Having headed up the recruitment and enrolment mission at one of Canada's best International Baccalaureate (IB) schools for three and a half years, where all students have no choice but to take the IB Diploma Programme (DP), I know the challenge faced in recruiting boarding students in particular. The worst thing you want to do as an Admission Director is place a student in a position where they are not successful. As often as I was encouraging a family to apply for the IB, I was discouraging another when a student did not fit the experience of the school in delivering the Programme. Likewise, I would meet students so suited to the IB that simply were far too happy and successful where they were to undertake it (and good for them for knowing their best fit.) The IB DP is growing in popularity and the number of schools offering the…
Author: LCS
Choosing Your Classes
This is a blog that prospective boarders might like to follow. It is written by three students from Thacher in California and chronicles their lives in boarding from a teenage boarding perspective. This post about making course selections is particularly interesting as it deals with the question of choice and making decisions. Obviously there is some guidance provided by faculty advisors to ensure that students are keeping university options open, but when it comes to choosing optional courses, Morgana is correct in her advice to follow your heart, be aware of overextending yourself (boarding school helps you realize you have to make choices in life), choose elective courses based on your interests and blaze your own trail through a school.
Choosing an independent school – respect deadlines but don’t feel you need to jump the gun
While searching for a boarding or day school, many parents and students get anxious and cloud their judgement by perceiving pressure or a need to conclude a process as quickly as possible (maybe just to be done with the stress of the search). My advice would be to remember that ultimately, the choice rests with a family over which school to attend.Ideally, a family should try to manage their various admission processes to coincide with one another. If say you have decided to apply to three schools, try to end up sitting with all three of your decisions at the same time so that you can make a decision without the pressure of conflicting response times.Toronto Day Schools/USA Common Offer DatesToronto day schools and many US boarding schools coordinate their offer dates to coincide with one another to help them manage their admission process. It also helps families to end…
Read moreChoosing an independent school – respect deadlines but don’t feel you need to jump the gun