Parent: If I put your school as my Rank 1 school, and my child qualifies as G/T, will they get in?
Me: Not necessarily. I have thousands of applicants that put my school as Rank 1, but I still only have about 200 spaces available.
Parent: But I thought by putting you as Rank 1, it meant they would get in if they qualified.
Me: Not necessarily. Rank 1 means that you prefer my program over the other programs, but it does not mean your child will be accepted.
Parent: Why not?
Me: The algorithm that runs the lottery does not consider the ranks of schools when it assigns students to programs. It is completely random. Ranking happens *after* the lottery is run.
Parent: Why do you make parents rank schools?
Me: To prioritize your choices. - The district no longer allows students to be selected to more than one program. Ranking means that if a student is selected for more than one program, the parent has indicated their preferences, the highest ranked program that accepted the student will stay, and any other lower ranked program seat(s) will be given to someone else.
Parent: But putting your program as Rank 1 should help my child get in, right?
Me: Not in the way you mean, no.
Me: Not necessarily. I have thousands of applicants that put my school as Rank 1, but I still only have about 200 spaces available.
Parent: But I thought by putting you as Rank 1, it meant they would get in if they qualified.
Me: Not necessarily. Rank 1 means that you prefer my program over the other programs, but it does not mean your child will be accepted.
Parent: Why not?
Me: The algorithm that runs the lottery does not consider the ranks of schools when it assigns students to programs. It is completely random. Ranking happens *after* the lottery is run.
Parent: Why do you make parents rank schools?
Me: To prioritize your choices. - The district no longer allows students to be selected to more than one program. Ranking means that if a student is selected for more than one program, the parent has indicated their preferences, the highest ranked program that accepted the student will stay, and any other lower ranked program seat(s) will be given to someone else.
Parent: But putting your program as Rank 1 should help my child get in, right?
Me: Not in the way you mean, no.
