SchoolMint

Pros

It is 100% online. This alone has saved our campuses many hours in going through paper applications and parents can chose more than 1 school at the same time without having to complete a new paper application.

I love the conditional formatting, scheduling of messages and the defaulting of today's date enhancements added this year.

We are able to get incoming students set up very quickly for testing or find potential needs for students earlier by collecting the information earlier in the process than we have in the past since the forms are so easy to use online.

Wonderful tool to collect enrollment data and create projections when we start year 3. This helps locate the grades of greatest needs so we can concentrate marketing in the locations and grades we need as well.

Cons

No way to stop users from creating multiple accounts year to year when they cannot remember their password or username - I have parents with 3 user names for 1 student and 3 siblings with different usernames. We send them the username in all communication, but parents still create new accounts!
We would really love a view only or a way for certain groups to be able to print their own forms, such as Nurses or principals. We would not want them having the ability to make any changes, but if they could look at the information and print out anything pertaining to their department, then this would eliminate the need for the registrar to do it for them.
The feeder campuses and administration would love a way to see which campus the re-enrolled student came from the prior year. For example, the Junior High campus cannot see which elementary campus the re-enrolled student came from. Since we are open boundaries, there are 5 elementaries that feed into 2 different junior highs. But the student can pick either junior high. So to get the records to the right school, I have to go through and find the info student by student since I have full access.

Pros

The ease in communicating with our entire school community. The ability to sort and download the information. The ease in which we can conduct our lotteries, and sort and organize our waitlist. The quick reaction time for customer support when small issues arise. The ability to build our own forms to our own specs so we can collect information for our specific needs and state requirements. The companies quick and open response to suggestions from and accommodations for their clients. And the overall respect with which they treat their clients. This all contributes to the whole sense of family and a caring community.

Cons

I only wish they also supported a database!
The most difficult thing about having online paperwork is making sure everyone has access and knowledge on how to use it. SchoolMint is wonderful about helping the families with issues, but they can't help with everyone having access! :)

Pros

* Interest Tracker feature *Automated emails/text messaging *Great Customer Support team *Each student profile/dashboard keeps gives both the parent and our staff easy access to up-to-date application/registration information *Notes feature allows users to know what other staff actions have already been taken on a student--which helps with communications between departments *Electronic Signatures and uploads *Online Teacher Recommendations are very important to us as it speeds up the process of getting feedback on applicants. *Cut costs on printing *Integrates with Powerschool *Lessens transcribing errors *Time/Money saved on Data entry *Up-to-Date enrollment numbers/reports

Cons

*Still learning how to make this work for a private school that requires a different process. *There have been several software issues/errors that have come up delaying numerous applications and therefore affecting our school's customer service response time. *Pay feature-needs promo code *Application doesn't auto save progress *Doesn't save the whole application when you hit submit at the end of the application

Pros

SchoolMint's customer service is the best I have ever encountered. Each question is answered quickly, thoughtfully, and with kindness. Their technical expertise is matched by their humanity, patience and good humor. SchoolMint is truly a partner in our school's success and growth.

Cons

There are certain aspects of our school that have evolved because of our unique circumstances. There are still a handful of minor issues in the registration process that we have had to work around. SchoolMint has taken note of our difficulties and is exploring ways to meet our needs more fully in the future.

Pros

The student enrollment summary is reviewed daily, the easy function to export families information, data, charts, map of where student applications are coming from, the ability to use SM fields for enrollment forms, and RSVP tracker.

Cons

Email communication design could be improved, easy search for family emails, and rsvp tracker on each application not just in the rsvp section.