As November approaches, so does application season for private schools. This time of the year is when the school receives and handpicks future Marksmen from hundreds of applications all over Texas, the U.S and more.
“We’re on pace to see over 800 (applicants) again this year,” Assistant Director of Admission & Financial Aid Korey Mack ’00 said, “We get a few from Tarrant County every year, and some from Denton County, those kinds of the major metropolitan area in Dallas, Fort Worth. The majority of our applications come from Dallas.”
Along with the admissions pouring into the school, the Admissions Office also works on expanding the school’s reach in a multitude of ways. The Admissions Staff sends out many emails to counties and cities that have a wide range of students with the intellectual and creative capabilities they intend to integrate. This whole process is designed with one goal in mind: find Marksmen who can carry on the school’s legacy, wherever they may be.
“In order to achieve that broadly diverse pool of applicants, we’ve got to go to places that don’t currently apply to us,” Mack said.
Reaching out to new areas can present a challenge for the Admissions Office, as the school aims not only to connect with Texas, but with other states and countries. Although this is a hefty obstacle to overcome, it’s one the Admissions Office is eager to take on.
“It’s all about building relationships,” Mack said. “I think we have to be creative in our approach. It’s one thing to share all the great things that happen here on our campus, the awesome relationships and the accomplishments of our boys. It’s another thing to solicit examples of intellectual curiosity and strong character.”
To receive examples that display these attributes, the Admissions Office intends to think outside the box and explore more creative approaches. In one case, Korey Mack thought of starting a school-issued writing contest in which people from all over the world could participate in.
“They’re not applying to St Mark’s, per se, but they are participating in our process, to a certain extent, through, you know, a creative invitation to participate in something that we offer here at St. Mark’s,” Mack said.
The final challenge is reaching out to kids from communities with less economic and educational opportunities. St. Mark’s is a school that utilizes the Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) as a way to peer into their applicant’s intellectual abilities.
Yet many communities struggle to take this test because of a fee and the lack of the necessary education. To assist these students during the application process, the school offers financial aid, which covers the fee for testing and offers a program to help students prepare for the examination.
“We don’t want a family’s inability to pay tuition to be a barrier that keeps a deserving boy who is intellectually curious and has a strong character from attending St. Mark’s,” Mack said.
