Off Season School Applications

For all the best intentions, we sometimes realize that our children need a new school outside of the standard application timelines. Whether the school changed, your child’s needs changed, your family relocated, or the lack of fit hit you late in the school year, it is still possible to make a change for the next school year.

Regular Application Season – Can Spaces Remain Available?

What is the regular application season? School tour schedules open around Labor Day, applications are due between December and January, and families are notified in mid-March, with a week to make their decisions. To hold a seat, families must place a deposit, typically 10% of tuition, and sign a contract. The termination clause spells out when the family is legally committed to a year’s tuition; this deadline to terminate with only losing the deposit can range from the signature date thru June 1st. After this date, the family must pay a full year of tuition. While some schools offer tuition insurance, these policies typically require the student attend a certain number of days, so would not help a new family whose child has not yet started the school, but they could help a family whose enrolled child is unhappy towards the end of the school year. In other words, some families may put down two deposits and pull out of one contract around June 1st.

Another way for openings to remain, is a mis-forecast of yield. To explain, schools must estimate how many families will accept their offers for admission, or yield. When making offers for entry level classes, schools offer more students than spots because they know that some families will decline the offer and choose a different school. Even Stanford does not have a 100% yield! Underestimating yield, or receiving more acceptances than expected, can result in too many students and the need to add a class, stretching the school’s physical capacity. Depending on the space constraints, the fire marshall might require the school to remodel for safety reasons, and therefore, this outcome can be quite expensive. On the other hand, if the school overestimates yield, and receives fewer acceptances than planned, they will have open seats. 

A third way for openings to remain, continuing families sometimes relocate or decide to switch directions for their school, leaving their vacancies at non-entry level years, as well as for younger siblings slated to enter the school.

This year, several selective private schools have small numbers of openings, and several under the radar schools have also not filled. Depending on the family’s needs, there may be a perfect fit waiting for you.

Off Season Process

Due to the nature of the school year, parents who apply off season will typically hear back quickly. Schools will assess for fit, assessing for example, the parental educational goals and student temperament. For families that are applying off season, there may be fewer schools to pick from, but the schools that have openings will want to fill the spots relatively quickly. As a result, the process will move quickly, and if families want to compare options, it is best to submit applications to a few schools at the same time. 

Like the regular season process, parents will write essays, and students will be evaluated for fit. For rising kindergarten and preschool, the students will often have a quick check with the admissions team, which focuses on social skills and school readiness, not academic skills. For older students, the students will typically spend the day at the school, often called a shadow day. In addition, the schools will assess the older student’s academic level for reading, writing, and math. For middle and high school students, schools may require the students write application essays. 

Role of a K-12 Consultant 

A consultant can help you navigate through the off season process to develop the school list, edit your application essays, and select the best fit for your child. I keep a list of schools with off cycle openings, and also consider the student and family needs when I craft a school list. A consultant can also review all admissions materials, in particular student and parent essays, to help focus them to each school’s admissions goals. A consultant can directly work with your child to brainstorm, draft, and edit their own essays. The consultant can provide feedback on whether the essays read as genuine and how to shine during the application process. 

Want more input on K-12 schools?

Vicky consults with families to help select, apply to, and communicate with public and private schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Vicky maintains a principle of non-judgment. Hourly, VIP, and Season packages include a discussion to review school options, applications, essays, and key decisions. Vicky offers a limited number of packages each year to assure her availability. 

Vicky’s own children have attended both public and private schools, and have received both accommodations and curriculum changes; her elder is in high school, and her younger in middle school. New clients can email to learn more about her services, or see her website to learn about her packages.