Abacus Mom

And Decisions are Out (Mostly)!

Families have received decisions from private schools for kindergarten, 6th grade, and 9th grade.

Overall, 2010 was a more challenging year than 2009, and more in line with 2008.  Last year, schools over-accepted, figuring that due to the economy, many accepted applicants wouldn't come.  They were wrong.  This year, schools were more conservative in their acceptances and more likely to wait list.

So far we have heard from our clients about acceptances to Dalton, Trinity, Collegiate, Brearley, Nightingale, Trevor Day, St. Bernard's, Sacred Heart, Saint David's, Friends, Chapin, Packer, Allen-Stevenson, Riverdale, Horace Mann, Hewitt, Fieldston, and many more... 

Private Schools Ranked by College Admissions Data

For better or for worse, lots of people are very interested in where NYC private school grads go on to college.  From time to time, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Worth and other publications publish studies.  Now a new website has the data, with a handy dandy sort feature.

Waiting for Decisions is Really Hard

You've finished with applications, interviews, thank you notes, I Love You letters, first choice letters, references...

You may have gotten feedback.

Now, it's very quiet. 

You just have to wait for decisions. 

And that's not easy.

Realize you're not alone.  Many say this time is the hardest part of the process.

Good luck!  It'll be over soon.

New York Magazine Cover Story: The Myth of the Gifted Child

Thanks to Jennifer Senior of New York Magazine, for a penetrating, insightful, original look at testing and test prep for the preschool set.  The article's key points: the ERB, Stanford-Binet, and OLSAT don't do a good job predicting intelligence, and the children of wealthy, educated, savvy parents benefit most from all the preparation options now available.

Senior explores what would happen if the private schools put less weight on the ERB:

That doesn’t mean, however, that the selection process will become more democratic. “I’m afraid schools will be judging the child in ways that aren’t any better,” says Emily Glickman, founder of Abacus Guide Educational Consulting. “There’ll just be more weight on the school report, and what the nursery-school director says about the child verbally. And often kids who come from expensive, high-cachet nursery schools have elaborate evaluations written about them, because the preschool directors themselves have a high stake in the class’s placement success.” And in the case of private schools, she notes, even more emphasis may be given to a family’s socioeconomic status: “The kindergarten-admission process has always been about openly judging a 4-year-old and secretly judging the parents’ wealth, connections, and likeliness to give.”