Parent: What number did you get to on the waitlist last year?
Me: It doesn't matter.
Parent: Why not?
Me: Because we will either get to your child's number, or we won't.
An Example of Jack:
Jack was a great kid ... kind, polite, fun, but he was not particularly well suited for the academic intensity of my program. In fact, he was on a Growth Plan every year at my campus. And every year, he was able to pull his grades up just enough to squeak by another year.
Jack has applied to one of the most challenging high schools in the district.
Because I know Jack personally, I have been watching his waitlist number since the lottery was run. (I'm human, so of course I am going to keep up with kiddos with whom I have an interest).
The lottery is run with everyone in it - qualified or not, because we get the test scores back very late, and we cannot mark students qualified or not qualified until we have the test scores in hand. Jack's original waitlist number for School X was 289.
Lotteries for other schools were held over the few days, and as students were accepted to higher ranked schools, Jack's waitlist number decreased. By the end of the lotteries, he was waitlisted at 173 - parents never see this, because it is all pre-Notification.
Once test scores came in, students were marked not qualified and struck off the list. By the Magnet deadline to have everyone coded, Jack's waitlist number was 112 - parents never see this either, because it is all pre-Notification.
Essentially, Jack moved 177 spaces, before Notification even happened. What the parents get is a letter with the waitlist number of 112.
When parents ask me the waitlist question, they are going by the waitlist number they are given at Notification, not realizing that their child's waitlist number has already changed, several times.
At School X, several students had been accepted to private schools and they declined their space. A few others had been accepted at campuses not in the system, and they, also, declined their space. So, shortly after Notification, Jack's waitlist number is 14.
Now, the waitlist for School X seems pretty stable. There may be some students who switch out schools over the next four months, but probably not enough to get Jack into the program. But I don't know that for sure, because people are unpredictable, as is life.
To be clear, I want to point out that Jack moved 275 spaces ... not just the 98 spaces his parents saw after Notification.
There is no way for a coordinator to predict how far we will get on any waitlist on any given year. - And no averages will help either, because an average doesn't explain what will happen *this* year. And *this* year is the only year that matters to parents.
So, when you ask "How far did you get on the waitlist," and I answer, "It doesn't matter," as hard as it is to hear, please understand, I am not being evasive. I am giving you the best answer there is. We will either get to your child's number, or we won't, regardless what happened any other given year.
The better question from parents would be: "Are you likely to get to my child's waitlist number?" That allows me, as a coordinator, to gauge current waitlist movement and give you some kind of estimate based on what is happening right now.
Me: It doesn't matter.
Parent: Why not?
Me: Because we will either get to your child's number, or we won't.
An Example of Jack:
Jack was a great kid ... kind, polite, fun, but he was not particularly well suited for the academic intensity of my program. In fact, he was on a Growth Plan every year at my campus. And every year, he was able to pull his grades up just enough to squeak by another year.
Jack has applied to one of the most challenging high schools in the district.
Because I know Jack personally, I have been watching his waitlist number since the lottery was run. (I'm human, so of course I am going to keep up with kiddos with whom I have an interest).
The lottery is run with everyone in it - qualified or not, because we get the test scores back very late, and we cannot mark students qualified or not qualified until we have the test scores in hand. Jack's original waitlist number for School X was 289.
Lotteries for other schools were held over the few days, and as students were accepted to higher ranked schools, Jack's waitlist number decreased. By the end of the lotteries, he was waitlisted at 173 - parents never see this, because it is all pre-Notification.
Once test scores came in, students were marked not qualified and struck off the list. By the Magnet deadline to have everyone coded, Jack's waitlist number was 112 - parents never see this either, because it is all pre-Notification.
Essentially, Jack moved 177 spaces, before Notification even happened. What the parents get is a letter with the waitlist number of 112.
When parents ask me the waitlist question, they are going by the waitlist number they are given at Notification, not realizing that their child's waitlist number has already changed, several times.
At School X, several students had been accepted to private schools and they declined their space. A few others had been accepted at campuses not in the system, and they, also, declined their space. So, shortly after Notification, Jack's waitlist number is 14.
Now, the waitlist for School X seems pretty stable. There may be some students who switch out schools over the next four months, but probably not enough to get Jack into the program. But I don't know that for sure, because people are unpredictable, as is life.
To be clear, I want to point out that Jack moved 275 spaces ... not just the 98 spaces his parents saw after Notification.
There is no way for a coordinator to predict how far we will get on any waitlist on any given year. - And no averages will help either, because an average doesn't explain what will happen *this* year. And *this* year is the only year that matters to parents.
So, when you ask "How far did you get on the waitlist," and I answer, "It doesn't matter," as hard as it is to hear, please understand, I am not being evasive. I am giving you the best answer there is. We will either get to your child's number, or we won't, regardless what happened any other given year.
The better question from parents would be: "Are you likely to get to my child's waitlist number?" That allows me, as a coordinator, to gauge current waitlist movement and give you some kind of estimate based on what is happening right now.
