At our school we often have applicants in your position. The most successful ones make an effort to do a visit in the fall and attend tours/open house then. I would not wait until December because the admissions office will be very busy then though January. Your application will be just one of many from anonymous families who didn’t have the time to do tours or make contact prior to the application time. If you need to do testing, schedule it now. Everyone will be rushing to do it in November/December and it will be too late to get an appointment.

Even reaching out by phone or email in September would be a good idea. It’s ok to say you are in the middle of a relocation process- schools are used to this. Don’t say you aren’t sure, though. That’s for after you receive an offer. Position all of your conversations and application materials as if the move is imminent.

Personally, I'd start earlier with visits and interviews. These are sometimes hard to schedule and I think it'll require help from admissions offices if you want to try to do these in a single trip. You can always pull your application if the move doesn't happen.

It’s worth taking a look at schools you might be interested in and what their application requirements are, so that you know if you need to schedule testing, evaluations, or observation days or anything else, and can get a better sense of whether you can fit everything in after you know for sure or need go ahead and start the process before you know if you will move.

Why do you have to put them in private school? You realize there are many excellent public schools in this area, right?

Anonymous wrote:Most applications are due in early January. A couple boarding schools have a deadline at the end of January, but as we applied to both it was easier to submit all with the earlier deadlines. I would not wait super late. Remember that your child will need to write essays as will you.

Early elementary kids write essays?

I agree to look early, so that you're ready to put in applications when you know if they're needed.

PP here. Woops in a hurry and missed that this is for early elementary. You will likely be fine but may need testing. I would at least reach out because the deadlines may still be the same.

Most applications are due in early January. A couple boarding schools have a deadline at the end of January, but as we applied to both it was easier to submit all with the earlier deadlines. I would not wait super late. Remember that your child will need to write essays as will you.

My husband is considering a job change in DC which would have us move in the summer of 2024. He won’t know for sure if he has the job until likely late November 2023. Our children (both early elementary) attend a private school in another city. Will we be ok waiting until December to schedule tours and start the application process? Or should we reach out to schools before we are sure we are moving?