After meeting with admin officer at EHS..

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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<p>I previously posted a question entitled, "Is EHS good for Asian boys?" Thanks so much for sharing insights!</p>

<p>Today I visited EHS to speak with the asst. admission officer there. He stressed their exclusive support regarding various team sports and other extra-curricular activities, and their strong community-minded culture as 100% boarding school. </p>

<p>I'm planning to visit so-called "Northern" counterparts to get different perspectives to compare. At this point, however, I guess it doesn't hurt to get more feedback from you.</p>

<p>My son is born and raised in the US.. therefore so much international as some other Asians who came here as teenagers.. While he proudly identifies himself as American, yet, he appreciates his Korean heritage and is very fluent in the Korean language and manners. (Thanks to his frequent visits to S.Korea and quality time with his grandparents!) </p>

<p>In other aspects, he's a common Asian boy who is math-savvy, not so great teamsport player, calm & understated in nature.. </p>

<p>After some research on so-called "Southern" type schools such as "EHS", it seems that my son may do well with the "Southern" culture as he's Christian and been active in the Sea Cadet program. (which presumably leans Republican) As far as his friends, he gets along well with both Asian and Non-Asian friends.. </p>

<p>Many say that for American-born Asians like mine - who aim for top engineering schools - top level public schools or magnet schools are recommended.. On the other hand, yet, I wonder if he may stand out in "Southern" schools like EHS where math/science groups are relatively small and also he can benefit from extra support to supplement his weakness (writing, speech classes, philosophy, etc.)</p>

<p>Today's trends are that more and more top engineering schools prefer students with "well-rounded" backgrounds rather than just STEM savvys or math Olympiad all stars... This makes me ponder if EHS could be a better choice for kids like mine. ... This EHS could be a better choice in that sense for kids like mine. </p>

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<p>Just minor correction with the original post above: My son was born and raised in the us… therefore “NOT” so much like those who came here as teens… </p>

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<p>Are you looking at boarding school for the experience, or for college placement?</p>

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<p>stargirl3: for college placement. </p>

<p>EHS is the only boarding option near my house… It’s only 20 min. from home so he can stay with parents on weekends. Other two “northern” schools I’m considering are day schools.</p>

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<p>There are many reasons to send a child to boarding school or a private day school. College placement is not one of those reasons.</p>

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<p>Then what reasons make sense to choose boarding? Just curious…</p>

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<p>You’re kidding me, right? If you’re in the DC area you have plenty of boarding and day options: St. Alban’s, Georgetown Prep, and let’s not mention the countless private schools that serve the children of government officials. Especially if you’re seeking college placement, take into consideration many schools in your area. Plus, if you want boarding nearby, Woodberry Forest is a good option as well.</p>

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<p>This article pretty well sums it up.</p>

<p><a href=“10 Top Reasons to Go to Boarding School”>10 Top Reasons to Go to Boarding School;

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<p>Needtogoard: I ruled out st.albans for a reason… And am already considering Georgetown prep as a day school option… I’m not kidding at all…</p>

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<p>@Anonymo,
Bcs u are so intensely focused on EHS in spite of your misgivings about the school, I wd like to understand the rationale behind your interest in EHS in light of the fact that there are so very many BS to choose from, which have larger percentages of ethnic-Asian students where you might be comfortable with for you son.</p>

<p>Is the priority geographical-- I am aware that there is a large expatriate Korean community in the corridor btwn Baltimore and D.C. If so, have u looked at other schools in the northern mid-Atlantic? It’s not like there are not many excellent geographical options btwn EHS and New England.</p>

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<p>There are a million reasons to choose boarding school. Kids learn and grown together, learning how to live independently and with others. Classes are small, focused, challening, faculty are dedicated and outstanding. The kids are motivated, interesting, excited, talented. Students are exposed to many cultures and have the opportunity to try new things not available at home. </p>

