Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 07:23     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:Also we really need to decide about whether TT is “every school that accepts fewer than half the kids who apply” or “five specific schools” because right now people are picking whichever interpretation suits their argument better and not sharing which one they used.


this.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 00:15     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Also we really need to decide about whether TT is “every school that accepts fewer than half the kids who apply” or “five specific schools” because right now people are picking whichever interpretation suits their argument better and not sharing which one they used.
Anonymous
Post 02/13/2026 00:13     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
This is an anonymous forum, guys, you should probably consider that when someone is talking about how their kid got into six impossible schools for kindergarten or whatever they might be at least stretching the truth a wee bit.

(Also, if you had a vendetta against a particular school, you could easily pretend to be half a dozen different people with bad experiences there - could even use an AI to make yourself sound different)
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 23:35     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyone telling you you’re insane is insane. Do what’s best for your kid! My best friend who is incredibly talented / smart / pedigreed sends her child to a school considered to be second or even third tier when she had the option to go TT. Her child is thriving. I sent mine to a TT but only because it was the right one for her and don’t know if I would send her to any of the other TTs. Go with your gut and if you are truly unsure, ask your child’s head teacher for additional color on learning style (unless you’ve already had a PT conference in the last month or so).


This. I turned down Brearley a few days ago for a "2T" because I don't want my daughter crushed at a pressure cooker school while she is still so young. If she's genuinely capable, and not just a chatty preschooler who presents well in interviews, she will succeed regardless. My husband and I are public high school grads from the unwashed masses who went to colleges that all of you would be embarrassed to be associated with. His income is 8 figures and rising for no reason other than that he's brilliant and hardworking (and not to mention actually likable, which has played a huge role in his career success), which then lets me stay at home and give all of my attention to raising our kids. We have close friends from grad school who went to HM, Collegiate, and Trinity and are not even considering sending their kids there because they don't think the stress is necessary and do not believe their own life outcomes would have been materially worse without those schools. I have a friend who went to Trinity/Princeton who was in a mental health facility at one point and can barely function now.

All of this is to say that if your kids actually have the goods, they will succeed and go far in life. If not, no amount of scheming and machinations on your part will make them succeed, even with a Trinity/Harvard pedigree. All you should care about is that they are happy and healthy, because you can't control what ultimately happens in another person's life.


Did you turn Brearley down for Chapin or Nightingale/Sacred Heart? Curious which 2T



Is Chapin 2T??
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 23:07     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Because we all know she’s lying
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 22:34     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Had this same experience last year at a SS girls school after what we thought was super positive feedback. WL ended up not moving. It was frustrating to have had our hopes up for what seemed like no good reason, especially as we had initially thought the school was a long shot. Hang in there! It will work out for the best


Curious what school? Now I am even more nervous.

If we get waitlisted to our second choice I think our child will need to go to our zoned public school. Which also means she would have to skip to 1st grade. Oh what fun.


If you've only applied to 2 schools you must know this is a possibility???


We applied to more than 2 schools. We applied to 8. A mid of co-ed and SS


Why do they recommend applying to 8-10 if you almost never get in without a FC letter? Does anyone actually get more than 1-2 admits?


Yes. We got five. Two TT and three 2T. Plus two TT WL. Unconnected family, no hook. Feeder preschool, though (that brokered kids). Many of the families got multiple TT offers.


I can't believe no one has commented on this. In a year that several "top" preschools have multiple families who ended up completely waitlisted and are now embarking on a secondary application process-- what magical unicorn of a preschool is this?

I know you won't tell us, but will you give us UES, UWS, downtown, or other?
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 22:30     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
If you are asking which “2T” you are missing the point!
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 22:25     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:Did you turn Brearley down for Chapin or Nightingale/Sacred Heart? Curious which 2T



I'm the poster above and you are actually pathetic. My entire point is that it DOES NOT MATTER which primary school my daughter is attending.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 22:20     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyone telling you you’re insane is insane. Do what’s best for your kid! My best friend who is incredibly talented / smart / pedigreed sends her child to a school considered to be second or even third tier when she had the option to go TT. Her child is thriving. I sent mine to a TT but only because it was the right one for her and don’t know if I would send her to any of the other TTs. Go with your gut and if you are truly unsure, ask your child’s head teacher for additional color on learning style (unless you’ve already had a PT conference in the last month or so).


