A month-by-month guide to Harker’s single application cycle, from the September opening to the March decision.
Quick Answer for Busy Parents
Harker runs one application cycle with no early round. Applications and admission event registration both open Sept. 1. Every required material is due Jan. 5, 2027. Decisions are released in Ravenna on March 12, 2027 at 4 p.m., and signed contracts are due March 19 at noon. Entrance exams must be taken after Aug. 1, 2026, and only your first submitted scores count.
When the Harker Application Opens and Closes
The single most useful thing to understand about Harker’s calendar is how compressed the real working window is. The application opens Sept. 1 and closes Jan. 5. That looks like four months. In practice, teacher recommendations have to be requested early enough that a teacher can write them without resentment, transcripts have to move through your child’s current school office, and the entrance exam has to be scheduled and sat. Families who treat Jan. 5 as the start of the work rather than the end of it invariably discover in December that two pieces are outside their control.
| Milestone | Date | What it means for you |
| Application and event registration open | Sept. 1 | Create your Ravenna account and register for events the same week |
| Entrance exam window opens | After Aug. 1, 2026 | Scores from exams taken before this date will not be accepted |
| Admission events run | September – December | Division-specific; attend at least one |
| Application deadline | Jan. 5, 2027 | All materials, including scores and recommendations |
| Decision notification | March 12, 2027, 4 p.m. | Released in Ravenna, not by mail |
| Contract and deposit due | March 19, 2027, noon | One week to decide |
Two rules inside that window cause more trouble than the deadline itself. Exams taken before Aug. 1, 2026 are not accepted, and Harker considers only the first set of scores a family submits. There is no superscoring and no quiet second attempt. That makes preparation before the first sitting far more consequential than it is at schools with flexible retake policies, which is why our ISEE preparation and SSAT preparation programs begin with a diagnostic rather than a practice test.
Admission Events by Division
Harker’s events are organized by division and registered through Ravenna. The school recommends attending at least one and says directly that attending more will not improve your child’s evaluation. That is unusual and worth believing. If your instinct is that repeated attendance signals commitment, Harker has told you otherwise. Spend the time on the application instead. Our guide to what to ask and observe at open houses will make the one event you attend more useful.
| Event | Division | Format and timing |
| Coffee & Conversation | Lower (TK-5) | Virtual, parents. Monthly, September – December |
| Lower School Overview | Lower (TK-5) | Virtual, parents. November |
| TK and Lower School Campus Tour | Lower (TK-5) | In person, parents. During the school day |
| Middle School Overview | Middle (6-8) | Virtual, students and parents. October |
| Middle School Open House | Middle (6-8) | In person. November |
| Student and Parent Panels | Middle (6-8) | Virtual. October and November |
| Campus Tour | Middle (6-8) | In person, grade 6 families. September – December |
| Upper School Overview | Upper (9-12) | Virtual, students and parents. October |
| Upper School Open House | Upper (9-12) | In person. November |
| Student Campus Visit | Upper (9-12) | In person, students only. September – November |
| Campus Tour | Upper (9-12) | In person, lunchtime groups. September – December |
| Parent Panel | Upper (9-12) | Virtual. November |
One current exception: because of construction, Harker is not holding an in-person K-5 open house in fall 2026 and is directing lower school families to the virtual overview instead.
Not sure where your family should be by October?
We build backward timelines with families every year, mapping testing, recommendations and visits against the real deadline rather than the one that feels comfortable.
Building Your Family’s Backward Timeline
Work from Jan. 5 backward rather than Sept. 1 forward. Recommendations should be requested by early October, which means identifying the right teachers in September. Entrance exam registration should be done by October for a November or early December sitting, leaving room if your child is ill on the day. Transcripts should be requested through Ravenna by late November, since school offices slow down over the winter break. Admission events should be attended in October or November. For families still deciding when to begin the whole process, our guide to timing private school admissions takes a longer view than a single cycle.
Everything your family controls directly, meaning the activities list, the essay and the parent video interview, should be finished in December. Those are the pieces that get rushed when the external items slip, and they are also the pieces the committee reads first.
What Happens After You Submit
Decisions arrive in Ravenna on March 12 at 4 p.m. There are three possible outcomes. An acceptance comes with an enrollment offer and a one-week window to return the contract. A wait pool placement means your child is qualified but no space is available; the pool is unranked, Harker revisits it if space opens between March and late August, and it does not roll over to the following year, so reapplication is required. A decision to reapply means Harker has concluded it is not the right fit at this grade level, though some students are admitted at a later entry point.
Harker also does not admit students mid-year, does not accept one-year exchange students, and expects applicants to intend to graduate from the school.
The Short Version
Harker’s calendar is not complicated, but it is unforgiving in two specific places: the Aug. 1 exam floor and the first-scores-only rule. Get those right and the rest is project management. Get them wrong in December and there is no recovery inside the cycle.
Start your timeline now
Tell us which grade you are applying for and we will map the cycle against your family’s calendar.