About Boarding School Consulting
Exploring Your Options
Most of our new boarding school clients come to Garrett Educational Consulting wanting to explore boarding school as an option but are not sure of the experience they will land on. From our point of view, there is no ‘one fit’ answer which is why our philosophy promotes exploring a wide and diverse selection of schools and considering every option. What is important to us is that we help find the school that is the best fit for the student and their family.
Whether it's an all-girls equestrian school, one that has its own ski team, or something else entirely, we strive to find a school that accommodates all the needs and wants of a client. In order to begin and then narrow down the search for the perfect fit, we have access to countless resources from school visits, communications with admissions officers, and even testimonies from a few of our past boarding school clients to provide firsthand accounts of how rewarding boarding school can be.
Garrett Educational Consulting helps families exploring boarding school navigate the process and find the right fit school so that their student can succeed and thrive.
How We Help
Garrett Educational Consulting offers customized support to each student based on their individual needs. We begin by getting the student and family set up with their individual account access to their class homepage that provides a wealth of information to help with many questions that you may have during the process.
Once you are signed on the process starts with information gathering about the student and family to learn more about academic and extracurricular interests as well as what the student and family is looking for from a school experience. We consider a range of information - class size, academic offerings, cost, location, extracurriculars, athletics, dress code, same sex vs. co-ed, and more - all of this information is important as we being to process.
School LIst & Visits
We will take the student's academic profile and combine it with the additional information gathered to provide the family with an initial school list.
From there the family will begin to make plans to visit schools of interest. Garrett Educational Consulting reaches out to the schools once travel plans and appointments are made to let the school know that you are coming and that you are a GEC client.
Testing
Each of our students is offered a full SSAT diagnostic test to assess the student's projected scoring on the boarding school admissions test. We will make recommendations for test prep tutoring (if desired).
Students are advised on the timing of taking their tests and can choose to schedule a test at a local testing facility on a national test date or can choose to schedule to take a SSAT Flex Test at our Charlotte office.
Interview Prep
Part of the application process is a student interview at each of the schools to which a student is applying. We work with our students to prepare them for questions they may encounter and help them craft their answers. Additionally, we help students understand what is appropriate dress and behavior when attending their interview.
If the interview is scheduled virtually we talk through with our students the nuances of an online interview and how to conduct themselves to give the best impression possible.
Essay Support
We work with our students using techniques developed over our 20 years of consulting to help in essay topic development, writing, and editing.
Additionally, we will help guide parents with their statements and answer questions for parents who are unsure what information to include or not include.
Hear from Our Students
Boarding school provided me opportunities that I could have never had if I had continued in day school. To me, the most important aspect of boarding school is the relationships you are able to form. I was able to form a bond with the dean of students at my school through football, and along with two of my friends, the four of us started a charity providing scholarships for children in third world communities across the world. I was able to travel to the Philippines with our charity in order to meet some of last years scholarship recipients and select the upcoming year's group. This was just one of the impactful sets of relationships that I was able to foster during my time at boarding school. The residential community leads itself to students not only growing close with each other, but also with the faculty since you are constantly interacting with them outside of the classroom. This is just one of the many aspects of boarding school that make it the opportunity of a lifetime, but it was what I found to be the most important.
— St Paul's Class of 2016
One can spend countless hours making a list of pros and cons as to why boarding school is the right choice for you. It is not uncommon to find independence etched at the top of the pros list. I felt my social and intellectual independence was not at the full potential at the school I was attending in my hometown. Boarding school prepared me for college more than any college preparatory school in Charlotte could have. It gave me the independence to live on my own with other students and gave me new responsibilities academically and socially. At home, my parents would supervise my time to assure I was spending it correctly. At boarding school, it became my responsibility to manage my own time. I learned to balance school, sports, and friends in an effective way that guaranteed me to prosper in this environment. It was my responsibility to attend all my classes and contribute to class discussions. After sports, it was my responsibility to organize and complete my schoolwork. During the day, it was my responsibility to visit my teachers for extra help and also find time to socialize with my friends. Boarding school gives you many responsibilities but also the freedom to take advantage of the opportunities and resources that are open to you. It was through these responsibilities that I learned the true meaning and importance of independence that is valuable for growth beyond high school.
— Pomfret School Class of 2017