I often get the question, “We’ve done all this work submitting applications, now what happens and why does it take so long to get results?”
The bad news is, there’s a somewhat agonizing wait for 8th grade families across the city to receive their high school results. The good news is, there are valid reasons why.
The following is a mere sampling of these activities:
- High schools will diligently review their applicant lists and decide which candidates to consider and rank. This process can take a few weeks, at best, and is normally done in earnest in January.
- The Department of Education (DOE) works with schools to finalize the number of offers that will be made to each high school program, taking into account expected yield (i.e. number of seats that will be filled based on number of offers made).
- Offers to the specialized high schools, and corresponding qualifying scores, are calibrated in a time-consuming process that balances enrollment management at the schools with maximizing offers.
- The DOE runs its matching algorithm multiple times in an extensive, iterative process to ensure quality control.
- Only once the optimal number and type of matches are made can the DOE actually begin the production process. This involves creation, quality control, production and distribution of nearly 80,000 letters among hundreds of middle schools.
- At the same time, the DOE must ensure that the (new) online application system, MySchools, is properly prepared for this distribution process, involving a quality control procedure of its own.
- Don’t forget, a certain percentage of students who do not match in round 1 of the process will be given a high school placement. This is also a time-consuming process performed manually by DOE staff.
- Concurrently, the DOE will prepare its list of round 2 programs – those with remaining seats to choose in round 2.
- The DOE must also prepare for the round 2 process and all that involves: fair, applications and other communication materials, preparing MySchools, etc.
All told, when one considers all that must take place in what amounts to a 2-month+ period, it’s no wonder it takes so long for results to come out.
Unfortunately, this makes it no easier to wait. But at least now you have some idea of why.
Interested in what happens AFTER results come out? Join us on February 26, 2019 for our free webinar, “Everything You Need to Know After Results Come Out.”
Registration and details here: