This is the playbook we'd run if we were operating a Swiss boarding school's admissions cycle for September entry. It's a 10-week calendar: six weeks before the application deadline to launch the cycle properly, then the four weeks after that take it through interviews and decisions.
The pattern works for any cycle (mid-year transfers, term-2 entries), but the dates below assume the standard September-entry cycle — deadline late October, decisions early December, families confirm by mid-January, term starts September.
A few things to know before starting:
- The platform handles the operational layer — scheduled broadcasts, application form, decision panel, message templates, per-event RSVPs, booking calendar, cohort dashboard, capacity targets. We'll use those throughout.
- The cohort dashboard at Admissions → View by cohort shows the funnel for each (entry year, program) — inquiries, applications, offers, enrolled — with progress against your target. Set the target once at week −6; check progress weekly.
- This playbook assumes Premium tier. On Pro you can do steps 1-3 (announce, collect inquiries, host an open house) but not the application form or decision tracking.
Week −6: Foundation week
Goal: confirm your form, schedule your first broadcast, decide your open-house dates.
The form
Open the Admissions tab → form builder. Review every step:
- Are last year's questions still right? Have any programs been added or retired?
- Has the application fee changed?
- Is the file-upload list still accurate (passport, school report, recommendation letter, etc.)?
- Are the consents up to date with this year's data-protection posture?
The platform doesn't auto-roll-forward your form. Last year's form is still active as-is. Make changes now, not in week −1 — every change you make after the form goes live shows up to families who started but haven't submitted, which can be confusing.
If you want to overhaul the form significantly, see The admission form builder — but overhauling mid-cycle is risky; stay incremental.
The cycle calendar
Decide and write down:
- Application opens: typically week −6 (today)
- Open house dates: 1-3 events, ideally weeks −4 and −2
- Application deadline: the date that determines week 0
- Decision target: 3-4 weeks after deadline
- Family acceptance deadline: 4-6 weeks after offer
Put these in a shared Google Doc / Notion page accessible to the team. The platform doesn't have a "cycle dashboard" — your shared doc is the single source of truth for who-knows-what's-happening-when.
The launch broadcast (scheduled, not yet sent)
Compose your "Admissions for September 2026 are now open" broadcast.
- Recipients: All inquiries filtered to "inquired in the past 18 months" (use the date filter). This catches families who expressed interest last cycle but didn't apply.
- Subject: "Applications for September 2026 entry are open"
- Content: brief — when applications opened, the deadline, link to apply, link to the open house dates.
- Schedule for Monday morning of week −5 (
scheduled_foron the broadcast). Don't fire it now. Schools that broadcast on Friday afternoons or weekends see ~30% lower open rates.
The platform's scheduled-broadcast feature handles the actual send. You don't need to be online when it fires.
Week −5: Public announcement
The scheduled broadcast goes out Monday morning. Two follow-on actions during the week:
- Announce on your school's website + social. The platform broadcast hits families already in your CRM; the website + social reach the rest.
- Brief your team. Who answers inquiries during application season? Who runs the open house? Who triages applications? If your team isn't aligned by week −5, the application volume in weeks −4 to 0 will overwhelm you.
Inquiry volume will spike noticeably in the days after the broadcast. Monitor the dashboard analytics — expect inquiries to roughly double for the next 7-10 days vs the preceding baseline.
Week −4: First open house
Run your first open house this week (typically Saturday morning). See Running an open house for the operational playbook — invitation 2 weeks before, day-before reminder, day-of execution, 48h follow-up.
Two cycle-specific notes:
- Mention the application deadline in the welcome speech. Open house attendees are your highest-intent prospects; many will apply within 7 days of attending if you remind them.
- Use the new per-event broadcast on Monday after to thank attendees and link them straight to the application. Click "Message RSVPs" on the open house card — composer opens locked to this event's attendees.
Week −3: Mid-cycle nurturing
Activity quiet-ish this week. Two things:
- Triage the inquiry pipeline. Anything sitting in "New" >7 days needs movement: reply, qualify, or archive. See Family CRM basics.
- Check application-started counts. Analytics tab → Application start vs complete. If the start count is good (50+ for a decent-sized cohort) but completion rate is low (<40%), look at the per-step drop-off — usually a file-upload question or a long free-text. Fix it now before the deadline rush.
Week −2: Second open house
Same playbook as week −4. The week-2 event tends to skew toward families who couldn't make the first one, including the international families flying in specifically to visit.
Two adjustments for the second event:
- Make the deadline urgency clearer. "Applications close in X days" should be in the welcome speech and the confirmation email.
- Capture parental questions on the day. Have one team member note every question parents ask. Use that list in week −1's pre-deadline broadcast.
