Resources

Want some examples of the way I think about school applications? Or do you think you want to try to apply on your own? This is for you.

First, no matter how you go about this, I wish you success! There are three thoughts I have come to believe are the most important things to bear in mind: Everything counts. The process is holistic. There is no formula. 

The most persistent misconception about school applications is that little is important beyond grades and test scores — or, a corollary, that grades and scores need to be the highest of all, and then the “extras” make the difference.

If anybody still believed that to be the case, it certainly changed a few years ago, when some of the most competitive schools in Washington, DC announced they would no longer even accept scores from standardized tests such as the WPPSI, WISC, SSAT, or ISEE as part of a student’s application. (Most are now test-optional.)

Most boarding schools are also “test-optional,” i.e., students may submit standardized test scores, but are not required to do so.

It seems clear that a student’s transcript, teacher recommendations, and other factors in an application (most of them non-quantifiable) have taken on greater importance.

At schools where test scores are either required or optional, of course those scores are still important — but they are not the only factors admission committees consider, and they are seldom the most important factor. If you doubt that, consider: At each school that accepts test scores, every year some students are accepted with test scores lower than those of some students who are admitted.

Why? Because everything counts. Because test scores are only a part of a holistic process. And because there is no formula.

Here’s some additional “30,000-foot” advice before you start:

Look more broadly than you’re inclined to, at least at first. If you haven’t spent years in education, you may not understand the differences between traditional and progressive educational approaches (hint: it’s not about politics); the ways different standardized tests are scheduled and their restrictions; who should write references supporting your child’s application; or what to do with a waitlist decision. You probably don’t know Directors of Admission very well, and there is information that admission offices will not share with you because you are the parent of an applicant.

Be as open and unbiased as you can with different perspectives on school. Do not succumb to the notion, often peddled by those with axes to grind, that there are a few schools that are so special that all others pale by comparison. I’ve been working with students applying to schools in Washington for 20 years. What I know is that a school that’s wonderful for one student may not be a good fit for another. And that parents who remain open-minded are more likely to discover things about their children, including the schools where they can thrive.

Ignore. The. Rankings.

Resist the urge to search for “top ten boarding schools,” or “best private schools in Washington.” Why? Because rankings are attempts to quantify something that is inherently unquantifiable.

School rankings are always — always — published for profit. Like everything online, profit comes from clicks, and clicks come from controversy, and from keeping readers anxious. How else can one explain that the “rankings” of schools change from year to year? Does anyone really believe that Princeton is “better” than Williams or Yale? Or that MIT can be “better” than Stanford one year, and worse the next?

I have been a member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association for years, and I have never heard a colleague cite “Great Schools” or “Niche” on, well, anything.

Finally, the data for these “rankings” are unavailable, secret, irrelevant — or all three. The National Association of Independent Schools, to which almost every independent school belongs, does not permit schools to participate in ranking schemes, so any rankings you find are not based on admission rates, emotional health, college matriculations, test scores, student engagement, or other salient criteria. They’re based on opinions, fuzzy proprietary algorithms, and maximizing site traffic. Ignore the “rankings.”

There is, of course, much more information than I could possibly recount in these pages, but for now, I’ve shared below many of the resources and much of the insider information on successful applications that I’ve learned over the past 20-plus years.

I have occasionally seen people refer to the “Big Three” in DC. I’ve been doing this more than 20 years, and I don’t know which three schools that comprises. This is about finding places where your child can thrive, not an athletic competition with a final score.