Admissions and Enrollment

This topic cluster covers the comprehensive process of applying to and enrolling in private schools. It provides guidance for parents and students navigating the often complex journey from initial research to final enrollment.

View the most popular articles in Admissions and Enrollment:

A Parent’s Guide to Private School Entrance Exams

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A Parent’s Guide to Private School Entrance Exams
As you’ve been doing your private school research, you’ve likely seen ISEE/SSAT score submission requirements for your target schools, and understand how important scores are to the admissions process. Unfortunately, tremendous candidates can get bypassed because they were not able to demonstrate what they knew on test day.

There are many reasons why a private, independent, or boarding school could be the best option for your student. They typically offer thrilling academic challenges, extensive STEM or arts programs, or other remarkable resources. Their student-teacher ratios are excellent, and faculty may have advanced academic degrees and strong professional reputations. While only about 10 percent of students attend private schools nationwide, private school admissions are selective and competitive.

To help distinguish applicants, private schools use standardized testing. The admissions process, especially for those migrating from public to private, can be an eye-opening experience. The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) and Secondary School Admissions Exam (SSAT) are the most commonly used admissions tests for private, independent, and boarding schools. The High School Placement Test (HSPT) is often used by Catholic schools for entrance into grade 9.

The ISEE and SSAT are long multiple-choice tests lasting 2-3 hours and potentially covering above-grade-level content. For the 4th grader applying to private middle school, this might be the first time they have undergone two hours of solid testing with only one or two short breaks. The best starting point is always to have your student take a full-length diagnostic test. It’s important to know where your child is starting from so that you can help them get to where they need to be.

This video offers an overview of the ISEE private school standardized admissions test.

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Applications 101

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Applications 101
Admission to a private school can be a complex and overwhelming process for parents, especially if they are new to it. This article serves as a comprehensive guide, compiling all the necessary information and resources to navigate the private school admissions process. It covers various topics, including an overview of the process, challenges parents may face, technical aspects such as document submission and recommendations, tips for international students, common mistakes to avoid, and insights into the admissions process from the school's perspective. Additionally, it offers guidance on handling acceptance, rejection, and waitlisting outcomes.

Admission to a private school is a process with many components to it. Both the process and its many components can be confusing to parents dealing with private school admissions for the first time. So, I devised this article as a hub that includes all my articles describing the private school admissions process.

The Overview

Admissions to Private School: A-Z puts all the information you need to navigate the private school admissions process in one convenient place. Whether you are just beginning or have been through this before, you will find help and advice to guide you. Admissions 101 offers an overview of the private school admissions process and the steps needed to find the right private school for your child. Admissions Checklist will keep you on track as you work through the private school admissions process. Essentially it takes the points covered in the previous two articles and formats them into an easy-to-follow checklist.

5 Challenges To Getting Your Child Into Private School

If you are good at organizing projects, the challenges involved in getting your child into private school will not seem especially daunting. Bear in mind that this project will stretch over eighteen months or more.

Play the Hand You Have Been Dealt

In this article, I am suggesting that you need to be objective as you decide which schools will be on your shortlist. Card games such as Bridge and Solitaire with multiple decks of cards fascinate me. I have

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Admissions Matters: The Essay

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Admissions Matters: The Essay
The admissions essay is an important part of your child's admissions profile. Noodle Pros essay expert Kate Fisher offers some valuable tips about writing the admissions essay.

Editor's Note: I am most grateful to Kate Fisher, who is an expert in admissions essays with Noodle Pros, for explaining how to handle the inevitable essay portion of your child's private school admissions application. ~Rob

If your child is applying to a private middle school or high school, he or she will likely have to write an admissions essay. It is important to remember that this is not a college admissions essay, which means that the standards used to assess your child’s writing ability are lower. However, this also means that it’s much easier for admissions officers to quickly identify essays that a parent, teacher, or tutor has had too heavy a hand in.

