Choosing a School: Comparing Best Schools for Your Children

We want best school for our children and we make attention to find it by reading many school brochure, school website, and sometime by visiting physical location. We will have to engage in the exercise of comparing certain criteria and try to make decision. Sometime we need a education consultant to help us choosing best school for our children. As much as private schools can be compared – for they really can't be compared – you still need to keep track of basic information which matters to you and to your consultant.

We can start now. We will compare basics data like tuition costs, acceptance rate, school location, school affiliation, alumni, physical building, their menu, extra curricular, admission date, faculty degree, dress code, sport facility, laboratory building, etc. Comparing religion affiliation is very important to make sure your children get right moral education.

Here's example of 

	School A	School B	School C
Location	Near House	Far -- need boarding	Far -- need boarding
Total of Students	1500	1300	600
School Type	Coeducational	Coeducational	Coeducational
Size of Campus	719 acres	1000 acres	810 acres
Year Founded	1881	1978	1895
% Students Boarding	85%	90%	95%
% Faculty with Advanced Degree	95%	50%	63%
Dress Code	Formal	Casual	Formal
Acceptance Rate	15%	18%	25%
Sports Supported	20	23	22
Extracurricular Activities	112	89	39
Tuition Fee	$38,720	$39,900	$41,885
Endowment Fee	$850 million	$770 million	$382 million
Percentage of Students Receiving Financial Aid	40%	45%	30%
Religious Affiliation	Non-denominational	Non-denominational	Non-denominational
Admissions Deadline	January 25	February 5	January 22
Parent visit	any time	limited	Limited
Alumni	most university	most university	Limited
Accreditation	International & National	National	International

You will narrow your choice based on this basic info. Let's ask your children about their mind and their plan and then make schedule to visit together the school with your children. Ask them they like it or not.

Be smart parents!