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How do you have time to go to all these open houses?!?!
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Anonymous
| I've started scheduled open houses for the admissions process this year. Granted, we're doing it for two kids simultaneously, but I expect to visiti 8-9 schools this fall. I need another week of annual leave for this! How on earth do so many people do this? |
Anonymous
| yep, it was a part-time job. Plus the open houses and tours, you have to do the admissions testing in most cases, and prepare older kids for the SSAT if need be. You have to fill out applications, have your older kids fill out their part (agony!) and then send it all in. Follow up, drag your DH to the parent interviews. Then schedule one-day or two-day visits or "play dates" at the school for your kids. Be prepared to take time off of work -- no vacations this fall, all your leave will be for the school search. |
Anonymous
LOL, I was not keeping track of how many 1/2 days I used for parent interviews, kid interview, etc. I ended up using 1 week of vacation time for these events and that wasn't including open houses. It is a difficult balance between applying to enough schools to get accepted to a few and being able to widdle down the list to manageable amount of schools that are good fits with your child. I really think that they should make it easier for parents. Also, they should use technology more - one application to all schools, uploaded recommendations so that all of the schools could use the same one without forcing the recommender to know each school to which you are applying and having to mail them for you. Parent and kid interview / visit on the same day. I found it difficult to do and unfortunately I think I will have do it again this year. |
Anonymous
|
I find it to be a terrible bias against households where both parents work. Its like the schools are anti-working moms (ironic, since of course all the teachers and administrators and admissions people are often working parents!)
The proportion of mothers at these schools who work seems to be around 10-15%. It must be in part due to these hoops, right? |
Anonymous
Agree totally. They often schedule meetings during the working hours as wells. I'm not sure who works or who doesn't but when we had school transportation for our child and it wasn't working out the school thought it should be easy for us just to take our child. I have also noticed an insane amount of legacy students/parents. |
Anonymous
| Good preparation for college application process. Except that DC makes the list of colleges and most visits require an overnight. At least they'll be filling out their own apps by then. |
Anonymous
| Yes the teachers and administrators are often working parents and they work all day and do not want to week on evenings or weekend to accommodate working prospective parents. Sorry but just deal! It's not so bad with one child, OP, by your own admission your issue is you've got double trouble with a school search for two. |
Anonymous
| It's been a few years, but my recollection was that we were able to schedule most of them at the PK level for weekends. |
Anonymous
| Well my husband is a lawyer at a big law firm and my nanny handles things for the youngest kid, so that just leaves me to juggle my hair and botox treatments in between the open houses. |
Anonymous
|
LOL, PP.
It was worth it though. I really spent a lot of time learning this fall about the process, testing, financial aid, etc. I didn't know anything at all going in. And I work full-time -- and let's face it, DH was not really THAT helpful... 
I feel like I turned over just about every leaf in the search for a middle school fit. I actually applied to the school where we ended up on a fluke. I liked the school a lot on the tour but I worried about the $ and the miles... At the last minute I emailed it in. Turns out that's where DC ended up. You never know. I do think a lot of parents I know gave up too soon and did not try very hard. Whatever you think about the process (practically like college apps and perhaps worse), if you invest the time and effort it will pay off. You'll find the right school and financial situation, most likely. I did go down a lot of cul de sacs that didn't pan out but I don't regret the experience (OK, maybe the extra money spent for things we ended up not needing). And now I have no feelings of regret or what-ifs. Good luck, everyone. |
Anonymous
Don;t you want to visit the schools when schools is in session? Obviously that is during working hours Mon-Fri. |
Anonymous
You do know that your high schooler chooses the colleges to visit and apply to, and that colleges are not all within a 10 mile radius of your house and that your high schooler has to be the "driver" of the process and complete all the interviews, essays and college apps, right? Just checking. |
Anonymous
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I'm wondering the same thing. I SAH but I have a baby and I cannot imagine it's acceptable to take a newborn on a school tour, even if he's sleeping. So, that means hiring a sitter for all of these events.
I plan to attend the open houses myself and, if my husband likes the school, we will go back for a parent tour. I'm hoping this idea works out well for us. |
Anonymous
| Wife and I tag-teamed and did the process over two open-house seasons. We identified the places we really liked and went together on parent tours. This was really the only way for us to get it done. |
Anonymous
| One strategy is to apply at the pre-K level. That way, you can apply to fewer schools, knowing that, if it doesn't work out, you can apply the next year to schools that start at K. We took this approach. I went to six open houses and decided to apply for our child at only one, knowing that a few of your favorite schools started a year later so we had a cushion. DS got into where we applied for pre-K, so it worked out with several open houses, but only one application and one interview. |