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05.24.08, 06:10 AM NY Schools
59 replies
Bottom line is that the DOE notifies after June 1 and most privates give you until June 1 to pull out or lose your tuition. It's too bad that the DOE can't notify May 28, or privates can't give you until June 15. I know neither party owes the other any consideration, but it would be nice given the reality that many, many private school parents would prefer public if given a shot at a desireable public school. It's a reality in this city and the privates at least should work this reality in to their admissions schedules. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
NY Schools 05.24.08, 06:10 AM Flag
 

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I don't think it's many, many private school parents. Maybe some of the ones offered FA that's not enough for them to feel comfortable, but generally speaking, most people who can afford private live in a great zone and many don't even consider a G&T. In other words, most of them are already zoned for a desirable public. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:12 AM Flag
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OP: I couldn't disagree with you more. I know TONS of people like me and DH. We could afford private if we wanted to, but Anderson or NEST would be great and the money would be missed if we had to find it for private. In other words, we can afford it but not without great sacrifice (vacations, extras...) And although we have a nice apartment, it is not in a decent school district (PS 166) without G&T. We do have great public options here and are hoping for one, but will suck it up and tighten our belts for private if we must. There are LOTS of folks like us out there. We are the upper middle class. Not rich, not poor, want an excellent education for our kids. We are extremely typical of parents in this city, especially Manhattan. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:16 AM Flag
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The typical private family has enough money for a nice apartment in a better zone than yours and they aren't making sacrifices to pay the tuition. If you wind up going private, you will see this in spades. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:20 AM Flag
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Which is a huge reason why most umc families would prefer a great public. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:23 AM Flag
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Yes of course but I didn't say I was in the majority of private school parents. i said people like me are very common in this city. After June, half of us will stick with private and half will go public. We are a very common phenominon. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:23 AM Flag
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Are you OP? Because if so you said many, many private school parents. And that's just not true. And I would disagree that people who apply to and are accepted to private school but who would take a G&T if they got it are "very common." They are the exception, not the rule. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:29 AM Flag
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Many many private school kids will not have scored well enough on the olsat to be considered for NEST and Anderson (and many will not have taken it in the first place, to OPs original point). [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:30 AM Flag
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I totally disagree with this. I know tons of parents from DC's preschool who had to fork over for private back in march when they didn't know the OLSAT scores, only to find that their kid has a shot at Anderson or Nest. many of those families are willing to forgoe the year's tuition in exchange for 8 or 11 free years. But it would be nice if the DOE and privates could just synch up that one little week. One week earlier from DOE or one week later from privates would save these kinds of folks money....and these are the portion of the private school population who NEED the break. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:53 AM Flag
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np: NEED? oh come on. You guys are ridiculous. Come up to Harlem where I live, and we'll talk about families in the public system with real needs. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:54 AM Flag
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Oh yeah? Well come over to Darfur and I'll show YOU some families with real needs. We could go on forever....the point is, that out of all the people in Private schools paying 100% tuition (i.e., not receiving financial aid), it is the ones also hoping for selective public who don't find the tuition easy to manage...as aposed to the majority of private school families who don't blink an eye at 30G and are not even considering public. The families up in Harlem who you say are in such need are not paying 30G for private school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 11:23 AM Flag
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it's really hard to feel for you. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:47 PM Flag
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Well good. Then I'm having some success in life. You know, it's really not a contest to see who is the most unfortunate. The goal is to be LESS unfortunate, isn't it? Which is why I'm wishing in an ideal world that I didn't have to piss away 30G to send my kid to public. You sound jealous. Which is good I guess because that's what drives us. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:58 PM Flag
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take it up with the privates -- to them you're a client. to the publics, you're an entitled PITA with a kid just like all the others [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 07:59 AM Flag
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Tons? I call BS. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 12:51 PM Flag
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^^Considering only 978 dcs TOTAL in all five boros qualified for citywides, there are not TONS in your preschool. Sorry. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 12:52 PM Flag
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Hi OP here....no, not all in my preschool but I can think of 9, maybe 10. Also know a few who will take ps 9 G&T over a private and know a bunch who will take 87 or 199 through lottery over private. All have paid at least deposits and signed contracts. I know a few not in our school, too. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:24 PM Flag
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who "will take?" wow -- they'd deign to go public given a limited set of circumstances, how nice of them. i'm shocked that the doe doesn't want to make a major shift merely to save them a few bucks. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:42 PM Flag
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Listen you want people like this in your public school. These are the families who in future years will donate money, these are the SAH parents who will volunteer and these are the people with connections who will complain the loudest (and actually be heard) when the school is not meeting the students' needs. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:02 PM Flag
