Month: August 2016

As summer winds down we are hearing from students who have procrastinated about doing their summer homework. Math packets and summer reading are waiting to be completed, and with less than two weeks to go for most students panic is setting in. While students may procrastinate with their summer homework, parents also put off their summer homework.

For parents who have students applying to private school in the fall their summer homework is to finalize the list of schools they will be applying to in the fall. I just spoke to a parent who is planning to apply to private school this fall, and when I asked her what schools she is planning to apply to for her child she listed almost 10 schools. Applying to 10 schools is not advisable. We suggest that families apply to 5 schools at most.

The work alone involved in applying to 10 schools is enormous. This family will have to attend 10 open houses, fill out 10 applications, write 20-30 essays, schedule 10 interviews, etc. All this work will need to be done in a span of a few short months.

Parents should begin researching schools a full two years before the student will attend the school. The first year is when parents should make a list of potential schools, and plan to visit the open houses and attend events at the school to get a feel for the culture of the school. Parents should also research web sites to get a sense of the curriculum, activities and philosophy of the school. This is an ideal time to talk to parents who have children at these schools to find out what they like and what they do not like about the school.

The second year is when the list should be honed and parents should rank the schools based on their preference. This second year is the year that parents will be applying, so repeat visits to the open house is required, and the work begins in earnest on the applications and essays. It is important for parents and students to be able to articulate why the school is a good fit for the student. It is hard to articulate why a school is a good fit if you just started your research and you have 10 schools on your list!

Do your homework and you will be rewarded! Don’t procrastinate and leave things to the last minute. The better prepared families are as they go through this process, the better the outcome.

Anne Yount

Boston ISEE Prep
617-553-8083
www.bostoniseeprep.com - Test Prep for the ISEE & Latin School Exam

Boston Tutoring Center
617-553-8083
www.bostontutoringcenter.com - Tutoring Grades K-12

Boston Private School Search
617-553-0540
www.bostonprivateschoolsearch.com - Your Resource for Private School Admissions

Follow my blog at: www.privateschoolguru.com/blog

 

Stories from two new clients in the last few weeks have really validated why students need professional test preparation.

The first client identified that reading comprehension was a skill her child needed to work on for the test. So she hired a tutor who specializes in reading comprehension. It should be noted that tutors who specialize in reading comprehension typically work with students at a remedial level, not at an advanced level. The reading comprehension on the test is at a very advanced level (even for very strong readers).

This tutor gave the student passages to read (not ones typical of the test material) and then gave him unlimited time to review his mistakes and try to figure out why he got the questions wrong. If he knew why he got the questions wrong he would not have made the mistakes in the first place! I have never heard of such a silly approach to teaching reading comprehension. This tutor was not familiar with the ISEE or the question types in the reading section, and she was not teaching him the techniques to identify and break down each question type. Once students have these tools, then their reading comprehension scores improve. The approach his tutor was taking was doing nothing to help him improve his score on this section of the test.

The second client told me that he had bought ISEE books for both his children and that they had been working on the test material for the past six months. When I tested both students I found their scores to be below average. When I inquired as to what books they had been using I discovered that the parent had bought used copies of outdated material, and that the students had worked on the wrong levels of the tests. They also did not understand the test, or the test questions, and they did not know any techniques for how to approach the questions. All they had done in 6 months is take practice tests and correct them, and then they tried to figure out why they got the questions wrong on their own.

These students had not improved one bit in 6 months, because they had no one to teach them what they did not know! They were not able to teach themselves material that was beyond their level. Their parents repeatedly expressed that they did not realize how challenging the material on the test was. They had not bothered to look at what their children were working on, and they had no idea that they were struggling with the material.

Parents need to spend time researching the test, the schools and the requirements for this process, well in advance of when their child is applying for admission. Students typically need a full year before they take the test to master the material (even if they are taking outside enrichment classes – as many students do). The parents assumed that since their children were taking outside enrichment classes (in a well known and highly regarded talented and gifted program) that they would ace the test. Clearly this was not the case when they took the practice test.

