Expanding student assessment beyond traditional cognitive measures is a fast-rising tide, as evidenced by the number of scholars, researchers, and scientists focused in this area. A recent report...

On a tight budget, Quest Montessori School more than doubled its admissions inquiry results in less than a year.  This webinar shows smaller schools (Quest currently has less than 60 and hopes to...

With Carinne Barker & Tommy Adams (Mercersburg Academy) This webinar looks at the importance of collaboration, both inside your institution and externally.  The internal component will focus on...

Whether you've narrowed it down to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight or Final Four, it's time to play the enrollment game. If the Chinese market wasn't complicated enough, yielding top applicants...

With Carson Roy (Director of Admissions and Financial Aid) and Robin Cook (Director of Electronic Communications) of the Pomfret School. Pomfret's student-run School Media Team serves as a case...

With Rick Newberry, Ph.D., Enrollment Catalyst During this webinar, Rick discusses key ingredients for growth and best practice marketing and enrollment strategies that will help to grow your...

As we continue SSATB’s exploration of the future of assessment, it is important that we learn as much as we can from other organizations that are identifying the non-cognitive attributes so...

From The Yield, Winter 2014  As issues of enrollment management, affordability, financial planning, and financial aid dominate discussions at the governance level, two key stakeholders—the...

Here at the Think Tank we’ve been combing the country far and wide to discover the best minds and the sharpest thinking in non-cognitive assessment. We are learning that some of the very best...

From The Yield, Winter 2013  Security lines at airports, sleepless nights in hotels, exotic food, customs lines, and more time in a car or train that you ever thought you could handle. Sound...

From The Yield, Winter 2013  Today’s enrollment professionals must be knowledgeable about data analysis, finance, marketing, assessment, and myriad other things. The need to understand legal...

From The Yield, Winter 2013by Stephen Ritchie, Co-founder, Proof Group | edSocialMedia It is no secret that it is important to make social media part of your strategy for recruiting and retaining...

Greetings! Given that we are fully ensconced in the admission and enrollment season, I was asked to share a few ideas regarding marketing. Lord help us both! Marketing is such a broad topic that...

With Chad Tew Chad Tew is Founding Principal of Tew & Associates, which helps school leaders promote long term financial and enrollment stability while creating tangible improvement and benefits...

With Sarah McDonough When Grit and Determination are not Bringing the Results you Want... Are you working long hours and not seeing the results you want? Are you constantly trying new strategies...

A few years ago, as we were reviewing our admission process and gearing up for the season, Amy, my associate director, mentioned that our expensive application fee might be a “barrier to entry”...

with Dan Harrop Explore the many advantages of using a rating system to help you determine your most desirable applicants, including a detailed point scoring system. Learn how admission officers...

“The skills easiest to test are also easiest to digitize, automate, and outsource.”Andreas Schleicher, Head of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) “Whole children,” with gifts...

While many supervisors dread an annual performance review, research has shown that organizations that focus on strategic goal setting, action planning, and performance management are likely to be...

by Mark J. Mitchell, vice president, National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) In the aftermath of the 2008 recession, financial aid budgets and applications are growing at rates that...

From Memberanda, Summer 2013 James Bond turns 50 this year, and in the more than 50 years since the SSAT was created, we’ve seen our fair share of budding 007s. Dictionaries stashed in toilet...

From Memeranda, Summer 2013 Why are Admission Directors Outside the Boardroom…and Not Trying to Get In? Released in May 2013, SSATB’s State of the Independent School Admission Industry report has...

Following the publication of SSATB’s 2013 State of the Independent School Admission Industry report, Executive Director Heather Hoerle opined, “Admission directors need to be seen as...

  This year has been a continued effort to rebuild foundational services at SSATB. We have worked to update our tests to perform well for admission selection and decision making, and we have...

Dear Colleagues: I would love to hear from any of you who still can say that summer is a “slow” time in the admission office. Compared to what? Of course, there are busier times in the year, but...

 With the attention on Angela Duckworth for her work on grit, it is important to note the intellectual debt she will be the first to admit she owes to her mentor at the University of...

Spring sports, AP exams, flowering trees, and the final board of trustees meeting: the close of the school year is rapidly approaching. What do you report? What do you share? There are many...

“The distinction I am making about perseverance and intelligence in high achievement is not merely an abstract one, some intellectual sleight of hand. It has everything to do with how an...

Some years ago, as a member of SSATB’s Admission Training Institute faculty, I was approached by a somewhat new director of admission who wanted to know if it was a bit out of the norm that the...

 We are in the midst of a significant sea change at all levels of elementary, middle, and secondary assessment, spurred by technology and focused beyond students’ mastery of specific content....

From Memberanda, Spring 2013 As Michael Gary, The Enrollment Management Association Trustee and Dean of Admission at Phillips Exeter Academy, describes: "If students take the test, they are...

by Jonathan E. MartinFrom Memeranda, Spring 2013 Idealism filled the room. This was not a conference of college and university admission "administrators" seeking more efficiency in their work,...

From Memberanda, Spring 2013  Philip Ballinger, Director of Admissions at the University of Washington, said: "Transparency is not easy. It can be contentious, time consuming, uncomfortable and...

