<p>Of course, this may help your son if he’s the kid who’s being bumped up the list at his first choice school.</p>
<p>True. I keep getting this image of Harry Potter and his sorting hat! I can only hope that the parents on CC are right who say that there are probably a number of fine choices for each kid.</p>
<p>Thank you, Sue22 and mhmm. Your explanations have helped me.</p>
<p>The scariest part of this scenario is that it’s a lawsuit in the making if it happens.</p>
<p>I’m not a lawyer, but I guess it would be awfully hard to prove that something like this actually happened to your kid. Still wondering if these scenarios really play out. There is enough pressure on yield at these schools, and the world of placement officers & adcoms is so small, that it isn’t a huge leap to think they might.</p>
<p>Maybe. I actually have never heard it work that way. What I have heard is that many schools have exclusive relationships with certain schools. That’s the way it worked with mine. Exeter and a local country day school always recruited at my Jr. High - others did not. </p>
<p>So the conventional wisdom these days is that when a guidance counselor or principal says “you need to look at this kid” and those recommendations resulted in good outcomes, the school often listens.</p>
<p>I’ve just never heard of a counselor telling a school to “not” accept a student because they were going to choose someone else. That’s a privacy issue and also - I’d hate to know that assumption was made pre-March 10th only to find out the supposedly favored school didn’t come through with FA leaving the student with no choices at all.</p>
<p>If I am the “exmission” counselor at a school which every year sends their graduates to BS I have a good relationship with the admission counselors at most schools. When a counselor from Academy A calls me to discuss the kids (as they do), and they rave about Timmy, but I know for a fact that Timmy doesnt care if he goes to Academy A or Academy B, but Bobby only wants Academy A and there is only one spot at Academy A, then you better believe it I am going to push for Bobby at Academy A. If I know Timmy wants Academy B I will also gently tell Academy A not to lower their yield.</p>
<p>Sounds a lot like horse trading to me.</p>
<p>ExieMITAlum, I think mhmm is speaking of the process as it is practiced at a very few pre-preps. Ironically, in looking for schools with “great matriculation stats,” parents are looking for schools which seek to place as many students as possible at certain schools (at the college level, at certain colleges.)</p>
<p>Our school placement office does tell us to inform them if we have a clear favorite. That leads me to believe that mhmm is correct. Having thought about it, I see no benefit to the whole in allowing a few students to gather all the acceptances. I do think that the placement officers try their hardest to find fitting schools for every student.</p>
<p>I think any one of the schools on my son’s list could be the school at which he would thrive. They’re all wonderful schools.</p>
<p>^^ yes, since the OP’s original post starts off with - “The placement office of my child’s school comes up with a list of schools for each child that they feel the child should apply to” and b/c the OP has a child at a jr BS, I did assume that this is a pre-prep question. And because I am a very rabid advocate of Ben Franklin’s “God helps those that help themselves” I do want to emphasize that a parent must bear the biggest responsibility of wading through the muck of admissions.</p>
<p>agree with mhmm. Our school has one particular Point of Contact for BSs and she has the reputation of “getting kids in” to their first choice school. She always asks the student when writing the rec letter what the student’s first choice is and if there is a clear preference for one school the student is applying for over another. I think the result is that the middle school gets kids into a lot of top BSs and the BS gets a high yield.</p>
<p>““I’ve just never heard of a counselor telling a school to “not” accept a student because they were going to choose someone else. That’s a privacy issue and also - I’d hate to know that assumption was made pre-March 10th only to find out the supposedly favored school didn’t come through with FA leaving the student with no choices at all.””</p>
<p>My understanding is that a school won’t turn DOWN that candidate, but put them on the wait list. Academy A says to “EX” mission officer - look, we really want Timmy and if Academy B doesn’t come through please let us know. I think the waiting list is far more fluid than many of us realize. </p>
<p>But to the FA issue … that is trickier and I agree that could be an issue. I imagine if you don’t get accepted and FA in the first round, your chances of getting off waitlist with adequate FA are much lower.</p>
<p>If parents agree and are aware of the school ‘push’ I don’t think there is a privacy issue. At our school it is pretty open if you choose to lay out your priorities and want to the EXAO to make a push. You can also choose to keep your cards closer to your vest… and if you have a superstar that might be a good thing.</p>
<p>Ah, reality is beginning to emerge from the shadows. Thanks, everyone! I do think that families need to take the primary responsibility for their own education about the schools. It sounds as if the student needs to be <em>very</em> sure if they name a first choice.</p>