So, March 10th rolled by and I was absolutely blown away. I was hoping for at least one acceptance (for Milton, which I had the best interview for and also spent the most time on the essays… overall, after visiting the campus, it went from my last choice to my first choice and I realized that was my true fit). Unfortunately, (maybe because of financial aid), I got waitlisted at Milton and two other schools, and rejected from one school.
Zero acceptances.
Saturdays are my busiest days, and I thought that I could keep my mind off of the crushing defeat that I faced early in the morning, but on the way to orchestra and during a class, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.
After a good night’s sleep (and a lot of crying), I’ve decided to do everything I can to get off of Milton’s waitlist. I am planning on writing an email or a note detailing some more recent accomplishments that I couldn’t put on the application, and I will also mention that it is my top school (I interviewed at Milton first, so it wasn’t my first choice at the time), and that I will definitely go if accepted. I am also talking to my parents if I can “unapply” for financial aid, but nothing is for sure yet.
If anyone can offer some advice, please feel free to comment or PM me. Thanks so much for everyone’s support throughout the entire application process <3
I have absolutely no knowledge of Prep School admissions, but the title of your post called out to me.
No school should have the power to make you “absolutely desperate.”
They’re not judging you, they’re judging your application. Don’t confuse the two. They’re not the same.
My advice-- again, I’m in over my head here-- is to give all 3 waitlists the full court press. And, at the same time, consider Plan B-- what if none end up taking you off the waitlist?
In the meantime, I’m a big proponent of Ice Cream Therapy.
Don’t unapply to financial aid… If you applied, it’s because your parents can’t afford boarding school at full price or wouldn’t be able to afford college for you.
Dear @randomapplicant1 trust me you are not alone. Setbacks can build humility which has value but also set the stage for your success. Evaluate yourself as an applicant-decide what you need to do differently or better and start over. MANY reapplicants get into schools the second time. It shows perseverance. We are here to help if we can.
We also had a disappointing M10, but you know what? The outcome of this process does not define you.
VWKid had 4 wait lists and 2 rejections. It was extremely disappointing and painful. This does not change the fact that he has a great GPA, is a high level athlete in his favorite sport and plays an additional sport well but less seriously, did very well on the SSAT and PSAT and has other strengths. This big hiccup does not mean his future is dismal because he didn’t gain admission and I don’t think that it has diminished your future prospects either.
I went to a super hard to get into NESCAC college. There were a few kids from prep schools such as Choate, Exeter, etc in my classes but most were just excellent, well rounded students from public school. I came from a horrible and somewhat scary inner city school and we all ended up at the same school together. Of all the highly selective colleges I applied and was admitted to, I got into the school I ended up going to a week after I applied (with a huge amount of financial aid,) and many weeks prior to the mailing of official acceptance/ rejection letters. It will all work out if you continue to work hard, be a good kid and show resilience. As others have indicated, it is easier to get into top colleges from public school. As VWKid’s dad says, cream always rises to the top, so do not despair.
Adding to the inspirational words above: a rejection does not define you. All they see is a faceless application, only you can determine your worth. I was rejected from my dream school last year, and so were some of my friends. However, it turned out better in the end. I realized that I had to reevaluate my motivations, and learned so much from the application process. In fact, two of my friends on the wait list (at Loomis and Exeter, respectively) were accepted over the summer!
It’s not over yet, just keep improving your grades and show them what you’re worth. It’s encouraged that you reapply as an incoming sophomore/freshman repeat, I’m sure the schools you got wait listed at would love to see you try again (a wait list is an acknowledgment of competency). Just because you’re not going to a boarding school this year, doesn’t mean you’re going somewhere bad. You are smart and ambitious, so keep that attitude no matter what happens.
