Again, do / did you have DDs who go there, Clubnirvana?
I doubt that there are many parents who truly choose a school because of ‘pride and prestige’ and who’d sacrifice their DD’s ‘happiness and mental health’. I think that these threads have lost the essence of the selection process. Schools are different - ‘top tier’ (horrible phrase) or not. They look for different things in the DCs they select. Equally, parents look for different things to each other because of their own philosophy regarding the learning environment they’d like for their DCs. Let’s not also forget the most essential aspects of this process: our DCs are different. What may suit one wouldn’t suit another.
Thankfully, selective schools are generally VERY good at offering to those they know will thrive because of the match between aptitude, personality and the ethos of the school (and parents, in schools, where parents are also interviewed - not at NLCS I hasten to add).
With all the will in the world, a parent seeking pride and prestige at the expense of their DC’s mental health wouldn’t necessarily get their DC into NLCS unless the school was confident that she’d thrive there (in every way). No school has a crystal ball but the assessments are thorough, lengthy and stretch across two days.
Your sweeping generalisations regarding NLCS parents, depicting them as putting their pride before their children’s mental health and happiness etc., is hurtful. This is obvious (and I’m not an NLCS parent so am being objective, here).
I do wonder what motivates some posters to write such scathing things about the girls, parents and school. Could it be scorn at being rejected and the inability to trust the selection process (pride)?
I do have a number of friends whose DCs are there. They are neither pushy, uncaring nor desperate for prestige at the expense of their DCs. What a ridiculous idea! Their DDs are, and always have been, switched on and have needed something slightly different to keep them stimulated all along at nursery, school, etc. Some of them have one at NLCS and one elsewhere, which is how I know them.
There are good schools out there to suit every type of (DC’s) personality and academic aptitude. Let’s be respectful of each other’s DCs, of each other and of the schools, which are thankfully as different as our children. One size does not fit all.