Admissions

Applying to Emma Willard

Admissions Timetable

Before 8th grade	Fill out our online information request orcontact the school to indicate interest
Fall of 8th grade	Plan a visit to campus
October—January	Take SSAT or TOEFL
October/November/January	Schedule a visit to EWS or make a reservation to attend an open house.
February 1	Deadline for applying to EWS Financial aid application due to EWS and SSS
March 10	Candidates are notified of our admission decision
April 10	Enrollment contract and deposit due

After February 1, applications for admission and financial aid are considered on a space- and funds-available basis.

Discovering Emma Willard

In the spring or summer of year in which you will be applying, you should contact us to get information about Emma Willard. The best ways to do this are to explore the wealth of information on our Web site, fill out our online information request to receive mailings and invitations to special events from the school, and/or call the admissions office at (518) 833-1320 and speak directly with an admissions representative. You may also email with questions at any time.

Visiting Emma Willard

The best way to learn about a school, its students, and its faculty and staff is to visit the campus. Also, an admissions interview is a requirement of the application process. We encourage you to arrange a visit to the campus in the fall of the year in which you will be applying. In planning your visit, you should anticipate spending at least three hours on campus sitting in on classes, taking a campus tour, having lunch with students and faculty, and meeting with a member of the admissions staff. Another good way to get a comprehensive view of life at Emma Willard is to attend one of the three open house programs for prospective students in October, November, or January. The admissions office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Wednesday mornings throughout the year. We are happy to assist you in any way possible as you plan your visit to our campus.

See the Visiting Emma Willard page for information about our location and directions to the school.

Arranging for Admissions Testing

You should plan to take the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) or the Independent School Entrance Examination of the Education Records Bureau (ISEE) between October and January of the year in which you are applying. If you have taken the SAT I (Scholastic Admission Test) and have scored at least 500 on all sections, you may submit these scores in lieu of the above requirement. If your first language is not English, you should plan to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) during the fall of the year in which you are applying instead of the SSAT or the ISEE. Information about any of these examinations is available from your school’s guidance office or from the Emma Willard admissions office.

The SSAT will be offered at Emma Willard School on the following dates: October 11, 2008, November 8, 2008, December 13, 2008, January 10, 2009, February 7, 2009, March 7, 2009, April 18, 2009, and June 13, 2009. You can register for the test at ssat.org. If you register to sit for the SSAT at Emma Willard, please report to the Library at 8:15 a.m. on the day of the test. Testing begins at 9:00 a.m.

Emma Willlard’s school code for the SSAT is 2998; for the TOEFL, it is 8629.

Applying for Admission

This is the important part! Because our application requires some time and thought for both students and parents, the sooner you begin to work on it, the better. We encourage you to apply to Emma Willard online using our Online Application, but you may also fill out the application we sent you, or you can download and print application forms directly from our Web site. You will need to ask your school to send us a current transcript of your work as well as recommendations from your guidance counselor, your English teacher, your math teacher, and another teacher of your choice.

Click here to link to our Online Application.

Click here to download the application forms.

The deadline for applying to Emma Willard is February 1. Applicants will receive notice of the school's decision on or around March 10. All applicants must notify the admissions office of their intent to enroll by April 10. Emma Willard is always happy to consider applications after the February deadline on a space-available basis.

Applying for Financial Aid

In assessing your family’s eligibility for need-based financial aid, Emma Willard uses the Family Report, a document generated by the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) from information your parent(s) provide on the Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS). If you have access to a computer, we request that you complete and submit the PFS online. If you do not have access to a computer, you may obtain the PFS and a financial aid application packet from the Emma Willard admissions office. Your parent(s) should complete the PFS and send it to SSS no later than February 1. At the same time, your parent(s) must send a copy of this information with all required supporting documentation to the Emma Willard director of financial aid by February 1 and check the box on your admission application indicating your intention to apply for financial aid. Families whose financial aid applications are complete by the February 1st deadline will receive notification of their eligibility for a grant from the school with their admission letters.

Please go to the Financial Aid section to read more.

Making Your Decision

Candidates for admission hear from us on March 10. All accepted students have until April 10 to notify EWS of their intention to enroll. To help you in making your final decision, the admissions office offers an opportunity to return to campus in late March or early April for a program especially designed for accepted students.