This. I turned down Brearley a few days ago for a "2T" because I don't want my daughter crushed at a pressure cooker school while she is still so young. If she's genuinely capable, and not just a chatty preschooler who presents well in interviews, she will succeed regardless. My husband and I are public high school grads from the unwashed masses who went to colleges that all of you would be embarrassed to be associated with. His income is 8 figures and rising for no reason other than that he's brilliant and hardworking (and not to mention actually likable, which has played a huge role in his career success), which then lets me stay at home and give all of my attention to raising our kids. We have close friends from grad school who went to HM, Collegiate, and Trinity and are not even considering sending their kids there because they don't think the stress is necessary and do not believe their own life outcomes would have been materially worse without those schools. I have a friend who went to Trinity/Princeton who was in a mental health facility at one point and can barely function now.

All of this is to say that if your kids actually have the goods, they will succeed and go far in life. If not, no amount of scheming and machinations on your part will make them succeed, even with a Trinity/Harvard pedigree. All you should care about is that they are happy and healthy, because you can't control what ultimately happens in another person's life.


Did you turn Brearley down for Chapin or Nightingale/Sacred Heart? Curious which 2T

Anonymous
Post 02/12/2026 22:11     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:Anyone telling you you’re insane is insane. Do what’s best for your kid! My best friend who is incredibly talented / smart / pedigreed sends her child to a school considered to be second or even third tier when she had the option to go TT. Her child is thriving. I sent mine to a TT but only because it was the right one for her and don’t know if I would send her to any of the other TTs. Go with your gut and if you are truly unsure, ask your child’s head teacher for additional color on learning style (unless you’ve already had a PT conference in the last month or so).


This. I turned down Brearley a few days ago for a "2T" because I don't want my daughter crushed at a pressure cooker school while she is still so young. If she's genuinely capable, and not just a chatty preschooler who presents well in interviews, she will succeed regardless. My husband and I are public high school grads from the unwashed masses who went to colleges that all of you would be embarrassed to be associated with. His income is 8 figures and rising for no reason other than that he's brilliant and hardworking (and not to mention actually likable, which has played a huge role in his career success), which then lets me stay at home and give all of my attention to raising our kids. We have close friends from grad school who went to HM, Collegiate, and Trinity and are not even considering sending their kids there because they don't think the stress is necessary and do not believe their own life outcomes would have been materially worse without those schools. I have a friend who went to Trinity/Princeton who was in a mental health facility at one point and can barely function now.

All of this is to say that if your kids actually have the goods, they will succeed and go far in life. If not, no amount of scheming and machinations on your part will make them succeed, even with a Trinity/Harvard pedigree. All you should care about is that they are happy and healthy, because you can't control what ultimately happens in another person's life.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 20:15     Subject: Re:Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Meant to write “school”
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 20:12     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:Here is what is truly insane- to think you know your four-year-old so well including up to when they are thirteen years older that you can pick one school over another based on one hour of observations of those two schools and a bunch of stereotypes. PICK THE BEST SCHOOL.


You can’t necassarily “pick the best scho” if you get waitlisted by all except one. The schools really pick you.

The only saving grace is that your child that you think may be XYZ, may not be come 8th grade (or earlier), so you can try and transfer.

But to have the option for your child to stay at one school for 13 years, is a great option as well.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 19:52     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Here is what is truly insane- to think you know your four-year-old so well including up to when they are thirteen years older that you can pick one school over another based on one hour of observations of those two schools and a bunch of stereotypes. PICK THE BEST SCHOOL.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 16:10     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Had this same experience last year at a SS girls school after what we thought was super positive feedback. WL ended up not moving. It was frustrating to have had our hopes up for what seemed like no good reason, especially as we had initially thought the school was a long shot. Hang in there! It will work out for the best


Curious what school? Now I am even more nervous.

If we get waitlisted to our second choice I think our child will need to go to our zoned public school. Which also means she would have to skip to 1st grade. Oh what fun.


If you've only applied to 2 schools you must know this is a possibility???


We applied to more than 2 schools. We applied to 8. A mid of co-ed and SS


Why do they recommend applying to 8-10 if you almost never get in without a FC letter? Does anyone actually get more than 1-2 admits?


Yes. We got five. Two TT and three 2T. Plus two TT WL. Unconnected family, no hook. Feeder preschool, though (that brokered kids). Many of the families got multiple TT offers.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 16:05     Subject: Told we are waitlisted for our top choice school
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Is a reject basically a reject with no room, even if you show tons of interest? Our safety school slowly moved to the top of our list as we went though the process and we are pretty shocked to get a reject (boys k-8)


You sent a first choice letter and they rejected you?


Correct, told our PSD we would be high waitlist


In the end, PSDs (generally) aren't working for a family, they're working for the school. If they can get two people their second choice TT options, many of them will do it instead of getting one their first TT and another their third or fourth choice (which may be "lesser ranked"). It sucks, but many are worried about the school's exmissions statistics, not your individual child.