<p>These are just a few reasons I want boarding school. I want boarding school because, well, it’s boarding school. </p>

<p>While I have a dream college, I ackowledge that being lucky enough to go to school with such outstanding might detract from my application. College will take care of itself. It might not be Wellesley, but the big W is not the only place I’ll be happy. </p>

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<p>Why do you think your boarding son would want to come home on the weekends from a school that is 7 day boarding? That would be the time he would want to stay on campus and socialize. If you brought him home on wkends from a school that is 7 day boarding (as opposed to 5 day boarding) you will socially marginalize him.</p>

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<p>If u think the purpose of choosing boarding over day is only about college placement, then you really do not understand the purpose of boarding schools…</p>

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<p>How involved in this is your son? You’ve looked at schools, you met with the admission office, what has he done?</p>

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<p>I’m in the camp that you choose BS for the experience rather than the college placement. Most of the kids at most of the boarding schools discussed here have fine college admissions results, but you have to define what your son is looking for in college placement. If he values the lottery schools, any student with the chops to gain admission to those schools will most likely do so from wherever they attend high school; at BS, he will need to be in the very tippy top of a very competitive pool that is made up of the best and brightest from around the world. Even if you think your student is one of those, you need to reason carefully. You may be impressed by the number of kids School X sends to ivies, but if that number represents only the top 20% of the class, you should understand how difficult it is to end up in that pool as almost all the incoming kids were the highest achievers in their middle schools but, by definition, a full 50% of those kids end up in the bottom 50% of their BS class. Also understand that many of those slots are already “pre-filled” by recruited athletes, development cases, and those the school has a reason to advocate for. I’m not saying that your child doesn’t have a chance, I’m just pointing out that if chances at a lottery school are what he hopes BS will enhance, it probably won’t. If he’s happy with the top 25 colleges, he will be fine and can enjoy and absorb all the BS experience provides.</p>

<p>You can search the archives for further discussion on this topic, but here are a couple of threads to get you started. This discussion covers a lot of ground:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1422566-does-boarding-school-lower-college-chances-p1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1422566-does-boarding-school-lower-college-chances-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Perhaps the saddest tale of buyer’s remorse is this one:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1606092-kid-wants-to-stay-parents-want-to-bring-her-back-p1.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1606092-kid-wants-to-stay-parents-want-to-bring-her-back-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>There are some day schools, especially where you are, that have better college placement than Episcopal, so I don’t understand your logic for boarding school on the basis of college admission.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the thoughtful and informative comments above. To tell you the truth, I’m in the very early stage of school search and EHS is the first one I visited today after some research. I’ll visit Potomac and Georgetown prep in the near future which I’m considering as day school options. (And are presumably more academic focused than EHS)</p>

<p>I’m already aware that the majority of top college placements at EHS are either athletes or legacy students which I count as “cons” of the school. Will continue to explore other options including day schools and magnet schools to see which one best fits my child. </p>

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<p>Story of one Korean-American family’s buyers-remorse over sacrificing to place their son in an elite boarding school for the purpose of college placement:</p>

<p><a href=“WSJ.com - For Groton Grads, Academics Aren't Only Keys to Ivy Schools”>http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/golden1.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>GMTplus7: thanks for sharing this article, however it’s a little dated as it’s back in 2003… 11 yrs ago. Even the SAT scoring system was different back then. </p>

<p>And it is not just top private school issue that contributed to the low acceptance % at top colleges…there are other factors played in the top admission game esp. for Asian Americans, including overly high academic standards due to the affirmative action and large number of Asian overachievers… It’s another long story we can discuss separately… Could be part of the reason why I don’t target schools like Phillips.</p>

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<p>While the WSJ article is a decade old, the points in it still hold: the high ivy matriculation rates from the elite boarding schools have a strong component of kids who are development cases, celeb families & URMs</p>

<p>The college-related objective of boarding school is to get your kid READY to hit the ground running in college, not to get your kid admitted into an elite college.</p>