Watching this mom walk out of my office, less anxious than when she arrived, I thought about our conversation — a frequent one I have with 8th grade parents as the fall application season starts to take shape. All of them have started to recognize that the private school admissions process in the DMV (and […]
By Jeff Knox and John Jones This is it. Your student has been working towards this very thing. They have taken tests, written essays, completed applications, interviewed with admissions, and visited school campuses—with your help, of course. The schools have sorted hundreds of applications and made their decisions. Your child has been accepted to some […]
Even in a typical year, the private school admissions process is a daunting one. And like with everything else in 2020, it feels even more confusing this year. As you look forward to the spring of 2021 and think about how to get started on this journey, here is a quick round-up of what we […]
Standardized testing is a long, drawn-out experience, one that can be stressful to navigate. It’s helpful to determine the right test to take and, from there, to focus the investment of time and energy into that test. Although families are balancing ever-changing schedules, current school needs, and the expectations of potential schools, it is also […]
Many students I work with have voiced frustration with the admissions process. The normal refrain sounds something like this: “I wish I could just go inside the brains of the people reviewing my college application and make them know me!” Thanks to recent findings in neuroscience, it turns out that a well-crafted essay can […]
We are in the heart of the fall testing season for both the SSAT and ISEE. Additionally, students are already preparing for the HSPT in late November and early December. I took this opportunity to spend a few moments with Jeff Knox, our own secondary school placement specialist. Here are his answers to some of […]
The flurry of a private school admissions process feels, in some ways, more complex even than the looming college process. Parents in the Washington, DC area have a vast number of choices, but they often lack some information that feels necessary to understand what their child’s experience may be like at a given school. Further, […]
On Saturdays, our family does breakfast for dinner. The kids love to help mix the waffle batter, make blueberry faces on the pancakes, and watch the bacon wiggle in the pan. This week’s menu was French toast—my wife’s favorite—so I was sure to have everything in order: I bought the French baguette a day earlier […]
Social media reaches way beyond your personal world to create an expansive, public, online presence. It can be a spontaneous, fun time: posting party pics, connecting with students across the globe, stating political opinions, or voicing your innermost thoughts—across a variety of platforms in multiple mediums (photos, words, gestures, emojis, videos). With social media, you […]
Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago are both highly regarded academic and research institutions and, in addition, share many of the same attributes. Students who select these schools aren’t looking for marching bands and Sweet 16 tournaments, but for places of intellectual excitement. “The encouragement of research . . . and the advancement […]