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The Journey to Enrollment

This cluster offers a roadmap for applying to private schools, providing parents and students with insights and guidance to navigate the complexities of research, applications, and final enrollment.

View the most popular articles in The Journey to Enrollment:

Admissions Matters: Following Up, The Competition, & Deadlines

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Admissions Matters: Following Up, The Competition, & Deadlines
Navigating the complex landscape of private high school admissions requires expertise and insight. This article delves into essential areas that every school should master: inquiry follow-up, standing out in a competitive market, and choosing between rolling admissions and fixed admissions deadlines.

Navigating the complex landscape of private high school admissions requires expertise and insight. This article delves into essential areas that every school should master:

  • Inquiry follow-up
  • Standing out in a competitive market
  • Choosing between rolling admissions and fixed admissions deadlines

Discover effective strategies for personalized inquiry follow-ups that engage prospective families. Learn how to differentiate your school from competitors by identifying your unique selling points. Understand the implications of choosing rolling admissions or a fixed admissions deadline and what it means for your school's operations and appeal. Whether you are an admissions professional or a school leader, this article provides actionable insights to elevate your admissions process.

Inquiry Follow-up

Personalized Email Response

Acknowledge each inquiry with a personalized email response. Address the person by their name and answer any specific questions they might have asked. If they didn't ask any specific questions, briefly introduce the school and what it offers.

Regular Newsletters

Send regular newsletters about the school's activities, achievements, and updates. These could also include student testimonials, information about the faculty, and details about the curriculum. It's an excellent way to keep prospective students and parents engaged.

Phone Follow-Up

If the inquirer has provided a phone number, make a personal call after sending an initial email. Your call gives a personal touch and can help answer any immediate questions the person may have.

Virtual Information Sessions

Virtual information sessions can effectively give a more detailed overview of the school's offerings. Invite the inquirers to these sessions, where they

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How Do I Find The Best School?

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How Do I Find The Best School?
A parent and I chat about finding the best school for her daughter. While the parent may be fictitious, her questions are quite typical of the kind of questions and concerns parents have when thinking about sending their children to private school.

Editor's note: In the following conversation, the parent is fictitious but her questions and my answers are real.

Parent: I am thinking about sending my teenage daughter to a private school for grades 9-12. How do I find the best school for her?

Rob K: Let me answer your question with another question. I know that I sound like an attorney by doing this, but I need to understand why you are thinking about sending your daughter to private school. Once you have told me your reasons, I will explain how to accomplish your goal.

Parent: My daughter's current school is OK. It's a public school which sends a large percentage of its graduates on to further education. So, that's OK. She's been with some of her classmates since kindergarten. Now I feel that she should be with other students who really want to learn. I also want her to be in smaller classes. She's one of 25 students right now. The other thing which concerns me is that the high school curriculum seems a bit thin, and is mostly focused on SATs and AP examination preparation.

Rob K: Now, you are giving me something to work with. Small class sizes are one of the main reasons most parents decide to send their children to private school. Most schools have 12-15 students per class. Your child will not just be a number in a small class. She will know everybody and everybody will know her. She will not

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International Students: The New Visa Regulations And You

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International Students: The New Visa Regulations And You
The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that it would enforce a 2017 policy of requiring visa applicants to list their social media handles. More about this and how it impacts international students wishing to attend American K-12 private schools.

The documentation required by international or non-United States students has always been . As I have pointed out many times, if you are not an American citizen and are living outside the United States of America, and you wish to attend a boarding school in the U.S., you need to start the process at least 18 months in advance of the date of your first class. See the for a detailed timeline. While the article discusses how to apply to American universities, the process is the same for students applying to American private K-12 schools

Additional documentation

What is being adhered to more strictly is a policy which dates back to the Obama administration. This policy requires that applicants for U.S. visas furnish their social media usernames. in the New York Times gives an overview of the changes. An update to the was published on September 18, 2017. Specifically, it adds the following clause: "Social media handles and aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results"

This video discusses how the US Border Patrol now requires all immigrants to provide social media logins and passwords, phone records going back 5 years, and other details.

How does this impact your child's student visa application? It means that your

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A Parent’s Guide to ²ÝÁñÉçÇø School Entrance Exams

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A Parent’s Guide to ²ÝÁñÉçÇø School Entrance Exams
Navigating private school entrance exams can be challenging for parents and students alike. This comprehensive guide explains the key admissions tests—ISEE, SSAT, and HSPT—and offers insights into their differences, scoring methods, and subject emphases. Learn how to determine the best test for your child, prepare effectively, and understand the role of these exams in the holistic admissions process.

A Parent’s Guide to ²ÝÁñÉçÇø School Entrance Exams

There are many reasons why a private, independent, or boarding school could be an excellent option for your child.

  • ²ÝÁñÉçÇø schools typically offer thrilling academic challenges, extensive STEM or arts programs, or other remarkable resources.
  • Their student-teacher ratios are low.
  • Their faculty usually have advanced academic degrees and strong professional reputations.

About 10 percent of students attend private schools nationwide.

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 a 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 ²ÝÁñÉçÇø 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 ²ÝÁñÉçÇø 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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Recent Articles

Best ²ÝÁñÉçÇø School Programs for Globally Mobile Families
Best ²ÝÁñÉçÇø School Programs for Globally Mobile Families
Explore the best private school programs for globally mobile families, including IB, bilingual, and flexible academic pathways.
Cultural Adjustment Tips for International Students
Cultural Adjustment Tips for International Students
Practical cultural adjustment tips for international students in private schools, with 2026 insights on academics, social life, and well-being.
Student-Teacher Ratio Explained for ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Schools
Student-Teacher Ratio Explained for ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Schools
Learn what student-teacher ratio means, why it matters, and how to evaluate it when choosing a private school in 2026.

The Journey to 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.