North London Collegiate interview letter

[mw55pcz]

We received a letter from NLCS today informing that DD will not be called for the interviews. She was very disappointed as she felt she had done reasonably well in the examinations but obviously it was not enough. NLCS does not provide marks; does anyone know approximately what is required to get through? Also, how many girls do they interview?

[Daogroupie]

I am sorry to hear that. It is very tough for it to just end like that with you having no idea what happened and how far off you were. We had the same experience last year, we got the no letter from NLC and then an interview and then offer from City which is the same exam and City is a much smaller school, so far less spaces. So we could not really work out how City thought her mark was good enough and NLC did not when it was the same mark! We could only conclude that City was looking for a different type of girl. I would recommend you give them a call and ask how many sat, how many were invited to interview and approx how many will be offered places. They can only refuse to tell you so you have nothing to lose. It is so very hard when you thought you did well and now you are left endlessly wondering how you came unstuck. Do you have any other interviews coming up? Best Wishes DG

[mw55pcz]

Thank you daogroupie. Regrettably, DD only wanted to do NLCS as she really liked it from the independent schools we visited. We have no further independent schools and I now wished that she had applied for other schools in the consortium. We still have HBS to hear from and thankfully she has a sibling place at DAO. It is really frustrating though when you do not know where you stand.

[Daogroupie]

Well then our daughters will meet, spend seven years together and may even become friends! They might have sat next to each other at the HBS exam. I am very glad to know there is someone else out there with a DAO sibling place who has sat entrance exams this year. I have endured endless sniping and some downright hostility from many who cannot understand why I don't let my daughter sit back and be a sibling. In fact I don't know what the mothers at my primary school are going to do in September without me to laugh at. My eleven plus antics have provided endless playground comment and derision. My elder dd had another child take over her chair she spent so much time away doing exams. The sibling concept is only a school thing and does not follow you into the workplace so I think it should not be relied on quite as much as some do. We know siblings who were allowed to sit back and do nothing. We know a very capable sibling who has not even reached Level fives yet because she has cruised at school ever since she became a sibling. Did your dd sit the DAO exam? How did she think it compared to the Consortium test? Did she really not like any other indy apart from NLC? Is she happy about going to DAO or did she prefer NLC and HBS? If I were you I would write a formal letter to NLC and ask if they could reconsider, especially now that some of the interview offers they have made will have been rejected. There will be some who simply sat Consortium 2 as a practice for another more favoured school. Is NLC still £75? If so it is the cheapest Consortium school for someone who just wanted a practice run. I would also ask how much she missed the cutoff point by. If you were interested in any other Consortium schools you could ask NLC to send the papers to them. After all, our Consortium mark last year which did not even get us an interview at NLC got us an offer at City. Did your elder dc sit any indy exams and get interviews? DG

[mw55pcz]

Thank you for all your suggestions DG. DD is gradually overcoming her disappointment and will hopefully recover by the end of this week. We took her to see NLCS, Habs, The Mount School and St Helens from the Independent schools. She fell in love with NLCS and in the past three years consortium papers was scoring about 90 percent; so she was very hopeful of getting through to the interviews. The letter did say that the competition was very tough this year. DD also likes HBS and DAO where my DS started last year. She prefers HBS as it is a girls school; personally I would have put DAO above HBS on the CAF as I feel it offers better opportunities in sports and music. Our DS is very happy there and we really like the school. She did sit the DAO examinations as we felt that siblings need to be at a certain level to do well in an academic school; it is one thing to get in through sibling criteria but another to perform well. It is great to have the sibling option as a choice but kids really ought to learn that things in life cannot be taken for granted. I was pleased to note at the DAO parents evening that a number of existing parents had asked their children to sit for the examinations. I think you are absolutely right in preparing your DD for the real world; there is pressure on young kids but I am afraid that life is tough! All the best with your DDs interviews and who knows she may end up in the same school as my DD!