<p>So I wasnt able to get into Deerfield and Andover this year... :( Next year I am thinking what I should do, and here are some of my ideas.</p>
<p>Sylvan offers SSAT tutor
Apply to more schools (Andover, Choate, Blair, St George, Hill)
Get better grades starting in the fall of 08
Get involved in sports and clubs</p>
<p>Any other suggestions to help me get into these school?</p>
<p>Find something unique to do, that most people don’t do</p>
<p>And then exploit it in your application.</p>
<p>Talk a lot about how it makes you a better person, and how you can benefit the school. It can be some kind of cool club, a community service project you put a lot of time into. An unknown musical instrument. Something that really separates you from the crowd.</p>
<p>Would chess be rather unique? I’ve been taking chess lessons for the past 2 years from the coach of the China 13-18 chess team so I’m not that bad at it.</p>
<p>sorry to say chess is not unique, but that still might help</p>
<p>Playing chess = waitlist. Inventing new chess strategy that becomes world standard and leads to grand master at age 15 = acceptance.</p>
<p>Lots of ‘normal’ kids get in. If you want to join them, though, you need to make sure you stand out. You need either your grades, or your recommendations, or your test scores, or your personality, or your activities that screams “THIS KID STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD.”</p>
<p>do something that makes you stand out. i did alot of leadership projects like organizing a cancer walk in my city. since i didn’t have anything that made me stand out, I decided to make myself stand out by helping my community, u know?</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> I guess introverted people like me are at a disadvantage in the modern world.</p>
<p>Lean to play the ocarina very well. It’s probably not too hard, and people will look at that and say “What? No one does that!”</p>
<p>do something weird and unusual is what i say. play an ancient instrument no one plays or like, the bagpipes or something! lol. i play a traditional korean instrument but i just started two years ago so i’m not very good…</p>
<p>You have all summer to do SSAT prep. Go ahead with the tutoring if you can afford it but my son found doing numerous practice tests more effective. Go through all the books, Kaplans (word list is great), PR, Barrons, the College Board book, whatever you can find. </p>
<p>BS are also looking for kids who will be fully engaged in the life of the school and will not just sit in their rooms. So joining school athletic teams (3 seasons), doing some Community Service, making yourself interesting and interested. Also do not wait for fall '08 to get better grades. Start now!</p>
<p>And yes, apply to a range of schools. You never know who will like you and think you are a good fit.</p>
<p>I personally despise the whole “pick something UNIQUE to do just for admissions!” idea, especially when it involves community service. Community service is a beautiful experience and I resent people who approach things like that in solely a business-like way, where you don’t learn anything out of it but are only trying to get into a school. Same with instruments/sports/whatnot. Sorry to sound harsh, but the previous posts are annoying me. Seriously, maybe prep school admission is important, but not to the point where you have to fake your “passions.” It’s so foolish. instead, use that time/effort into actually finding what you like and pursuing it. I’m all for trying new things and exploring!</p>
<p>I agree with tuesdayair about the tremendous value in trying new things and exploring. This is often how you find your passions. If you do find something you enjoy, stick with it if you can! One of the great things about BS is the tremendous range of opportunities they offer. In considering applicants, the BS seem to look for students who are likely to take advantage of their programs/try new things/get involved. As an applicant, you probably don’t need to be “the best” at something, and you don’t necessarily need to participate in lots of different things (unless it’s your personality to do so). But if you are a bit adventuresome about trying in new things, and if you show commitment to the things you love, you are more likely to thrive at BS. (In my opinion)</p>
<p>The answer is not to try and design yourself to match a school, but rather find a school that matches you. If you are not into athletics, doing 3 sports so that you can get into a school that wants athletes that do 3 sports is just silly – that isn’t a good school for you.</p>
<p>Figure out what you do like – and see what schools value those interests and activities. Try and branch out from those top 10 schools – they may not be the best match for you.</p>
<p>My son was interested in the environment and sustainablity, sports (both competitive and recreational), social time, strong academics but not cutthroat, outdoor education, rural and large campus, casual atmosphere. We were able to find 10 schools that fit that description and he will attend NMH next year – a perfect fit. We started by looking for schools that met his interests, not names that we had heard of.</p>
<p>Actually I did not mean to say you should change to fit a mould - I meant that you should do a variety of things that you find interesting - it could be anything- the boarding schools just want kids who will enjoy the experience and be engaged in the community. I just wrote in sports since my son has always joined a sports team as that is what he likes to do. Just follow your interests.</p>
<p>We know students who are thriving at a wide range of BS, from 125 students up to 1000+. The idea that a student’s experience is necessarily “better” at a “higher tier” school is simply not true. Many students opt for “lower tier” schools because of a better fit, convenience, FA/cost, and other great reasons. For some students the larger AECD schools are a good match, but hopefully not just because of some superficial (and, in my opinion, false) notion of status.</p>
<p>regarding the “unique talent” posts up above, i’d just like to point out that i did those community service projects long before i even considered boarding school, as well as the instrument. i do agree with you though, if you already have a unique talent its great but if not don’t just do it because you want to get into bs</p>
<p>“since i didn’t have anything that made me stand out, I decided to make myself stand out by helping my community, u know?”</p>
<p>Sounds pretty strategic to me.</p>
<p>Wait, hold on, what do you mean start getting better grades in fall 08. what do you have for grades already?</p>
<p>sullivan09 has a point – if you shared your current stats with us (GPA, SSAT, ECs) we might be able to give you an idea if those need improvement. If you SSATs were 90%+ and your GPA is 3.8+, that wasn’t the reason you were not accepted.</p>
<p>Another thing to do – work on cultivating relationships with people that can give you a good recommendation. Get to know them, offer to help after school/before school, anything so that they can know more about you than just what they see in class.</p>
<p>i did those community projects for another application, people to people student ambassadors, not for boarding schools.</p>