“What’s next after you say yes?”
First, stay calm and be patient….Every spring it seems questions are posted on this board about the silence from the school you just wrote a deposit check to.
- Be prepared to hear crickets
- Boarding schools are busy graduating their Seniors, finishing Spring Term, making the course schedule and course offerings for next year, fielding course requests, and hosting alumni events through mid-June.
- In May, your student might receive a new email now that the deposit has been submitted. The old email they used for applying will be replaced. Please have your student check their email on a regular schedule. Realize that you parents might not get copies of the emails - so your kid needs to check.
- May - many schools send out links to online placement tests for math and foreign language. Your student will complete these if they want to continue studying their foreign language - if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Everyone gets to take the math test.
- May - you might hear from the school’s parent network rep welcoming you and answering your questions.
HELPFUL HINTS:
May is a good time for you to schedule the school physical. Our school wanted the forms completed by late July. It’s tough to get a doctor’s appointment and you should try to schedule it for early summer.
May/June is a good month to make hotel and car reservations for drop-off and Fall Parents Weekend. I am NOT kidding. There are several parents on CC (you know who you are) who did not take my advice and later contacted me with a “You were right” DM. While I always enjoy being right, I don’t enjoy seeing families having to bunk down in some “No-Tell Motel” in Chicopee. Same with making your hotel reservations for Fall Parents Weekend. The hotels close to the schools book up very early - also get your car rental early - you can always cancel if there is a better rate later this summer.
You can never be too OCD! Make a file folder with the hard copies of documents you need for the new school. Bring this file with you to move-in. This includes copies of the vaccine cards, health forms, emergency forms, permission forms, and your student’s final transcript.
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June - This is often a very quiet time until later in the month. Students/Parents might receive an envelope or a large email file of forms to be completed. Make sure your high school sent the final transcript! Our school did not, but I had a copy of it in the kiddo’s file.
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Late June/July - More $$ due.
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August - make sure all those forms are completed and submitted. Many schools send emails about dorm assignments and roommates, but other schools wait until move-in day to tell your student where they will be living. Depends on the school.
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CONFIRM your reservations.
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Make dinner reservations at the local hotel or restaurants near your school - a few weeks (at least) before move-in. You can always cancel, but at least you have somewhere nice to eat. If you dine near school, you will have the advantage of meeting other families.