Was It More Competitive than Ever to Get Into NYC Private School Kindergarten?

Yes.

Thanks to Shelly Banjo of the Wall Street Journal, for solving the pressing mystery and breaking the admissions news that indeed, in 2010-2011 Private-School Strivers Increase by 10%  Banjo writes:

The last time private schools saw this kind of increase was between 2006 and 2007, when the city’s real-estate market was in a frenzy, the stock market was at an all-time high and the number of students taking the admissions tests shot up by 12%. When the financial crisis hit in 2008, test takers dipped by nearly 2%; they fell by 5% in 2009.

“We had a banner year in 2007 with a surge in test takers, but where we are now even surpasses that jump,” ERB’s executive director, Antoinette DeLuca, said.

In Banjo’s article, I said:

“Manhattan families are getting bigger as parents choose to raise their kids in the city, so there are fewer places in private schools for new families,” said Emily Glickman, president of Abacus Guide Educational Consulting.

Banjo also covers the impact of increasing applicant numbers on the numerous private schools opening in the city and G & T public programs.