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Visiting schools on your shortlist is one of the most important parts of finding the right private school for your child. You cannot and must not skip this part of the process. Why? Well, the videos on YouTube and the glossy catalogs are excellent introductions to the schools which you have identified as possible matches for your requirements. They give you an overview of the school and its programs. Unfortunately, the schools have positioned those videos and photos to show the best features of their schools. Think . Have you ever seen any clutter in an AD photoshoot? Of course not. Everybody puts their best foot forward. Same thing with schools.

The school visit allows you to look at things that are not in the photos or mentioned in the catalog. The same rationale applies to you when you visit schools. Up to that point, you and your child are simply names on a list and a file folder. Your visiting gives the schools the opportunity to see who you are and to gauge your child's preparedness for the academic work ahead. So, when you visit schools, please don't make the following common mistakes. A little thought and preparation will help you make the best impression possible.

Being late

Being 10 minutes early for your appointment is sensible. That way you will have time to park and compose yourself and your child before entering the admissions office. Admissions staffers are busy professionals who keep

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. ²ÝÁñÉçÇø 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

Getting into a private school is a time-consuming process. There are many details to keep your eyes on. In particular, you need to keep your eyes on the calendar and all the deadlines set by the various admissions departments of the schools you are applying to. Most of the time you will apply to two or three schools depending on the grade level your child will be entering. This further complicates the process because you will most likely end up watching three or more sets of deadlines. The best advice I can offer as you apply to schools is to begin the process as early as possible. Do not put things off until the last minute.

To help you prioritize all those deadlines, let's look at the most important ones.

The admissions fixed deadline

What I mean by a fixed admissions deadline is that your child's application must be submitted and completed by a certain date. Most private schools have their fixed admissions deadlines occurring on January 31. Some schools position their admissions deadlines a week or two earlier. The issue with fixed admissions deadlines is that you do not want to miss them. This is particularly true when you are applying to a selective school, which has far more applications than it has places for. If your application is submitted after the fixed deadline, it will more than likely be placed in a pile with the other late applications. These might surface if the yield or number

TLTR? Too long to read? Many parents don't take time to read the contract and other documents which the school sends you once your child has been accepted. It is time-consuming. The contract language is often confusing because it is written in legal language.

But you simply must take the time to read and understand those documents before you affix your signature and send off the deposit check. Even if you happen to think that they are too long to read, read every word. Or better yet, have your attorney review the contract and supporting documents for you.

The two basic documents are the Contract and the Discipline/Honor Code. Not only should you read them carefully but make sure that your attorney reviews both documents as well. As Benjamin Franklin said so succinctly: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." It makes more sense to understand what you are agreeing to before you sign rather than to discover material information after the fact. A contract is a legal document. It is enforceable in a court of law.

Contracts

Start with that contract which the school sends you after it has accepted your child. Remember that it was written by the school's attorney, not yours. Since that is the case, you need to have your attorney view the contract before you sign. She will explain any of the legalese which is not clear. She will also explain your obligations as well as the school's obligations. Here's an

There was an interview article entitled in Inside Higher Education, which examined the issue of having a tutor or other professional help write your child's college admissions essay. It got me thinking about the type of parent who feels he or she must always 'improve' their child's work. That includes things like admissions essays, which are supposed to be their children's work.

Well, the article to which I referred above focused on college admissions essays. Might not the same practice take place in private secondary schools? I suppose it is possible but probably unlikely. I remember when I was interviewing students for R-E-S-P-E-C-T Academy in Nassau, Bahamas. Part of the interview process included having the applicant sit at another table while her parents and I chatted. I gave the applicant a sheet of paper and a pen and asked her to write a paragraph or two about some simple topic such as "My favorite meal" or something like that. There was absolutely no way the parents could interfere with their child's writing. She had to do it all by herself.

Think of the admissions essay as a snapshot

Why is writing your own admissions essay so important? Because the admissions staff wants to know what your child thinks, what her opinions are, and how she arrives at those conclusions. An essay synthesizes so many things that your child has learned over the years. An essay provides a window into your child's thinking and