From Memberanda, Spring 2013 For 25 years, Ben Bolte, Senior Search Consultant at Carney, Sandoe & Associates, has conducted independent school searches for senior leadership positions, including...

by Annie Lundahl, TABS From Memberanda, Spring 2013 Navigate Latin America carefully, and you’ll discover a thriving market excited about U.S. and Canadian boarding schools. I’ve eaten the best...

From Memberanda, Spring 2013  We hope you have reviewed the January 2013 Testing Brief and that it has been helpful in answering questions about the SSAT this year. In order to continue this...

by Rick NewberryFrom Memberanda, Spring 2013 The most important indicator of your school’s overall health is its retention rate. While it’s true that this statistic reflects your school’s...

With Jeff Haanen  Enrollment drives the financial health of independent schools, but the typical solutions to an enrollment challenge often fall short. The simple and highly effective solution? A...

In this webinar, IECA Executive Director Mark Sklarow touches on the difficulties, but expound on the possibilities. He addresses using new forms of communication, how to most effectively provide...

I spent a weekend in New York City with the people in my life who mean the most to me. New York, an urban kingdom with a whole array of personalities, lifestyles and cultures...and our host...

The role and responsibilities of the admission professional have been evolving, as educational institutions realize the need for strategic thinkers who can thoughtfully negotiate the multifaceted...

You hear a lot about “transparency” these days. Google claims it as a core value, declaring, “As a company we feel it is our responsibility to ensure that we maximize transparency around the flow...

"Working within a system,” Bill Sedlacek replied when Ray Diffley and I asked him about what one criterion among the many on his non-cog list he would choose to evaluate applicants, if he could...

Since visa restrictions were relaxed in 2006, U.S. schools are seeing an influx of Chinese applicants. With this new market, both opportunities and challenges abound.  Join Vericant's Chris...

It seems I can’t get through a day of work without getting an email with a link to a New York Times article describing the latest plight of low-income students trying to make it into college, let...

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. — Albert Einstein

It’s reading season at independent school admission offices, and we’re well aware that both your actual and virtual desktops are overflowing with applications to be read, test scores to be...

From The Yield, Winter 2013 Tabor Academy, Marion, Massachusetts The fall is a big travel, school fair, and recruitment season for boarding schools. Can you provide insight into your staff’s...

From The Yield, Winter 2013 Berkeley Preparatory School , Tampa, Florida What do you do to capitalize on feeder school relationships for recruitment? What strategies would you recommend for...

From The Yield, Winter 2013  In admission you are always honing your knowledge about your school and how you talk about its identity. You can readily explain what is great about your school, and...

From The Yield, Winter 2013 As witnessed through a special viewing of “The Prep School Negro” at this year’s The Enrollment Management Association Annual Meeting and a candid conversation with...

From The Yield, Winter 2013  In the fall of 2011, Angela Duckworth burst into the awareness of educators because of Paul Tough’s blockbust­er New York Times Magazine article, “What if the Secret...

From The Yield, Winter 2013  Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs can be viewed as sustainability or, in the instance of...

From The Yield, Winter 2013 Since the dawn of the internet, con­sumers have embraced the oppor­tunity to shop products, services, and resources from the comfort and anonymity of their homes. When...

Dictionary.com defines an open house as “a time during which a school, institution, etc., is open to the public for exhibition or for some specified occasion.” Those of us in the admission world...

  "I have always maintained that, excepting fools, men did not differ that much in intelligence, only in zeal and hard work, and I still think this is an eminently important difference."  Charles...

“If we can just get people to campus, we can interest them and yield them.” This is a comment I hear frequently from good colleagues in admission. Of course, there are many variables that occur...

By Leo Marshall, The Webb Schools (CA)From Memberanda, Fall 2012 Personalization is what should drive your communication strategies, and communicating at this level with your candidates requires...

 From Memberanda (The Yield), Fall 2012  In spring 2012, Fran Ryan, Assistant Headmaster at Rumsey Hall School (CT), and EMA's Aimee Gruber endeavored to ask students who had just completed the...

By Chris Boehner, Executive Director, VericantFrom Memberanda, Fall 2012 It seems you can’t go a day without hearing about the influx of Chinese students to U.S. schools. But while some people...

From Memberanda, Fall 2012  Henry Broaddus, Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admission at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, gave an inspiring address to nearly...

By Dan Harrop, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Marianapolis Preparatory School (CT)From Memeranda, Fall 2012 We work all year to create systems and processes and to develop...

As we move into late fall, an annual tradition is unfolding at independent schools across the country. The fine tuning of enrollment and revenue goals for the coming school year is about to take...

“Creativity,” Dr. Sternberg replied, when asked what addition to admission assessment he would recommend if he had to limit himself to just one. Coming from the SSATB 2012 Annual Meeting's...

With Caroline Blaum and Allison Letourneau Are you a newly-hired admission representative? Join Caroline and Allison as they present a crash course designed for those who are a school's first...

As I write my very first blog, I am keeping an eye on what has been named “Frankenstorm!” Every family I have interviewed has wanted to know about “the storm.” As I have listened to the parents...