Don’t assume because your child is “at the top of his or her class”, takes honors classes, does outside math and reading enrichment programs, or participates in a “talented and gifted program” they will ace the ISEE. Time and time again over the years I have seen these students struggle with the ISEE material. With time and the proper material and tutoring they can master the content, but it does not come quickly or easily, and they cannot learn it on their own.

Invest in a quality ISEE program with dedicated teachers and curriculum that is specific to the test, and do so at least a year before your child’s test date, and you will see the results.

Anne Yount

Boston ISEE Prep
617-553-8083
www.bostoniseeprep.com - Test Prep for the ISEE & Latin School Exam

Boston Tutoring Center
617-553-8083
www.bostontutoringcenter.com - Tutoring Grades K-12

Boston Private School Search
617-553-0540
www.bostonprivateschoolsearch.com - Your Resource for Private School Admissions

Follow my blog at: www.privateschoolguru.com/blog

Private school test prep and admission consulting go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. We are one of the only businesses in the Boston area that offers both services under one roof. Most admission consultants do not offer test prep because it is too cumbersome and labor intensive. Most tutoring business do not offer admissions consulting because they do not have the expertise, and they do not know the schools.

If you only offer one of the two services then you only have half the profile of the student you are working with. Some students can be great test takers but there is something missing in their transcript, with their outside activities, or in their speaking and writing skills that may eliminate them from consideration. Some students can have great grades, teacher recommendations, extra-curricular activities, beautiful essays and a winning interview, but if their test scores are too low they will not make the cut.

When we do admission consulting it is very intensive and time consuming work. We start by giving both parents and students a questionnaire to learn as much as we can about the applicant and their family. We ask for reports cards, teacher narratives and standardized test scores going back several years. Then we interview both the applicant and the parent to review their questionnaires and learn as much as we can about them.

Next we look at the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in the application process, and we formulate a list of schools that would be a good fit for the student. We work with the student to put together a resume of their activities and accomplishments.

We spend an extensive amount of time on the web sites for each of the schools the student is applying to with the student taking notes about school philosophy, values, classes and activities, and we related these to the student. This work is very important in demonstrating fit to the school. Students use this research for the work on interview preparation and for their applications.

The work on the mock interview is also extensive. There are a list of about 25 common questions students are asked at private school interviews. We go through each question in detail and work on answers that present the best side of the student. We also work on helping the student articulate their fit for the school. We do a mock interview with parents, walking through the ten most popular questions schools ask at the parent interviews.

Finally, we work on the application questions and essays to make sure students are again putting their best selves forward and demonstrating specifically why they are a fit for the school. We go through a number of revisions to make sure the applications are polished. We do not write answers for students, but we guide them in producing their best possible work. This process is repeated with parents as they work on their applications and essays.

We also talk about the open houses, thank you notes after the interviews, teacher recommendations, supplemental materials and any other aspect of the process the parent and student needs help with. We have a number of tips and best practices we have learned over the years to guide parents and students through this process.

Over the past 14 years we have visited over 50 schools in the Boston area, met with admission staff, talked about dos and don’ts in the application process, and learned what works and what does not. We bring this wealth of expertise to our clients in a very personal way, and admission staff tell us that our students stand out from the crowd. It is very gratifying to guide students and parents through this stressful process.

A student with solid test scores, a polished application, and an interview that showcases their best qualities and clearly articulates the fit for the school has a very good chance of being admitted to their top schools.

Anne Yount

Boston ISEE Prep
617-553-8083
www.bostoniseeprep.com - Test Prep for the ISEE & Latin School Exam

Boston Tutoring Center
617-553-8083
www.bostontutoringcenter.com - Tutoring Grades K-12

Boston Private School Search
617-553-0540
www.bostonprivateschoolsearch.com - Your Resource for Private School Admissions

Follow my blog at: www.privateschoolguru.com/blog