Applying for 6th grade. Currently goes to private school that is a big “feeder” for Lakeside, but otherwise no hook.
Female, Caucasian
SSAT: 96th overall
V: 94th
Q: 99th
R: 85th
Sports: Downhill skiing (3 years of race team) Curling (4 years) Rowing (2 summers.
ECs: extensive cooking/baking classes
Visit went well (according to her)
Parent essays: outstanding
Student essays: should be pretty good. She’s a great creative writer
Teacher recs: outstanding
Personal rec will be from her ski coach and should be outstanding.
I honestly have no idea what I should be inferring from your first line. I presume Caucasian female non-legacy puts her at a disadvantage here. We have no idea how many girls they’ll take this cycle from her school, but her best friend is applying and also has a sibling there. I’m definitely concerned that friend will get in and mine will get on the WL. (Friend is totally qualified on her own merits from what I know, but sibling status probably makes her an easy accept).
I assume that this is the Lakeside school in Seattle. They are quite open about their stats and you can do
some back of the envelope calculations of chances. Took me 5 minutes to figure this out. ymmv.
They take 34 kids for 6th grade. So, 17 girls/17 boys +/- for balance.
They say that there are 234 schools representing the whole student body and
about 45% public school and 45% independent. 10% religious. So, roughly 50% private.17/2 = 8-9 girls private
Since you are part of the disadvantaged white group of non-legacy, no hooks, and a “big feeder” school out of 234 schools, and represent 40% of the student body, while 60% represent the “others”, I’ll make a it more
fair by saying 50%, so 4 girls. Ok, ok, 5 girls.
Factor that this is a 20% admit rate and very competitive athletic and arts school.
Then, factor your kid’s sports. Skiing, great but no ski team in school. Curling, I am sure no school curling team.
Rowing, ok maybe. Then, add your kid’s EC of cooking and baking. No art, music, dance, etc.
Keep in mind that all AO will basically ask in any interview: What can you bring to our school to improve it
and how will you be involved to improve it?
Stressing about some sibling admit seems the wrong focus.
@ProfMomof3: Don’t over analyze. Your child is well qualified academically & is applying from a feeder school. It will come down to teacher recs & interview with emphasis on child’s maturity level & readiness for the academic & social environment of Lakeside.
To my knowledge there is no one-on-one “interview”. She went for her “visit day” back in November, and she said they just broke the kids into groups of three and had them do a team-based building activity (her team won). I think it lasted for 90 minutes after school. There are no parent interviews, either.
It is what it is, but it’s somewhat disappointing that the uniqueness of her activities isn’t necessarily going to be appreciated. But I get the desire to have winning sports teams. Rowing is likely to become her main non-winter sport (I was a competitive collegiate rower myself), but we forewent getting her started with a team this fall so that we could focus more on the school application process.
Just want to wish you and your child all the best. She seems well-qualified! My son applied last year so I can appreciate your feelings and concerns.
Although my son was accepted last year for 5th grade, it is still hard for me to figure out how the school ultimately chooses their admitted students from a pool of many qualified students. Couple of kids whom I thought had good chances did not get in last year. Still, I have gotten the impression that the school is looking for academically strong and intellectually curious kids who can work well with others.
@ProfMomof3: Your daughter had an observation instead of an interview. Primary purpose typically is to assess the child’s social skills, dexterity & maturity level.
So kiddo finally got around to taking the Character Skills Snapshot (which Lakeside requires for admissions), and it showed her “emerging” in Self-Control and Social Awareness, which is pure and utter garbage. I hope this basically gets ignored due to recs, essays, and observations that show the complete opposite. Literally, she is the social “glue girl” that brings people together, and is about as even-keeled a personality as one will see at age 10.
@ProfMomof3 The observation day and recommendations will likely substantiate your own view of your child. I agree with @Publisher in #4 above.
I predict schools will start phasing out asking for the submission of the CSS in the next few years. It is highly subject to manipulation and the hypothetical situations presented are too simplistic to offer any true insight. Schools should be able to assess kids after interviews and essays and recs, and by looking at applicants’ track records in ECs. We aren’t choosing astronauts for Apollo 13 that require a psych evaluation.
Hi @ProfMomof3 - can you share the name of the feeder school your child attends or attended? I wish to apply for Lakeside and was curious to know. Thanks so much!