It’s been several weeks since SSATB’s Annual Meeting in Chicago, and we’ve been busy scoring the largest number of October SSATs ever. But the excitement built by our time together with you in...

With Leo Marshall How many of us have the luxury of having a staff full of very experienced admission officers? Instead, we have eager young alums or professionals just out of college. Technology...

The start of school is always so exciting. It’s exciting for families and for the whole community, but I would suggest it’s especially so for those of us staffing the admission offices at our...

A new school year is underway, and while some EMA member schools are opening with smaller numbers of students, others have had the biggest enrollment season in their school’s history. No matter...

A provocative headline on the July/August cover of The Atlantic trumpeted, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.” The article, by Anne-Marie Slaughter, a 53-year-old former State Department...

I was 26 years old when I experienced my first summer in the admission profession. I had just been appointed admission director of a boarding and day school, and arrived to find that we had...

I’m sure this sounds familiar … late each spring, your school’s proud graduates have picked up their diplomas and headed out to parties, summer jobs, and the interminable wait for college to...

with Leo Marshall  We've all been there: The boarding school recruitment travel. Sorting through how to establish a cohesive and sane travel schedule; what cities and countries to visit and why;...

From Memberanda, Spring 2012  Following our first-ever Call for Nominations process, six members of the independent school admission community were chosen by the SSAT Board to serve as the Class...

 From Memberanda (The Yield), Spring 2012  Currently, forces are both changing the shape of the funnel and impacting conversion metrics. First introduced in the 1970s, the admission funnel shows...

From Memberanda, Spring 2012  The Enrollment Management Association has embarked on a study to better understand the early childhood (PK-2) assessment practices used by private and independent...

From Memeranda, Spring 2012 Q: Has working in enrollment management been a good preparation for headship? A: Absolutely! I work with every office at the school and that has given me a very broad...

From Memberanda, Spring 2012 At the heart of any admission process is the selection of students, and many independent schools rely on admission committees to shape each incoming class through a...

From Memberanda, Spring 2012 The Writing Sample Prompt Working Group, chaired by Pat Gimbel, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Deerfield Academy (MA), left the Annual Meeting in Phoenix...

From Memberanda, Spring 2012 Country School in Maryland recently took advantage of an The Enrollment Management Association service designed primarily for new member schools: benchmark testing....

From Memberanda, Spring 2012 The exponential increase in the number of Chinese families that seek to send their children away to boarding school has given way to an equally marked set of issues...

For some independent school admission offices this month, it’s all over but the shouting. The admission season is winding to a close, and the enrollment management team is heaving a sigh of...

A thought that keeps me going at this time of year: I am truly grateful that so many people are passionate about wanting to attend our school. With decision notification dates looming, Admission...

Over the years I have had the opportunity to chat with many in admissions on topics of mutual interest. The one that seems to confound us the most - and continues to elude a precise approach and...

As the independent school admission season heats up this winter, numerous news stories and journal articles have appeared, devoted to the topic of “getting in.” Some authors have challenged the...

“If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more” – General George Shinseki, former Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Shinseki’s change quote is my current favorite,...

As the year draws to a close—with the admission season in high gear for independent schools—I find myself thinking about what we have accomplished at SSATB during the nine months of my tenure. I...

From Memberanda, Fall 2012 Media reports have shined a bright light on admission-test preparation for three-year-olds applying to elite independent schools. Yet little is reported about just what...

From Memberanda, Fall 2012 Dear The Enrollment Management Association Members, As with all other facets of our lives, the technology involved with standardized testing is changing rapidly. As a...

By Booth Kyle, Lakeside School (WA)From Memberanda, Fall 2012 I work at a school where the admission committee process is taken pretty seriously, with lots of faculty involvement and input. Our...

Second in a series by John Williamson, Linden Tours From Memberanda, Fall 2012 Back in the 1970s, life was good. We had plenty of students and we created patterns of recruitment that remain the...

From Memberanda, Fall 2012 As the U.S. economy limps forward, school leaders are realizing that tuition revenue alone cannot sustain their institutions. For many families (everywhere but...

From Memberanda, Fall 2012 The 2012 Annual Meeting in Chicago was our biggest yet. Nearly 600 attendees packed the general session and meeting rooms to hear from a variety of speakers and...

From Memberanda, Fall 2011 By definition, assessment means to decide the quality or importance of something. Current education discourse (and debate) is focused squarely on assessment – its...

From Memberanda, Fall 2011  Eager for The Enrollment Management Association services training but faced with a tight schedule, Jenelle Reis (Brooks School, MA) and The Enrollment Management...

From Memberanda, Fall 2011 The Cate School, California Cate’s Director of Admission, Charlotte Brownlee, and her talented team enjoy examining data and uncovering patterns that will aid them in...

From Memberanda, Fall 2011 We received a lot of great feedback about your presentation at the Annual Meeting. What should admission officers know about the use of technology in the admission...

From Memberanda, Summer 2011 A new report from the U.S. Department of Education finds that a decade of growth in school options has led to significant shifts in where American students obtain...