Admissions Refresh Process – Finalsite Enrollment

Overview

During the summer months, we reach out to our schools for an annual Admissions Refresh, which is an opportunity to determine what changes and updates we need to make for the next Admissions cycle.

During this process, we ask you to please review the following key areas within the system to identify what changes (if any) need to be made. Each area listed below includes links to help articles to aid you in updating these items. You can find an internal refresh checklist on your site as well under Settings > General > Admissions Refresh Process.

For items that require assistance from our Support Team, please reach out to us by visiting How to Contact Support & Best Practices.

Admissions Refresh Tutorial

We have several training sessions available that you may attend if you'd like a live walk-through! Visit Office Hours: A Virtual Classroom to sign up for a live training session (seasonal availability).

Items to Review

Basic Setup

Terms: Within the Terms page, you have access to several settings that allow you to customize your admissions season flow. As a reminder, only those designated as System Admins and Admins can access this page. Here are a few of the things you may wish to utilize this page for during your Admissions refresh:
- Set up new terms to be available on your inquiry and application forms.
  - You can also turn off old terms here so that students don't see past terms in the inquiry and application.
- Set your application to auto-open or close on a specific date/time.
- Set a maximum capacity of applicants per grade.
Contact Information: Make sure the Contact Information in the Parent Portal is up to date.
Application Fee: This is where you can update the amount of your application fee, manage your payment methods, and view any fee rules or waiver codes. If you need new rules or waiver codes created, please contact our support team for assistance.

Admissions Checklist

You can create new Checklist items and edit existing checklist items within Settings > Checklists > Admissions. When reviewing your Admissions Checklist, consider the following:

Are there any checklist items you need to retire? You can do this by setting the End Term to a previous term so that the item does not appear on future checklists.
Any checklist items you need to add?
Are the visibility options (internal, optional, required) set correctly?
Does each item have clear parent explanation text with instructions on what the parent needs to do for that checklist item to be marked complete? Are you letting parents know which items you need to mark complete upon receipt of information?
Are there any embedded downloadable forms linked within checklist item descriptions that need to be updated? You can update/replace an existing file without needing to update the hyperlinks in the parent explanation text. Visit File Management for more information.
Do you need any new business rules? If you need business rules created, edited, or removed, please contact our support team for assistance.

Admissions Forms

We recommend reviewing your Application Form and Custom Admissions Forms (under Settings > Forms) and making updates as needed. You may also need to create new forms for families to complete. When reviewing your Admissions forms, consider the following:

Are all forms current and updated?
Are there any new forms you need to create this year?
Are there any embedded downloadable forms linked within your forms that need to be updated? You can update/replace an existing file without needing to update the hyperlinks in the forms. Visit File Management for more information.
Visit Online Form Overview for more information about forms. For Advanced Form edits, please contact our support team for assistance.

Email and Parent Portal Communication Templates

You'll want to ensure your messaging to families is accurate and up to date, including in your email templates, on the Parent Portal, and on landing pages.

IMPORTANT: Email templates live within your Communication settings as well as your event calendars. See the Calendars and Scheduling section below for how to access and update the confirmation, reminder, and cancellation emails for each of your events.

Are your inquiry and application thank-you pages up to date?
Are your inquiry and application thank-you emails up to date?
Do you have all the custom email, letter, and label templates you need and are they up to date?
Are there any embedded downloadable forms linked within your templates that need to be updated? You can update/replace an existing file without needing to update the hyperlinks in the templates. Visit File Management for more information.
Do you need to update permissions on any of your communications?
Are your text message templates up to date?
Do you need to update or activate/deactivate any Automated Communication Plans? Visit Inquiry & Admissions Automated Communication Plans (ACPs) for communication plan ideas.
To learn how to add images and videos to your templates, visit Using Images & Video in Templates.

Calendars & Scheduling
All confirmation, reminder, and cancellation email templates can be accessed and updated within each of your event calendars under Scheduling > Calendars. Each calendar has up to three emails that you can enable, so we recommend reviewing all three emails for each of your calendar events.

Are all of your calendars up to date with current events?
Do we need to create new calendars?
Do you need to deactivate any existing calendars?
Are your confirmation, reminder, and/or cancellation email templates up to date? Are they customized with branded images or photos from past events?
Are your calendars linked to checklist items so parents can book and/or reschedule themselves for appointments?
Do you need to generate any public calendar links for your Inquiry events?

We want to do everything we can to make sure your next admissions season is as smooth and successful as possible, so if you have any questions or concerns about anything in the system, please contact our support team for assistance.