I often get asked what private schools are looking at in an application. That's a million dollar question. If there was an easy answer to that, everyone would get into the school of their choice. Really, the answer to that is they are looking for an authentic application, meaning the school asks you about the child, that you are describing the child that they are going to see and to meet. That you are not describing your fantasy child that they are not going to see upon first introduction, because they will meet your child. This has to be a real description of your child. Their real strengths, their real challenges, whatever those might be. Sometimes that is challenging for parents to write in an application. They also want to know that you've actually listened to what they were saying on the tour, that you've been to the website and read their materials; so you're not asking questions of them that they have already answered for you. They don't want you to regurgitate what they've told you. They want you to be thoughtful about the questions. Questions like: How do you think our school will be a good fit for your child? A cut and paste response is not going to work here. What you need to do is respond to each individual school, knowing what the personality of each school is and being authentic about your child and your family.