In January, while Fieldston Upper students were busy studying for an intense and frightening finals week, the ECFS admissions office had a different tough task: reviewing and making decisions on applications from prospective Fieldston students for the 2025-2026 school year. While making admission decisions might be the most difficult part, this is only a fragment of the long preparation process that starts months before final decisions are made.
“We start planning for the next year in June of the previous year, and then in September, that’s when we started getting all of our events organized, like tours, Eagle Talks and other events …and then applications go live,” said RJ Williams, Assistant Director of Admissions for Fieldston Middle and Upper.
“We have interviews and tours throughout the fall,” he explained. Afterward, students submit their applications for consideration, and the admissions committee works through the many applications received, selecting 35-40 admitted students for Form III, whereas accepted students for Forms IV, V and VI are based on attrition. The % Breakdown across different demographics and amount of applications remains unpublished. The Form III final decision release date for the upcoming school year is February 14th at 4 PM. Once accepted, the admissions team organizes events for newly admitted students, placement assessments and more before the whole process repeats.
Williams’ typical day in the office depends on the season: “If it’s October, I might be doing three interviews and a school tour during the day. If it’s right now [Early February], I’m reviewing a bunch of applications, as well as planning revisit days for newly admitted students and finalizing the list of admitted students,” Williams shared.
Looking at the process from a student perspective, Ashton Levy (Form III) expressed the nerves he experienced when applying as an incoming ninth grader. He shared, “I was a bit nervous because it was a way bigger school than my last school.” However, this feeling was shortly subdued when he arrived at the school. Another new student, Lila Rosenberg (Form III) said, “On the tour day where you come in and go to classes and meet people, everyone was really nice to me.”
While admissions processes at any school can inevitably be scary and exciting, Williams shares that the main factor when looking at a prospective student is…curiosity. “I feel like all of our kids are pretty curious. There’s a lot of stuff to do here, a lot of ways to learn … I love to just open up and be like, ‘What are you interested in?’ or like, ‘What’s your learning style?’ There is no wrong answer, as long as you’re a curious kid.”
One way for applicants to demonstrate their curiosity is the “Supplemental Materials” part of their application, where prospective students can upload videos and photos of anything they are passionate about. Whether it be robotics, a video of a sport one plays, artwork or more, Williams truly believes that it is an excellent way to “get a more well-rounded picture of who you are outside of academics.”
At the end of the day, it all comes down to whether Fieldston is the right fit for the applicant. Though I cannot speak for everyone, when I toured Fieldston for the first time as an incoming seventh grader, I had the opportunity to meet a few of my future classmates. As I walked away, I recalled my peers’ kind words echoing after me and knew that I wanted to attend this school. True to Williams’ words, I have found my peers to be curious and unique – creating a school environment of students with varied interests and talents.
