It’s beginning to look a lot like application season! With each passing day, we are clicking “complete” on more and more applications completed by our prospective Seawolves. Most admissions people appreciate the cyclical nature of our work. From travel to interviewing to reading, each phase of the process has distinct elements to it. Traveling is wonderful, but you can’t wait for the awesome kids you meet on the road to visit campus. Campus visits and interviews are great because they get you excited to read their applications! And lastly, reading applications is rewarding because you start to imagine all these great kids becoming part of the story of your school.
For families completing the application process, this time of year is certainly exciting, but it can also be filled with anticipation and some logistical questions. Here are some of our tips to make finalizing the process as smooth as possible:
- Remember that we accept only the SSAT SAO application.
- Be sure to ask for recommendations and transcripts from your present school if you have not already done so! This can be the part of the application that is the most fraught with anxiety as it is often out of a family’s control once the request is made. So ask early, and ask often.
- Refer to our financial aid blog for some information about our process and the documents you will want to gather as you work to complete it.
- We are processing applications at a rapid pace, but with a tremendous volume of paperwork for each of our applicants we are not able to tell each family if and when each individual document has reached us. You should feel confident that if your application portal on the SAO says a form has been submitted, that we have downloaded it. While we cannot guarantee it, we do try to contact families who are missing pieces. This usually occurs after the deadline, and does not reflect on the applicant in the slightest.
- Should you have questions along the way, the best thing is to contact your family’s interviewer by email or phone. They are a good first stop and if they can’t answer your question, they will point you in the right direction.
For those of us in Tabor’s admissions office, this time of year is particularly exciting because our school is an “all-in” kind of place. From the longest tenured faculty member to the youngest faculty child, each person (and pet!) who is a part of the Tabor community matters a great deal. From the wisdom that an experienced faculty member offers to the joy and laughter of a faculty child, every one of us has a role to play in making the Tabor community what it is. Reading applications is the first glimpse at who will be the next to help keep the Tabor community amazing.
Thanks to all of our prospective Seawolves for the hard work they are putting into their applications!
