<p>You parents will not be surprised (given what I just posted) that the competition for CA <em>private</em> schools, of almost any kind, is insane, but particularly for the rigorous secular privates. On placement test days, these schools have an overflow crowd of students. There doesn’t begin to be the available privates to accommodate demand among the more educated families. The great publics are not sufficient in number (or dispersed enough in location) to satisfy that, either. It is just getting worse every year. I honestly don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have one in college & one in h.s. right now. I have a friend whose D did not get into either private elem. on their list, & the child is a gem, & brilliant. (Results were last week.) Not enough of a development admit, probably, and there is usually at the most one opening per class at every private per year; sometimes only 2 or 3 openings for the entire school. This may not be unusual compared to other regions or states, but the difference is, most other States have more to choose from in publics than CA now does.</p>
<p>If I had a child I was trying to place in a private, I would probably have to leave the State.</p>