Hi, I am currently a 9th grader in one of the specialized high schools in new york and I am currently thinking about applying to A Better Chance to transfer to a Boarding School. I am currently not happy at the school I am in and would like to know from anyone’s experience with A Better Chance whether it is good or not.
My daughter went through the ABC process in eighth grade for high school and she is now a senior at a local independent school. Because we live so close, she chose to board only her junior year. The process has changed some in the past four years in that the process takes much longer. Also, they did not do benchmark testing when she applied. I think that started after her class once ABC became more well known and had more applications.
I will note, ABC is merely a matching program. While you may specify which schools you’re interested in, they refer to the schools they believe are the best match. It is a time and money saver as you are only doing one application that is disseminated but you can always apply to these schools directly. I think the benefit of ABC is that it exposes you to affiliated schools you may have never considered. The money received may be the same whether you apply directly or through ABC as ABC is not a scholarship program. Once you’re in ABC there a lot of outings for the kids, seminar programs, college prep summer programs, etc. that are an additional benefit. Finally, and I know that you’re still a long way off, but they wrote a college recommendation letter for my daughter that likely helped in getting her admitted to one of their affiliated colleges.
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.