Twins! Private school! Any special words of advice?

When you have more than one child that you are trying to get into private school, it can get tricky.  There are usually a limited number of spots in a private school, and with twins, one family gets two spaces.  Private schools depend on parents giving to the annual fund and by letting one family have two spots, that’s one less family who might give a nice donation.  Also, spaces are limited in general in private school.  Directors of admission have a tough time deciding what to do when one twin is qualified and the other is not.  Do they accept one and reject the other?  Or is it better to reject both?

With twins, you should apply them both to all the schools you want but make it clear that if the school can only take one (for space or other reasons), you are willing to separate them.  Once you get one twin in, you can keep applying the other twin in later years and he will be able to take advantage of the “sibling” preference.  That means that all things being equal among applicants in a later year, most private schools will give the sibling of another student preference and let him in.