Private School Admissions 2024-2025 (Howe, Menard: top schools, universities, live)

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by wheateater

Does anyone have perspective on whether turning down an acceptance might hurt your chances if you re-apply later on?

If you think you will reapply in the future, you need to have a phone conversation with the admissions director when you turn down the spot. I actually had a friend do that last year - the accepted a PK-8 school spot for Kinder because they have multiple kids under 6 and her husband is working out of county this year on once-in-a-career opportunity and she also had a big job and no local extended family to help. They chose the school that is literally in their backyard vs driving across town. They see their kids at our PK-12 school long term, so she called admissions and explained why they were declining and admissions encouraged them to reapply.

Then there are some schools (cough, Hockaday and St Marks) where you should never decline because competition only gets worse and you probably won’t get a second chance.

I would say if at this point in the year, you do not see yourself being able to accept a spot in March at one or more of the schools where you’ve started the application process, you should pull your app now.

[Waterdragon8212]

Originally Posted by Sting06

It sounds like the conventional wisdom is that most of the schools prefer kids who are a bit older, at least for the younger grades. But how rare is it for a mid or late summer birthday to get in to PK or K “on time” at a place like Hockaday or Greenhill? It sounds like there are some younger kids who get placed into a primer class after K, so it has to happen sometimes, unless those kids are more like late spring.

We’re applying for H and one other school for K for my summer kid. We don’t really want to preemptively hold her back and make her do PK again just to get into a school because her current teachers don’t see any need, and we’re okay with our local public if private doesn’t work out (and maybe even if it does—we’re still doing our due diligence on all of the candidates). We’d be open to primer next year if her current school thinks there’s a reason for it, but we’re not there yet. It seems like our prospects at least at H and maybe the other are grim given that it’s not really an expansion year, we don’t have any connection to the schools and are just run-of-the-mill professionals, her birthday, and the fact that we’re not coming from a well-known preschool. And it sounds like her CATS scores, which were fine but nothing exceptional (95th percentile), probably won’t disqualify her but also won’t help.

I’m just curious about how big of a deal the birthday part of that really is.

Greenhill and Hockaday have different approaches to Primer (as mentioned in other posts), but at Greenhill, mid to late summer birthdays often get admitted "on time" to Pre-K and Kinder. I've always had a sneaking suspicion this is because it is easier to sell Primer to people already in the school system...FWIW, we know a number of families who got in for Pre-K with late summer birthdays who turned down the recommendation for Primer and are still at the school years later, so parents do have some degree of choice regarding that placement...

[Purplecow20]

Originally Posted by Sting06

It sounds like the conventional wisdom is that most of the schools prefer kids who are a bit older, at least for the younger grades. But how rare is it for a mid or late summer birthday to get in to PK or K “on time” at a place like Hockaday or Greenhill? It sounds like there are some younger kids who get placed into a primer class after K, so it has to happen sometimes, unless those kids are more like late spring.

We’re applying for H and one other school for K for my summer kid. We don’t really want to preemptively hold her back and make her do PK again just to get into a school because her current teachers don’t see any need, and we’re okay with our local public if private doesn’t work out (and maybe even if it does—we’re still doing our due diligence on all of the candidates). We’d be open to primer next year if her current school thinks there’s a reason for it, but we’re not there yet. It seems like our prospects at least at H and maybe the other are grim given that it’s not really an expansion year, we don’t have any connection to the schools and are just run-of-the-mill professionals, her birthday, and the fact that we’re not coming from a well-known preschool. And it sounds like her CATS scores, which were fine but nothing exceptional (95th percentile), probably won’t disqualify her but also won’t help.

I’m just curious about how big of a deal the birthday part of that really is.

Yes. As a guesstimate, of the 36 girls they admit to H, I’d assume 5-7 will have “on time” summer birthdays. Could be more or less each year. However, if you go this route, it is still likely they will need to do primer, which will effectively put them into a younger class.

[metalemon1022]

I have never applied any of my kids to private school past Kindergarten. My oldest is currently in fourth grade and we are applying her to private schools for middle school next year (she can't stay where she is). She is a fairly anxious kid and is nervous about all the interviews that are coming up fairly soon. I want to make this process as stress free as possible for her, but having never been through this process for a middle schooler. I have no idea what types of questions she can expect. I was assuming the questions would not be anything surprising, i.e. her favorite subject, hobbies and things like that but I just wanted to see if any of y'all have any insight so I can help ease her mind.


