NYC Private Schools

NOW is the Time: NYC Private School Admissions Consulting... If your child will be going through the NYC private school application process for 2021 Manhattan, Brooklyn, Riverdale or Westchester private school admission, now is your time to get started getting help. With some families thinking of relocating due to the COVID pandemic, we are also helping families brainstorm and get into private schools in Florida, the Hamptons, New York State, Seattle and elsewhere. This is your family's chance to work with Emily Glickman, one of NYC's most experienced and respected private school consultants. Emily has been featured in every major New York publication as well as many from around the world. In her more than twenty years in practice, Emily has been trusted by thousands of educated, distinguished New Yorkers and countless relocating families from around the US and the globe to help ensure their children's success. For 2019-2020 admission more parents than ever wanted to book with Abacus Guide; we had to turn many families away. For 2020-2021, help your child get into the country's best private schools by signing up early.  Now is the Time. Call today 212-712-2228 or email best NYC private school consultant.

• ISEE and SSAT:
  My students applying to NYC private schools are taking these tests more than once, and typically seeing score gains on the second administration.The ISEE is required for admission to NYC private middle or high school--you can also take the SSAT, a competing test.  With all these options, students are now often taking the tests more than once, seeking the highest possible score.  This is a boon to the test companies, and unfortunate for students, as competition ratchets up. Just three years ago, students generally took these tests only once.

• Character Skills Snapshot:
  More day and boarding schools are requiring or recommending this supplement to the SSAT that is supposed to evaluate students' initiative, intellectual engagement, open-mindedness, resilience, self-control, social awareness, and teamwork. I don't think you can measure character skills by taking an online, at home assessment test. Schools do students a disservice by bringing this test into the admissions process.

• Common Essays:
  Some schools now have a common (shared) middle school essay as well as the common high school essay introduced a few years ago.

New York City's Leading Private School Consultant for 20 Years

We are proud to announce that in 2019 Abacus Guide Educational Consulting will celebrate our 20th year helping students find and get into top New York City and Westchester schools. It's a been a very satisfying journey for everyone involved.

As NYC's leading private school consultant for 20 years--one of the first in practice--we have helped thousands of New York City and Westchester families through the stressful private school admissions process, guiding them into all the best Manhattan, Brooklyn, Riverdale and Westchester schools. Some of our earliest clients have now graduated from college. All this experience, as well as our steady commitment to caring service, means we can help everyone who works with us do their best and feel their best.

How have we helped families get into top private schools for 20 years? Our secret is truly doing the best job we can for our families. Most of our clients are recommended to us by former clients. For your child's chance to work with us, call 212-712-2228 or email New York City's Leading Private School Consultant for 20 Years      

From a client today whose child will be starting a top Riverdale private school this fall:

Looking at the whole process in retrospect, I just wanted to thank you for giving scaffolding to the otherwise-chaotic-appearing admissions season. Your "bedside manner," your knowledge about the school and your faith in us as a family made us much less anxious about all the steps that we and (name) needed to take to get in. There are so many "perfect" candidates for each admissions spot, and I have no doubt that your coordination made the critical difference that made our family stand out and (name) achieve admission.

So *THANK YOU.*

NYC private school notification and reply dates are set by ISAAGNY, the Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York, a group of private school administrators. I have always been troubled by the kindergarten notification and reply date.

A multitude of NYC families apply to kindergarten, a process that begins as early as mid-August and stretches into early February. Families attend parent interviews, child interviews, open houses, and tours and often additional events such as diversity nights, chapel services, and theater performances. For six months, families must be on call and ready to show great enthusiasm for whatever event NYC private schools decide to organize. Often, parents' work and family schedules are severely compromised as moms and dads work hard to do their best by their children in hopes of succeeding in the admissions game.

And then, on the first Friday in February, notification arrives. Decisions. Acceptances, rejections and wait lists.

My concern? Families get ONLY ONE WEEK to decide.

And note, this is ONLY kindergarten families. Accepted high school applicants have a month to make a decision, and middle school applicants, three weeks. Why should kindergarten families, after this extensive and arduous admissions process, be pressured into making such a quick decision about where their children will likely spend the next thirteen years?