Anonymous
Post 02/21/2026 07:37     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We booked a family dinner out that night, hopefully will be celebrating good news!


This is so weird.

No you’re weird!
They should plan a bonding night and enjoy each other regardless of the outcome. Go be miserable elsewhere
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 18:50     Subject: Re:private school decision day: Feb 27
What school
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 18:22     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do schools reject/accept on the same day? Do they hold anyone back for wait list or not really?

I figure the schools reach out by phone to people in advance of this to make sure they have a group who will accept the offer? or does it not work that way.

If we haven't heard yet i figured getting rejected. (non-high school admissions....we are new to this)

No, not having heard in advance does not mean it’s a rejection. I’ve heard that some schools will give a courtesy advance heads-up to the family of a sibling that is being rejected, a couple days to a few hours before the official release of info. Not all schools even do that.

There are no advance notifications to “ensure a group who will accept the offer.” The schools have scads of data and have a good sense of their expected yield. They admit more students than they have spots for based on that data (some schools may be more conservative if the previous year was overenrolled, etc).

You’re overthinking it.


We got a call from a big 3/4/5 admissions director today, "just checking in" and asking if we had any more questions about the school that they could answer. It felt like a good sign. Who knows whether we'll get in next Friday, but it did seem like they were probing us about our continued interest and perhaps trying to protect yield.


Is this a real thing that some directors do?


We got a call, too. But I don't know if it is common among the schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 13:24     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:We received a courtesy early yes from the school where are older child was then attending.


How early?
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 12:46     Subject: Re:private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:Students who apply to Sidwell also apply to Field? These are 2 very different schools.


I guess this was to me, I’m the PP who mentioned this. I didn’t think they were that different. It was not our top choice out of these 4 but we liked it enough that kid would have gone there if he didn’t get into any of the others.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 12:33     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How are people feeling? What is your plan if your kid doesn't get in anywhere or doesn't get into an appealing or top choice? We only applied to 3 and our plan is the local public. I don't feel stressed about it bc I don't think public would be all that bad - though obviously a top private would be a more rigorous, well-resourced experience for my kid.


Applied for a few of schools which are all trashed by this site. So not worried. Maybe dodged a few bullets. Who knows?

DC is at a school routinely trashed on this site and loves it. It’s been phenomenal for them. Good luck for your results!


If a school isn't being trashed here by at least a few posters, it is probably because no one has heard of it.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 11:33     Subject: Re:private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:What do you think this means? I suppose it could be a number of different things:
1. you are top of their list
2. you are on their bubble and they want to know if they are your first choice, so they can decide if you are theirs
3. admissions officers are talking to each other and trying to coordinate (related to #2 above)
4. something else


I think it is #1 or #2. But if it is #2 and they didn't get the response they wanted, it will have been really weird of them to place a warm call / affirmatively reach out the week before sending us a rejection letter.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 10:25     Subject: Re:private school decision day: Feb 27
What do you think this means? I suppose it could be a number of different things:
1. you are top of their list
2. you are on their bubble and they want to know if they are your first choice, so they can decide if you are theirs
3. admissions officers are talking to each other and trying to coordinate (related to #2 above)
4. something else
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 07:33     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:

We got a call from a big 3/4/5 admissions director today, "just checking in" and asking if we had any more questions about the school that they could answer. It felt like a good sign. Who knows whether we'll get in next Friday, but it did seem like they were probing us about our continued interest and perhaps trying to protect yield.


We did too. Remaining optimistic but I didn’t even tell DC because I didn’t want to unnecessarily get homes up.
Anonymous
Post 02/19/2026 07:26     Subject: Re:private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:Students who apply to Sidwell also apply to Field? These are 2 very different schools.



We did for 6th. We kept minds open to see what DC might gravitate towards and while we have our own personal ranking if DC happened to get into all the schools we applied, that was unlikely to happen. So instead of focusing on whether Field is preferred to Sidwell or vice versa we asked ourselves whether they were preferred over our public. If the answer was yes we applied.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 23:23     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27

Do you get a physical rejection letter in the mail? Is it safe to assume that if you receive something in the mail it will be an acceptance?
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 23:22     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:All of the schools we applied to for DC last year sent a physical acceptance/welcome box.

Do you get a physical rejection letter in the mail?
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 21:38     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Read some of the waitlist posts from previous years. You will hear anecdotal stories of people getting off of waitlists but the are very few and far between. Many schools (GDS, Potomac, Maret) will waitlist the vast majority of non-admitted applicants. It spares them having to deny a student and they seem not to care about the deceptive message that the kid still has a good chance. The colleges publish their waitlist data and the more competitive schools are often 1-5% off a waitlist. I would guess that they are the same around DC independents.

But don't worry, soon you'll get lots of threads about people who think that every kid who is admitted and chooses a different school triggers a kid off the waitlist. It's an annual DCUM tradition.


So Waitlist is really a No. Why bother wasting everyone's time.


They’re a no for most people. In 2 weeks, we’ll see umpteen posts here about waitlists, and did they move, and does anyone know anyone declining a slot at some school (I guess in hopes that the waitlist gets tapped for every decline… spoiler, that’s not how it works). But then a handful of folks will know someone who knows someone who got off the waitlist and there’s hope. But, the vast majority of waitlisted kids won’t see movement.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 21:30     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
My DC’s friend told them their parents have an idea where they were accepted. I have a feeling some schools must be calling people.
Anonymous
Post 02/18/2026 08:54     Subject: private school decision day: Feb 27
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do schools reject/accept on the same day? Do they hold anyone back for wait list or not really?

I figure the schools reach out by phone to people in advance of this to make sure they have a group who will accept the offer? or does it not work that way.

If we haven't heard yet i figured getting rejected. (non-high school admissions....we are new to this)

No, not having heard in advance does not mean it’s a rejection. I’ve heard that some schools will give a courtesy advance heads-up to the family of a sibling that is being rejected, a couple days to a few hours before the official release of info. Not all schools even do that.

There are no advance notifications to “ensure a group who will accept the offer.” The schools have scads of data and have a good sense of their expected yield. They admit more students than they have spots for based on that data (some schools may be more conservative if the previous year was overenrolled, etc).

You’re overthinking it.


We got a call from a big 3/4/5 admissions director today, "just checking in" and asking if we had any more questions about the school that they could answer. It felt like a good sign. Who knows whether we'll get in next Friday, but it did seem like they were probing us about our continued interest and perhaps trying to protect yield.


Is this a real thing that some directors do?