Anonymous
01/09/2026 16:06
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Is 83 for Arlington diocese schools typically good enough for public school kids, good grades. Ecs. Torn on whether to keep at public if get in b/c I’m pretty sure will need to repeat math. HSPt not high enough.
83 is a solid score
It is?
Anonymous
01/09/2026 14:35
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The new OP here, when I say below average I mean below the national average, not the DCUM average (which seems to be very high).
I really don't know what happened. Again, honor roll all through middle school, NJHS, not an athlete but several extracurriculars and community service. A/B student.
I do appreciate the positivity.
Reads to me like the middle school he's at over-inflates grades?
That's a fair interpretation, except his PSAT 8/9 doesn't support it. He did fine (fine enough at least). Maybe anxiety? Bubbling mistakes? PSAT 8/9 was computer based.
Just occurred to me, if this is the recent OP, I would contact Gonzaga, explain that this test result seems like an anomaly, and send the PSAT scores. Might not help, but it could. I'd tell them the HSPT score doesn't align with other standardized testing and you are worried he skipped a line/messed up the sheet. Worth a shot.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 14:34
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter scored 45%ile and had A/B grades but amazing essays & recs. She got into ahc & sjc with FinAid. We were surprised she got accepted to sjc bc it was a competitive year and peers with higher hspt were rejected/waitlisted. No hooks coming from a k-8. She’s very happy at her HS now.
This happened with several classmates at my son’s K-8. Kids who thought they had a slim chance were accepted, and kids with stronger HSPT scores were totally turned down or waitlisted. Although super important, there is more to the formula than HSPT!
I’m so grateful for the honest conversations here and the glimmer of hope for the DCUM anomalies that are not in the 90th+ percentiles.
It's worth noting though, the anomalies more often than not have a hook. There's a stunningly small chance that an unhooked, non recruited athlete or kid without an amazing other talent gets admitted to, say, Gonzaga or Visi with a lower test score over someone same profile but 90+ HSPT.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 14:33
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Unhooked boys I've known (not sports recruits or siblings of existing students) were all in the 90% percentiles and above coming from parochial k-8s. The lower test score kids got waitlisted which I read as soft rejections. I can't speak to public school test score precedents but I'd def feel more confident with a higher end test score from any school.
There were at least two unhooked (other than coming from k-8) boys at my DS’s school who were accepted last year at Gonzaga with 60’s and 70’s HSPT.
How does everyone know the HSPT scores of other kids? My kids go to an Arlington diocese k-8 and no one talks about this.
The 70's kid was mine and the 60's was his friend. They all talk about it and open the results in front of each other even though they aren't supposed to.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 14:20
Subject: Re:If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
And remember that many Catholic schools like SJC make it their mission to educate a wide variety of students. Sadly there are only so many spaces, and athletic recruits / legacies / high scorers do have an edge, but schools take into account many things when creating the make up of their freshman classes.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 14:09
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My daughter scored 45%ile and had A/B grades but amazing essays & recs. She got into ahc & sjc with FinAid. We were surprised she got accepted to sjc bc it was a competitive year and peers with higher hspt were rejected/waitlisted. No hooks coming from a k-8. She’s very happy at her HS now.
This happened with several classmates at my son’s K-8. Kids who thought they had a slim chance were accepted, and kids with stronger HSPT scores were totally turned down or waitlisted. Although super important, there is more to the formula than HSPT!
I’m so grateful for the honest conversations here and the glimmer of hope for the DCUM anomalies that are not in the 90th+ percentiles.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 13:40
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:My daughter scored 45%ile and had A/B grades but amazing essays & recs. She got into ahc & sjc with FinAid. We were surprised she got accepted to sjc bc it was a competitive year and peers with higher hspt were rejected/waitlisted. No hooks coming from a k-8. She’s very happy at her HS now.
This happened with several classmates at my son’s K-8. Kids who thought they had a slim chance were accepted, and kids with stronger HSPT scores were totally turned down or waitlisted. Although super important, there is more to the formula than HSPT!
Anonymous
01/09/2026 13:14
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:My daughter scored 45%ile and had A/B grades but amazing essays & recs. She got into ahc & sjc with FinAid. We were surprised she got accepted to sjc bc it was a competitive year and peers with higher hspt were rejected/waitlisted. No hooks coming from a k-8. She’s very happy at her HS now.
Which school did she choose?
Anonymous
01/09/2026 12:38
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
My daughter scored 45%ile and had A/B grades but amazing essays & recs. She got into ahc & sjc with FinAid. We were surprised she got accepted to sjc bc it was a competitive year and peers with higher hspt were rejected/waitlisted. No hooks coming from a k-8. She’s very happy at her HS now.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 12:30
Subject: Re:If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My DC at a Catholic k-8 did poorly on the HSPT and got waitlisted at the Catholic high schools that he applied to. Ended up going to a private high school that was test optional.
Did it work out in the end? Is/was he happy there?
Worked out. He’s super happy and thriving. But it was stressful to have 3 waitlists and only 1 acceptance
Anonymous
01/09/2026 11:26
Subject: Re:If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:My DC at a Catholic k-8 did poorly on the HSPT and got waitlisted at the Catholic high schools that he applied to. Ended up going to a private high school that was test optional.
Did it work out in the end? Is/was he happy there?
Anonymous
01/09/2026 11:26
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Yeah, despite asking DC not to reveal their HSPT score, all the kids talked this week and we have a sense how many of them did.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 11:23
Subject: Re:If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
My DC at a Catholic k-8 did poorly on the HSPT and got waitlisted at the Catholic high schools that he applied to. Ended up going to a private high school that was test optional.
Anonymous
01/09/2026 10:46
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Unhooked boys I've known (not sports recruits or siblings of existing students) were all in the 90% percentiles and above coming from parochial k-8s. The lower test score kids got waitlisted which I read as soft rejections. I can't speak to public school test score precedents but I'd def feel more confident with a higher end test score from any school.
There were at least two unhooked (other than coming from k-8) boys at my DS’s school who were accepted last year at Gonzaga with 60’s and 70’s HSPT.
How does everyone know the HSPT scores of other kids? My kids go to an Arlington diocese k-8 and no one talks about this.
Mine is also at an Arlington diocese K-8, and kids are seemingly starting to share this week. It's not a schoolwide announcement, of course, but the kids are talking, and I'm sure moms will be soon, too. My kid has heard about 1/3 of the scores from their class so far.
Yep. Kids talk, news spreads. Just wait until acceptances come out and the kid who got an 80 on the HSPT is waitlisted while the kid who got a 70 is accepted at the same school. It is a really tense time between now and when the dust settles this spring!
Anonymous
01/09/2026 09:56
Subject: If your child did poorly on hspt, did they get in anywhere?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Unhooked boys I've known (not sports recruits or siblings of existing students) were all in the 90% percentiles and above coming from parochial k-8s. The lower test score kids got waitlisted which I read as soft rejections. I can't speak to public school test score precedents but I'd def feel more confident with a higher end test score from any school.
There were at least two unhooked (other than coming from k-8) boys at my DS’s school who were accepted last year at Gonzaga with 60’s and 70’s HSPT.
How does everyone know the HSPT scores of other kids? My kids go to an Arlington diocese k-8 and no one talks about this.
Mine is also at an Arlington diocese K-8, and kids are seemingly starting to share this week. It's not a schoolwide announcement, of course, but the kids are talking, and I'm sure moms will be soon, too. My kid has heard about 1/3 of the scores from their class so far.