Boarding School Application Form

Transform Your Boarding School Admissions with Paperform

Finding the right students for your boarding school's residential community requires more than just academic transcripts—you need to understand each applicant's readiness for independence, their motivation for immersive learning, and their family's support for this transformative step. This boarding school application template is designed specifically for independent schools, preparatory academies, and residential educational institutions seeking to streamline their admissions process while gathering the deep insights needed to build a thriving campus community.

Why Boarding Schools Need Purpose-Built Application Forms

Traditional paper applications or generic form builders simply can't capture the nuanced information boarding schools require. You're not just admitting students to classes—you're welcoming them into a 24/7 learning and living environment. This means you need to assess academic readiness alongside independence skills, emotional maturity, residential life interests, and family preparedness for separation.

With Paperform, your boarding school can create an application experience that reflects your institution's values while efficiently collecting everything from academic records to dormitory preferences to adjustment readiness assessments. The result? A more informed admissions committee and families who feel confident they're making the right choice.

Built for Admissions Teams at Residential Schools

This template is thoughtfully structured for:

• Independent boarding schools seeking students for grades 9-12 or middle school residential programs
• Preparatory academies with competitive admissions processes requiring holistic student assessment
• International boarding schools attracting students from diverse backgrounds and countries
• Specialized boarding programs focused on arts, STEM, athletics, or leadership development
• Admissions counselors and directors managing hundreds of applications each cycle

The form guides families through sections covering student background, academic history, residential life readiness, extracurricular involvement, personal statements, and parent perspectives—ensuring you collect comprehensive information in a single, organized submission.

Key Features for Boarding School Admissions

Holistic Student Assessment: Go beyond grades and test scores to understand what makes each student tick. Assess their reasons for choosing boarding school, their comfort with independence, their dormitory preferences, and their goals for personal growth in a residential setting.

Independence & Readiness Evaluation: Include questions that help your admissions team gauge whether students are emotionally and practically ready for boarding life—from managing their own schedule to handling homesickness to resolving conflicts with roommates.

Parent Perspective Section: Capture parental insights on their child's readiness for separation, their family's support system, and their expectations for the boarding experience—critical information for supporting successful transitions.

Conditional Logic for Streamlined Experience: Use Paperform's powerful conditional logic to show relevant questions based on grade level, program interest, or boarding status (5-day vs. 7-day boarding), keeping the application focused and manageable for families.

Document Upload Capabilities: Allow applicants to submit transcripts, recommendation letters, personal essays, and other required materials directly through the form, eliminating the need for separate email submissions or postal mail.

Custom Branding & Professional Design: Make your application form a natural extension of your school's website with custom fonts, colors, school crest or logo, and background images that reflect your campus environment.

Streamline Your Entire Admissions Workflow

While this template creates an outstanding front-end application experience, Paperform's deeper platform capabilities can transform your entire admissions operation:

Automated Application Processing: Connect submissions to your Student Information System, CRM, or admissions management platform. Use Stepper to automatically route complete applications to reviewers, send confirmation emails with next steps, and trigger reminders for missing documents—all without manual data entry.

Application Fee Collection: Integrate Stripe, PayPal, or Square to collect non-refundable application fees directly within the form, ensuring only serious applicants complete the process while eliminating billing follow-up.

Interview Scheduling: Add appointment booking fields so families can select available interview time slots right after submitting their application, reducing the back-and-forth of scheduling coordination.

Digital Signatures with Papersign: For enrollment contracts, parent agreements, or code of conduct acknowledgments, use Papersign to transform submitted information into legally binding documents that families can sign electronically—keeping your entire admissions-to-enrollment process paperless.

Collaborative Review Process: Share applications with your admissions committee, assign scoring or evaluation tasks, and maintain organized notes—all while keeping sensitive student information secure with SOC 2 Type II compliance and role-based permissions.

Perfect for Modern Admissions Teams

Today's boarding school families expect a seamless digital experience that matches the innovation your institution offers in the classroom. With Paperform, you can:

• Accept applications 24/7 from anywhere in the world, accommodating international time zones
• Automatically send personalized confirmation emails with application checklists and portal access
• Create different application paths for different grade levels or program types using conditional logic
• Generate real-time reports on application volume, demographic trends, and incomplete submissions
• Embed your application directly into your admissions page for a cohesive user experience

This level of professional polish and operational efficiency isn't just nice to have—it's a competitive advantage when families are comparing your institution to other elite boarding schools.

Security & Compliance for Educational Institutions

When handling sensitive student and family information, security isn't optional. Paperform provides:

• SOC 2 Type II certification ensuring enterprise-grade data protection
• GDPR compliance for international applicants from the EU
• SSL encryption for all data transmission
• Data residency controls so you can choose where information is stored
• Customizable data retention policies to maintain records only as long as needed

For larger independent schools or networks of residential campuses, Paperform's Enterprise plan offers SSO (Single Sign-On), advanced user permissions, and dedicated support to meet your institution's specific compliance requirements.

Getting Started with Your Boarding School Application

This template provides an outstanding foundation, but every boarding school has unique programs, values, and admissions criteria. With Paperform's intuitive doc-style editor, your admissions team can easily customize:

• Question wording to match your institution's voice and culture
• Program-specific sections for arts conservatories, athletic academies, or STEM-focused schools
• International student sections covering visa status, English proficiency, and cultural adjustment
• Financial aid preliminary questions to identify families needing assistance early in the process
• Legacy or sibling preference sections that acknowledge your school's community connections

Best of all, you can make these changes yourself—no coding required, no waiting on IT or external developers.

Trusted by Educational Institutions Worldwide

From historic New England prep schools to modern international academies, over 500,000 organizations trust Paperform to handle their most important workflows. Educational institutions specifically choose Paperform for its combination of sophisticated functionality and approachable design that puts families at ease during what can be a stressful application process.

Ready to transform your boarding school admissions? Start with this template and experience how Paperform helps you find the right students for your residential community while saving countless hours of administrative work. Your admissions team deserves tools as excellent as the education you provide.