Application Process

List of 3 items.

• Step 1: Submit an inquiry to begin the admission process

  Submit an online inquiry to sign up for a middle school or upper school campus tour or a middle school open house (which includes a campus tour).
  
  We encourage all students and parents interested in Ransom Everglades School to attend an open house or a tour.

   

• Step 2: Submit your admission application

  Apply online for the 2025-26 school year. The deadline for application submission is January 10, 2025.
  
  After you apply, log in to your checklist to complete the following:
  

  1. 1. Access the applicant checklist where you will be required to upload a copy of the applicant’s birth certificate.
     2. Upload a close-up, full-face or front-view photograph of the applicant (optional).
     3. Submit the Request for Student Records from the applicant checklist. Enter the registrar's email address and a request will be sent for the following: grades through at least the first quarter or trimester of the current year, last year’s final grades, standardized test scores, attendance records and conduct grades or reports.  
     4. Schedule the applicant’s interview via the checklist. Interviews begin in September and we strongly recommend scheduling the interview early in the admission process because time slots fill up quickly.
     5. Submit recommendation requests by entering email addresses via the applicant checklist. Ransom Everglades School requires recommendations from three people: the current English teacher; the current mathematics teacher; and the principal, counselor or a school administrator.
     6. For upper school applicants only: a graded paper from the 2024-25 school year with the instructor’s grade and comments. The paper should be written for an academic course, preferably an English, social studies or history course. One to two pages in length is sufficient, but longer papers may be submitted.
     7. For upper school applicants only: complete the Upper School Applicant Statement found on the checklist.

  
  Parents can log into the parent portal at any time to access the checklist and track the application progress. We cannot review any application until we have received all of the required items on the checklist, which are due by January 31:

  • • birth certificate
    • applicant's interview
    • official test results from SSAT or ISEE
    • official results from Character Skills Snapshot
    • online recommendations
    • transcripts and standardized test scores from the applicant’s current school
    • current year graded paper (upper school applicants only)
    • Upper School Applicant Statement (upper school applicants only)

  The deadline for a completed checklist is January 31. Admission decisions on completed applications are released via email on February 28.

• Step 3: Entrance Exams and Character Skills Snapshot

  Entrance Exams

  All applicants applying to Ransom Everglades School for the 2025-26 school year are required to take either the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) or the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE). Either test is acceptable.

  
  

  We take pride in a comprehensive and holistic evaluation of each candidate that is not reliant on any one factor. A completed admission file includes the student's academic record for this year and the previous school year, previous standardized test scores (if available from the current school), the personal interview, various writing samples, the SSAT or ISEE and Character Skills Snapshot, two teacher recommendations (math and English), one administrator recommendation, attendance records and behavior reports. Entrance exam scores play a helpful role in our evaluations, but they represent merely one piece of a complex analysis.
  
  

  SSAT

  Register here for the SSAT. Only test scores received directly from SSAT will be accepted. Registration for this admission cycle begins on August 1. When you register, please identify Ransom Everglades as a score recipient. Our school code is 6004. There are three ways to take the SSAT; all modes are acceptable.

  • • Computer-based SSAT at Home (U.S. and Canada only) https://www.ssat.org/testing/home/overview
    • Computer-based testing at a Prometric Test Center
      https://www.ssat.org/testing/prometric/overview Select "SSAT by the Enrollment Management Association" as both the test sponsor and the program when searching for a Prometric test center.
    • Paper-based testing on Standard or Flex dates https://www.ssat.org/testing/paper/overview or https://www.ssat.org/pages/what-is-a-flex-test

  
  

  ISEE

  Students can take the ISEE one time per testing season, either Fall (August through November) or Winter (December and January), to meet our deadlines. It is available in paper or online test formats. To register for a test, go to https://iseeonline.erblearn.org and create a new parent account. Select “Create Account” and provide the requested parent information. Select “Add Student” and provide the requested student information. Select “New Registration” for available tests. You can find available testing using the date and school code (101056). Identify Ransom Everglades School as a score recipient. Our school code is 101056. Only test scores received directly from ERB will be accepted. There are a variety of locations at which your child can take the ISEE: At-Home, At-School, Testing Offices or Prometric Test Centers. Testing fees, options, and test format availability will vary by location. https://www.erblearn.org/families/isee-registration
  
  

  The Character Skills Snapshot

  We care about our students and their growth. We are interested not only in their academic and cognitive development, but also their growth in citizenship and character, traits that will carry them forward into a successful life. Grades and test scores alone do not tell us the whole story of an applicant. The Character Skills Snapshot gives us richer holistic information. It offers a way for us to get to know applicants better, while also helping to direct our efforts to develop the intellectual curiosity, teamwork, initiative, responsibility, resilience, self-control, open-mindedness, and social awareness of all of our students.
  
  All applicants to Ransom Everglades School are required to take The Character Skills Snapshot. The Snapshot is independent of the SSAT and ISEE. We strongly recommend taking the snapshot by January 15. It is an online assessment that applicants can take at home. The assessment is untimed, but takes approximately 25 minutes to complete.
  
  Register here for the Character Skills Snapshot. If you choose to have your child take the SSAT, you will be able to register for The Snapshot at a reduced fee when registering for the SSAT. You will see a Snapshot button on the homepage of the student SSAT account. The fee for The Snapshot is $30 when purchased at the same time as an SSAT. For students taking the ISEE or registering for The Snapshot separately, the fee for The Snapshot is $60. Please designate Ransom Everglades School as a result recipient. Only results provided directly from The Enrollment Management Association to schools are considered official results.