Admission

We have every hope that we will be able to welcome visitors to campus in the near future, but for now, we’ve done our best to put as much virtual content at your fingertips.  Take an online tour, peruse our videos, submit a question to be answered by a student, and so much more.  Over the course of the summer, we’ll also offer live chats with admission officers so that we can tailor the admission process to serve your needs and connect you with the information most relevant to your search.

We have every hope that we will be able to welcome visitors to campus in the near future, but for now, we’ve done our best to put as much virtual content at your fingertips.  Take an online tour, peruse our videos, submit a question to be answered by a student, and so much more.  Over the course of the summer, we’ll also offer live chats with admission officers so that we can tailor the admission process to serve your needs and connect you with the information most relevant to your search.

Throughout the application review process, we look for evidence of Berkshire’s core values of curiosity, integrity, respect, inclusion, perseverance, and resilience.  Affirmation of these values can be shown through academic excellence, community contributions, character recommendations, and in the interview.  Berkshire is a strong, vibrant, and open-minded community, and we are looking for those applicants who are eager to take advantage of our unique learning environment and embrace all that makes our community even stronger.

As we consider the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Berkshire School will not require applicants to submit standardized test scores in the admission process.  Many spring and summer test dates have been cancelled, and while the Enrollment Management Association plans to offer in-home SSAT testing, we hope that adopting a test-optional admission model will eliminate an additional obstacle for families in these challenging times. For some, standardized testing is a strength, and we will happily welcome any scores that students choose to submit.  When a student refrains from sharing their standardized test results, we will require a third academic recommendation, and their applications will be given full and equal consideration.

Please note that students who receive narrative reports instead of grades or those who are homeschooled will be asked to submit SSAT scores.  Students who do not identify English as their first language will be required to submit an English proficiency test like the TOEFL.  Please email with questions about additional testing platforms that may be considered.

All applications are initially reviewed in detail by three admission officers and the director of admission, after which point the admission committee comes together to discuss each file and make an initial recommendation. For those students applying for financial aid, the financial aid committee further discusses their candidacy and allocates resources to students who qualify until the entire budget has been allotted. Once all applications have been reviewed in this format, the committee meets again to further refine the pool to ensure a balanced incoming class, representative of many different interests, talents, and backgrounds.

Admission and financial aid decisions are released electronically through the student’s admission portal by 8:00 a.m. on March 10th.

Being placed on our waitlist means that we would love to have you at Berkshire; it is not a soft deferral. We are fortunate to have more qualified applicants apply than spots to offer, so we manage a strong waitlist. Every year is different in the admission process and we begin to consider students on our waitlist around April 10th. We do not rank our waitlist because there is no way to predict what our institutional needs will be as the new class begins to take shape. It is a good idea to stay in close contact with your admission officer should you remain actively interested in Berkshire. In recent years, the number of acceptances from the waitlist has ranged from zero to ten.