When I first started in college admissions in 1992, a recruitment concept was in its early stages: Exploring College Options (ECO), a group of highly selective, like-minded schools whose deans of admission were friends and decided to travel together. That initial group included the school I represented, Georgetown, as well as others such as Duke, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford. They held breakfasts for local guidance counselors followed by evening events in cities around the nation for prospective families. It didn’t take long to see that the return on investment (ROI) of an event in Casper, Wyoming, for forty prospective college students was far greater than the ten each school might draw on its own. Even in the largest markets (I will never forget presenting to over 1,000 people at the Copley Plaza in Boston one spring!) traveling together as a group made it easier for the colleges — and, more importantly, more convenient for families — to maximize their limited time and resources.

Since then, there has been a proliferation of joint travel admissions ventures among many different types of colleges, from Eight of the Best to Colleges That Change Lives and many iterations in between. It makes fiscal and strategic sense, but it also makes for outstanding professional development. I know I am not alone when I say that some of my fondest memories and best on-the-job training of my college admission life were created on the road with my Duke, Harvard, and Penn travel partners — some of whom I keep in touch with decades later. 

Therefore, I was thrilled to learn when I joined the admission team at Loomis Chaffee in 2018 that Loomis was part of a similar admission organization on the secondary boarding school side — and one with an even longer history. The Ten Schools Admission Organization, or TSAO, was founded in 1952 as a group of admission directors who discussed common admission issues particularly centered on standardizing admission testing across their organization. In 1994, around the same time I was traveling with the ECO group on the college side, my predecessor and unofficial Loomis Chaffee TSAO historian Tom Southworth and his good friend and colleague John Green at St. Paul’s School (NH) proposed the first slate of joint admission trips to the TSAO directors. And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Today, the TSAO hosts admission events both in person and now virtually around the country and the world, and there is no question that it is a fruitful partnership for all the reasons stated above. What it may be most useful for, however, is something that is perhaps not as visible: professional development and retention. My colleagues in the TSAO, as well as its partner organization, the Diversity Round Table (DRT, founded in 2001), are among the most experienced and tenured independent boarding school professionals in the business (and before someone reading this says to themselves, “well, so are many others not in the TSAO,” you are absolutely correct; I am only referring to this particular subset of a large group of highly talented colleagues in our profession). Many TSAO colleagues have the added benefit of having worked at more than one institution, TSAO schools and otherwise, and therefore possess an important perspective that enables them to see beyond the borders of their own campuses. My TSAO colleagues at all levels of leadership and tenure are generous with their knowledge and time, not only in formal programs and informal gatherings on the road, but also in monthly meetings. During the pandemic, those meetings were invaluable as we shared best practices on things both specific to admission and more broadly impacting our schools. It’s also a group that is truly concerned about and spends time discussing issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in our schools; I am proud of the decision the TSAO made to write, collectively endorse, and release a Statement on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in May 2020, a collaborative effort that clearly demonstrated it is an organization that considers issues far greater than the destination of our next trip. 

As noted, the TSAO is not the only boarding school admission organization, and many others share similar characteristics. But professional collaboration is not just about sharing best practices, discussing issues, saving costs, or increasing visibility. It’s also about friendship. Making and keeping good professional colleagues keeps great people in this great profession. I know this, because when I left higher education and joined the world of boarding school admission, the prospect of starting my “friendwork” from scratch seemed daunting (it still does, actually!). There’s nothing more fun for me than reconnecting with my former collegiate travel buddies, catching up and talking shop. I mean, this is a career that requires people to be friendly! We like making friends and having friends who are in the same profession helps keep us in it. 

Which brings me to the final point. Having recently returned from my first TSAO trip since 2019 (yes, Boca, Charlotte, and D.C. TSAO peeps! I see you!), I was reminded not only of how much I’ve missed travel, but especially work travel with funny, inspiring, intelligent, and dedicated colleagues. Whether deconstructing Enrique’s favorite smoothie recipes at an after-event dinner or reminiscing with John on a three-hour drive about our experiences attending public Massachusetts high schools in the 80’s, or other moments too numerous to mention, being with friends in the admission world reminds me every time that they are wonderful people who care tremendously about the work that they do and have a lot of fun doing it. Competitive? Yes. Collaborative? Yes. In my experience, schools can be both.

So, if you ever attend or tune in to a TSAO event, you now know that the camaraderie you see on that screen or at the front of the room … it’s real. And it says a lot about the kind of communities we represent that we can enjoy each other, learn from each other, and still get mad (for a day) when we lose our favorite student to one another. And then go on sharing our favorite Netflix shows and even a few smoothie recipes. 

P.S. Genuine Admission: In case you’re wondering, the one thing we never talk about is … YOU. Admission officers talk about things like their kids and good restaurants and how their school teams did in today’s games. Just like real people. Not who came by their table, who they interviewed, or who applied (and never who got in; this is a commonly asked question about us, I know). Rest easy, young future Pelicans, Bearcats, Rhinos, Wild Boars, and the rest. Whatever question you asked at your Deerfield, Hill, or any other TSAO interview, you can still ask me the same one. I’ll never know.