Middle school admissions: deadline approaching
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A story in today’s Times heralded the season of middle school admissions mania, since - according to the newly standardized timeline - the application deadline has been moved up this year to Jan. 9. Parents in the thick of decision-making can search through the thousands of school profiles on Insideschools and find articles and blog posts outlining the process. If you want to talk to other parents also wading through applications, head to our discussion forums. To hear about one family’s experience with the process last year, read all of Liz Willen’s columns called Middle School Muddle. Good luck - there are a lot of excellent middle schools out there!
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The Times article “All’s Fair in the Middle School Scramble” is really about the unfairness of the middle school admissions process. The article tells a tale of one world of savvy Manhattan parents thinking ahead to selective college admissions and another world of Bronx parents not aware of the basics of middle school admissions. In the middle school muddle, the advantages in the admissions juggernaut accrue to parents with the time, knowledge, and sophistication to navigate the muddle, and these parents are disproportionately high-SES. The more complex an admissions process, the more those with information on the complexities are advantaged.
Comment by Eric N. — December 27, 2008 @ 11:46 am
thanck you ps/Is.18 for my grades and the teacher are a good mom for as
Comment by jennyfer — December 28, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Eric, I am sorry, but do you really think the nuttiness of some of those “savvy” Manhattan parents is really an indicator for anything? Hiding in the bathroom stalls and listen into the conversation of a bunch of 10some old girls? What the hey? Kids who don’t like the idea of dissecting frogs (because out of all logical explanations they are vegetarians) and have a say in this? Really?
Comment by Nada — December 28, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
Ideally Insideschools would be able to help level the playing field by providing all parents free information and advice on the admissions complexities Eric mentions (and now that computer access is much less of an issue than a few years ago, there are fewer barriers to this information). It is key that the website runs on donations and there is no login charge…
Comment by Lew — December 29, 2008 @ 11:14 am
Unfortunately, Eric is right. As a parent who lives in District 6, there is very little to look at or think about as far as any “choice” is concerned.
Comment by Sheila — December 29, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
As a district 6 middle school teacher - I know that there are some really strong schools and some really poor schools - which means that there is actually a lot to think about. I know it is more based on zone in District 6, but within your zone, if you have choice, there are some really important distinctions. For instance, if you are zoned for IS 143 campus, you have three choices. In my opinion, only one of the schools is good. If you are zoned for Mirabal Campus (IS 90 campus), there are only two choices that are good (although I guess the third is now being closed by the DOE anyway). I you don’t have choice within your zone and you don’t like the school you are zoned for, then you should look at district-wide and city-wide schools of choice (including entering charter school lotteries). The way I see it, it isn’t total lack of choice but lack of knowledge about the choice that leaves students in sub-par schools in districts like 6. I think that is what Eric meant…
Comment by Teacher — December 29, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
I agree that it is generally lack of knowledge about choice that leaves students in sub-par schools. To that end, InsideSchools has been phenomenal for leveling the playing field for parents of school-age children. Regarding District 6 options, Columbia Secondary School (altho physically in Dist. 5) is only for children north of 96th Street, and that would include Dist. 6 students. And solid schools in District 6 include Mott Hall and Hudson Cliffs (MS 187). Manhattan East, in Dist. 4, accepts students Citywide and has always had many Dist. 6 students. So there are choices.
Comment by Ellen — January 1, 2009 @ 8:39 pm
Once again I think folks are missing the point. if you’re not in that zone there is very little choice - specifically district six. If your kid is normal and not gifted then you don’t have a prayer at Mott hall, or Columbia Secondary and you’re forced to compete against kids from atleast three districts for Columbia and the entire city for citywide choices and your child would need to have already been in a great school from the start to be able to compete. If you had more than 2 decents schools and were able to apply to any of the schools then that’s choice.
Comment by Sheila — January 7, 2009 @ 1:49 pm