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NP: no, I do not crave families like that in DC's public. They are the whiners, they are the moms who are in the school too much and are way too focused on living through their kids. I want more parents like me, who donate what they can (not much), skip work to volunteer if really needed, not because I need to be there. The wealthy parents who could've gone private are often the PITA parents who drain teacher and administration energy, acting as if it is a private school that exists to meet their DC's particular needs, rather than the needs of the entire class. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 06:20 AM Flag
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Gee, 9 or 10 plus a bunch more you can't really specify? You've really revised downwards from the "many, many" of your original post. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:43 PM Flag
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So what's your point? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:59 PM Flag
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Don't feed the trolls, OP. This is either a BPP or someone who's kid didn't make the cut on the OLSAT. Ignore...and thank God it's not you. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:03 PM Flag
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Sorry, but DS scored a 98. It just annoy me when people post things based on nothing. Oh, my two friends are going to lose their private school deposits. Therefore every parent in the city must be going through the same thing. The bottom line is there are not many, many parents going through this, despite what OP keeps insisting. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 08:32 AM Flag
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you need to rethink NEED. quit complaining -- you bought school insurance, and you're got good choices. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:43 PM Flag
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LOL....insurance doesn't pay your tuition if you decide to go public, moron. And it's YOU'VE. As in YOU HAVE. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:00 PM Flag
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if you bought actual school insurance that's well and good, but I was referring to the $$ you're stuck paying to the private school as your insurance -- because no matter what, you guaranteed yourselves a good choice. feel free to call me a moron, but since all this was explicitly stated in the school contract YOU signed, you made your choice. again, quit complaining. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 09:02 AM Flag
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School insurance doesn't apply here. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:03 PM Flag
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or here-- i should have put "school insurance" in quotes -- i'm saying that by choosing to sign with a private knowing full well that you'll be liable for a year's tuition if you bail in june, a family is effectively buying "school insurance," because they're guaranteeing themselves a satisfactory school outcome regardless of how the public placements pan out. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 09:07 AM Flag
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I couldn't agree with you more. Not to mention that if you make a pass on privates b/c you really can't imagine not saving for retirement the next 15 years and you are banking on G&T, June 1st doesn't give you enough time to sell apartment and leave the city for suburbia or cheaper middle america. (that is us next year) [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:32 AM Flag
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I think you are wrong that it is TONS of people in this situation. You clearly have no perspective on this. Your perspective is based on your own milieu. The DOE serves tens of thousands of families in the 5 boroughs. A tiny fraction of them are like you. Yet you think the system should be arranged to serve your own interests. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:46 AM Flag
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I never said that we were the majority, nor did I say the DOE needs to be the one to change. we're talking one week here...if the DOE could stick to it's June 6 deadline and the privates could just move one or two weeks to June 7 or 15, then we'd have one day or one week to decide. It's for the portion of the private school population for whom tuition is a stretch, not for the benefit of the wealthy private school parents who don't even apply public anywayl. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 06:55 AM Flag
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np: of course your argument is logical. But I've got to think that the privates know this and don't care/do it on purpose. They probably enjoy that extra revenue-- from parents who decide not to send their kids after all once they hear from the publics-- and just like gyms who know people will join and never actually use the facilities. It's "free money". [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:34 AM Flag
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nnp--Independent schools are straight-forward. This is a contract: by signing it, you agree to the terms. They have planned a class and budget for the next year. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:47 AM Flag
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Sure, but it's a situation made without all information. We enter into it willingly and nobody is "screwing us", I'm just saying it would be wonderful if DOE and private could sync up that one extra week. My school will charge us the full $32,000 as of June 1 and DOE will notify June 6. It would be nice for families like mine if each party could move three days forward/back to meet up. I know they'll never do it, and I entered into this contract knowing I might be wasting 30G, but that doesn't mean it won't sting. It was the best choice I could make for my kid since I didn't know how my kid would score on the OLSAT and my zoned public is sub-par. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 11:26 AM Flag
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yes, it would be wonderful for you and a handful of others to get to keep a bunch of money you'd been planning to spend. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:44 PM Flag
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OP: Exactly. Especially considering that the school WILL fill the seat and get double tuition. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:04 PM Flag
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Remember, this is money that the family would be donating (or a portion) to the public school. Anderson raises 500 thousand/year from it's PA. Some of that is community fundraising but most of it comes from families like this, who were going to tighten their belts and pay for private but now can kick in 10G a year to Anderson. I know that LL, PS 166 and NEST also have parents making major cash contributions. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:06 PM Flag
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but why should the privates change? they would only be helping parents like you who were merely using them until something better came along -- and leaving them scrambling to find a good replacement months after the admission season had ended [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:47 PM Flag
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Privates never have to scramble, there are always people willing to take spots and pay. They should only make contract accepts pay full if they can't fill the spot, but they can ALWAYS fill the spot. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 03:58 PM Flag