Week −1: Pre-deadline push
Most applications come in the final 10 days. Two scheduled broadcasts this week:
- Monday: "1 week until applications close." Recipients: All inquiries who inquired in the past 18 months and have NOT yet submitted an application. The platform doesn't auto-filter on application status — you'll need to manually exclude submitters by exporting the inquiry list and checking against your admissions tab. This is one of the manual reconcile steps.
- Friday: "48 hours left." Same recipients. Slightly more urgent tone. Include a direct apply link.
Don't broadcast on the weekend — keep weekends for replies-to- inquiries, not outbound.
Week 0: Deadline week
The deadline lands this week. By the day after:
- Lock the form (Admissions → Settings → Stop accepting new applications). Anyone who started but didn't finish is now in "Incomplete" status.
- Pull the count: how many submitted, how many fee-paid (if you charge an application fee), how many you'd consider "complete packages" (documents + consents + payment).
- Compare against your target. The shortfall (if any) determines whether you take a late-application policy.
Late applications
Most schools accept late applications "with strong rationale" for 2 weeks past the deadline. If you do, set this as policy on day 1, don't decide case-by-case — case-by-case makes you look inconsistent and creates politics with parents-of-friends.
To accept late applications, re-open the form briefly. Manage the volume by raising the application fee for late entries (e.g. +50%) — this self-selects for serious applicants.
Weeks 1-2: Review
The bulk of decision work happens here. See Reviewing applications for the detailed per-application workflow. The cycle-level rhythm:
- Monday triage meeting. Two people, 30-60 minutes, work through "Needs review" applications. Decide for each: assess / interview / reject.
- Tuesday-Thursday: assessments + interviews. Schedule via the application message composer (Schedule interview template) — family picks a slot from your calendar.
- Friday: notes day. Each team member writes summary notes on the families they've interviewed that week. Notes carry into the decision meeting.
Week 3: Decision
The decision week is structured but compressed.
- Monday: pre-meeting. Each reviewer brings their recommendation per application. Discuss any edge cases.
- Tuesday-Wednesday: decisions. Use the Decision panel in bulk — work through the Admissions tab filtered to "Decision pending" and send offers / waitlists / rejections.
- Pick one day for ALL decisions. Spreading decisions across the week creates rumor flow between families ("Sophie heard back Tuesday but we haven't heard yet — should we worry?"). One-day sends prevent this.
- Use the message templates for personalization. The
template variables (
${studentName},${parentName}) make per-family customization fast. Don't use the generic template if the application warranted personalized feedback.
After all decisions:
- Send the cycle-recap broadcast to "All contacts" filtered to "inquired in the past 18 months" — a brief "thank you for your interest this cycle; here are open houses for the next cycle" message. Keeps cold prospects warm.
Week 4: Acceptance window
Offers are out; families now have 4-6 weeks to accept.
- No outreach in the first 2 weeks — let families discuss internally. Reaching out too fast reads as pressure.
- Mid-window check-in for high-priority families (siblings of current students, scholarship candidates, specific program fits). Personal CRM messages, not broadcasts.
- End-of-window reminder for anyone who hasn't responded — one polite "your offer expires on X" message via the application thread.
The platform doesn't track acceptance rate automatically; you'll need to count Accepted vs Offered in the Admissions tab at the end of the window.
Post-cycle: the reconcile
Once acceptance closes:
- Final cohort count. Manually compile in your spreadsheet. Compare against the original target.
- Cycle retro. 60-minute meeting with the admissions team: what worked, what didn't, what to change for next year. Write it down — the version-of-you running next year's cycle will thank the version-of-you who wrote down the lessons.
- Update the form based on retro insights. Even small changes (better helper text on the essay question, removing an underused field) compound over years.
Tracking the cycle in the cohort dashboard
The cohort dashboard (Admissions → View by cohort) is the single place to watch the cycle. One card per (entry year, program) shows:
- The 5-stage funnel (needs review → in review → decision pending → offered → closed) with live counts
- The enrolled total, highlighted separately
- Progress against your target if you've set one
Set the target once at week −6 by clicking "Set target" on the relevant cohort card. Add a notes line for the split (e.g. "12 day, 12 boarding") so the rest of the team sees the breakdown.
Year-over-year comparison isn't built into the analytics tab yet — if you want "this cycle vs last cycle," export both years to CSV from the Admissions list and compare manually.
When to escalate to us
Email admin@swissprivate-schools.ch if:
- You want a custom "cohort dashboard" export pulled for your school mid-cycle — we'll run the SQL and send you a snapshot
- Application volume is dramatically off from expectations (high or low) — we can check the public profile + analytics funnel for any technical issue masking real performance
- You need to bulk-update applications (e.g. defer 30 applications to next year) — we can do this server-side
We respond within 2 business days.