Placement Office List of Schools

mamakiwi
Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:09:04 +0000

yes, I do believe that mhmm is right on about that…
I don’t think it is necessarily to the detriment of the student.
SUE22 posted while I was typing and her comments are very good.

Here is my take on it as I go through the process -
The school has three main priorities (as I see it) -

1) Place all kids in a school.
2) Place all kids in a school where they will succeed and reflect well on the JBS.
3) Place as many kids in TOP schools as possible.

The placement office doesn’t want to let Johnny go to HADES if he is going to be a poor student or discipline problem. They have decades old relationships and it is in their best interest to see that the student and the school are well matched - for everyones benefit.

They also don’t wont push lower tier schools to a student who they think they can get in to a HADES. For example, if a kid has the resume for a HADES but the desire for a – hasn’t CC come up with an acronym for the other schools? I guess there are just too many great schools with great academics and communities to simplify with a five letter acronym :)…
Anyhow, if they can get a kid into a HADES but the kid is on the fence - say he thinks maybe he wants lower pressure environment so he can really be top of the class with less work and enjoy high school - the placement office isn’t going to really support that. They won’t derail the kids applications - I don’t mean that - but I do think they will push the HADES.

Remember, they want to LOOK GOOD to prospective students and looking good is partially about placement. Just think, how closely do YOU look at where these prep schools send their students to college? That is one of our #1 criteria - are kids from that school matriculating to schools where I would like to see my child attend college?

As far as horsetrading is concerned - I don’t really know if they get as callous as that sounds - like trading Johnny for Suzie. I do know that the placement officers and the admissions officers have a great deal of communication. And it isn’t at all of the schools. There will be some schools that have very close ties to a particular JBS and very open lines of communication.

Here is how I think it goes - Johnny applies to StJoes and StBobs (among others). StJoes and StBobs know that they share a significant part of their applicant pool. They like to keep their acceptance rates down - right? - another marketing technique … And they probably have some specific yield numbers they are looking to attain as well. So when StJoes calls JBS and says “Boy, we really like Johnny a lot. We know he also applied to StBobs. Where do you think he is leaning?” If JBS knows that Johnny REALLY REALLY wants to go to StBobs above all else and has a good shot at getting in - then JBS might say “Johnny really likes StJoes, but honestly if he gets in to StBobs that is where he will go.” So, St. Joes says “Okay, we will waitlist him. But if he doesn’t get into StBobs, call us back and we will find a place for him.”

This isn’t all bad for Johnny. I think a lot of the communcation between JBS and the prep schools really works to the positive for the JBS student. These JBS faculty know their kids extremely well. The prep schools know what kind of kid to expect from these JBS and they really want them - they assimilate easy and are well prepared for the academic and boarding life of a prep school.

A key point that SUE22 made was about the #6 kid that desperately wants HADES and that school only takes the top 4. If your child is pushing into that top tier it is worth it to ask some really pointed questions to the placement person. Yes, let them know - when applications are in - what is your #1 to die for choice. They can help. Also push them to let you know if it isn’t feasible so you can push for a different school.

Someone also made the point not to take the placement list as gospel. Good advice. Do a lot of research on your own and don’t be afraid to add something ‘out of the box.’ My son’s #1 to die for school wasn’t on anyones list until September.

I’d be interested to hear any other JBS parents input on this as well.