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Getting Into NYC Private School Kindergarten Is Harder Than Getting Into Harvard
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 6, 2011
Modified Sep 6, 2011
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 6, 2011
Modified Sep 6, 2011
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Private schools have long offered admissions to the young siblings of students—but the NY Times reports that's no longer the case at some schools, for reasons including increasing diversity and making more money. To illustrate the story, the Times offers a glimpse at one elite private school's insane kindergarten admissions process:
There are 62 kindergarten seats at the Trinity School this fall, and 756 children wanted them. What percentage made the cut?
The answer seems straightforward: 8.2 percent. But private-school admissions are hardly straightforward.
Of those 62 spots at Trinity, one of New York’s most competitive schools, 33 were taken first by qualified siblings of Trinity students. An additional 11 went to children of alumni, who also get a leg up in the process, and one more belongs to the child of a staff member. That left 17 spaces for families with no ties to Trinity, giving those without connections a 2.4 percent shot at the prize.
The Times points out that Harvard's acceptance rate is a generous 6.2%. They let in anyone there! A portfolio manager whose connectionless child was lucky enough to get into Trinity's kindergarten program told the Times that the admissions process became "my full-time job for four months" and it was "way more difficult than anything I’ve done academically in my life, including applying to university in America from India." He added, "The problem with the process is the data is fuzzy and the people involved seem to want to keep it fuzzy. The uncertainty leads to greater angst and leads to precisely the behavior you see in this city: insane behavior." Like creating a cottage industry for private school admissions consultants?
Tagged
admissions
education
insane behavior
private school
trinity school
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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