Observations of a Typical Day in the Admissions Office
In the same way that people who have traditional nine-to-five jobs frequently think of teachers and their “short hours and long vacations”, many people think admissions consists of simply walking and talking. While there is a lot of walking (three to four school tours a day easily equals 11,000+ steps) and talking (explaining school philosophy, discussing IB programmes, sharing basic facts, detailing the admissions process and answering questions), there is also a great deal of work to be done from the initial enquiry through to the first day of school and beyond.
I have noticed that visitors to our Admissions Department fall into a few broad categories:
We are their primary school of choice and one or both parents with or without kids in tow are on a look-and-see trip and visiting schools (and viewing possible housing options) in our city during a three to five day trip. Thanks to having done research and/or been surveyed by the relocation company, they come knowing a lot of information and essentially want to see the school for themselves and have the on-site experience. (This is most often the case for those moving overseas to take up a post with a multinational company whereby their schedule has been set by the relocation agency or they have been recommended by a friend or a colleague).
At the other end of the spectrum, there are others who - based on the questions relating to, inter alia, boarding facilities (which we do not have), our IGCSE results (we don’t offer IGCSEs) - have no background information about our school and that for which we stand. (This tends to most often be the case when an agent who receives an all encompassing package from the family brings them to our school and many other schools in one day).
Individual families - perhaps already living in KL or the region - who have found us through the web and make an appointment or present as walk-ins.
More often than not, we are fully scheduled (sometimes even double booked) and the day is filled with tours, admissions assessment sessions and - for me - the end of the day most often entails reviewing files, reading reports/recommendation forms of prospective students.
We pride ourselves on providing a personalised service from initial enquiry to enrolment. As such, we give tours to individual families, rather than large groups. Each scheduled appointment lasts 60-90 minutes for the tour and meeting thereafter (for walk-in appointments, we always will share information and if schedule permits, give a tour). We show general areas of the school as well as classrooms/activities specific to the grade level of the prospective student(s) as well as highlight curriculum features for the subsequent grade levels. As shared in a previous posting, during our tours we welcome families to observe the interaction in the classroom as well as to ask questions of students/teachers as and when possible. In this way, prospective families have a palpable feel for our school, our values and how we function.
With regard to assessments, we administer the vast majority of our assessments to students on an individual basis. The only time we group students is when they are from the same family and doing an assessment, such as MAP or a writing assessment, which is to be completed in silence.
A typical day (be it during a tour or via email/phone conversations) includes answering questions encompassing various elements including but not limited to academics (curriculum, IB specific), graduation statistics (IB average scores, universities in to which our graduates enrol), school statistics (school size, class size, age of the school), teachers (where teachers are from, native speakers, level of education, years of experience teaching, years of experience in international schools), range of programmes including English as an Additional Language support, and practicalities (visas, bussing information, uniform). Naturally the questions do vary somewhat depending on the individual circumstances of the family and the age of the child(ren).
In addition to face-to-face communication, there is much done over the phone and/or via email. The following is just a sampling of day to day activities:
Responding to general enquiries from prospective families and companies/relocation agencies
Responding to tour bookings
Following up with families who have visited the school
Communicating with families who have submitted an application (confirming paperwork on file, requesting missing documents, scheduling appointments)
Liaising with members of the school community - the respective EAL teacher so as to administer an assessment for a prospective EAL student; the grade level specific counsellor for admissions counselling interview;
Calling previous and/or current schools to ask for additional information pertaining to prospective students
Writing letters to families following the admissions assessments (most often an acceptance letter, occasionally a denial or postponement)
Preparing documentation for the Ministry of Education and/or Immigration Department
Scheduling an introductory session with our MS/HS Tech Integrationist Specialist for all new MS/HS students prior to their first day to ensure their devices are ready
Setting up appointments with IT Support to ensure families are on our email system and able to access our Student Information System so as to access grades
Updating internal documentation regarding student enrollment in general and with regard to specific grade levels/programmes
Due to confidentiality, it is not possible to share some of the most memorable events from the Admissions Department. Regardless of the interesting turn of events and seemingly random questions that may come our way, we treat each and every application on an individual basis. Despite the commonalities in each day, there really is - funnily enough - no typical day!