It is extremely difficult to disguise adult involvement in an essay that is supposed to be written by a child applying to middle school or high school. You may feel uncomfortable allowing your child to submit his or her essay without reading it over. If you choose to help him or her by proofreading or editing it, remember to make sure the language, syntax, and sentence structure remain age-appropriate. No private school admissions officer expects a rising sixth grader to write as well as an award-winning novelist, let alone a college-educated adult.

The best way to ensure the success of your child’s admissions essay is to show how to choose the right essay. Most private schools ask applicants to choose one prompt from a list of several. Helping your child brainstorm

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Doing Your Due Diligence

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Doing Your Due Diligence
As you narrow the field in your private school search process, you will develop a short list of three to five schools which you will evaluate in detail. Visiting each school is an essential part of your due diligence.

Before you spend $5,000, $15,000, $25,000 or more annually for your child's education in a private school, do your own due diligence. Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines due diligence as "research and analysis of a company or organization done in preparation for a business transaction." https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20diligence In a normal business transaction such as buying a house, you would probably concern yourself with the title search and a house inspection in the first instance. When evaluating private schools for your child, your due diligence will focus on the fit. You want to find the private school which offers the best fit for your needs and requirements. You want to identify a school at which your child will be happy. The due diligence steps which you take in a business transaction inspect and review tangibles. Due diligence for parents evaluating private schools includes tangibles such as the academics, sports, and extracurriculars as well as that all-important intangible which is how the school fits in with your requirements.

Avoid common mistakes.

When you visit schools, please don't make the following common mistakes:

  • Being late
  • Being dressed inappropriately
  • Being unprepared
  • Being over-prepared
  • Being rude and disinterested

A little thought and preparation will help you make the best impression possible.

Visit schools.

Visiting schools is an essential part of evaluating the schools on your short list. There are several ways schools will arrange those visits.
This part of your due diligence can be great fun. You will set foot on the campus and explore the facilities of a

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How To Improve Your SSAT Quantitative Score

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How To Improve Your SSAT Quantitative Score
The experts at Noodle Pros offer on improving quantitative scores on the commonly used private school standardized admissions test, the SSAT.

I asked the experts at Noodle Pros for suggestions as to how to improve quantitative scores on the commonly used private school standardized admissions test, the SSAT. Their answers follow. ...Rob

Four Noodle Pros give advice on how to improve your SSAT quantitative score:

1. Be thorough.

Write out your math as thoroughly and as clearly as you can. Even when you can do much of the calculation in your head, it helps a lot to have your step-by-step thinking on paper in front of you. Many times when you get lost or stuck, you can look at what you have written and find your way out of a jam. You can also find and fix the errors in your thinking or your calculation more quickly and more accurately when you can see the work in front of you. Don't do all your math in your head! - Brendan Mernin, 27 Years Tutoring

2. Be confident.

Students do their best when they feel confident. The challenge in maintaining good morale is that the difficulty of the exam can cause students anxiety. Remember that, according to the SSAT website, the SSAT writers design the questions so that only 50 to 60 percent of the test-takers get the question right. Help your child maintain a realistic view of what is expected, and take on preparation in reasonable “chunks.” Start by mastering the questions on content your child already knows, gradually pursue new content or new applications of content,

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Admissions and Enrollment

THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS
This section outlines the step-by-step journey of applying to private schools, from understanding the overall process to preparing for interviews and meeting crucial deadlines. It offers valuable insights and tips to help applicants navigate each stage successfully.
APPLICATION COMPONENTS
Here, we delve into the specific elements that make up a private school application. This subheading covers everything from personal statements to recommendation letters, providing guidance on how to approach each component effectively.
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
This subheading focuses on the administrative side of admissions, exploring topics such as enrollment agreements and rolling admissions. It's particularly useful for school administrators and parents wanting to understand the enrollment process from an institutional perspective.
ACCEPTED, WAITLISTED,REJECTED
This section addresses how to handle the school's decision to your admissions application.
SCHOOL VISITS
Visiting the schools you are considering is an essential part of choosing a school for your child.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS
This group includes articles about the admissions process for international students as well as articles about the visa requirements.