Questions welcomed by admissions teams
Schools ready to fill in blanks for prospective parents, kids, from making friends to fees
Choosing a private school is daunting, not just for parents, but for the future student as well. Burning questions abound from the students: do I really have to wear a uniform every day? Is the admissions interview as scary as it sounds? And the parents: Can we afford the tuition?
Private-school admissions teams have heard it all, and they want to make sure families have all the information they need.
Here’s how experts from three top private schools in the GTA — Upper Canada College (UCC), St. Clement’s School and Pickering College — tackle the most common questions from both prospective students and their parents.
FROM THE KIDS
Will my classes be harder than at public school? “Not necessarily,” says Peter Sturrup, headmaster at Pickering College, a co-ed private school in Newmarket, Ont. “But they will probably be more enriched. Smaller class sizes allow more personalized learning and more responsiveness to the individual interests of the students.”
Elena Holeton, director of admissions at St. Clement’s, an all-girls school in Toronto, says it’s important for families to understand the unique approaches of each school and what support is available. “That’s one of the things you’ll want to find out . . . what kinds of transition supports do the schools have?” Why do I have to wear a uniform? Sturrup says the school uniform creates a sense of community amongst students and takes away opportunities for superficial judgment. “It means that staff and other students can look beyond the external qualities and learn more about what is truly important — the students’ personality and character.”
Plus, it makes getting dressed each morning a no-brainer. “Our students express a great deal of satisfaction with having a uniform because it takes away the difficult decisions each morning about what to wear and how that will be judged,” Sturrup says. Is it going to be hard to make friends? All three experts say faculty are trained to assist with the social transition. Some schools organize meet-and-greet activities, such as St. Clement’s springtime event, to introduce current and new girls entering Grade 7 in the fall.
David McBride, vice-principal of enrolment management at the all-boys Upper Canada College in Toronto, says the diversity of the student body also makes the transition easier. “We have 1,160 boys from kindergarten to Grade 12. Because of that size, we’ve got all kinds of boys: introverts, extroverts, athletes, artists, debaters. Every boy can find his place here.” What will I be asked in my interview? Almost all private schools include an interview component in their admission process. The most important thing to remember, according to Sturrup, Holeton and McBride, is that the goal of the interview is simply to get to know the student better, not to grill them.
“It’s not as nerve-wracking as the word ‘interview’ makes it sound,” Holeton says. The best way for kids to prepare is to simply get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast. “We really discourage interview prep and having set answers. We want kids to be who they are.”
FROM THE PARENTS
How do we decide if a school is the right fit? “One of the joys of looking at an independent school is that you have the opportunity to find a school that fits with you as a family and what your child needs,” Holeton says. “Are you looking for a certain type of academic program, or a specific philosophy?” Is co-ed or single-gender education better? “You have to know your child and what’s going to be the best option for your child, but there’s an ever increasing amount of data that shows the benefits of all-girls education for young women,” Holeton says, pointing to confidence levels, leadership skills, academic strength and development and retention of voice.
“Boys and girls mature and learn at different ages and at different stages,” McBride says. “There’s a freedom that happens in a single-gender environment. Boys will get up in front of an assembly and they will ask questions that I know they would never ask if half the audience were girls.” When is the best time to apply? Families that are new to the privateschool system might not know that applications are most commonly due in the fall of the year prior to their desired start date.
Parents should definitely attend open houses and tours with their children during application season but Holeton says “it’s a nice idea if a year or a couple of years ahead of application season, the parents check out schools to see if they’re a philosophical fit with their family.” What if we have a hard time with tuition costs? Nearly all private schools offer some form of financial assistance.
UCC is home to the leading financial assistance program in the country; this year alone, it provided more than $5 million in support to families, and the majority is allocated based on demonstrated need, not scholarships for academics or athletics.
Of Pickering College, Sturrup says “We make our decisions about acceptance based on the quality of the applicant, and then work with parents to find the best way for them to afford the costs.”