Best Reasons for School Applications or Choosing a School
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This blog article will list out the best reasons for school applications or choosing a school. The blog also covers the things parents should keep in mind while selecting a school and how students should and should not handle related questions in interviews.
Best Reasons for School Applications or Choosing a School
Let us understand the best reasons for school applications or choosing a school.
- Educational Curriculum
- School Environment
- Teaching Quality
- Reputation
- The Ease or Convenience
- Diversity
Educational Curriculum
The curriculum must be designed in a way that provides ample practice for oral and written communication. Parents are often most interested in the curriculum structure and methods of instruction as they are crucial in the academic development of their children.
A lot of the schools, especially these days, make “extracurricular activities” a core aspect of their curriculum. These activities include drama, visual arts, music, dance, sports, and culinary arts, among others. Not all children are interested in and skilled at pursuing conventional educational courses.
The homework assignments part of the curriculum must be age-appropriate and not just related to their grade-level. It must be practical and mindful of their time with family and pursuit of leisure activities.
School Environment
Schools these days provide individual attention to each child, have high academic standards, lesser class strength, and highly stimulating and supportive environments that nurture and challenge them at once. These schools encourage holistic development by focusing on each child, emphasizing their uniqueness while keeping an eye on their personality as a whole.
The school’s environment must also allow the children to develop healthy interpersonal relationships and prosocial behaviors by teaching them the importance of respect, personal responsibility, honesty, and other values and manners.
Teaching Quality
The teachers must be dedicated, supportive, empathetic, caring, and excellent role models for the children. They must also be given the freedom and rights to be involved while making vital decisions, including ones regarding setting the curriculum, zeroing in on the material, and other choices related to the educational program.
Reputation
Parents choose schools based on their reputation. Nowadays, online reviews on various platforms, including Google and Yelp, play an integral role in parents’ decision to send their children to a specific school. These reviews provide them with summaries of what to expect from the school, its advantages, and disadvantages.
Additionally, what people have to say about the school “offline” also plays a crucial role in determining parents’ school of choice. They may consult their friends, neighbor, or even a counselor before choosing a school.
Ease
The ease or convenience related to a school is a contributing factor in choosing schools. It is an investment that changes several aspects of your life, and therefore, is possibly more significant than the school’s curriculum or reputation. With the advent of technology, things have shifted online. Still, there are many inconveniences faced by all the stakeholders involved, including teachers, parents, the management, and students.
Diversity
Several schools provide enrollment to children from diverse ethnic, socio-economic, racial, and cultural settings as it boosts the academic atmosphere. Children learn so much from each other, and it is essential to gain such exposure for them to become well-informed, kind, sensitive and empathetic adults.
Considerations to Make While Choosing a School
The following is a list of considerations parents need to make while choosing a school for their children.
- Expectations
- Student-Teacher Ratio
- Child’s Needs
- Need for Aftercare
- Programs Offered
- Management of Problematic Behaviors
- Academic Performance
Expectations
What do you expect from the school regarding your child’s enrichment? Make a list of all your expectations so that it acts as a guide or framework in your decision-making. Without this, you are likely to go in circles and feel completely lost.
Student-Teacher Ratio
The student-teacher ratio is crucial while choosing a school as you would typically want your child to receive appropriate amounts of individual and joint attention. Personal attention is required for recognizing your child’s strengths and weaknesses to make optimal use of the same. Joint attention is essential for fostering independence and self-sufficiency.
Ideally, one teacher for every 15 to 20 students could be beneficial. You could also enquire about the availability of educational aids to enhance your child’s learning experience.
Child’s Needs
It is not only vital for you to consider your expectations but also the needs of your child. Be aware of what works best for your child and evaluate their limitations and skills. Suppose they have physical or mental difficulties that require special attention, individual education programs, a specific type of environment, or a particular teaching style. In that case, you need to make appropriate considerations for the same.
Need for Aftercare
If you and any other primary caregiver are working individuals who cannot pick your child up from their schools, you need to look for necessary after-school arrangements. If you are wary of sending your child to a daycare center, you might have to consider a school that provides such after-school care and services.
Programs Offered
While choosing a school, think about the specific programs you want your child to partake in, such as after-school activities, arts, sports, and the like. Some schools may not offer the programs that you want your child to be a part of, and therefore, you must be aware of it before deciding.
