I did not fill in this information on the GDS application, and we were accepted anyway. Don't worry about it.

Im sorry but that is totally weird to ask ON AN ADMISSION APPLICATION! I would never give that info away on an application, my mother would kill me. My kids go to one of the more known (by name I guess) privates and we haven't been asked on admissions or any form. For grandparents day you had to fill out a form if you wanted an invitation sent. I assume from that list they started their marketing. But not from an admission application.

GDS has never sent any fundraising letters to the grandparents as far as I know. Although, I'm actually surprised they haven't!
However, they did send an invitation to Grandparents Day, and hosted an extremely nice event that day for them.

Anonymous wrote:They can get grandparent info for fundraising the same way everyone else does, by asking parents once they have signed the contract and started class. That is not why they are asking.

If this bothers you -- be aware: GDS has been known to do LinkedIn searches on parents of prospective applicants, too...

Really? I felt being judged like no other school when DC applied there.

Anonymous wrote:They can get grandparent info for fundraising the same way everyone else does, by asking parents once they have signed the contract and started class. That is not why they are asking.

If this bothers you -- be aware: GDS has been known to do LinkedIn searches on parents of prospective applicants, too...

And no other school in the metro area would ever consider doing this?

I'm sure it's so they can try to get a handle on the grandparents (finances, professions, importance) just as they do the parents. It seems a little obnoxious, IMO, but there's no other reason for it. If it were purely for Grandparents Day and fundraising it could wait until the child is enrolled.

I don't remember that from when we applied (many moons ago). Of course now GDS is looking for big pockets to fund their RE ventures. I wouldn't be surprised if that starts driving admissions decisions in more cases.