<p>A Better Chance has been transforming lives through educational opportunities. Nearly 1,900 A Better Chance Scholars are enrolled in one of our more than 300 Member Schools. After graduation, each Scholar is able to look forward to a college degree and the chance to make a meaningful contribution to their communities and our global society. </p>
<p>Did anyone on this thread applied to A Better Chance because I did. I just want to hear what people have to say about it...</p>
<p>My d used ABC last year. It is a great program, with great people and it can help beyond prep school admissions, they have colleges that they refer their scholars to and I think is is a good network of people to be affiliated with. The only caveat I have is that I would not depend solely on ABC referrals for prep school. ABC is advocating on behalf of hundreds of students and they are not going to advocate for you at three top tier schools, such as Exeter, St. Paul’s and Andover. They want all of their students to receive a spot at some school. During the last few weeks of the admissions process we started receiving calls from ABC wanting to know what my d’s top three choices were. Then about ten days before March 10 they wanted to know what her top choice was. Also, if you are depending solely on ABC you probably have not visited the schools you are referred to, have not completed the schools application and have not been interviewed by the school. Once you receive your referrals, I suggest you visit the schools, if that is possible, complete the schools application, even if the deadline has passed, and try to schedule an interview. </p>
<p>I am glad we decided early on that d would apply to schools she absolutely wanted to attend directly and also apply to ABC, otherwise she would not have had many options. She ultimately applied to seven schools directly, was referred to six schools by ABC (there was overlap on two schools). She had no control over what schools ABC referred her to. Two of her ABC school referrals she had considered and decided she did not want to attend (Andover and Hotchkiss), two she had never considered and once she examined them more closely was not very excited about them. Ultimately she was accepted to six of the schools she applied to directly and rejected at one. Of the ABC schools, she was accepted to two, wait listed at three and rejected at one. I could not convince her to do any of the things I suggested above for her ABC referrals she had not applied to. </p>
<p>If you are in a position to apply to schools directly, I suggest you do so along with applying to ABC.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently applying to private independent middle schools through ABC. We live in CA and she’s only going into 6th grade, so they are all day schools. We haven’t been referred yet, but we should find out by the end of next week which schools she gets referred to. </p>
<p>I think it’s a wonderful program. I really appreciate that we only have to fill out one application and there are no fees associated with the application process. I also obtained fee waivers for the ISEE, SSAT and the PFS, which is extremely helpful. We have visited two of the schools she is interested in so far, and have plans to do two more open houses. Once she gets her referrals we will schedule visits and interviews as well.</p>
<p>They paid for my ISEE, SSAT and gave me a fee waiver for the PFS as well. Do they ask you what schools they have to put on your referrals when you go for the interview? My interview is even this saturday, so I am looking forward to it.</p>
<p>On the application they asked about school referrels you wanted and I think during my d’s interview they also asked what schools she was interested in. But that is no guarantee that you will be referred to those particular schools.</p>
<p>Lindha ~ We put down the schools we are interested in on the application. But as the PP mentioned, it is no guarantee of referral. I don’t think the interviewer asked her about which schools she was interested in. Her interview went really well though. The interviewer came out after and told me what an exceptional daughter I have.</p>
<p>Good luck on your interview. Do they also have a school fair the day of your interview? The school fair gave my daughter the opportunity to talk to people from some of the schools she is interested in. Plus she got information on some other schools she didn’t know about yet.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that our program director told us that if after the school fair, we were interested in schools that we did not put on the application, to let him know. He said it’s not too late. So if you want to add schools to your list, you should let your regional program director know.</p>
<p>If u get accepted to ABC is that mean that u are going to get accepted in a BS?</p>
<p>i wish i had known about this before. it wouldve been uber helpful. i was looking it up but it seems a bit late now :(</p>
<p>Lindha, If you look at the website under statistics </p>
<p>[A</a> Better Chance : Statistics](<a href=“http://www.abetterchance.org/abetterchance.aspx?pgID=970]A”>http://www.abetterchance.org/abetterchance.aspx?pgID=970)</p>
<p>it looks like the acceptance rate is around 35%, with less than that “placed.”</p>
<p>It seems as though that the 35% represents the % of all applicants accepted into the ABC program for a 2008-2009. Once in ABC, however, the % of this cohort that received acceptance (or placement) to a referred boarding school (or private day school if this is the family’s preference) was approximately 82%!</p>
<p>So, to Lindha’s question, if the metrics for 2008 are deemed typical, it would seem as though ABC scholars are very likely to receive acceptances from BS/Private Sch, etc, although offers are not guaranteed.</p>
<p>@emdee: based on your understanding, is this correct?</p>
<p>OH!!! I see now! Thanks for the correction, nyleco! I apologize for my misinformation.</p>
<p>Nyleco ~ those percentages are correct. I’ve worked the numbers a few times…lol. We should find out by early next week if my daughter was referred! The program director seemed positive that as long as her recs were good, my daughter would probably get referred. Waiting sucks! LOL.</p>
<p>Yes, I believe that 82% is right, for those accepted into the program. Once accepted into the program, they work very hard to have their scholars accepted into boarding school or day school, if you are pursuing both. I was told the number of applicants were up significantly last year and the quality of the applicant pool was also higher. The program is open to all students of color, without regard to economic background. Given the relatively low acceptance rate into the ABC program, I would definitely apply to a few schools directly.</p>
<p>I have the ABC interview tomorrow…I hope everything will go well for me</p>
<p>Good luck Lindha!</p>
<p>thank you =)</p>
<p>Hey Lindha ~ how did your interview go?</p>
<p>my interview was AWESOME!! We talked about math and lot because my interviewer found out that I love math. He also showed me some tricks in math due to the fact that he is a mathematician. Then he was like if I give u $1 million what would u do with the money. After that, he was like if I give u $1 billion what would u do with the money…Then we played the question games. He won once and I won once. He didn’t want to let me go when my time was over. He kept on saying to the other people to wait 1 more minute. He also said he liked my vest.</p>
<p>That’s great. I’m glad it went well! We find out tomorrow or Wednesday if my daughter is referred…I’m waiting impatiently! Good luck.</p>