Management of Problematic Behaviours
You and any other primary caregiver might have been the only source of discipline and supervision. Therefore, you must be aware of how the school and its staff members handle problematic behaviors. It is necessary to understand what they will do if your child misbehaves in class and how they will deal with it if your child is bullied.
Academic Performance
While choosing a school, take a look at their academic history to understand how good their educational track record is. Public schools have accessible databases online, so look at the academic performance across the board and each grade. On the other hand, private schools are not required to disclose information, making it challenging for you to discern their performance.
How Should You Answer this Question in Interviews?
Questions regarding the reasons for choosing a school is not restricted to parents. Students pursuing their higher education are often asked why they chose a specific school while being interviewed. Here are a few tips for answering this question in interviews.
- Convey academic interest;
- Research as much as possible; and
- Be prepared
Convey academic interest
Interviewers want to know that you are interested in their school for academic purposes and the other appealing aspects of the college are just added benefits. Therefore, during your interview, talk about your educational experience and interests. Express your preference for the school by bringing up specific programs and activities that they provide.
Research as much as possible
Understand as much as you can about the college and assess how it fits your skillset and interests. It gives the interviewer a positive impression of you as researching and knowing the college shows a genuine inclination toward the school.
Be prepared
Do not try to make up your answers on the spot. Prepare well in advance and attend mock interviews or ask your friend to ask you potential questions.
Also, keep in mind that schools tend to phrase this question differently. For instance, one school might frame it as, “how does going to this school benefit you?” but it essentially means that they ask you for reasons for choosing their school. Take your time to process each question and answer accordingly.
How Should You NOT Answer this Question in Interviews?
When your interviewer asks you why you chose their school, you should not say some of the things, like:
- Tell them that the night-life and party atmosphere is excellent and would like to experience that;
- Talk about how the school is perfectly situated regarding the presence of excellent cafeterias, tourist spots, or its proximity to a popular destination;
- You do not know precisely why you are applying here and did it for the fun of it;
- A celebrity that you hold in high regard graduated from here, and so you think well of the school; and
- Your friend or someone you know studies here and want to join them.
Providing such answers will lead to immediate rejection. You need to explore the reasons not just to prepare yourself for questions in interviews but also gain insights into what you want from yourself career-wise and to assess whether you are heading in the right direction.
Conclusion
This blog article listed out the best reasons for school applications or choosing a school. The blog also touched upon the things parents should keep in mind while selecting a school and how students should and should not handle related questions in interviews.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Best Reasons for School Applications or Choosing a School
Why are parents choosing my school?
Parents may be choosing your school to ensure you receive the following things:
A sense of community amongst your peers;
Appropriate personality and character growth;
Academic value;
Holistic education;
Necessary skills for effective learning;
A sense of accomplishment; and
Experiencing new interpersonal relationships
Why do people choose to teach?
People may choose to teach for the following reasons.
Their desire to serve and nurture young children;
They love gaining and imparting knowledge;
They want to make a difference in others’ lives and their communities;
The job entails versatility; and
They enjoy the creative and analytical thinking involved in their job.
When should a child change school?
A child should change their school if:
They are unhappy and absolutely detest going to school;
They feel unsafe and threatened in their current school;
Their school is unfit for their needs and parental expectations; and
They do not experience appropriate personal and academic growth, development, and enrichment.
What are the reasons for parents choosing a private school?
One study found that parents choose a private school for the following reasons in that order.
Excellent student discipline as stated by 50.9% of the participants;
Excellent learning environment as cited by 50.8% of the parents;
Fewer children in each class as mentioned by 48.9%;
Better safety for their children stated by 46.8%; and
More personal attention for their children was stated by 39.3%.
References
College Raptor Staff. (2020, May 29). “Why Did You Choose This School?” How to Answer the Challenging Question. College Raptor. Retrieved from https://www.collegeraptor.com/getting-in/articles/college-applications/why-did-you-choose-this-school-how-to-answer-the-challenging-question/.
Hilltop Country Day School. 12 Reasons to Choose An Independent (Private) School. Retrieved from https://www.hilltopcds.org/2017/04/12-reasons-choose-independent-private-school/.
Cheerfully Simple. (n.d.). REASONS FOR SELECTING A SCHOOL- PARENTS CHOICE. Retrieved from https://cheerfullysimple.com/reasons-for-selecting-a-school/.
Holley, M. (2017, May 19). op Four Reasons Parents Choose a Specific Charter School. Method. Retrieved from https://www.methodschools.org/blog/top-four-reasons-parents-choose-a-specific-charter-school.
