The Ant and the Grasshopper: Why you should plan now for HS admissions
/By Audrey and Abigail
The Ant and the Grasshopper is one of Aesop’s most familiar fables, and it comes to mind often as the high school admissions cycle ramps up. The ant diligently collects food throughout the summer, while the grasshopper plays and mocks the ant for working too hard. Come winter the consequences of each choice become clear.
If I was still teaching fifth grade, this is where I’d ask students to identify the theme. Even ten-year-olds could name it easily: preparation matters and planning pays off.
The Grasshopper waits. The Ant plans.
In high school admissions, planning early doesn’t mean being anxious or overbearing. It means giving your child more options, and giving yourself room to breathe.
Starting in the spring or early summer allows families to make decisions from a place of understanding rather than urgency. That time is a gift to your future self.
A long-term plan helps you:
Understand how grades, testing, and program types fit together
Make thoughtful choices about SHSAT prep, auditions, and portfolios
Avoid last-minute scrambles that limit options
Strategize, rather than react, when your RAN becomes available
Get More Out of Test Prep & Tutoring
Planning early – being the ant – helps you approach SHSAT prep strategically. Prep is most effective when it starts well before the deadline, giving students time to build skills gradually and strengthen confidence. SHSAT prep can even help if your child isn’t set on a specialized high school by strengthening core academic skills. This can support spring grades.
The real question for families isn’t whether to do prep, but how and for how long. Families who plan early have the space to evaluate progress and adjust as needed.
Keep More Program Options Open
Each year, we meet with families whose kids are prepping for the SHSAT and are interested in audition or portfolio-based schools. (Remember - audition and portfolio-based schools aren’t just for aspiring performers but for kids with varying levels of interest and commitment!) This approach works well, but has to start early. At some point, often once a student’s RAN becomes available, it becomes clear which pathway is stronger. Families can then close one door and focus their energy on the other. Waiting until fall to pivot is usually too late to start.
Avoid the Fall Tour Frenzy
Early planning reduces the chaos that fall tours and open houses can be. Researching schools ahead of time and even attending spring events when possible like a musical, art show, or other school activity helps you prioritize wisely and approach visits with clarity instead of stress.
More Time. More Options. Less Stress
Early planning does two essential things. It gives you breathing room, and keeps options open. In NYC high school admissions, more options almost always lead to better outcomes.
Go here to see how our services can help. Families who book time with us now also receive priority access for fall appointments when our schedules fill up extremely quickly, and our current (lower) rates before annual adjustments.
Don’t be the grasshopper. Be the ant. Your future self (and your child!) will thank you.
