Oops, to clarify- girl, rising 7 th grader

Girl 7- accepted at Maret,NCS, GDS
Will attend Maret.

Did anyone get rejected from Maret? Or is it all WL?

(PP here: although the WISC-IV was 92% her scores ranged from 75-99 on the subtests.)

G, WISC-IV 92%, rising 5th grader (coming from public)

Congressional - Accept
Alexandria Country Day School - Accept
Burgundy Farm - Accept

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else find it funny that 63% of our kids are in the top 10% of test scores?

I used to think that numbers were all inflated. But I've come to conclude that the sample of parents posting scores is skewed to the high end. Parents whose kids scored low probably aren't as inclined to publicize the numbers. And kids applying to the top private schools in DC are more likely to have scored high. In other words, parents whose kids scored low recognize the odds of admission are too low, and many of them opt-out of the hyper-competitive processes that typically underlies participation in this private/independent schools forum.

Of course they are skewed to the high end because there's no reason to post when you've been rejected.

There is also a huge difference between the WPPSI/WISC and the SSAT. It isn't a big deal that a child scores 99th percentile on the pre-school/early elementary IQ tests. The WPPSI/WISC tests are all normed against the general population and are not terribly reproducible over time. The private school K and PK applicants are not distributed across the normal bell curve so a large portion of them would fall in the top 1%.

The SSAT percentiles on the other hand are in comparison to other test takers. They are a self-selected group of children applying to selective private schools. By definition, only 1% of the SSAT takers will be 99th percentile and it is impossible for any school to fill their classrooms just from the top 1% of SSAT scorers. The most selective prep schools like Andover and Exeter have average SSAT scores in the low 90s and Sidwell/GDS/StA/NCS have averages in the 80s.

In other words, if your child scored in the 85th percentile on the SSAT, he scored better than half of the Big 3/4 student admits.

Anonymous wrote:Highly Regarded Charter School, 3rd Grade, Boy -- REJECT we are so devastated...

Sorry to hear. Do you mind sharing the school to which you applied?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Girl, 6th grade

Field - accept
Maret - WL
GDS - WL
Potomac - WL
Holton - accept
NCS - accept

Some surprises here. SSAT was not that good (Math 55%). However, we tried very, very hard with the rest of the application. Submitted recommendations and other material (not required). i have renewed faith in the application process - they really do look at the whole picture!

It is so nice to hear from someone whose DC's scores weren't in the 90th+ percentile. Thank you for sharing and giving others hope!

This is with my experience as well. My daughter did terribly on the math portion of her SSAT and overall scored well below 90th percentile. All is not lost. She got accepted to top school choice. The rest of her application look quite impressive and it seems she did very well at the interview (as DC told me herself.)

Believe it or a not, many private schools are looking for just a well rounded child. They are not placing so much emphasis on standardized testing. Same goes with the colleges.

and finances...

After a review of this string, it appears that GDS wait listed everyone that did not get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Girl, 6th grade

Field - accept
Maret - WL
GDS - WL
Potomac - WL
Holton - accept
NCS - accept

Some surprises here. SSAT was not that good (Math 55%). However, we tried very, very hard with the rest of the application. Submitted recommendations and other material (not required). i have renewed faith in the application process - they really do look at the whole picture!

It is so nice to hear from someone whose DC's scores weren't in the 90th+ percentile. Thank you for sharing and giving others hope!

This is with my experience as well. My daughter did terribly on the math portion of her SSAT and overall scored well below 90th percentile. All is not lost. She got accepted to top school choice. The rest of her application look quite impressive and it seems she did very well at the interview (as DC told me herself.)

Believe it or a not, many private schools are looking for just a well rounded child. They are not placing so much emphasis on standardized testing. Same goes with the colleges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Girl, 6th grade

Field - accept
Maret - WL
GDS - WL
Potomac - WL
Holton - accept
NCS - accept

Some surprises here. SSAT was not that good (Math 55%). However, we tried very, very hard with the rest of the application. Submitted recommendations and other material (not required). i have renewed faith in the application process - they really do look at the whole picture!

It is so nice to hear from someone whose DC's scores weren't in the 90th+ percentile. Thank you for sharing and giving others hope!

This is with my experience as well. My daughter did terribly on the math portion of her SSAT and overall scored well below 90th percentile. All is not lost. She got accepted to top school choice. The rest of her application look quite impressive and it seems she did very well at the interview (as DC told me herself.)

Highly Regarded Charter School, 3rd Grade, Boy -- REJECT we are so devastated...

Our daughter tanked the test (entering PreK), and still got into one of our very top choices...

Anonymous wrote:Girl, 6th grade

Field - accept
Maret - WL
GDS - WL
Potomac - WL
Holton - accept
NCS - accept

Some surprises here. SSAT was not that good (Math 55%). However, we tried very, very hard with the rest of the application. Submitted recommendations and other material (not required). i have renewed faith in the application process - they really do look at the whole picture!

It is so nice to hear from someone whose DC's scores weren't in the 90th+ percentile. Thank you for sharing and giving others hope!

Bump - please post school/grade that you are turning down. We WLers are desperate...