Learning
On April 23, we met with 15 admissions professionals from 7 different schools at Singapore American School (SAS).
The afternoon began with delicious food and drinks prepared by the in-house catering service at SAS, and was followed by a personal welcome from Admissions Director Mona Stuart, whose talk was titled “In Good Company.” She emphasized that families are “spoiled for choice with the educational opportunities in Singapore,” and invited participants to think about how to best use each other’s resources for the benefit of students and families.
Admissions Specialist Ylva Kovacs then spoke about her experience at the first OpenApply Admissions Conference in Taipei, which took place in 2014 and brought together over 35 participants from leading international schools in Asia-Pacific for professional development and networking. She emphasized again the importance of connections across the region, and the opportunity to go beyond the “admissions island” to see the best practices at other schools.
Ylva and Mona also spoke about using OpenApply for summer semester admissions at SAS, which is giving the school an opportunity to test-drive the system with a smaller pool of applicants, and also create a different admissions experience for the newly overhauled program. Admissions Specialist Farouk Maricar spoke about the experience of customizing OpenApply for the summer school, and the dedicated support that they received through the process.
Next, Managing Director Angelica Nierras provided a company update & presentation on OpenApply, followed by Q&A from participants.
Following the update, Mona, Ylva, and Farouk provided a brief school tour of SAS, highlighting the school’s focus on demonstrating knowledge though practical application of skills learned in class, and the school’s spirit of inclusivity for all learners.
We are grateful to all the participants who joined us, and to our gracious hosts at SAS!
