@WildCat2023 …it was kinda my question. Im feeling like these admissions officers are friends. They always ask our kids what other schools they ahve looked at. If one school knows they are not your kids 1st choice they may save their offer (and FA) and let the other school take your kid. They DO talk. I believe that because one of the AO’s told me so. They also share amongst eachother job openings etc…
Maybe they talk but I don’t think they talk and decide like that – when my daughter was accepted last year we had to reluctantly turn down offers. One of the very strongest, a school that we almost picked emailed us and the AO congratulated my daughter and really wanted to know ‘who had gotten her.’ Maybe some are friends, maybe not but I don’t really believe that happens.
Belated Congrats! Goal for us!
Totally agree. The schools actually release their “Yield” (of the students they accepted, % they got, % they lost). Since Andover & Exeter are “frenemies” they release their competition Yield numbers as well. I saw a thread here discussing that there was a short time where Exeter was on the short end for a couple of years - because of the grinding/chew them up rep - while Andover had the tough/but more fun reputation. Admissions is marketing. They do their research.
Decisions are in! How did things go for your kids? It’s a long drawn out process that hopefully yielded results!
Yes quite exciting. Accepted: Exeter, Lawrenceville School, Deerfield, Milton. He chose Exeter. No need to draw out the process.
We have to choose between his older brother’s day school and Gould Academy in Maine. They are very different schools, although he thinks he wants boarding. Will have to do revisits.
Congratulations!!! I feel so excited for the acceptances and I know how much of a weight it is that lifts! Here’s to some great school years ahead!
yes! Congrats to all!!
any schools to announce?
@magnetnh, @Momto4kids and @SkysTheLimit2007 I need your advice. My daughter took the benchmark test last April in NY. We just got her results, I think it was very low. Would you please share your children’s or friend’s scores. I want to know if We still have chance to be accepted by ABC program. She currently is in 4th grade and I believe the exam was very challenging according to my daughter. I will appreciate any help.
@maroca Scores are not the only part of the application so make sure you bring out the other aspects of your daughter’s portfolio when you apply to ABC. It is hard to predict if you will be accepted into ABC, because each year the cohort may be different and I would also say that it depends on the competitiveness of your location. If you get in then they will offer you opportunities for test prep to help improve test scores. We paid for the online program they provided at a discount. The importance of test scores will once again come up when ABC refers you to schools, and once again it will depend on the school and the competitiveness of the other applicants. My advice is to cast a wide net, which means apply to non ABC schools as well. There are many steps in the process but in summary they are (1) getting into ABC (2) getting referred (3) getting accepted by a member school (5) getting an adequate financial aid package (5) enrolling. If the ABC route does not work, then if you have applied to non ABC schools then you will have other options.
My son’s initial scores weren’t that great either. Fortunately, he did better when he took it subsequent times. I remember at the initial cohort meeting that they want to see all the scores above a 30%. At that point I think that they feel there is something for then with which to work. I think your region also makes a difference. I think that they NYC portion of the Northeast is particularly competitive.
@Momto4kids and @magnetnh thank you for taking the time to answering my questions. I really appreciate.
@maroca If you haven’t already, please share your location and grade so we could provide any additional suggestions. I am guessing that you are waiting to hear if you were accepted into this year’s cohort?
@magnetnh We are applying in NYC. My daughter is currently finishing 4th grade. We will know if my daughter is accepted in the cohort this coming June, 15th. I am just patiently (and anxiously) waiting for that date. I am sure you all know how hard is this part. In addition, my daughter is only applying to independent day schools. Therefore, I believe she has limited options. We’ll see!!
The SSAT tests more analytical and critical thinking which is NOT was is accessed on your typical standardized test outside of the private arena. Dig into the study guides and programs that ABC will make available. It is nothing to see a child’s score jump +20 pts in less than a year. My two oldest just graduated from college this past week!!! - Ivy League & NESCAC. The NESCAC scored 70, the Ivy scored 50!!! As stated before, what made them attractive to their schools were their overall application; sports, arts, music, leadership, interview (interviews usually only help, unless the child has REAL behavioral issues),… In the south, 50ish will get you into a decent day school. 70ish a competitive day school. 70ish a decent boarding school. 80-90ish a competitive boarding school.
@WildCat2023 Congratulations on your college graduates! Now that you are done - would you say it was all worth it? How about your children? In other words, do you or do you children believe that ABC helped them get to where they ended up or would they have gotten there without ABC? Looking forward to your perspective as someone who just completed my D’s first year at her private school. Any words of advice would be appreciated.
I found this thread very informative. My daughter just got accepted into the cohort. Just wanted to clarify 2 points. Am I understanding correctly that we have to pay for the test prep website? Also I wanted to know if any of your children got into their preferred schools, because it seems that the referral process kind of guides your final decision. Thank you.
@Joyandrosesmom Congratulations on your children’s acceptance! We are also excited and happy on my daughter’s acceptance. I was wondering: Do we have to give a list of our preferred schools to apply to? or ABC chooses and provides a list with recommended schools? Thanks to @Momto4kids @WildCat2023 @magnetnh who answered my prior questions.
@Joyandrosesmom Congratulations on the acceptance! You can choose to pay for the test prep website or not. The other options our year were to do our own prep or a face to face prep in certain locations also for a higher cost. We paid for the web site prep and found it helpful. I also hired a tutor that summer who was home from a boarding school herself and the cost was very affordable. Our preference was the ISEE vs SSAT but you should do both if you can. You may have to pay for those tests as well but ABC will let you know. Also, if you pay for the test prep website you will have to choose which one you will pay for, the SSAT or ISEE. The discounted price was affordable.
Regarding preferred schools that @maroca has also asked about. I recall that you provided a ranking of schools. However, it is my opinion that students going into high school have more choices. For us we were looking for middle school day schools and there were not many in our area. So, you provide a list but ABC makes the final recommendations. At this point they are playing matchmaker where they know what schools are looking for and what the students can offer that would be a match. Let’s say a school may already have too many boys, they may only look for girls in your year, so boys won’t be referred to that school. Also, remember that there are many people in the cohort so they won’t refer all students to the same schools. At the sessions they would say “love the school that loves you back” so don’t immediately turn down a school you may not have heard of and was not on your list. I think the hardest part of the process is the financial aid because you will get excited that you were referred to schools, interview and get accepted but then your package is not adequate to make it work. You have to take each step at a time and be ready for what comes your way.