Reply to What do you wish you had thought of or considered before applying and/or accepting an offer?

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[quote=Anonymous]1. I wish we'd started the process earlier in the year.  We did not start even considering private schools until late October, and then it took until late November to find time to attend open houses and tours.  So when we finally got around to applying, we were constantly running right up against deadlines for the applications, the recs, the playdates, etc.

2. I wish I'd spent less time worrying about many of the negative comments on DCUM.  I spent tons of time searching the threads here, and other sources, to weigh the veracity of many criticism of the schools we were considering.  In hindsight, I realize it was all bullshit and snark.  I could have saved lots of time.  I do think there is lots of good information on these threads about the schools and their approaches, but it's usually buried under lots of garbage.  I'd focus on the positive comments you can find, since although those might be exaggerated, they're rarely flat-out lies (which is often the case with negative comments).

3. I wish I'd made more of an effort to talk one-on-one to other parents at the schools we were considering.  We did not know anyone at any of the private schools where we applied (since most of our neighborhood goes public), so we did all the investigation ourselves.  I think we made the right choice on schools, but in hindsight, we could have saved time and work if we'd used our network more effectively.  I'm sure I could have found a friend-of-a-friend at each of the schools we were considering, and gotten a lot better sense of the schools quickly by having some phone calls with those people.  At the very least, I might have asked the admissions offices for names of current parents I could contact to get opinions about the schools.

HTH.  I have no regrets about applying to private schools, or about the school we ultimately chose for our family.  I do think I could have gone about the process more effectively though.  Good luck![/quote]

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