Apply

Welcome to Commonwealth School's application process! Commonwealth uses an online application system called Ravenna. To apply, please register with Ravenna and create a basic profile. Then, select "Commonwealth School" from the School Directory to begin our process.

The application fee is $60 for U.S. residents and $120 for international applicants. If the application fee presents a challenge to your family, please contact our office to request a fee waiver, and we will gladly extend one.

If you indicate in the application form that you wish to receive information on financial aid, we will send you instructions by the end of the calendar year. Both admissions and financial aid decisions are released on March 10.

Deadline: February 1 for domestic applicants; January 1 for international applicants.

Additional Steps

Interview

During your online interview and virtual tour, you will meet with a member of the admissions committee, see the inside of our building, get a sense of our city location, and hear from a current student or two. Please note that at least one parent/guardian should join you. To schedule your online interview, please call Stephanie Poynter at 617-266-7525 or email admissions@commschool.org. Deadline: February 1.

“Visit” for the Day

After you submit your application form, you will schedule your day visit, during which you will attend online classes, all-school meeting, and lunch with a student host. In addition, you will complete two assessments (instead of admission essays you would write on your own) that become part of your application. You can either schedule your day visit through Ravenna or call Stephanie Poynter at 617-266-7525 to do so. Deadline: February 1.

Test

Given the disruption caused by the pandemic, and in the interest of equity and access, we will no longer require applicants to submit SSAT or ISEE results this admission season.

If you have already taken the SSAT or ISEE (or still plan to do so), we encourage you to submit your scores, and we will gladly consider them. We also welcome families to submit the results of any other standardized tests—MCAS, ERB, or MAP—students may have taken during middle school. The deadline for submission of any standardized test scores is February 1. Students who do not submit test scores will not be disadvantaged in the application process.

If you opt to take a standardized test, please see below for more information. Commonwealth’s SSAT code is 2542, and our ISEE code is 220222. If the SSAT registration fee poses a financial challenge for your family, please contact us for a fee waiver.

SSAT Testing Options for Domestic Applicants

Computer-Based SSAT at Home: The Enrollment Management Association (EMA) has partnered with another organization, PSI, to offer The SSAT at Home, a secure, online version of the exam that will serve as the main testing solution for the 2020-2021 school year. Families can learn more at ssat.org/athome.
Computer-Based SSAT at Prometric Test Center: Students may also take the SSAT at a local Prometric Test Center.

SSAT Testing Options for International Applicants

Please note that options vary from country to country. Click here for a partial list of offerings. We encourage you to contact us with questions.
Computer-Based SSAT at Home: This option is available to students in Canada.
Computer-Based SSAT at Prometric Test Center: Location permitting, international applicants should plan to take the SSAT at a local Prometric Test Center. This option is not, however, available to students in China, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Korea, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
Paper-Based SSAT: This version will continue to be an option for students not near a Prometric Test Center, including students in the countries listed above.

Unless they attend a school in which English is the primary language of instruction, international applicants should also plan to take the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

In addition, we welcome (but do not require) students who have taken the Character Skills Snapshot, an online character development assessment through SSAT, to share their reports with us.

Submit Recommendations

Commonwealth requires three recommendations from current teachers: one from an English teacher, one from a math teacher, and one from your head of school, principal, guidance counselor, or placement counselor. Commonwealth accepts recommendations through Ravenna's online recommendation system. Directions for online recommendations can be found in the application portal. Deadline: February 1.

Request Transcript

We ask applicants to complete a transcript release form, which they will turn in to their current school. Please note that, as this is a shared form amongst the Boston area institutions that use the Ravenna platform, it is only necessary to submit the form to your school once; simply check off all of the Ravenna schools to which you plan to apply.

School administrators should either upload transcripts to Ravenna or send them directly to Commonwealth by email (admissions@commschool.org) or mail (151 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116). Deadline: February 1.

Submit Essay

In place of the writing portion of the SSAT or ISEE, we will now ask applicants to submit an essay that they have written this school year and that meets the following requirements:

It should come from an English, history, or social studies class.
It can be either a draft or the final version.
While it does not have to be graded, it should include some kind of teacher feedback in the form of a completed rubric, comments, etc.
If it’s not possible to submit an essay from this school year, please select a piece of writing from the second semester of last school year.
It should be uploaded to your Ravenna HUB account.

We will waive this requirement for students who submit SSAT or ISEE scores. Deadline: February 1.

Please do not hesitate to contact us by email at admissions@commschool.org or by phone at 617-266-7525 if you have questions or if we can be of assistance.

Commonwealth School has a longstanding policy of nondiscriminatory admission of students. The School admits qualified students of any race, color, religious affiliation, national and ethnic origin, ancestry, sex, mental or physical disability, gender identity or sexual orientation to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious affiliation, national and ethnic origin, ancestry, sex, mental or physical disability, gender identity or sexual orientation or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid and loan program, and athletic or other school-administered programs.