In the meantime, spend some time with the people you care about and eat lots of ice cream. You’ve got this
I see that others have given wonderful pieces of advice here. Now, I do study psychology quite a bit on my own, but I won’t turn this into a lecture. I just thought you should hear my story. I sent a 2 THOUSAND word email to my admissions officer from Phillips Exeter Academy, thanking her and just telling her my story after I was rejected. These last 6 months have been brutal for me between leaving my public school and all my friends, going to a private school, then having to return to public, taking on a student from Spain that I met at boarding school, then having him have to leave the country, my mother having complications from her chemotherapy, and the worst one for me – getting rejected from Phillips Exeter Academy, my dream school.
Throughout all of these problems, (and many more) my attitude was such; “I just need to keep going, because in a few months I’ll get a big red envelope in the mail and I’ll be attending Phillips Exeter Academy, and everything will be magical!” So imagine my dismay when I got rejected not just from Exeter, but from every single school, I applied to. I have given it much consideration, and luckily my district has a very good public school… I will stay here, and reapply next year, with this, new knowledge gained from the admissions process.
Hang in there, I know it seems dim now, but you will get through it. Anyone applying to these top schools already IS someone special, ‘normal’ people don’t have these types of aspirations. (This is, of course, assuming you are leading the process and not your parents) BUT, allow yourself to be upset. Allow yourself to cry, and take hugs from those who offer. Because if you let it all out now, you won’t have anything else to let out later, and you can focus on continuing!
For anyone who happens to be interested in my story or that 2 thousand word email, PM me… I am genuinely thinking about starting a blog since quite a few have messaged me actually!
I’m sort of in the same situation, except 8 wait listed schools, out of 8 independent schools applied to. It’s been a bit rough on me these past days, as I thought I would’ve been accepted at least one place after casting a wide net. I’ve begun to cope with it by keeping in high spirits because who knows, maybe by fate I’d get off the wait list somewhere. I also started to look into boarding schools with rolling admissions, since maybe one of those would have an open spot, y’know? It’s fine to cry about it and all, it’s rough feeling like you had one thing planned out and have it take a turn you weren’t expecting. Best of luck in wherever life will take you.
for all you know @Andoverguy, @cardhastle could have applied to some schools that you would consider “safety schools”. Cardhastle is obviously upset because they only got rejections and don’t need to be told that they should have applied to more schools because “you don’t wanna have no schools to go”. They know that. Telling them that they should have applied to more schools because otherwise they won’t have anywhere to go isn’t helpful or beficial to them and probably just makes them feel worse. Let’s be careful of how we use our words and be considerate of how our words could impact others.
@Andoverguy I didn’t only apply to GLADCHEMMS (is that how the acronym goes?) schools. I applied to two other schools that I thought would be “safety schools,” and one of the two I don’t think I’d ever heard about before researching online.
@cardhastle ; I read your list of 8 schools. Were you requesting significant financial aid ? Your numbers & other qualifications must be substantial because you were waitlisted by six very ultra-selective prestigious boarding schools.
@Publisher I’m fairly sure I was. I had really good recs from teachers and others, and an 89th percentile on my ssat. I also had multiple ec’s that I’d done for 4-8 years depending on which it was.
Then you were probably waitlisted until additional financial aid funds become available. Although there could be a multitude of reasons even though you are clearly a strong applicant or you would have received some rejections.
Have you communicated your desire to remain on the waitlists ?
This is exactly what I felt like last year after being flat-out rejected. I cried a lot, projected my problems onto others, and was super unpleasant to be around for the next few days (since it was spring break, I completely ignored my friends). It was my first “major failure”, and I was pretty torn apart.
Flash forward a couple months. The sting of rejection began to wear off, as it will and does. I decided to really push myself into my ECs and school. For the next 6 months, I put forth my best effort in bettering myself in preparation for application season to come again. I applied once again, and this year, I was accepted.
My point is, don’t give up. If you’re committed to attending BS and are willing to put in hard work (which it certainly seems like you are), I’d encourage you to pursue a second application season. It often ends up differently than the first, and considering that you’ve still got many years of high school ahead of you, even 3 years (or 4 years, should you choose to repeat) of BS can be absolutely incredible and life-changing. Have some ice cream and keep trudging on- with the determination that you exhibit, I believe that you can make it next year.
It’s not over yet!