My DD is currently studying for ISEE this fall for MS entry in 2021. We aren‘t dead set on private and would probably prefer to send her to a D2 middle if she gets one she’s happy with. My question is, for those who have BTDT, if we decide we’re approaching private MS as a backup but might be more serious about it for HS, should we not apply too widely now in case we might not end up accepting now? I guess a better question is: do you burn a bridge with a school if you apply now but don’t end up accepting and then want to apply later? We’re trying to decide whether to keep applications to a few that could be decent backups to public or apply more widely...
I have thought about this too and have decided to wait. Middle school is short, just about every D2 middle school is fine, and you really don't want to burn that bridge.
It depends, do some of the privates you are interested in go through HS? One of my kids is in a sought after D2 middle school right now and it's ok, but if I had the means for my kids to go private, I would have started in middle school. Plus, you don't know what kind of budget cuts are coming down the road for NYC publics and PTAs (even strong ones), will not be able to cover the entire deficit of a school's budget loss.
Thanks. All of the ones we're interested in go through HS.
Do it now but go with ones committed to starting in person in September. By high school some of the privates might not be around if people don't support them. The ones starting in-person in September include Horace Mann and Nightingale. You might get your child in to a better school than he or she otherwise might in normal times. As long as ISEE scores are good all is fine. Note from the financial crisis - do not buy your way into a school she might not otherwise get into during this buying opportunity. I have tales of nervous breakdowns of third grade and younger kids whose parents were Icarus.
Thanks, she'd actually be applying for entry for the fall of 2021. She is a very bright kid and has done quite well on the few diagnostic tests she's done. She's met with a tutor a couple of times and the tutor said she had to do a triple take because she couldn't believe how well she's done on her practice tests. The *tutor recommended fewer sessions than we originally planned on based on her practice tests. She'll thrive in any setting (which is also why I'd consider keeping her in public longer).
@Anon6247 She will have a better chance this fall than next imo.
All the well-known privates have enormous endowments for times like these, don't they? I think the K - 8's are in the most danger right now (much harder justify when times are tough).
Not so sure about that all say they don't make enough to cover costs without donations; this year there will be no fundraising events and I expect it will be hard to ask for donations when the kids don't set a foot in the school til January if at all.