My son’s principal has received numerous calls where a school has professed “interest” and wanted to know more about him. This seems like it should be uncommon with thousands of applicants for some schools. Is it common for this to occur? What does it mean?
I am grateful for the inside knowledge that the school is interested - perhaps they are trying to gauge reciprocal interest to improve yield.
Has anyone had an experience like this where the applicant was subsequently rejected?
My teacher gave schools her cell number in case they called for more info, but as far as I know they haven’t. I guess I’m just wondering why they would.
define “numerous”?
Numerous = 5
I think that some of this “interest” may be because my son goes to a private day school in an under-represented state where the schools are trying to have greater representation. And not many students apply.
Hmm… I wonder what took 5 calls to find out! Hope it is good luck for you guys. Fingers crossed.
5 separate one-time calls from 5 different schools. The person receiving the calls seemed to this that this was entirely normal.
Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you said that your “son’s principal has received numerous calls where A school has professed interest”…
This seems out of the ordinary to me. Adcoms don’t typically reach out to principals unless there is some sort of question. They would normally reach out to the guidance counselor for questions on academic stats, etc. Seems strange they would reach out to the principal.
Did the principal give any details on what they were inquiring about? What more exactly did they want to know about your son? Why did they call the principal instead of the guidance counselor?
@ heartburner, you answered your own question. Many of the BS know the schools from where their applicants come. If you’re from let’s say Hannibal, Missouri, good chance admissions doesn’t know the school. They must have a way of finding out about the school academics, but initially a call to the school helps. BS would like very much to say they have a kid from Missouri, land of Mark Twain. Good luck!
@sgopal is incorrect @heartburner, it is totally common for BS to be in contact with day schools about the kids that are applying this happens with every kid applying out from private day schools in NY. Which I might point is not exactly an underrepresented state at any BS. Whoever the placement person is (principal in most cases) has phone discussions with AOs at each school they have kids applying to. Why does the kid want this school? Is she serious about our school? etc etc. In addition they get feedback as to how it looks for the kids at each school they are applying to, this information generally does not get passed on to parents so that the news is received by all on M10 but the people at the day schools have a pretty good sea of who is getting in. A reminder that everyone here is speaking about their personal experience….take it with a grain of salt
I see. Well then it may not be so special after all.
@heartburner I suspect they just feel more comfortable reaching out to private schools, speaking to their own people or something. I find it almost IMPOSSIBLE to believe however that in these 5 phone conversations if they were expressing “interest” that the principal couldn’t read between the lines and have some feedback as to how it looks for your kid vis a vis getting admitted. Maybe he/she is not willing to share that with you. But I think if he/she told the AOs that your kid is amazing and dying to go to XYZ school than its positive. Also I think this whole “thousands of applications” thing is totally overblown. Most of them get immediately weeded out and not seriously considered, no one is calling around on those kids behalf. I think you could infer that your kid made the first cut at those 5 schools. Absolutely does not mean an admit but I would raise the odds of likelihood if I were a betting person. I can not remember what your kids story is or where you are applying but underrepresented state is good.
I feel like even in this forum I may be betraying the confidence given to me by the principal. But, yes, there was a general “positive” aspect of the conversations with these schools and there was an implication that my son’s application was moving forward in the process. I know that I can’t really depend on anything until March 10, but I feel a little better about seeing at least one acceptance. One non-TSAO school conveyed revisit day information indicating that an acceptance was imminent.
My 2cents: Private schools such as Buckley & St. Bernard’s, have a placement office as they only go thru 9th grade and actually it’s the other way around. Those NYC private schools reach out to the boarding schools about their prospective students. The boarding schools know very well all about those NYC private schools. This is where written teacher recommendations play a part in the admission’s process. It can be a teacher’s comment that may cause an admission officer to call for clarification. Meanwhile, they won’t know about the new private school in such places as Jackson, Wyoming or some private school in Missouri. It’s a really tough job for an admission’s team so they’ll take all the help they can get “but” always within reason and more importantly, fairly. Deerfield has a relatively new Head of Admissions (2nd yr?) but not new to boarding school and can guarantee she is not showing her hand to the junior boarding schools across the street or up the hill. Overtime relations build, there are new admission teams and the relation building starts all over but no boarding school ever wants to be known for showing favoritism which would be regarded as excessive communication during the course of the admission process to a particular school. That’s not to say they won’t signal a thumbs up or down a week before March 10th to private school placement officer or counselor, that’s not unheard of. Personally, I admire the integrity and the high standards that so many admission teams adhere to. It’s not an easy job. Bottom line, yes, you’re going to have to wait until March 10th. Good luck!
The thread on Episcopal High School by i70sband contains a great link to that school’s admission process.
http://www.admission.org/data/files/gallery/MemberandaPDFs/2012SpringMemberanda72.pdf
yes @towerchute agreed and @heartburner, not sure why you are posting these details or asking for our opinions if the principal already told you what you need to know….I think the AO’s are busy but I would be wary of putting too much personal information out there. As you point out you are from an underrepresented state, some of us have the benefit of hiding behind the hoards, you do not, be careful…
It’s that time of year when any boarding school burp is heard that ears perk up and the needless ever ending dissection of a single word is constantly mulled over for its possible interpretation. Anticipation it’s a killer. Hang in there. Hopefully the tables will turn in less than 2 weeks, be here before you know it.
@LifeLongNYer: thanks for the clarification. My son applied last year from a large public school setting. So any sorts of calls would immediately get routed to the guidance counselor. I can see that the private school principals being more involved in discussions than public.
Agree @towerchute. Tom Petty said it best - “The Waiting is the Hardest Part.”