JarvisandAssociates

Dreams and Failure: from basketball to boarding, from soccer to success

On my home page are the words “Dream Big.” Last week I related the March dream for US boarding school places to the college basketball championship. Sunday the U. of South Carolina dreamt big and, for the first time, earned a place in the Final Four of the March Madness US college championship!

Many students this month are feeling similar excitement after earning a place at their dream boarding school. Others are not feeling this way. How do young people deal with rejection – in fact, any of us really?

Last July my home country of Wales also dreamt big when their soccer team made it to the semi-finals of the European Championships, also for the first time. They did so with a major upset of much-vaunted Belgium.

On the sidelines after the game, feeling the euphoria and with stunned Belgian supporters in the stands, Welsh coach Chris Coleman spoke movingly about what this upset victory meant, in terms of both having dreams and of facing failure. It's 48 seconds of magic:

He speaks both of dreams and of failure and the importance of both. Some young people will be feeling a sense of failure at not achieving their dreams in this admissions cycle– but I would add the word “ yet. “

Think of Coleman’s words and keep striving, keep looking for success and it will come. For parents, don’t despair, keep searching with your child for the next dream school, encourage your child to be resilient in the face of apparent failure, and the right school will emerge. Success in life arises from facing, and overcoming, what are just moments of failure.

JarvisandAssociates

“Ignore bad advice and be your best self” – John Katzman, Princeton Review

I’ve been thinking about impact and self this week. As a consultant, my experience provides impact to families who are researching the boarding school landscape, yet I must convince families of the impact that I can provide. In a similar vein, the student must have impact when introducing oneself to a school.

The educational consultant must listen very carefully to the aspirations of families and through in depth knowledge of schools and of young people, guide them to research those that could become the right fit. This list of schools should range from “safety,” to “ reach,” to “dream.”

When searching schools in a vacuum, a family can get sidetracked into a research pattern that could very well be a dead end. Reliance on school brand, magazine rankings and listening to friends can lead further into traps. A consultant is a trusted guide through the maze of schools.

This week I spoke with a mother from California who is attracted to two boarding schools on Vancouver Island for her gifted son. I was delighted to introduce these schools to her and I was able to realize the positive impact my thoughts had as she began her research. If her child enrolls at one of these schools it will be a transformational experience. That’s what it’s all about.

On Friday I switch gears and speak with a family from Beijing. It is a privilege to open up the world of Canadian and American boarding schools to global families.

In all situations, the best advice is for the child to develop their best self and present themselves positively to the right fit of schools. That will provide impact. Success will follow.

JarvisandAssociates

Admissions Complexity

Don't settle for simple answers to questions that are deceptively complex:

For example, “Are you full?”

That seemingly simple question is a test. Admission directors want to be strong and in control for their schools. Many feel that the school’s ego (if not their own) is at stake with their answer – not a healthy stance. This is the syndrome that the school that is full the earliest is the best school. It’s a fallacy.

Current parents want admissions directors to respond with a yes to the “full” question, as it validates their choice of school. Prospective parents, in a strange way, also want them to answer yes initially as any eventual enrolment their child achieves also rewards them as having successfully scaled imposing admissions gates.

In T.S Eliot’s words, April is “the cruelest month.” In the US admissions world it’s March, as the10th is decision time for boarding school applicants. A cruel time for some - euphoric for others.

In Canada, schools are mostly on a rolling admissions basis so families can make their decisions earlier than in the US.

Let’s look at a sample US boarding school admissions scenario

Right now, the final admissions committee meetings have taken place – and decision letters go out this Friday, March 10th:

1. Applications received 300 for 100 places.

2. Admissions committee rejected 33% (100 applicants).

3. Wait-listed 10%. (30 applicants)

4. Accepted 57% (170 applicants)

5. Yield: 50% of accepted students chose the school - so 85 of the 170 accepted this school’s offer of a place. Students have other options to choose from and, by agreement between US boarding schools, families have until April 10th to choose. Thus the yield is known on April 11th as families have until then to decide. This 50% yield is good, but there are 15 places still to be filled.

6. Attrition - I spoke of attrition in an earlier blog, and if the school loses 10 students they expected to return, there are now 25 spots available. At $55,000 per year (on average) for a boarding student, the admission office now needs to find 25 great kids, or $1,375,000 revenue.

7. Wait-list of 30 students, so they should be fine. However, in my experience wait-list is as ambiguous a term as full. For the most part, families will not wait.

8. Net Tuition Revenue ( NTR). The tuition and endowment dollars needed to finance the school’s operating budget each year. Not necessarily the same as the number of beds filled. So, the term “full” is not complex enough. The best question a school needs to ask is, “have we met our net tuition revenue target?” Another layered question. Once that is answered with a yes, then the school is “full.” There might be some spaces available in the dorms, but filling them is not critical to the school operating in the black.

After April 11th the spring admissions season begins in the US, and it will see schools still looking for those last few students needed to hit their enrolment and revenue targets. The same goes for Canadian boarding schools. It’s not over! Keep searching. J&A is here to help. 

JarvisandAssociates

Finding the Right School

“When you make the right decision, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks. “ Caroline Kennedy.

Worrying is not a strategy. Finding the right school through informed research is the solution. Parents and students have to feel absolute confidence in their choice of school. It is therefore vital that schools provide superb customer service, not only in the marketing/admissions phase but also on a daily basis through the faculty when the child is enrolled. After all, boarding parents are buying a Mercedes of education – without an annual trade in value.

A key question parents and students must ask in their search for the right school is, “ what is your annual attrition rate?” That is, what is the percentage of students who could return annually yet choose not to do so. The answer reflects the happiness quotient at a school. 

In North American boarding schools the average attrition rate is around 10% - even 1% is too much. But the 10% average does mean a strong 90% retention rate. Parents must ask the question. The right school = low attrition/high retention.

Admissions professionals at boarding schools look for the best possible new students to match their school’s mission and culture. They travel globally as they must not be complacent and feel that good students will just come to them, yet the most effective admissions staff also keep a close eye on the school through the year to ensure the students they enrolled in the last cycle are happy. In fact, the most effective admissions strategy involves a high retention rate due to a happy school.

There is no road map, yet alone a GPS, for parents and admissions professionals engaged in their mutual admissions dance. You learn by doing, you research the data, you develop relationships - you hire professionals to help.

J. & A. is here to help families navigate the boarding school territory in order to achieve the right fit for everyone. We know the American, British and Canadian boarding school landscape.

We are here to make a difference in the lives of young people – and of schools. It doesn’t get better than that.

Jarvis and Associates

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