The Private School Application Process – A Quick Look
As with any endeavor- no matter when a process or movement toward a goal starts- a well considered plan provides the best foundation from which to work. Applying to school is no different.
Once a family makes the decision to move to an independent school, the most comfortable and thorough application package, results from sitting down, researching, thinking, and planning about how to work through all aspects of a school application. Our goal with this article is to provide families with a fundamental framework from which they can build and augment a plan as needed.
Each section delineates the general areas through which an applying family must work in order to build a thorough and effective application. The general areas below apply to all applicants. In this short article, we leave how to address each area up to the individual family.
1. Know your child and your family. Be frank. Explain and complete if asked. If there is a concern or glitch in your child’s experience or record, be prepared to address it.
2. Have student data ready. Grades, test scores, and report cards.
3. Build a profile of your student. In what type of school might your child have the greatest chance of success? What types of schools and activities interest your son or daughter?
4. Consider an academic summer program or another type of growth program to strengthen candidacy and to demonstrate seriousness.
5. Contact schools that look like good fits. Ask the admission officers about “school fits” and what their opinions are, given your child’s academic and personal profiles. If not their school, can the office make any suggestions.
6. Focus on no more than a handful of schools and request their application materials.
7. Contact recommendation authors. Ask each to prepare a recommendation. Prepare transcript requests.
8. Schedule campus visits and interviews.
9. Complete applications and essays. Submit the applications. Follow submitted applications with telephone calls to make sure that each school has a complete application package.
Take your time. Breathe, examine each step and move forward with deliberation.
This basic framework should allow every family build a sound plan for making application to a school. Based on everyone’s unique circumstances, each family will need to do some individual tailoring. Never fear thinking and asking questions.
Through all of the steps, talk with admission officers, teachers, administrators, other parents, and anyone you know who’s been through the process. These professionals and friends can help you make good decisions and smooth the rough spots.
This article is provided by AdmissionsQuest (AQ). AQ features detailed boarding school profiles, school search tools, articles about boarding schools & the admission process and information on private school loans. Through AQ Educational Consulting, families can work with AQ’s educational consultants to find the right school.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Fisher
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