I have been reading with fascination the story about stock analyst Jack Grubman allegedly upgrading AT&T’s stock rating to get his daughters into a NYC preschool. Here’s a link to the USA Today article. (I’ve read the stories in the NY Times but linking to USA Today is easier because registration is not required.)
The heads/board members of various NY schools have been quoted as denying that pull is needed; they even say they discourage letters of recommendation and phone calls from the famous and well-connected.
My question is whether these denials are accurate. The Grubmans and others cited in the articles sure seem to think that pull is needed. They are not dumb, and I can’t imagine going through the hoops if they aren’t really necessary.
When it comes to getting your kids into the right school, any sort of edge – even an imaginary one – is highly desired by parents. Ultimately, some people who use these techniques will get in (even if the techniques had nothing to do with the decision), and they’ll tell friends that their pull was the reason.
I remember when my aunt and uncle, bone fide NYC yuppies, attempted to get my cousin into preschool.
I am currently applying for a position at the US State Department.
I suspect that my cousin Alexander’s selection and vetting process, when he was three years old, was far more grueling than mine will be. Entrance required interviews, testing, psychological evaluation, observation, etc.
He submitted to this nonsense five times, and was actually accepted to one preschool. Since it was not one of the three schools his parents most admired, they believed that his academic life was prematurely cut short and that they had failed in their parental obligations. They marshalled every resource they had, but evidently their efforts fell short. They were outbid.
Essentially, pull is crucial. Elite preschools are swarmed by applications of the most gifted and talented three year olds. Aside from their parents’ pull, how else do you propose to distinguish between them?
Fortunately, my aunt and uncle have mellowed a bit, and my cousin is turning out to be a fantastic, intelligent, and essentially well-adjusted kid.
Do you know what the currency of the bidding was? Was it actual cash, as in promised “donations” (most of the schools are not-for-profit) above and beyond tuition, or was it celebrity or influence? (I’d guess the latter–presumably anyone doing this dance has the cash.)
I would like to agree with RealityChuck that some rational method is used in admissions, but it seems unlikely that such a method would result in the admission of multiple famous children to a single school (the NY Times had pictures of Woody Allen and Soon-Yi dropping off their daughter at the school Citibank made the donation to).
In Chicago, by the way, I’m told that the few competitive schools are usually that way primarily because of location and, once you get to primary schools, family alumni ties are perhaps the most important thing. Donations also count.
They don’t have a huge amount of influence at their disposal, but they made as many phone calls as they could. There were no outright attempts at bribery, though I suspect they asked my extremely wealthy and moderately influential grandparents to make some efforts on their behalf.
Thing is, these private preschools tend to feed directly into the most elite NYC private primary schools, which boasts students with some serious resources. The remuneration chain becomes pretty obvious.