Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: "Also, what about private school kids or transfer kids that did not take the PARCC?"

I'm trying to get an answer to this. I registered for SSATs but SWW is not in the list of schools to send scores to. Wrote to the admissions director but no response. Private schools don't prepare for any standardized tests that I know of.

They why the complaining on the private forum about prepping for the ERB?

SSAT prep is usually through private test prep classes or tutors that parents pay for in addition to tuition and kids attend in addition to school.

Complaining? Just trying to find out what standardized test to submit. Someone said to submit SSATs but SWW is not on the list of school. We've never taken the SSATS and I would never pay for tutoring. I think it is all a racket.

Anonymous wrote: "Also, what about private school kids or transfer kids that did not take the PARCC?"

I'm trying to get an answer to this. I registered for SSATs but SWW is not in the list of schools to send scores to. Wrote to the admissions director but no response. Private schools don't prepare for any standardized tests that I know of.

They why the complaining on the private forum about prepping for the ERB?

SSAT prep is usually through private test prep classes or tutors that parents pay for in addition to tuition and kids attend in addition to school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2300...we're in the same boat. My child is currently in an independent private that is fairly rigorous; has gotten mostly A's, but some B's the last 2 years; took the SSAT, ISEE and HSPT and did extremely well on the SSAT/HSPT and pretty good on the ISEE; was one of the first finished with the SWW test and said it was a breeze....then today i get an email stating we're out of the running -_- I'm absolutely baffled....

Baffled? It is one of the best high schools in the city and it is free. Hundreds of exceptionally smart kids from all over the city sit for that test. Many will get a perfect score.

Yeah, there are alot of very smart capable kids in this city taking this test. My son and alot of his friends who took the test could easily fit your child's profile. A test score cut off is pretty arbitrary but they have to have some way of narrowing down the applications.

A more fair way to winnow the pool would be to take the 250-300 students who scored the highest and then use their common lottery number to determine who gets in.

Everyone in that pool would have scored well enough on the SWW exam to succeed at the school, but the subjectivity of picking students based on a subjective interview would be eliminated. It would also be far less time consuming for students and families.

Why is that "more fair"? If, as you say, everyone on the pool can succeed at the school, why not then create a class of successful kid that is also balanced and brings in multiple points fo view to class discussions?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you really think there are distinctions in how 250 students performed on the test? It's just not possible. You could, however, take the highest PARCc score plus the highest SWW test scorers.

Right now they clearly take the 250 and have them interview and probably do NOT take just the top 140 scores.

They clearly try to balance by ward and MS, by gender, by race -- those numbers have been far too consistent over the years.

If I had to choose between basing it on test scores and basing it on a lottery of kids getting a minimum test score (top 250) I would say the test score is probably more accurate. From what I can tell, admissions to the competitive high schools in NY are based solely on test results. If you want to add diversity, set aside seats for diversity but among the “not diverse” you should base it on their scores.

I think adding the PARCC would not be a bad idea, but they would have to account for differences in test taken, 7th graders take, math 7, math8, algebra and geometry. Are all 5s weighted equally? Also, what about private school kids or transfer kids that did not take the PARCC?

By way of comparison, the selective enrollment high schools require the following for admission:

1) 7th-grade PARCC scores (soon to be the new IL statewide test as they are leaving the PARCC consortium) minimum score (for math you must be proficient/advanced for the level you are at with the minimum being Math 7. No plus up for being in Algebra/Geometry in 7th). Notably, so many 8th graders from privates want to apply to these schools that the privates administer the state exams to anyone who needs it/wants it.

2) GPAs over a certain level -- no adjustments based on what school you are coming from.

3) Take an admission test for the school you wish to apply to. The math/science high schools have different exams from the ones with other focuses.

4) To ensure equity and diversity, every neighborhood is given a score. If you are from a poorer neighborhood with fewer adult college graduates your application is slightly weighted. If you are from a wealthy area you don't get a weighting. The lines are redone every year (by a consortium of academic demographers, not the city or school system, so that rapidly gentrifying areas are not getting weighting they no longer qualify for. neighborhood at the time of application. The neighborhoods are small - the DC analogy would be the apartments on Connecticut Ave near Murch would be treated differently than the SFH on the east side of Connecticut even though both are IB for Murch.

Anonymous wrote: "Also, what about private school kids or transfer kids that did not take the PARCC?"

I'm trying to get an answer to this. I registered for SSATs but SWW is not in the list of schools to send scores to. Wrote to the admissions director but no response. Private schools don't prepare for any standardized tests that I know of.

You upload your SSAT (or ERB) results yourself when filling out the application on MSDC. Same as your child's grades.

"Also, what about private school kids or transfer kids that did not take the PARCC?"

I'm trying to get an answer to this. I registered for SSATs but SWW is not in the list of schools to send scores to. Wrote to the admissions director but no response. Private schools don't prepare for any standardized tests that I know of.

Anonymous wrote:Do you really think there are distinctions in how 250 students performed on the test? It's just not possible. You could, however, take the highest PARCc score plus the highest SWW test scorers.

Right now they clearly take the 250 and have them interview and probably do NOT take just the top 140 scores.

They clearly try to balance by ward and MS, by gender, by race -- those numbers have been far too consistent over the years.

If I had to choose between basing it on test scores and basing it on a lottery of kids getting a minimum test score (top 250) I would say the test score is probably more accurate. From what I can tell, admissions to the competitive high schools in NY are based solely on test results. If you want to add diversity, set aside seats for diversity but among the “not diverse” you should base it on their scores.

