<p>1) So you are a seventh grader, and you want to go to high school? So are you planning on… skipping a grade or something?</p>
<p>2) The schools that you are interested in are great (I go to Choate, I’m currently a sophomore), however no school is going to guarantee you’ll get into an Ivy League. No school. It might help, but it will not “get you into” one. </p>
<p>3) Choate is a great place to go if you want to be challenged with a diverse curriculum in science and history, but if you get accepted here, don’t think that you can just take all the honors and AP classes available, because you won’t (it’s impossible and even if you could do it, it will stress you out way too much).</p>
<p>4) That’s great that you have a 3.9 GPA and in the 80th percentile of the SSAT’s, but what else do you do? Do you do sports? Community Service? Clubs/organizations? Extra curriculars are also very important, and every year Choate rejects kids with 4.0 GPAs and perfect test scores if they don’t do anything else other than just academics. Choate, along with other prep schools, are not JUST about academics and stats, because honestly, NOT EVERYONE WHO GETS PERFECT GRADES AND TEST SCORES GET ACCEPTED TO IVYS!!</p>
<p>5) The transition from 8th grade to being a Choate freshman is tough enough, I wouldn’t really recommend you go straight from 7th grade to 9th grade. </p>
<p>6) That’s great that your teachers love you…</p>
<p>As a current 7th grader, spiritwolf721 would be interviewing and working on applications in about 6 months. I think that’s what she means by getting ahead: not waiting to explore her options till the fall. She couldn’t suddenly apply to the schools she mentioned for the 2013-2014 year.</p>
<p>@spiritwolf721, you should do your research if a large part of your reason to go to BS is to get into an Ivy. There are a number of threads on cc debating whether BS increases or decreases your odds of admissions. Ivy league admissions are down in the single digits so LOTS of very good applicants get denied regardless of where they graduated. Keep in mind that it is possible that you would have just as good a chance of getting into your dream college if you stay home.</p>
<p>There are already a lot of threads about the pros and cons of attending BS and choosing schools to apply to so I won’t go into that.</p>
<p>Actually I am applying for the ninth grade. I play tennis, fence for school, horseback ride, act, and sing. I have actually just gotten my report card for the second trimester, it gives a 3.84 GPA. I also have a question for the panel, was it easy for you to adjust to boarding school? Should I go to a day school for ninth grade and apply for boarding schools in tenth? Responses would be great.</p>
<p>The reason I want to go to boarding school is more because I like the curriculums of the boarding schools better, That I why I like Choate, Loomis, Lawrenceville, Peddie, and Taft. I love to learn so I like a diverse curriculum.</p>
<p>I think that the point of BS shouldn’t be what comes after - it should be the experience itself. It’s hard to tell if it helps or hurts chances to Ivies simply because those schools don’t want to have a majority of the students former BS students, they want diversity. Because so many BS students apply to Ivies, they have to turn many of them down. Some kids might have a better chance at the Ivies from public school.</p>
<p>This is not true, simply bs’s send more to ivy’s, in a bs like Philips Exeter, where I’m going, the top 20 percent go to ivy league universities, that simply never happens at public schools, or even private day schools</p>
<p>I know that many more students matriculate from BS to Ivies percentage-wise, but who knows how many other kids could’ve gotten in? There are definitely people who would’ve ended up valedictorians at their old schools but are middle of their class at BS, and that ended up hurting their chances. You never know.</p>
<p>The list of school you have written out are really good school. Going to one school doesn’t guarantee a ticket to Ivy. You should search up more school , find the best one for you. You have a lot of time since you are still in 7th grade. Retaking the Ssat to get even a higher point will be great too. Good luck :)</p>
<p>I need help deciding between Concord Academy or Milton Academy. I like them both, but I hear Milton is more prestigious, and I can get into a better college. But I like the arts and music at Concord better, as well with the community. they’ve both given me all the financial aid, and they both truly want me.</p>
<p>I’m going to endorse hotchkiss, just because that’s where I’m going ;). From that list, the more “prestigious” schools would probably be choate, hotchkiss, Taft, loomis, and lawrenceville. I looked at peddie and kent also, but didn’t end up applying. Both great schools, but not quite as rigorous as the others.
If you are going to go to bs, you need to keep your mind open. Who says the Ivys are best? Are they the best for you? Just like colleges, all bs have a certain feel to them. Some you’ll fit into, some you won’t. That is what you should make your decisions by when applying and possibly accepting a spot at one of these schools. Matriculations are important, but not as important as your total high school experience! Why sacrifice having a miserable 4 years of bs just to get into an ivy? All bs will prepare you well enough for the top colleges so that shouldn’t really be a priority in your search. </p>
<p>Good luck! Have fun touring campuses (that’s one of the best parts of the whole process!) And definitely look at hotchkiss!!</p>
<p>The game is so much bigger than simply going to private school. Getting ahead of the game will likely cost you a large part of what really is important. Be a kid while you can. GL.</p>
<p>You should go visit to get a feel for a boarding environment. That is the reason to go.</p>
<p>Honestly, if your goal is IVY alone, you have a significantly better chance staying home and being a star. Take a look at the Andover Phillipian article online in June 2012. The MAJORITY of kids thought going to Andover hurt their chances at highly selective schools. Why?</p>
<p>Each kid who gets in at HADES is a star (about 9 others got rejected for that spot). Half the stars are now going to be in the bottom half of their class. If the top 20-30% go to IVY-MIT Stanford you see the problem. They would have had a much better chance staying at home.</p>
<p>There are very good reasons for going to prep school. The peers, education, sports, diversity, opportunities are all very real. You will be well prepared for a range of great colleges. You will pay a price, however, if IVY is your only goal.</p>
<p>@spirit - those are all great schools, but there are many more great boarding schools with a diverse curriculum in the sciences as well as history. Look around CC and you’ll find out a lot about the “other” schools.</p>
<p>Lawrenceville offers fencing and schools that offer fencing are, obviously, looking for students who fence who are harder to find than students who play soccer or sing, so if you think you will continue to fence in high school, this might be a good reason to keep Lawrenceville on your list.</p>
<p>Take a look at the book “What High Schools Don’t Tell You” by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross if you are serious about Ivy. Prep school is not mentioned, but developing a passion and demonstrating achievement are.</p>
<p>As the parent of a NRPS-ranked fencer, I feel I have to add that, IMO, the Lawrenceville program is NOT the only one worth considering — and possibly not even the top one.</p>
<p>Here are the BS fencing programs I would consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>Lawrenceville (NJ)</li>
<li>Hun (also in NJ)</li>
<li>The Masters School (NY)</li>
<li>Dana Hall (MA, all-girls)</li>
<li>Hockaday (TX, all-girls)</li>
<li>Culver Academies (IN)</li>
</ul>
<p>If you were serious about continuing your fencing, want to fence in college, and/or are already at a high level of competition (top 20 national ranking), here are two other options worth considering…</p>
<p>1) Stay at your local public/private school and stick with your current club.
USFA (and international) fencing is what matters (vs. high school fencing) when it comes to making the national team or being a top college prospect. Your local public/private may be a lot more forgiving of your need to miss school days for USFA/international tournaments.</p>
<p>2) Go to a school that’s near a good club.<br>
Say you’re a foilist and that you wanted to train at Fencer’s Club…then a school close to NYC would be a smart choice. Lawrenceville fits the bill, as does Masters, as does L</p>