"admission"
In Defense of Childhood
I recently received a call from a mother, a doctor, who wanted me to give her names of elementary schools in the area. After offering a list of public and private schools without suggesting which was best, I was then asked what I thought the best way to prepare her child for our school. I’ve [...]
Read MoreOur Boarding Schools Application Are In!
My apologies for having dropped off the internet for a few weeks. We live in that part of New England that was left without power for almost two weeks in mid-December due to a particularly vengeful ice storm. The upside was that school vacation began seven days early. The downside was that we were distracted [...]
Read MoreApplying On-line Doesn’t Mean Waiting Until the Last Minute
Tamar Lewin published a piece this past Wednesday in the New York Times covering the clog of applications in the pipes of on-line application systems. We know from experience that a good number of families wait to submit their applications until the last possible moment. (We used to run the on-line application system that many [...]
Read MoreWhat makes Boarding Schools different from other good schools?
Twenty-two of my thirty-two years in independent schools were spent in day schools, some very good and some fairly mediocre, but all of them had good students with dedicated teachers. Their debate teams did well; the football teams reigned supreme. Most went on to colleges and parents were fairly pleased with their investment. However, it [...]
Read MoreBoarding School Admission Test Scores and Their Place in the Selection Process
Editor’s Note: We’re thrilled to welcome Leo Marshall as a contributor to onBoarding Schools. Leo is the Director of Admission and Financial Aid at The Webb Schools in Claremont, CA- a coed, boarding school offering grades 9-12. It seems inevitable at the end of any presentation about our school that we face questions about test [...]
Read MoreThe Real Work Begins
There are a couple of final school visits to share with you, but as time is running short in the admissions process, today I want to move to the real work of the process- the applications. We met with our educational consultant at the beginning of last week to winnow the list of schools visited [...]
Read MoreOur First Boarding School Visiting Day
In our three years of interviewing, we just went to our first open house/visiting day and wished we had attended more. Our day at this pretty, well-kept girls’ school began with a warm welcome by the admissions staff and breakfast in the dining hall. From the beginning I knew I would like the school as [...]
Read MoreThe Boarding School Mom’s Daughter Provides Admission Tips
Editor’s Note: We’re excited to feature a post by the Boarding School Mom’s daughter. She offers her on the ground take on the boarding school admission process. Going through the admissions process is stressful, not only for the parent, but also for the child. Many parents add extra pressure and stress, but also you hear [...]
Read MoreOur Boarding School Tour Continues
Editor’s Note: “A Parent’s Boarding School Admission Journal” appears every Thursday throughout the admission season. Check-in each week to read the Boarding School Mom’s latest entry. A lovely fall day found us in a suburban part of New England visiting two very different schools, both of which are viewed as very desirable. The outcome has [...]
Read MoreA New Test from the College Board- for Eighth Graders
From the “Do we really need this/how far do we want to take testing?” files- the College Board brings parents and schools a new test, ReadiStep. As told to the New York Times by College Board President Gaston Caperton, the test provides a “tool that would help them determine before high school what measures should [...]
Read MoreOur Son Finds a School to Call Home
Editor’s Note: “A Parent’s Boarding School Admission Journal” will move to a regular Thursday publication schedule. Check-in each week to read the Boarding School Mom’s latest entry. By this time we felt like professionals, our son was more confident; and we were more knowledgeable. We realized that the first impression gained in the admission office [...]
Read MoreExperiences with Our Son
Our son attended a small, private, K-8, day school in our rural area. There were twelve kids in his graduating class. He had had the opportunity to sit in on a history class and have a tour of one, highly-competitive, boarding school in seventh grade and was sure that’s where he wanted to go. His [...]
Read MorePrivate School Admission: A Process
The Admission Process- we’ve been explaining, writing, and stressing the ‘admission process’ concept for years. While our references and timelines are all written, we just found a set of video vignettes that present the admission process systematically along with some thoughtful commentary. In his video series, Andrew Battaile, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at [...]
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