully... as the matches are being made within preference groups, hopefully those who end up in the few spaces at IT and MV and TR etc will be the ones who ranked them #1.

I wasn't aware of how the waitlist worked the first year so didn't submit my application all that early, but last year I applied on the very first day the lottery opened (though not first thing in the morning b/c I didn't realize how crazy the competition would be -- my calendar beeped mid-morning and I remembered). This year I got it in right on time, but of course it no longer matters.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have any chance of getting into Stokes EVER? I have applied 3 years in a row and haven't even made it in the single digits. Do you know anyone who doesn't already have a sib there who has gotten in? It's been my first choice school for years, but so what?

The 1st 2 years you applied, how early did you get your application in? Were you aware that up until this year, Stokes was another school that ordered their waitlist by submission date/time? This year is the 1st year they're just ordering the waitlist randomly with their lottery.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, but Stokes seems particularly impossible. I have never heard of anyone getting in there who doesn't already have a family member in the school.

I know TWO families with no sibs or any connection who got in last year off the waitlist - this is for K - and they were right around 10 or a little more (less than 15 I think). '

It's not at all true that no one gets in without sib preference. PP who said you were in top 10 but never got a call, what grade were you trying for?

You don't get to choose b/t Spanish and French on the application. Though maybe more kids decline French spots? I am in it for the French myself...

Interesting. I know 2 kids who got into Stokes for K. French, not Spanish. Maybe there's less demand for French?

Yeah, but Stokes seems particularly impossible. I have never heard of anyone getting in there who doesn't already have a family member in the school.

Anonymous wrote:Same on Stokes - top 10, no call. I presume it's gonna be like this forever.

OP here. i feel like this is the way it is going to be for all schools. the process sucks!

Same on Stokes - top 10, no call. I presume it's gonna be like this forever.

Does anyone have any chance of getting into Stokes EVER? I have applied 3 years in a row and haven't even made it in the single digits. Do you know anyone who doesn't already have a sib there who has gotten in? It's been my first choice school for years, but so what?

Anonymous wrote:Mundo Verde sucks. Don't anyone rank them on your list. Flee. NO DATA, the administration is probably impossible and clueless.

The new building will probably be just as bad...

Not to mention that drug ridden, filthy neighborhood (I don't care how much the houses cost and that homeless shelter/soup kitchen around the corner.

I see what you did there....

I agree that the presentation was lacking, but the classroom materials looked really fun and inventive--especially if you want the Spanish immersion.