How Can We Help?

You must deal with reality of your academic and athletic ability in order to gain acceptance into the best school for you. Recruiting is a business, and the prep school coaches don?t care what your parents or you think about your ability. You will be recruited ONLY if the particular coach thinks you can play at his school.

The prep school application process is oftentimes a long and nerve-wracking part of your academic year. Our advice to you and your parents is to be realistic about your academic and athletic ability, be patient, and don?t panic. The more you focus on the things you can control (such as your effort and attitude), the more successful and enjoyable your school year will be. Finally, we might have to tell you things about your hockey ability or prep school chances that you don?t want to hear. We?re not trying to upset you or belittle you. Rather, we?re trying to help you get into the best prep school you can. Our staff has over 30 years of experience coaching and teaching, so we have a pretty good sense of where you can play in prep school hockey. We hope you will trust our advice! Finally, remember that the Admissions Office, not the coach, makes the final decision on whether or not you are accepted to the various prep schools.

The Process:

1. We will call or e-mail each coach at the schools where you are interested in attending. In our first contact, we will not flood the coaches with a lot of information. We will offer to send each coach your son or daughter?s schedule so he or an assistant can watch your child play. If you live a long distance away, we could send a video clip of a game, or provide the coach our game and skills evaluation we conduct for every client.
   
   
2. We will setup a meeting with the coach when you visit the school for an interview.
   
   Questions to ask:
   • How many players are graduating (who play!) from the team? Check the team statistics to see who really plays.
   • How many players is he recruiting?
   • Do JV or Varsity B players move up to varsity and play?
   • Practice times? When and how long? Free ice times?
   • Can you play other sports?
   • Weight room? Strength coach? Trainer?
   • Academic support staff? Can a student get extra help? Tutoring, etc.?
   • Does the coach work full-time at the school? Who advises the student-athletes if the coach isn?t around?
3. Try to see each team play. Ask yourself the hard questions: Can you play at this level? Are there truly spots open for next year? If you believe you can play at the level, ask the prep school coach if he is interested in you as a player. Most coaches will try to see you play, or ask someone they trust to see you play. If the coach is interested in you, he will help you in Admissions. Again, it is fair to ask the coach where you stand in his recruiting order; however, don?t demand final answers too early. The coach has to wait for the Admissions Office to make their final decisions.
   
   
4. If the coach calls, writes, and /or e-mails you on a regular basis, he is interested in you. If you do not hear form the coach on a regular basis, this generally means that you are at the bottom of the coach?s recruiting list. If you don?t hear from the coach at all, generally means that the coach is not interested in you as a player. Be honest with yourself, and you will make the best decision for you on which school to attend.
   
   
5. You only go to high school once in your life. We tell players to go to school where they were wanted. It is a lot more fun to play than sit on the bench for a supposed ?big time? team.
   
   
6. Finally, our staff has had a lot of kids playing college hockey, and several played in the NHL. However, many of them have told us that they had more fun playing prep school hockey because it was still a game, unlike college and professional hockey.
   
   
7. Please call us at anytime during the process if you are confused or frustrated. Most of the time there are fairly simple answers for your questions.
   
   

Other information that could be helpful...

General Information: You can get the Admission Office?s phone number and the hockey coach?s phone number and e-mail address from the school website. Also, you can get a lot of other information about a school by going to their various websites before and/or after you have an interview. We suggest you try to find information about the school?s Admission requirements (dates of process, etc.), course requirements (foreign languages, etc.), sports program, academic schedule (classes on Saturday, etc.), college placement, and endowment. Each school will have specific website for their hockey teams (boys & girls).

Interviews: Simply call up the prep school?s Admission Office to setup an interview for your son or daughter. Ask the Admission Office to notify the hockey coach that you would like to meet him or her on your visit. Generally, coaches are very good about dropping in for a quick visit between classes. Some coaches will want to setup your interview for you. This generally happens when a coach initiated contact with your family. Either way, interviews can help you learn about the campus, the specific admission requirements (SSAT scores, etc.), the academic offerings (AP courses, etc.), and the financial aid process if you?re going to apply for FAF. Finally, we believe a campus visit helps your child (and you) get a feel for the academic and social atmosphere of the school. It can help your son or daughter figure out if they will "fit in" academically and socially at each school!

Applications: You can write, call, or e-mail the Admissions Office for an application (There will be a small fee for each school to process the application). At the same time you can ask the Admission Office about how to sign up for the SSAT tests (Some schools are SSAT test sites). If your son or daughter applies as a repeat junior, senior, or post-graduate, most schools will accept PSAT or SAT scores in lieu of SSAT scores. You need to have your son or daughter take the SSAT?s as soon as possible in order to have his or her application completed by the initial deadline.

Financial Aid: Again, you can write, call, or e-mail the Admissions Office for a financial aid application. You will fill out one form for the school and another form which is sent to the financial aid center in Princeton, New Jersey. The prep schools will award the financial aid grant based on need. It is crucial to complete all financial aid forms on time. Financial aid is distributed when acceptances are mailed out on March 10th. Schools can and do run out of financial aid for qualified students each year. There are NO pure hockey scholarships at the prep school level; however, schools work very hard to make it possible for your child to afford to attend their school. Please note that there can be wide variations in financial awards from various schools. Also, most schools give straight grants these days; however, some schools still give loans and grants in their financial air packages. We can explain this process if you have any questions. If you can afford to be a ?full pay? applicant, it will help your child?s chances of being admitted, except at the wealthiest schools. We suggest if you can afford it, don?t apply for financial aid!

Admissions: Most prep school applications are due between January 15th-February 1st. The due date varies slightly form school to school. Also, some schools have "rolling admissions," which means they will take applications after the initial deadline until the school is full. Even the most elite schools have taken student-athletes as late as the summer before school starts. Obviously, you should try to meet all deadlines in order to improve your child?s chances for acceptance to school X.

Acceptances are Mail out on March 10th. Your child can be accepted, rejected, or put on the "waiting list". The "waiting list" simply means that there are no spots available at this time; however, the school might admit your child at a later date when spots (or financial aid) become available. Sometimes this process can drag on into the summer. If your child has any questions about where he or she wants to attend, we urge your child to attend the "revisit day" at each school they were admitted to before they make their final decision. These revisit days take place in late March and early April.

The schools give each accepted student until about April 10th to decide which prep school that they wish to attend. Once your son or daughter makes a decision about which school that they will attend, you will have to mail in a "reservation agreement" with a 10% down payment to the Admissions Office. This will officially reserve a spot at the particular school of your choice.

Good luck!