Reply to 10 Bits of Unsolicited Advice on School-Shopping from Someone who has Been There

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The only tip I might disagree with is the interaction with the admissions office. Several great  schools in the area have at various times had some truly quirky/annoying admissions people.  One does wonder why they are still there, because clearly off-putting to some parents (and perhaps not surprising that they are at schools admitting a small percentage of applicants) but they must bring something positive to the school/process in terms of insights about kids or something.  [b]Given that you and your child never see the admissions staff again, once at the school, if everything else at the school feels positive, try to ignore the admissions staff and experience itself as hard as that might be[/b].  [/quote]

+1 could not agree more wiht your point. We have been at 4 privates and find that the admissions staff in no way represents the school in terms of teaching, curriculum or what your child will get from the school.

Your advice may work for younger kids or for small schools but for older kids or schools that are larger, there is no way you will be able to interact with teachers or see what the school can do to make things good for your child. This may be a discussion in a private meeting with the admissions staff but you really neeed to know that the way the school operates will match your child's needs. Privates can adjust some parts of the curriculum or for a sepcial needs school, they will work specifically on devloping a plan for your kids needs. For MS and HS, you have to make sure that the your child can handle the school.The admissions staff have so many applicatins at larger schools or more populkar ones that I do think the "less warm" personality of many is more of a defense mechanism so they can manage all the applicants. We haev in no way se eit be a refletction of the teaching staff or the communications we receive from the school. I do agree that the ones that are more friendly, for the most part,  tend to be at schools that have trouble attracting students and the admissions staff are seen more as ambassdors for the schools and less the gatekeepers.

The school is not going to adjust the currciulum for you except for some areas like test taking time or beign able to use a computer to take notes.

We were invited to many events at schools we were applying to including plays, concerts, school wide events etc. Most schools will want to have applicants see what life is like at the school.[/quote]

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