We are in the midst of preparing for our second year of virtual programs for accepted students, and we are excited about the opportunities we have to offer. Tabor’s 2021 accepted student programming will be highly customizable and personalized. Families will be able to choose from a wide variety of events and programs repeated over multiple days of the week and times of day. We have named them Red Carpet Events this year--- if you’ve seen our Taborflix site, or received a special something from us in the mail, you’ll know why.
Check out our Red Carpet Events for admitted students!
We asked some of our friends, our partners in educational consulting and secondary placement, to share some advice that they would give to their own clients and families about approaching virtual revisit experiences. Read their advice below.
- Even if you have attended a virtual event this year, accepted student programming will be different and useful.
Kristofer Langetieg, Director of Secondary School Counseling at Cardigan Mountain School, says he plans to urge his families to remember that schools will not be offering the same exact virtual programs they’ve been offering all year. He will encourage them to “fight the assumption that the virtual revisit material will be the same. It will be to a different audience and it will be something new and exciting.” Not to mention, all families will be experiencing the events with a different perspective because they will have their acceptances in hand! While seeing the campus can be helpful, don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn more about specific areas of interest. You will likely learn a great deal more than you would on an in-person visit!
- Double check & identify the non-negotiables.
Both Kris and Audrey Ludemann, independent educational consultants with The Bertram Group, urge families to do their research and stick to their priorities. Kris urges families to identify their non-negotiable qualities and criteria for their schools. It could be specific programs or opportunities, or the strength of relationships built thus far in the process. There is no correct non-negotiable. It will be different for every family. Audrey notes that “Priorities can change over the span of the admission season. Make sure [the schools on your final list] have the things you love.”
- Think beyond the first year.
One aspect that Kris discusses with his families is that it’s important to think beyond the first year. He asks families to think about where they hope to be in the next three to four years of challenges and new experiences, not just what they want the first year to look like. Kris says, “There is a big vote of confidence and a big leap of faith on the school’s part just like there is on yours. Build on the relationships, have conversations, reach out to the people you have met and ask, ‘What’s next?’”
- It’s all about the culture.
Audrey will be encouraging her families to seek opportunities to meet students and look for that thread of connection. She says, “Look for the authenticity. Look for relaxed conversations as opposed to presentations. You’re in actual school 7 hours out of 24, so you should look for things that speak to your emotional and social comfort. Look for the place you want to wake up on a Sunday morning. Forty years from now, you will recognize that the value of your boarding school experience is less in the facilities than in the relationships you build with your teachers and classmates.” (At Tabor, we’d like to think you will remember the sense of place, even if not the actual buildings!)
We hope to see you very soon at one of our Red Carpet Events for accepted students!