I think adding the PARCC would not be a bad idea, but they would have to account for differences in test taken, 7th graders take, math 7, math8, algebra and geometry. Are all 5s weighted equally? Also, what about private school kids or transfer kids that did not take the PARCC?

Do you really think there are distinctions in how 250 students performed on the test? It's just not possible. You could, however, take the highest PARCc score plus the highest SWW test scorers.

Right now they clearly take the 250 and have them interview and probably do NOT take just the top 140 scores.

They clearly try to balance by ward and MS, by gender, by race -- those numbers have been far too consistent over the years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2300...we're in the same boat. My child is currently in an independent private that is fairly rigorous; has gotten mostly A's, but some B's the last 2 years; took the SSAT, ISEE and HSPT and did extremely well on the SSAT/HSPT and pretty good on the ISEE; was one of the first finished with the SWW test and said it was a breeze....then today i get an email stating we're out of the running -_- I'm absolutely baffled....

Baffled? It is one of the best high schools in the city and it is free. Hundreds of exceptionally smart kids from all over the city sit for that test. Many will get a perfect score.

Yeah, there are alot of very smart capable kids in this city taking this test. My son and alot of his friends who took the test could easily fit your child's profile. A test score cut off is pretty arbitrary but they have to have some way of narrowing down the applications.

A more fair way to winnow the pool would be to take the 250-300 students who scored the highest and then use their common lottery number to determine who gets in.

Everyone in that pool would have scored well enough on the SWW exam to succeed at the school, but the subjectivity of picking students based on a subjective interview would be eliminated. It would also be far less time consuming for students and families.

And this would be more fair than just ordering them based on the test scores why?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2300...we're in the same boat. My child is currently in an independent private that is fairly rigorous; has gotten mostly A's, but some B's the last 2 years; took the SSAT, ISEE and HSPT and did extremely well on the SSAT/HSPT and pretty good on the ISEE; was one of the first finished with the SWW test and said it was a breeze....then today i get an email stating we're out of the running -_- I'm absolutely baffled....

Baffled? It is one of the best high schools in the city and it is free. Hundreds of exceptionally smart kids from all over the city sit for that test. Many will get a perfect score.

Yeah, there are alot of very smart capable kids in this city taking this test. My son and alot of his friends who took the test could easily fit your child's profile. A test score cut off is pretty arbitrary but they have to have some way of narrowing down the applications.

A more fair way to winnow the pool would be to take the 250-300 students who scored the highest and then use their common lottery number to determine who gets in.

Everyone in that pool would have scored well enough on the SWW exam to succeed at the school, but the subjectivity of picking students based on a subjective interview would be eliminated. It would also be far less time consuming for students and families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take issue with the folks who complain about the essay. While I concede the grading of an essay may be subjective — it is valid for Walls to test whether a student writes well, since it is a humanities based curriculum that calls for students already having basic writing skills. It is fair for them to want to see a writing a sample from prospective students.

I agree with this. Asking kids to write the essay there is also the most fair way to get a writing sample. The SSAT and the ISEE also have essays. No one complains about that.

Because there you have professional graders using evidence-based rubriks and with zero personal/ political agenda.

Very different here.

SSAT and ISEE essays are not graded, just sent to the schools directly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take issue with the folks who complain about the essay. While I concede the grading of an essay may be subjective — it is valid for Walls to test whether a student writes well, since it is a humanities based curriculum that calls for students already having basic writing skills. It is fair for them to want to see a writing a sample from prospective students.

I agree with this. Asking kids to write the essay there is also the most fair way to get a writing sample. The SSAT and the ISEE also have essays. No one complains about that.

Because there you have professional graders using evidence-based rubriks and with zero personal/ political agenda.

Very different here.

You are wrong. The SSAT writing sample is not graded by them. It is sent to schools for their own obscure evaluation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I take issue with the folks who complain about the essay. While I concede the grading of an essay may be subjective — it is valid for Walls to test whether a student writes well, since it is a humanities based curriculum that calls for students already having basic writing skills. It is fair for them to want to see a writing a sample from prospective students.

I agree with this. Asking kids to write the essay there is also the most fair way to get a writing sample. The SSAT and the ISEE also have essays. No one complains about that.

Because there you have professional graders using evidence-based rubriks and with zero personal/ political agenda.

Very different here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why everyone is upset about SWW admissions. They are clear about the criteria to take the test (GPA and specific score on standardized test). They are clear that the top 250 scorers on the test get an interview. What does it matter what the specific score was? Then there is an interview, which is, of necessity, subjective. For private schools they just tell you to submit everything and do an interview and then they decide. There are no criteria, other than telling you they are looking for 'fit' or something.

Because the essay is also subjective, no one knows how much it counts toward the decision to invite a student to interview and whether they grade all the essays and if it's the same person reviewing all of them.

+1.

The process pretends to be transparent but is opaque at best

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2300...we're in the same boat. My child is currently in an independent private that is fairly rigorous; has gotten mostly A's, but some B's the last 2 years; took the SSAT, ISEE and HSPT and did extremely well on the SSAT/HSPT and pretty good on the ISEE; was one of the first finished with the SWW test and said it was a breeze....then today i get an email stating we're out of the running -_- I'm absolutely baffled....

Baffled? It is one of the best high schools in the city and it is free. Hundreds of exceptionally smart kids from all over the city sit for that test. Many will get a perfect score.

Yeah, there are alot of very smart capable kids in this city taking this test. My son and alot of his friends who took the test could easily fit your child's profile. A test score cut off is pretty arbitrary but they have to have some way of narrowing down the applications.