by MS Counselors
While we hope that all students stay at ISB for middle and high school and benefit from our wonderful school, academic program, and extracurricular activities, we understand that some situations may require families to explore boarding school options for their child.
If you are planning to apply for admission to boarding school for the 2023-24 school year, please make an appointment to meet with your child’s counselor as early as possible – and definitely before November 1.
For us to best support your child’s application process, it is essential that parents meet with their child’s counselor, in person or on Zoom. Counselors can help families unpack the implications of boarding school in comparison to options of staying at ISB, or attending other schools.
October is typically when students who are planning on applying to boarding school register for the SSAT, ISEE, or other necessary testing (e.g., TOEFL). This is also the time when applicants begin gathering teacher references.
Part of the process of the counselor meeting will be to coordinate reference writing. We ask that parents do not write directly to teachers for references, but rather coordinate those references requests through their child’s counselor. This will enable us to ensure that references and other documentation is submitted to the receiving institution and that teachers are provided adequate time to provide a high quality reference.
In order for teachers to provide a thorough, quality reference for your child, we ask that you allow a 4 week turn around time from the time the reference request is received until the reference is completed. This may seem like a long period, but we want to ensure a high quality recommendation and teachers are also planning lessons, grading, and preparing units as part of their regular work. For example, students who are applying to schools with January application deadlines must submit their reference requests by November 10, through the counselor.
Thank you for working in partnership with your child’s counselor at ISB to ensure a thorough process and smooth transition to boarding school. You can set up an appointment with your child’s counselor by contacting Khun Namwan (sariyam@isb.ac.th).
A Note on Summer Program Applications
Some students may be applying for a Summer Program that requires recommendations from the school. Just as in the case of boarding school applications, it is important that teachers have a reasonable amount of time to do the best they can with these recommendations, which may include learning more about the student’s extra-curricular activities, in addition to ensuring a high quality piece of writing.
Just as in the case of the other applications, please provide teachers, counselors and administration 4 weeks advance notice to prepare these recommendations. Rushing this work leads to rushed references which do not help a candidates application.