Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) — Parental anxiety in New York rises a
notch for todays annual “Crazy Friday as the citys private
kindergartens issue decisions that may launch youngsters toward
Harvard, Yale or Princeton, or not.
Letters, e-mails and phone calls from schools today will
say “accepted, “rejected or “wait-listed. Then the
kindergarten shuffle begins, with parents balancing waiting-list
spots at their top choices against acceptances at so-called
safety schools.
Many parents submitted more than a dozen applications to
raise their childs chances, according to New York education
advisers. The application flood means some of the $28,000-a-year
schools including Brearley, Spence, Collegiate and Dalton in
Manhattan have more than 10 contenders for each desk, with
competition fiercest for about 2,500 prized seats at the most-
sought schools.
“Everybody wants to go the same 15 schools, but they dont
have 500 kindergarten places. They have 30 to 60, said Amanda
Uhry, who charges $15,000 to help families through the
admissions process. “Its like a parental feeding frenzy. You
cant buy your way in. If youve got $5 billion, theres
probably somebody who is applying who has $10 billion.
The Trevor Day School in Manhattan had 600 applicants for
64 spots, up 15 percent from 2007, a trend repeated elsewhere,
said Deborah Ashe, a board member of the Independent School
Admission Association of Greater New York and Trevors
application director.
Legacy Kids
Some spots go to children graduating from the schools
preschool programs, others to “legacy kids whose siblings or
other relatives attended the same kindergarten. That leaves
precious few spaces for parents trying to secure a kindergarten
that will guarantee their childs prep-school path, according to
Ashe and Uhry.
“Families are in the middle of the, `Where-am-I-going-to-
get-in panic, its Crazy Friday, Cynthia Bing of the
nonprofit Parents League of New York said in a phone interview.
Her group offers online resources free to anyone and personal
advice and workshops for members, who join for $120 a year.
The “panicked response has been building in recent
years, Ashe said. “We dont know if applications are going up
because theres more people out there, or if theres just more
panic out there.
New Yorks five boroughs have 575,823 children younger than
5, according to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, up 5.8
percent since 2001. Manhattans under-5 population jumped 22
percent to 98,361 over the same period, reflecting high-paying
jobs that keep more families in the city instead of moving to
the suburbs, said Ashe.
Automatic Entry
The 2,500 slots are at 60 kindergartens of private schools
that are members of New Yorks Independent School Admission
Association. Acceptance grants children automatic entry into
grade school, and can secure their place in the best private
high schools. The association represents 127 New York private
schools, including 112 in Manhattan.
Families must decide whether to accept admission offers by
Feb. 27. If they decline, then those on the wait-list are
offered the slot.
Some parents begin angling for the right kindergarten even
before conceiving, Bing said.
Amanda Brokaw, a public relations executive, said she and
her investment-banker husband are already studying schooling
options for their 19-month-old daughter.
“Im amazed that Im dealing with this so early, she
said. “I grew up in Manhattan. Looking at the future, between
the finances and competitiveness of getting in somewhere, its
causing anxiety. No sleepless nights yet, but anxiety.
Brooklyns Crazy, Too
Its not just crazy in Manhattan, said Ana Patel, who
works for an international human rights organization and lives
with her lawyer husband and 4 1/2-year-old son in Brooklyn.
After applying to five schools, they won acceptance at a private
kindergarten in Brooklyn Heights, where the child can continue
through high school.
“You find yourself having the most inane conversations with
other parents because it suddenly becomes a big deal whether
they get in or not, Patel said. “Do you call the head of
development during the first round? Do you send her flowers? Do
you send her a thank-you note? Is e-mail OK or should it be
handwritten, or on some kind of stationery?
Application fees, interviews and waiting lists are features
of most private New York kindergartens, even those far down in
preference lists. Parents submit essays explaining why theyll
fit in with the school community, and toddlers take aptitude
tests and have “play dates with other hopefuls.
`Melissa Moms
At first-come kindergartens, parents or their nannies line
up before dawn on application day. Other schools began applicant
lotteries to avoid the spectacle.
Uhry said that her business, Manhattan Private School
Advisors, has doubled since 2005 to about 1,400 families and
that 2009 will be the most competitive yet. The key, she said,
is selling your family and customizing each application to fit
the schools criteria.
“You dont want to look like every other person who lives
on the Upper East or Upper West Side. The husband works on Wall
Street, probably for Goldman Sachs, the wife doesnt work any
more, her name is Melissa, shes 40 years old, has a 2-year-old
kid and wears those pants with the word `Juicy across the
butt, Uhry said. “You know how many of those `Melissa Moms
we see around here?
To contact the reporter on this story:
Beth Jinks in New York at
