How many girls reject HBS in favour of NLCS/HABS etc

[edgwaredad]

Any past figure of how many girls reject HBS and opt for indie like NLCS or others. I know few parents last did that.


Had to change the subject of the post to make it more clear.....

[Daogroupie]

HBS do not publish their rankings so there is no way of knowing how many reject places. The fact that the waiting list has gone down to the thirties does seem to show that parents take indy places but it could also show that HBS was a lower ranking for a student and a place just been freed up at the higher ranked school. The waiting list used to go further because students were using the exam as a free mock but now they do not actually need to apply to HBS in order to sit the exam so the waiting list does not go down so far. We know lots of familiies holding onto a bunch of indy places waiting to hear about HBS, DAO, Latymer and QE on Monday DG

[Londonmummy]

I knew at least 2 parents who gave up HbS spaces for other private girls schools and other parents holding onto private places in favour of HBS. Interestingly there were several parents who had girls sit the HBS as test prep for consortium and other private entrance exams too.

[Daogroupie]

That has been happening for years. I know of many prep schools who recommend their girls to sit DAO, Latymer and HBS and their boys to sit DAO, Latymer and QE as a trial run. That is why QE and HBS will not reveal their rankings. The preps taking a ranking and then turning it down make the schools look like lots of students reject them. It is those preps using these exams as a free mock that have created the limbo that HBS and QE parents are in now not knowing if they are going to get a place. If you look at the extraordinary page from Bute House posted by Future of the schools that those students sit with no intention of taking the place you will see the extent of the problem. DG

[hermanmunster]

the Bute House list here shows how many children do multiple exams:


http://butehouse.co.uk/images/stories/p ... s/2013.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[London-Dad]

Our DD sat HBS...and has made it through to last 250.
But we have already accepted place at independent school...ahead of HBS final results.

I wouldn't quite say that we never had any intention of taking up a place at HBS...more that it was probably not at top of our list of schools.

1) The application process + exams are so much earlier at HBS than Indie schools...that we were much more uncertain at that stage as to exactly what we were looking for.
The whole senior school choice thing is an evolving process where certain schools grow on you...the closer you look at them...and vice versa of course in some cases.

2) Even if HBS was never a front-runner for us...we wanted DD to have experience of 11+ exam process (i.e. stress / tears / butterflies in stomach...and that's just the parents !)
Taking an important exam in a strange classroom with hundreds of other girls milling around...is very different experience to a practice mock in your own familiar classroom at school or the kitchen table at home.
This was not a decision we took lightly as HBS obviously involved extra preparation for VR / NVR which our daughter was not going to be tested on elsewhere (apart from maybe a little bit in SPGS computer filter)

3) Our Prep school does not particularly steer girls towards HBS (partly to avoid the extra hassle of NVR prep) so only a handful of girls were entered (with maybe only 1 or 2 having it anywhere close to a genuine first choice). The most ambivalent applicants didn't make it through to last 250...so I can't honestly say that there will be loads of girls that I know... turning it down for place at Independent (maybe 3 out of those I would think have a good chance of making 93...as they already have offers at NLCS / SPGS)

4) Didn't HBS say in previous years that "top fifth" of wait-list have a good chance of eventually getting an offer of a place? And this was when 300 girls made it through to final round.
300-93 = 200 approx....so top fifth= top 40....so anyone down to 130 in rankings is in with a chance.
It is of course potentially even better than that...because some in top 93 will not have HBS as first choice....and if they get offer from No1 choice....then they won't be offered a place at all.
I wouldn't even like to guess at how many girls this applies to (DG is probably your best bet to make a guess here)...but it must be at least 10 ???
Which would mean that 140 in rankings would be in with a shout (so over 50% chance for those that made it through to final 250)

[silverysea]

HBS didn't have NVR-for future parents always check the current policies when preparing...

[London-Dad]

Sorry...NVR was just a typo for Numerical Reasoning
...but point still stands....it was a format not tested within Consortium exams.

[Daogroupie]

Interesting that you made the same typo twice in your post. If ,as you say, preps and yours in particular made no attention to the government requirement to give parents the results of selective text before the CAF, then it is likely that prep parents did carry on with NVR preparation for QE and HBS not realising that both schools had abandoned it. I don't think this is actually true as the state selectives are stuffed full of students from preps. Maybe these are just the families who did not rely on their school to be the source of all information for secondary transfer but ran the process for themselves.

It is fantastic news that you are going to turn down your 250 slot so that a girl less fortunate than your dd will have the chance of a place. Hopefully you have emailed the school to turn down the place so that reallocation can be done quickly. Or are you waiting to see if you would have been one of the 93?

I look forward to continuing to hear all about how much better school for the 7% is than school for the 93%. It is incredibly informative. Your post about all the things that prep schools do for their students to win them places at the best secondary schools was excellent, thank you for taking the time to write it. It will really help state school parents to understand how much ground they need to make up. Do continue to inform us about all the advantages at secondary school level.

I wonder if the 7% would remain in their bubble for the whole of education from 4 to 21 if private universities existed in this county?

DG

[silverysea]

The top Unis in this country may as well be private since the private school graduates are practically guaranteed a place, taking up a hugely disproportionate number of spaces. Once they get there, I expect they will romp ahead with their confidence and presentation skills, while my comp dd should she get in, will continue to wear her invisibility cloak.

When our DDs started in Infants we felt as parents we couldn't afford private school fees-looking back with hindsight, we were already used to nursery care costs which were even higher, and I would have far preferred to feel I had done the best for their education in a good private school, than struggled with the state system with no end in sight, and curtailing my own career and income to provide enrichment at home. Ok at least 7 more years of school but hopefully on Monday at least one will get into a selective school of her and our choice...still big classes though