The Admissions Process

Top 5 Mistakes Parents Make When Applying to Private Schools

Applying to private school is an exciting and often life-changing step for families. With multiple deadlines, interviews, and application components to manage, it's also a process that can be easy to misstep—especially for first-time applicants. While each school has its own admissions process, certain challenges tend to repeat. By recognizing the most common mistakes, you can reduce stress and present a stronger application for your child.

Here are the top five mistakes to avoid—and how to steer clear of them:

1. Starting the Process Too Late

Waiting too long to begin is one of the most common—and avoidable—errors. Private schools operate on specific timelines, often with fall and winter deadlines for the following academic year. Starting late can lead to:

• Missing open house events or campus tours

• Reduced financial aid options

• Rushed essay and recommendation preparation

• Overlooked school options due to time constraints

Tip: Begin researching schools 12–18 months before your desired start date. Mark key dates and create a calendar to keep everything on track. A helpful resource is our guide on how to evaluate a private school.

2. Focusing Too Much on Prestige — Instead of Fit

Many families chase well-known or highly ranked schools without considering whether they align with a child’s personality, learning

Navigating the complex landscape of private high school admissions requires expertise and insight. This article delves into essential areas that every school should master:

• Inquiry follow-up
• Standing out in a competitive market
• Choosing between rolling admissions and fixed admissions deadlines

Discover effective strategies for personalized inquiry follow-ups that engage prospective families. Learn how to differentiate your school from competitors by identifying your unique selling points. Understand the implications of choosing rolling admissions or a fixed admissions deadline and what it means for your school's operations and appeal. Whether you are an admissions professional or a school leader, this article provides actionable insights to elevate your admissions process.

Inquiry Follow-up

Personalized Email Response

Acknowledge each inquiry with a personalized email response. Address the person by their name and answer any specific questions they might have asked. If they didn't ask any specific questions, briefly introduce the school and what it offers.

Regular Newsletters

Send regular newsletters about the school's activities, achievements, and updates. These could also include student testimonials, information about the faculty, and details about the curriculum. It's an excellent way to keep prospective students and parents engaged.

Phone Follow-Up

If the inquirer has provided a phone number, make a personal call after sending an initial email. Your call gives a personal touch and can help answer any immediate questions the person may have.

Virtual Information Sessions

Virtual information sessions can effectively give a more detailed overview of the school's offerings. Invite the inquirers to these sessions, where they

I asked the experts at Noodle Pros for suggestions as to how to improve quantitative scores on the commonly used private school standardized admissions test, the SSAT. Their answers follow. ...Rob

Four Noodle Pros give advice on how to improve your SSAT quantitative score:

1. Be thorough.

Write out your math as thoroughly and as clearly as you can. Even when you can do much of the calculation in your head, it helps a lot to have your step-by-step thinking on paper in front of you. Many times when you get lost or stuck, you can look at what you have written and find your way out of a jam. You can also find and fix the errors in your thinking or your calculation more quickly and more accurately when you can see the work in front of you. Don't do all your math in your head! - Brendan Mernin, 27 Years Tutoring

2. Be confident.

Students do their best when they feel confident. The challenge in maintaining good morale is that the difficulty of the exam can cause students anxiety. Remember that, according to the SSAT website, the SSAT writers design the questions so that only 50 to 60 percent of the test-takers get the question right. Help your child maintain a realistic view of what is expected, and take on preparation in reasonable “chunks.” Start by mastering the questions on content your child already knows, gradually pursue new content or new applications of content,

Editor's note: I asked the experts at Noodle Pros to show us how to improve verbal scores on one of the most widely-used private school standardized admissions tests, the SSAT. I am most grateful to Rebecca Scott, Clarissa Constantine, Travis Chamberlain, Karen Lister, Loren Dunn, Jonathan Arak, Garrick Trapp and Neil Seltzer for their invaluable advice and expertise. ~Rob Kennedy

1. Make learning vocabulary a family competition.

Pick two to five words a day and keep track of who in the family uses the words correctly the most. Players get extra credit for using 2 or more words in one sentence. The more students can hear words in context, the better they will be able to remember the meaning. Let your child choose the prize for the week's winner. To improve reading skills, have children read short online articles to you and explain what they mean. Ask what the main idea is and ask how the main idea is supported. - Rebecca Scott, 17 Years Tutoring

2. Study root words.

You may not know what malfeasance is, but if you recognize 'mal' you'll know that it has a negative connotation - Clarissa Constantine, 18 Years Tutoring

3. Create a word journal.

You don't have to know a new word every time you hear it, but you should write it down and then create a flashcard for each word. Memory tricks are helpful. Example: The mean truck driver was feeling truculent. - Travis Chamberlain, 15 Years Tutoring

Admissions 101

Here is an overview of the private school admissions process, as well as the steps needed to find the right private school for your child.

• Depending on where you live, you will have several options from which to choose.
• I recommend that you look at every school objectively because you may discover that a school you thought was not suitable is one that you should evaluate in more detail.
• While private schools have missions that are fairly static and unchanging, they are constantly adding new programs, courses, and activities to their mix to remain competitive.

The market drives how successful private schools are. Parents have options. Private schools know that and will always try to match their offerings with what they know parents want.

An overview of the process

The school selection process has six components to it:

• Discussion of your needs and requirements
• A quick review of available schools
• Evaluation of a short list of schools
• Visits and interviews
• Testing
• The formal admissions application

You will notice that a couple of the components on this list overlap.

• It is perfectly normal to be working on components in a different order from the one outlined above.
• This list is flexible and is merely a guide to help you work through what is a fairly lengthy eighteen-month process.
• You will discover that some tasks take longer to complete than others. That is to be expected.

Discuss your requirements.

First things first. Figure