"Admission Process"
Spring and Summer Admission: Potential Pitfalls
Many families arrive to the admission process deep into the school year—even into the summer. This later, compressed, admission timeline carries a few potential pitfalls of which families need to be aware. As we remind families, very good schools continue working with families and admitting students deep into the summer and early fall. Every type [...]
Read MoreChoosing the Boarding School That’s Right For You: People Matter
This story came to me via the grapevine last week, about a student, who believed that he had found the perfect school, but, after his accepted student revisit, found that his dream wasn’t his dream at all. In fact, it was something of a nightmare. Full disclosure, I verified that this story is, indeed, true. [...]
Read MoreThe Tough Decisions of the Admission Process: An Admission Director’s View
Andrew Weller, admission director at Ridley College (a coed boarding school in Ontario, Canada) publishes the blog Independent School Admission Musings. He uses the space to comment on the admission process and on topics growing out of his admission perspective. I highlight him today because I think his two most recent posts are worth a [...]
Read MoreDon’t Become the Difficult Parent
The college placement office is one of the quiet, but most important support pieces of a boarding school education. Boarding school college placement offices, and the students they support, benefit from a bounty of resources and experiences. A boarding school college placement office works full-time; works with a very healthy (read low) officer to student [...]
Read MoreThe Case for a Gap Year- with some questions
The ‘gap year’- a fairly frequent topic of ours both as question recipients and as writers (it often comes in tandem with questions about a post graduate year)- received nice essay coverage on The Choice blog at The New York Times. As part of her National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC) conference coverage Rebecca [...]
Read MoreWhat Will You Do With Your Child’s Moment in Time?
I recently took at peak in the door of the Hall of Life in our (The Webb Schools’) Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology. Its renovation is nearing its end but I just couldn’t resist a look. Without divulging the details of what will certainly be a glorious new exhibit hall, I will say that I [...]
Read MoreSkepticism Over College Rankings Applies Equally to Private School Rankings
Over on the Independent Educational Consulting Blog, Dodge Johnson, IECA president, offers his preemptive salvo on the coming U.S. News annual college rankings. Suffice to say, he’s skeptical; not a fan; and his piece can serve a foundation on why it’s important to approach many types of rankings with a healthy dose of skepticism. Dodge’s [...]
Read MoreHow to Approach Private School Admission Essays
Many students (and parents!) worry about private school admission essays because of the unknowns. Is the essay an unofficial test of a student’s writing ability? Is there a formula that successful applicants follow? Application essays are meant to give schools insight into a student’s personality, interests, and thought process. Most of the application comprises biographical [...]
Read MoreA Guided Tour of McCallie School [Video]
Taking the audience inside McCallie School, J.T. and Ned make a strong case for McCallie and as well as the boys school experience in general. Both young men, independently, come to talk about their relationships with faculty and each other- the brotherhood. JT closes the video with this warm appreciation of the relationships that he’s [...]
Read MoreAnnouncement: Junior Boarding Schools Association 2011-2012 Information Sessions
If you have a junior high school aged son or daughter who might benefit from a boarding school experience, consider visiting one the JBSA receptions during the coming school year. Each event will feature representatives from JBSA member schools who will speak about, both, junior boarding, generally, and their schools, specifically. A panel discussion will [...]
Read MoreStudents Bring Tilton School’s ‘The Power of Potential’ to Life
Tilton School is bringing the school’s new campaign, The Power of Potential, to life through student and faculty voices. Tilton has created a dedicated social blog called The P.O.P. Zone designed to bring student and faculty thoughts, projects, and experiences directly to audiences. Launched this past spring, The P.O.P. Zone currently features the voices of nine students [...]
Read MorePerspective on Admission Decisions: Andover’s “The Dean’s Journal”
From the “who feeds me under rock department?” this morning- I just learned about a March piece by Phillips Academy Admission Dean Jane Foley Fried, “Preparing for the Envelope.” Fried provides perspective on acceptance and rejection- specifically to Andover but certainly relevant to other pursuits. I recommend Fried’s piece because much of her thinking is [...]
Read MoreDiscussing the Rising Costs of Private Schools
In case you missed it, just before the start of the July 4th weekend, RTTnews posted an audio interview with our very own Brian Fisher about the rising costs of private school tuitions and financial aid. The conversation closed with a discussion about the benefits of boarding schools and why school fit is so important. [...]
Read MoreAdmission Officers: Does Your School Have Openings for Fall 2011?
Update! Many thanks to all of the schools for sharing their openings in the comments section. To make life a little easier for families, we compiled the comments into a list of AdmissionsQuest member boarding schools with Fall 2011 openings. It’s sorted in two ways- by school type and state- and families can use the inquiry [...]
Read MorePublic School Budget Cuts Open Boarding School Window of Opportunity
Many readers may not know that during the late spring, I unplug much of my time from AdmissionsQuest and move back to the school-side of the admission process. For a month-and-a-half each April and May, I travel the country meeting prospective families interested in Wolfeboro: The Summer Boarding School. I just finished my 14th year [...]
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