Behind every interview and application, there’s a group of people working to shape Archer’s next class — among them is Associate Director of Admissions Amy Chen. Chen spearheads the process of enrollment for prospective students for the 2025-26 school year. She has worked at Archer since 2018, and this is her second year holding her leadership title.
In her position, Chen manages duties that include helping families from the prospective stage into the enrollment stage. She interviews potential applicants, assists with events and answers any questions that families may have throughout the process. She also coordinates day visits for prospective students, commonly referred to as “shadow days” outside of Archer.
The Oracle sat down with Chen to discuss her experience working in admissions and what the admissions process entails for incoming students.
What steps does the committee go through before enrollment?
Amy Chen [AC]: Typically, the admissions process for a family would start around September. That’s when we go live with all of our admissions event registration, and our applications go live as well. We’ll usually have three or so different types of admissions events for families to attend between September and early November for them to discover what Archer is all about and see if it’s a good fit for their family. We always open the application at the same time as the events because some families like to get a head start and fill it out as they attend events. Typically, they need their applications submitted by one of our two deadlines. We have a guaranteed interview deadline in mid-November. We encourage families to apply by then to maximize interview availability for the student and parents. We also have a final application deadline in mid-December. If you apply between the guaranteed interview deadline and the December deadline, the interview is scheduled on an available basis, so you may have less flexibility in choosing a date and time. After applying, families complete their interview process and submit required application documents —transcripts, recommendations and any supplemental materials — by mid-January. That allows time for teachers or schools to submit documents. Decision time is typically in mid-March. Since I’ve been at Archer, we’ve followed the common notification date set by the Los Angeles Independent School Consortium. This ensures families applying to multiple independent schools receive decisions at the same time. Once accepted, families have about seven days to confirm enrollment. The admissions office then hosts new family events, including a spring induction ceremony and other programming before the school year begins in late summer.
What challenges do you face in admissions, and how do you overcome them?
[AC]: Sometimes we encounter families who have never had exposure to an all-girls school experience. I think a lot of parents who are not familiar with an all-girls school and the benefits that it can offer a student tend to ask us about social aspects and how their daughter would be able to translate their all-girls school experience into the real world. Another challenge in the admissions office is the high demand for our events. We do our best to accommodate families and their requests, but we are sometimes constrained by timelines. We want to show families as much as possible, but scheduling doesn’t always work in everyone’s favor.
What makes a successful candidate?
[AC]: What I love about students at Archer is that there’s not just one type of student in terms of personality, interest or anything like that. When I get this question from an applicant’s family, I always tell them that one of the great things is that there’s not a certain type of student. I think what makes a successful student and family for Archer is just someone that’s mission-aligned with the school. I know the school appreciates parent partnership by providing them with parent education opportunities and offering them that transparency. A lot of these students are coming into Archer, some who have no idea what they’re interested in, and some with a clear path of what they want to continue pursuing. That’s so great for both sides because you have students who have the opportunity to try out these new things and dabble in a little bit of everything, to figure out what they do and don’t like, and then you have students who are already kind of charted their path — they’re going to be able to continue on that path, but still have the time to explore out of those zones. Students who just have that open mindset, excitement to explore and grow is something I think would thrive incredibly well at Archer
Do you have a favorite part of your job?
[AC]: My favorite part of the job is probably the induction ceremony that happens after the new family enrollment process has been completed. You get to see all these families that you’ve been working with. I think it’s nice to kind of see it all pay off in that spring induction ceremony because all the families are here. It’s a big celebration for them and a big welcoming party for them to Archer. Seeing some of the families that you’ve been working with for almost a whole year and seeing that kind of dream come true for them is a really rewarding experience.