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irrelevant -- they don't want to be doing this in june. plus, some of the kids they would have otherwise wanted to offer the spot to are now "taken" by other privates. parents who hold spots while looking for a better deal are no friend to the private school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 04:24 PM Flag
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NONE of us want to be doing this in June. It's the stupid DOE who are 10 years behind the times in management and technology. Kids should be tested throughout the year as they turn 4, and all aplications and preferences should be automated. The DOE is running this thing straight out of the dark ages and middle class families are getting screwed. Ultimately the publics are the ones who really pay because while the privates get to charge two families for one seat, the public family doesn't have anything leftover to donate to the public school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:09 PM Flag
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hmmm -- i thought the intended-private-now-in-public family had been expecting to shell out $26K+ annually? seems to me they'll still have plenty of savings left over to share with the public school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 07:56 AM Flag
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not in that first year. it takes this kind of family a year to recover from that kind of financial hit. And it's generally 30K, not 26. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 08:10 AM Flag
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$26K is what the lrei family they told the times -- that the school forgave $6k and hit them for $20K. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 09:04 AM Flag
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it's ridiculous for the doe to make a major change merely to accommodate a small subset of the already tiny subset of their population of students (less than 1k vs over a million) merely to help people with a ton of options decide whether they're willing to go public. and why should the privates switch things simply to help those families screw them? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:40 PM Flag
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ita. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 02:42 PM Flag
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Not rediculous, smart business. By helping middle class families to avoid losing thousands on unused tuition, they insure that those families will be able to donate to the public schools. they may even be freeing up time for parents to volunteer because of less demand to make money. And the privates are NOT getting screwed. Quite the contrary. It's a boom for them...they get to collect twice on a single seat. They get 60 thousand where they thought they were only getting 30. Every single private in this town, even the really crappy ones, have waiting lists full of eager kids who would love to pay 30 thousand (that has already been paid once) for the seat. And it's not "leftovers" either. There are some highly qualified and desireable students on everyone's wait lists. The privates are FINE and their contract states the family must pay. if the famly pays, they are all doing what they said they'd do. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:15 PM Flag
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Nest has 5 classes, Anderson has 2. Therefore, there are only 175 children who are going to be offered spots at these schools. Maybe 200 if they over accept. Of all the 99s I know, including our DS, none have even applied to privates let alone are holding a spot with a private. How many families could this affect - 100 at most? Approximately 21,000 children took the OLSAT. Yet people want the DOE to rearaange its schedule for 100 or so families who might have to forgo one year's tuition. Of all the reasons to change the process, and there are many. This is not one of them. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:26 PM Flag
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I think we are calling for the privates to bend, not the DOE. Although the DOE is doing a crappy job and telling families in mid June where their children will be going to school in September is horrible. Oh, and the reason you don't knwo anyone paying for private is because this city is classist and people associate with their own kind. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:31 PM Flag
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Actually I know a bunch of people who are sending their children to private who didn't send in their application forms. Althoung, none of their DCs scored 99. I was saying most people are either private bound or public bound. Very fiew would do either. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 07:36 PM Flag
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OK - I know *6* so far, this year, who are in this position. And I know a miniscule cross-section of Manhattan. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 09:57 AM Flag
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the complaining parents aren't interested in actual numbers showing how lame their points are -- they just want to wallow in self-pity for the choices they've made, while expecting the systems serving the entire public school population to be subjugated in support of their desire to keep their options open without incurring financial repercussions. poor them. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 09:12 AM Flag
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I signed a contract in March - so I'm screwed if my dc gets into the citywide of our choice. If she doesn't get in we'll go private. That said, the fact that the DOE can't establish a process that doesn't drag sending out notifications until June is pathetic and further demonstrates how inept the system is. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 09:13 PM Flag
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What's your DD's score? What did you rank? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.24.08, 09:17 PM Flag
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Not OR but in the exact same position....99%, ranked Anderson, would surrender a year's tuition but OUCH. And like pposter above stated....there would be nothing left to donate to the school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 05:14 AM Flag
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"Only 98". We ranked Anderson (I know no hope) & NEST [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 07:42 AM Flag
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screwed if your dc gets into the citywide of your choice? really? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 07:58 AM Flag
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Very few actually would. A small number yes. However, I do agree that dates could be more coordinated - they are at the high school level. That said, the DOE would have to get its head out of its arse for this to happen. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 05:27 AM Flag
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We can barely afford it and I have no desire to send dc to any of these programs. If she had made Hunter I would have had to think about it, but I still would prefer private. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 05.25.08, 05:39 AM Flag
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