Anonymous wrote:Pp: where did you get this information? I ask because I am being told explicitly that it is all lottery after the interviews by a parent with kid already at walls

From open house last year (for 2016 application year. Maybe it changed?

Pp: where did you get this information? I ask because I am being told explicitly that it is all lottery after the interviews by a parent with kid already at walls

Anonymous wrote:What now? After the interviews? If a student "passed" the interview are all the names thrown in the lottery and luck picks the freshman class and orders the waitlist? Or is there more to it?

No. They select the students they want based on the interviews, and perhaps take into account who did relatively better / worse on the rest. No way to know what the final decisions are based on. Or what they may be looking for. We were told there is an order to the wait list, it isn't random but who knows.

I really wish they did it by lottery as you suggest. But they don't.

What now? After the interviews? If a student "passed" the interview are all the names thrown in the lottery and luck picks the freshman class and orders the waitlist? Or is there more to it?

FYI, under a federal law, FERPA, you have a right to your child's test score and an explanation of what that test score means, which generally means providing you with acess to the test, the answers your child provided and any test administration protocol (how much time, directions for administering test, etc.)

The school is not obligated to provide this level if detail unless you request to see these documents, which are educational records within the meaning of FERPA. Even if the test is "secured", you cannot be denied the right to see it, but you may be asked to come to school to do so and sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Anonymous wrote:PP -- were you able to find out what your child got wrong on the test?

This is PP. No, not that detailed. But it was broken into the English and Math sections. No score given for the essay.

Anonymous wrote:PP -- were you able to find out what your child got wrong on the test?

I wonder if it would be a bit much to expect the office staff to have this info at their fingertips for 800 applicants.

PP -- were you able to find out what your child got wrong on the test?

My daughter did not get an interview either and I called. They were very nice on the phone and gave me the score. In order to get an interview you needed at least 39 out of 55 on the exam.

Does anyone know what was the cutoff to get invited in for an interview?

I phoned the school directly yesterday and the woman who answered the phone very nicely provided my child's raw score on her test. She didn't share the ranking, but my child was invited to interview on Saturday.

My impression is that they don't need to give out the test scores as a matter of course, but they need to provide them if asked directly. It was very easy.

Anonymous wrote:and there is no way to know what you scored on the initial test, correct?

Ironically, when DC applied to SWW three years ago and did not make the needed test score to proceed to the interview stage, they sent us the score in a letter along with the needed cutoff number. But no one who passed the test got their scores...

Agree that the admissions process at all application schools needs to be more transparent, especially as more and more students are applying. Hope this will get addressed

This feud?

Anonymous wrote:Having had a kid at Walls, the interview is an important part of the process. The school wants kids who want to be there, and are motivated to succeed. What makes the school special is the students. Interviews enable the school to ensure they are getting kids who genuinely want to be there and will want to contribute to the community. I am not suggesting that interviews are fool proof, but for the student who would prefer to be somewhere else it is a fine weeding process.

Students have a right to chose SWW while genuinely aspiring to go somewhere else.

I believe SWW has no right to screen against my kid, who will tell them the truth if asked: SWW is my choice only if the three independent schools I have applied to do not grant us financial aid.

Plus, if they want to screen the students, why the parents' separate interview? Do they want to assess if I am ready to contribute to the school community? Should my kid's education path depend on my ability to volunteer for the school?

This is ridiculous, borderline outrageous. Cannot wait to take the floor at Ward 3 meeting with the Chancellor and already got in contact with M. Cheh's office. Regardless of the outcome for my family, this feud must be uncovered.