Continuing the Community: How the Cate Admissions Team Functions

By Alpha Abulikemu '29

The admissions team creates Cate’s student body, deciding, among thousands of students applying, who will be the next members of our school community. 

Deciding which students to admit is a complicated, often difficult process. Each application carries many parts, including essays, grades, test scores, and interviews. Every part of the process is necessary, Mr. Joe Cordero, the associate director of admissions, noted that the admissions team is looking at “the whole student,” meaning, out of all the qualified applicants, they are looking for fundamentally good human beings who they could “sit at a table with,” and who will be able to succeed at Cate and eventually “leave a legacy.”

Specifically, in Mr. Cordero’s opinion, the interview is one of the most crucial parts of the admissions process, as it allows them to see the student’s genuine self. As many who have gone through the process have experienced, Cate’s interview questions can sometimes be unpredictable or throw students off. Mr. Cordero pointed out that unpredictability allows truth to be articulated. 

Standardized testing, especially the writing samples, also carries much weight. “Writing is extremely important for success at Cate,” Mr. Cordero observed, “and writing samples can show a student’s true skill at writing.” Indeed, writing samples on standardized tests, written by hand under time pressure, are almost impossible to cheat on.

The letter of recommendation, which is written directly by teachers at the applicant’s old school to the admissions office, is another integral part of the application. Mr. Cordero tells us that these letters provide an unbiased perspective on the applicant’s school life—whether they work hard, which is crucial to success at Cate; whether they contribute to their class; whether they have an inquisitive mind, etc. This perspective allows them to evaluate whether an applicant can succeed, and as he previously said, “leave a legacy” at Cate.

Finally, there are the activities that the student does. Mr. Cordero mentioned that the admissions team wants students to be “well-rounded,” observing that “a student can be student president while also being a varsity basketball player and a varsity football player.”  Essentially, they don’t want Cate School to be a place where students focus on just one thing, but rather one where they branch out and participate in a wide range of activities.

The admissions process has changed significantly this year compared to previous years, and one of the biggest changes is in the financial aid process. Ms. Carter Ford, the assistant director of admissions, mentioned that “all financial assistance [this year] is processed through an outside company.” Ms. Ford further stated that this change is intended to reduce potential bias in the distribution of financial aid.

Furthermore, Mr. Cordero tells us that in his time at Cate’s admissions team, this was the first year they had a full team without any members having to do multiple jobs within the admissions department. He tells us that this means the team can travel more, thereby contributing to a larger pool of students applying this year. The team being full also allowed them to read all application materials more thoroughly, which was a daunting task in previous years. 

Finally, Mr. Kyle Mason, also a crucial part of the admissions team, tells us that the school made the SSAT test mandatory again this year due to the previously mentioned benefits of standardized testing.

The admissions team worked hard all year to select the best students to continue Cate’s legacy.