Choosing a Prep School

If you are following our timeline for choosing a private school, you will notice that this process starts almost two years before the fall in which you want your child to start school. The process begins in a leisurely fashion as you gather your thoughts and think about schools. The intensity builds in the final six months before the January admissions deadline most schools seem to have.

Here's a recap of the steps you need to follow to find the right school for your child. Work through the process in sequence from beginning to end.

Why Private School?

Is private school right for your child? Learn about the things you should consider and the unique benefits of a private school education. Once you are convinced of the value of a private school education, then you must determine which private school is going to be best for your requirements.

Which School is the Best for Your Child?

It depends on your requirements. But in the end only one thing matters most anyway: the fit. When you get the fit right, you will have a happy child.

Boarding or Day School?

Many parents agonize over sending their child to boarding school or keeping them at home and sending them to day school. There are benefits to both kinds of schools. This is an important choice to make.

Single Sex or Coeducation?

You ought to consider a single sex school as opposed to a traditional coeducational school. Why? Because your son or daughter might just truly thrive in a single sex environment.

Religious Schools

If your religion is important to you, you will want your children to be educated in a school where your religion matters.

Once you have made your choices about which kind of school is right for your child, it's time to get down to the process of evaluating the schools which you have chosen. This is the time-consuming part of the job. It is also the most interesting and demanding aspect to choosing a school because you will visit schools, interview the admissions staff and be interviewed yourself.

Checklist for Comparing Schools

Use this checklist to help you organize the data for your school visits.

The Interview

Part of the admissions requirements of almost every private school is the interview. While it sounds as though this is a one sided exercise, you should be interviewing the admissions personnel as well.

The Visit

Visiting the schools on your short list is very important. You need to inspect the campus yourself.

One final tip: use the services of an educational consultant. Educational consultants know their schools. They will help you find a good match for your child. They will advise you as to what your child's chances of admission are as well.