Parents ask us all the time when they should begin preparing for the nursery, elementary, middle, or high school admissions process. Our answer? It’s never too early to begin planning your child’s educational journey. 

At some point, though, it’s time to begin preparing more seriously. We’ve found that families who start thinking about admissions in the spring before they apply are best positioned to take on the process with minimal stress. Here’s what you can do this spring to get ready to apply in just a few short months. 

Make a Plan for the Entire Admissions Process

Spring is the perfect time to jot down all of your initial thoughts on schools and admissions to-dos and get them down on paper. Start by making a few lists: schools that you’re interested in, application components that you need to be ready for, key dates to mark on the calendar. 

You should also consider whether or not you want to work with an educational consultant on your admissions journey. At Admit NY, we love to begin working with new families in the spring so we have plenty of time to get to know the family and the student, assess their needs, build an initial school list, refer out to vetted test prep partners, form an action plan for the months to come, and check off a few admissions tasks that can be completed in the spring time such as parent statement drafting.

Sign Up for School Tours

School research can be one of the most time-consuming parts of the admissions process, so it makes sense to get started with spring tours. Several private schools in the New York area offer spring tours specifically designed to introduce parents and potential applicants to their school communities. 

Start with the websites of the schools you’re interested in: you’ll find all the information about their tour dates and registration information there. Bonus: Admit NY will be collecting spring tour information and sharing it through our April newsletter. Subscribe to our mailing list now if you haven’t already!

Keep in mind that spring tours fill up very quickly, so if you’re interested in attending a tour it’s important to sign up ASAP when registration opens. Keep an eye on the registration opening dates for schools on your list and sign up immediately. 

Set a Few Goals

When you begin the application process in the fall, schools will request report cards from the school your child is currently attending. They’ll be looking closely at your student’s performance from this current spring semester, so it’s a perfect time to check in to ensure that those report cards will be glowing. 

Take some time to sit down with your child and set a few goals for the remainder of this school year. What habits or mindsets do they want to change? Is there a certain class that they want to improve their performance in, and if so, what actionable steps can they take to do so? Is there an extracurricular activity that they would like to spend more time on? 

Encourage your child to take ownership of their development by brainstorming goals and then structuring actionable steps to achieve them. This is an instructive process even separate from its admissions benefits! 

These should be your first steps in planning for admissions in the fall, but if you need more help, consider Admit NY. Our roster of families for 2020-2021 is already filling up, so contact us today to secure one of the few remaining spots.