Thank you in advance for any advice!

[wynnedutch]

Originally Posted by metalemon1022

I have never applied any of my kids to private school past Kindergarten. My oldest is currently in fourth grade and we are applying her to private schools for middle school next year (she can't stay where she is). She is a fairly anxious kid and is nervous about all the interviews that are coming up fairly soon. I want to make this process as stress free as possible for her, but having never been through this process for a middle schooler. I have no idea what types of questions she can expect. I was assuming the questions would not be anything surprising, i.e. her favorite subject, hobbies and things like that but I just wanted to see if any of y'all have any insight so I can help ease her mind.


Thank you in advance for any advice!

My question here would be to ask why your kid is anxious about interviews? A 4th grader shouldn't be burdened with that weight, and while there are some people who try to prep their kids, and hire interview coaches, etc., that's doing a disservice. These schools have been doing this for a LONG time and know what they're doing and how to get to know the kids. During C19 shutdowns and the world of zoom interviews, my son did them at my office to create as few distractions to him as possible (i.e. not at home). I did not stay in the room as I wanted him to be as at ease as possible w/o worrying that I would be critiquing his conversation or trying to send signals from off-camera. I could still hear the discussions as there were 3 boys w/ 1 admissions advisor per session. It was blatantly obvious to even my untrained ear, that a couple of them were coached up on interviewing and how to answer/respond. I also was able to pick up on how they put my introverted/nervous son at ease and coax responses from him.

TLDR edit: Your kid is probably anxious because you're projecting that pressure on them.

[metalemon1022]

I am glad to hear the interviewers were able to put your son at ease, that makes sense as I am sure they are skilled at doing so. My daughter is, as is typical for many anxiety prone kids, fearful of the unknown and especially doing something for the first time. I am confident she will be fine and especially after the first interview will feel less nervous as time goes on. I am definitely not the type to "prep" her or hire an interview coach as I just want her to be herself and I think that will help her find the place that is the right fit.


I have tried very hard not to add to her anxiety although maybe unwittingly have and I will make sure to reassure her so she feels no pressure from my end. I was just curious if there were any general topics I could tell her since knowing some more specifics about what to expect tends to help. I know that is not feasible in all cases and she will have to learn how to deal with the unknown, so maybe this is a good lesson in that.

[hanlyplano]

ISAAD (1st grade) testing: we have not received any details about the testing other than the date/time and the handful of sample questions on their site, so I'm hoping some parents that have gone through it can share their experience.

I understand it is proctored, and it looks like our student can take this on our home laptop or tablet - does anyone know if it's timed? Our Kindergartner has really no experience on tablets or computers - if a student is "stuck", will the proctor be able to step in and help them navigate the test? I'm sure they don't want parents hovering/running interference, but I'm concerned that the unfamiliarity of the format + the length of the test may overwhelm our kid and result in a poor performance.

[TK2012]

Does anyone know how many spaces there will be for 1st grade at H?

[HooDevil]

Originally Posted by TK2012

Does anyone know how many spaces there will be for 1st grade at H?

The official line is around 5 every year. I think it depends on the aforementioned primer shuffle, and I lack any inside info on that (which is probably what you’re seeking).

It seems like this thread is quieter than in years past. How are people feeling? Anyone heard anything about numbers this year vs others?

We’re nearing the end of the process from our end. It's been a lot. We’re just applying to two schools for two kids (for pk3 and k) with good backups if things don’t work out, and I’m thankful for that. It’s hard to imagine going through this with many more schools, as I know many do.

I’m trying to maintain a sense of humor about all of it, including some missteps my new three-year-old had at a recent observation. On the one hand, I know these schools have a lot of experience evaluating little kids and are probably pretty good at spotting the kids who are likely to fit best. But part of me also has to laugh a little at the idea of evaluating the academic potential of 3 and 4-year-olds, particularly those who mostly (it sounds like?) have strong test scores.

In any event, good luck to everyone. Just a month and change to March 8!

[MenardMQ]

Originally Posted by HooDevil

I’m trying to maintain a sense of humor about all of it, including some missteps my new three-year-old had at a recent observation.

I'll help you along with the sense of humor approach.

What happened here? Did he/she get up on a table and take a dump during the observation? Say that mommy and daddy drinks wine every night?

What on earth could a 3 year old have done to be considered a misstep?