Temperature taken, hand sanitizer applied — now you’re welcomed onto the Hill School campus. As the virus shut many other boarding and day schools in various ways, Hill continued to keep its doors open to allow for not only in-person classes but also in-person tours conducted by faculty members. 

“Things have been extremely busy this year … we are one of the only boarding schools that allowed tours,” said Chris Bala ’97, the senior associate director of admissions. 

Although student tour guides are currently unavailable to conduct in-person tours, they, including faculty members like Christopher McGriff, the director of the CFTA, and Margie Neiswender, the director of instrumental music, contribute to the admission process by reaching out to prospective students and their families to answer any questions they have. 

“Personally, as a tour guide, I really enjoy meeting prospective students and talking about my experience at Hill. Unfortunately, due to COVID this year, we were unable to give tours. However, while prospective students can’t ask questions and talk to the students of the community, we have seen great responses to the postcards and emails. I definitely think this method of reaching out can be more strongly implemented in the future!” Head of Tour Ellie Lee ’21 stated in a text.

“I engage with applicants interested in Hill’s instrumental music. I get to know them through email and Zoom chats, finding out what instrument they play, their ensemble experience and how long they’ve played their instrument,” Neiswender said. 

According to Tom Eccleston IV ’87, the assistant headmaster for enrollment management, Hill has received about 1,300 applicants this year. That is a 15% increase in applications. International student applicant numbers have remained even with last year. Hill, along with the majority of colleges and universities in the United States, has gone test-optional.

“We have had numerous numbers of positive feedback from families on how well we have handled things during the virus, including admission. I am extremely proud of the way our office helped families,” Bala said. 

Revisit Day is one way The Hill community interacts with their newly accepted students. It gives prospective students a way to get to know the campus and get familiar with the environment. This year, while Revisit Day might look slightly different, the energy is still high. 

“We’ll be doing virtual events again just using a high-end new platform, and we’ll also be offering on-campus tours as we did all fall,” Eccleston said. 

“Touring was pretty simple and fun,” said prospective applicant Ellie Macielag from Rock Hall, Md. “I was inspired to go to Hill because of my brother Noah, but also because of the sports team and good community,” she said.

Taemin Kim, a prospective international applicant from South Korea, said that applying was shorter and simpler than he thought. “They asked me questions to get to know me. I met with a very pleasant admission officer, Mrs. Dougherty and a couple of pupils who are studying at The Hill School. Thanks to that, my application was done quite easily!” 

Compared to many other boarding schools, Hill was one of the few schools that offered on-campus outdoor tours only. As many applicants await answers, decisions are planned to be announced March 10.