The Propeller

Back in the olden days … our admission team would pounce on the mail as it was delivered to North Farmhouse. With letter openers in hand we would slice open envelopes peering in to see if the reply card was accompanied by a check. That’s how we’d know that we had landed the student. There was a student and a family I really wanted. I knew the student would be accepted everywhere and I wasn’t holding out much hope. I saw the envelope with their return address, steeled myself against the bad news, and opened the envelope. But lo and behold, there was a check!! I couldn’t believe it. I let out a whoop. I pulled the check and the reply card out of the envelope and I was … gobsmacked. On the reply card they had written the loveliest of notes saying that they couldn’t have asked for a better admission experience and though they were choosing another school, they felt they still owed us a deposit. 

Sometimes you can do everything right and still a family won’t choose you. The old sports cliche was that sometimes you could play very well and lose and you could play poorly and win. A good coach would take the lessons from how you played rather than the final score because sometimes you won even when you played badly. What I think we all know is that we have entered an era when it is unlikely that you can play poorly and win. There was a time when a school’s reputation or role in a family’s history was enough to carry the day. That time is gone. 

But all is not doom and gloom. There are moves to make. Gaps to fill and markets to expand into. We dive into a few things to consider.