We are a part of the " A BETTER CHANCE" Program! My child is now a 2020 Scholar! We are part of the (Northeast Region). My child had 19 schools to contend with, which included (3) Day / (13) Boarding and (3) CSP Schools. We visited some schools and had skype interviews with others. Those schools that we were really interested in we saved for last and made sure we did a face to face, school tour etc.
Saving those schools for last benefited my child, since their interview skills got better, per each interview the child was more relaxed and themselves ( personality showed more). Furthermore, the process became more fun, even though very intense and long as most are aware.
Nevertheless, if you’ve gone through the process and found this post, you know your admission decision by now! My child was accepted to 4 schools, waitlisted to 5 schools and declined to 10. But for the 5 schools my child was accepted too the FA was very generous that the child could attend any of the schools. My child got accepted to one of the top Ten Schools Admission Organization
( TSAO)(Child’s choice school). We accepted and we are very pleased and excited!
A Better Chance ( Liz and Nyanka) are the best! And they really did a phenomenal job communicating with us because we let them know what was going on with us every step of the way. We went to every event and followed everything they suggested. We also made sure that my child got face time with every admission person ( at events) whether or not if they were our choice school because of the list of suggestions ABC would make later down the line. We made those connections, collected business cards and reached out and sent emails of reminders to keep the child’s name active in there minds. Those bonds are essential since you are competing with so many kids in your own program and others.
But at the end of the day the ISEE, SSAT, your child’s grades, standardized tests scores, the recommendations and those stellar essays they wrote and the interviews counts! They did the work from 6th grade to 8th grade and now the payoffs are these AMAZING SCHOOLS! My child beat out 1,800 kids who applied for only 100 spots for the child’s chosen school.
This lengthy post is to give insight through our process with ABC and the end game of being accepted to the school of your child’s dreams!
I appreciate this post. DS and I are not a part of thee
ABC program, but we are a part of NJ Seeds.
To my understanding it is a very similar program and DS has had similar results.
Congratulations @“NYCMOML&L” to you and your scholar. You worked hard and it shows.
@JouleMom2020, thank you! Yes a lot of these programs are similar. And Thank God, that they are out there doing good work for our kids to show their talents and to be successful. Congrats to you as well!
Hi! I am now an ABC scholar! My experience was very different as my school counselors were the ones to arrange all of my visits and transportation to them. I applied to 15 schools, and decided to go through with all of them (although there were two I really couldn’t see myself attending). There were times that I felt I was at a disadvantage because I had to translate during parent interviews, so I noticed my parents interviews were way shorter than others. I only had two ‘bad’ interviews.
In the end, I got into 2 schools, rejected to 2, and waitlisted to 11 (most likely due to the need for full FA). I got full FA for one of the schools, but was waitlisted for FA at the other. Luckily, the school I got into with FA is also a TSAO school!
I wasn’t planning on applying to Phillips Academy because I felt like my SSAT combined with the lack of sports would give me an automatic rejection. Still, ABC put it on my referral list. If I had applied without ABC, I wouldn’t be attending boarding school this year. I am beyond grateful for everything they’ve done for me and my family.
@Sleepingatlast, I am so glad boarding school is working out for you. True indeed everyones story is unique. And your story reminds me of a nice family I met who were in the same predicament of the sister helping her brother because their parents didn’t speak any English and felt they would not be able to help their son. Yet the sister did a wonderful job with her brother. So these stories should be shared to help others that anything is possible.
Congrats to @Sleepingatlast and @“NYCMOML&L” on their acceptances! ABC really is a lovely program and does so many amazing things for its Cohort members (and as you will see, Scholars too)! Welcome to your Scholarhood!
@“NYCMOML&L” if I may ask which school you got accepted to?
@RedLioness , thank you so much! My scholar will be attending the wonderful Taft School! We are so happy and excited. But now with this new world we are living in who knows now! How is your Scholar handling it if they were already attending a school?
Congratulations for them! I hope they’re happy there (provided BSes don’t close even longer in Fall 2020)!
Well, I’m already attending my school - Phillips Exeter - and I couldn’t be more overjoyed with my decision! There have definitely been a few bumps and up and downs, but they’re all things that my family and I have managed to iron out.
@RedLioness, Are you still at Exeter? Or were all the kids sent home due to the coronavirus? Did you have to empty out your dorm rooms? And can you please tell me more about what ABC has done for scholars? Since it looks like our event won’t happen in May to induct the kids from Cohorts to Scholars. How was that event like? Thanks so much!
Congratulations to all of you on your school acceptances through ABC!
I’m not an ABC parent, so @RedLioness can answer some of your questions better than I can. Until she checks in, I can add that I have a DC at Exeter. They started online learning yesterday. My DC says it’s going well. The kids did not get a chance to empty their dorm rooms, and they can not go back to school to collect them. Exeter will pack their things for them. They will store the non-essentials, and send essential things to each child’s home.
Congrats to everyone’s acceptances through ABC. Both my kids, applying for 6th and applying for 9th are ABC Scholars. My older applied to a few boarding schools here in the West Coast, but ultimately got accepted into her top choice which is an independent day school. I congratulate everyone because it was such an intense process, basically a full time job, and at the end, it was well worth it.
Agreed. My DS (dear sister?) applied with the Southwest Cohort. She didn’t end up getting into her top choices, but she did get into a great BS (with almost full aid!) in the Northeast. We wouldn’t have known about it if it weren’t for ABC and it seems like a great fit. Too bad we couldn’t visit in person.
Congrats y’all.
P.S. we’re also curious about what in-person events we will be missing out for ABC scholars.
@xubana, the northeast would of had a ceremony to induct the cohorts as Scholors, but now Covid-19 has delayed that hopefully for a reschedule. But once a contract is signed cohorts become scholars. I assume they would receive many resources to help them succeed along the way. But Congrats to your DS.