John Flynn’14: The admissions office at Episcopal has observed changes in the applicant pool since the move to the Newtown Square campus, according to Rachel Tilney, Head of Admissions.
Currently, the Upper School is the largest that it has ever been. Not only are freshman class sizes increasing, with this year’s class at 135 students, but attrition is much lower so classes are remaining large.
Middle school classes average about 90 students, and freshman
and sophomore classes consist of around 135. With only about 45 spots to fill and so many applications, Rachel Tilney, Head of Admissions, said, “we turn away these unbelievable kids, because we don’t have enough space.” In addition, she added, “The overall size [of each class] is really kind of a board of trustee decision.”
The admissions department does not admit a student without the involvement of the Head of School and unit heads.
Although students may apply to numerous other schools, EA mostly competes with Haverford and Agnes Irwin for students. Those are the “usual suspects” according to Tilney, but kids will often also consider Malvern, St. Joe’s Prep, Baldwin, and Notre Dame.
Despite the economic struggles since 2008, Tilney said that upper school admissions is booming. The admissions department tracks inquiries, or requests for information made by prospective parents, and inquiries are up 27% from last October. The department’s hope is to turn these inquiries into applications, and the best applicants into students. She said that EA is only really feeling the pinch in lower school, where Episcopal is “seeing fewer students that can afford it in lower school” largely as a result of these economic times.
The move to the new campus did not only bring amazing facilities, but also a location farther west that exposed it to a new group of potential students. According to a survey conducted a few years ago, the average commute to school for Episcopal families is twenty minutes or less. Tilney pointed out that Gladwyne and Merion are longer than a twenty minute commute, demonstrating how EA’s roots have shifted from the main line.
“The campus really moved to where we were already drawing families,” Tilney said. She also noted that it was a very “savvy” move, because Episcopal moved away from the large number of private schools on the main line to a location with less competition. In terms of competition with other private schools, Tilney commented that “we are right up there with the top schools in terms of being the most selective. By and large, we are neck and neck with Haverford.” According to Tilney, the main goal of the admissions department is to give students choices. They want kids to go to the school of their choice, whether or not the school is Episcopal. They want the admissions experience for applicants to Episcopal to be a good one. Tilney said that many of the competitors feel the same.