<p>I was wondering about this. I am looking at AESD choate, taft, loomis, lawrenceville, hotchkiss. Should i look at any safeties? I am applying to a lot of these schools ( i really like them all). I'm bound to get into one of them. I know all of these schools have looooooow acceptance rates but i dont have time for safeties. My families moving to Chicago, i have EC's, confirmation, a huge science project that goes throughout the whole year, and i have 2 younger brothers to keep my eye on. Should i look at any safeties? All or nothing?</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on going to boarding school next year, you would be wise to add a few schools with acceptance rates higher than 20%. The acceptance rate at Loomis is close to 40%, so it's a little better than the others. Taft might be a little more than 20%, but I'm not sure. However, you should not consider Taft and Loomis to be 'safety" schools. My suggestion is to eliminate a few of your selected schools and replace them with a few less competitive schools unless you know that you have good options in Chicago.</p>
<p>Once you have all your applications, you will find that some of the essay questions are the same or similar. The information requested for most schools is similar. The applications are difficult to do, but possible. If you like schools that are not as competitive, you can consider doing the common application that is accepted by many. I think you will find it on <a href="http://www.schools.com%5B/url%5D">www.schools.com</a>. My suggestion is that you only do this for the less competitive schools. I suspect that they would prefer their own application, but if you are a strong candidate, this may be OK, and I think it is a better option to not applying at all. </p>
<p>For the last thread you started, please refer to the thread "Rate the Following." </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>OP, I agree with Burb Parent all the way.</p>
<p>It won't take you much time at all to apply to a few safeties, and who knows? Anytime you're looking at such small acceptance rates, there's a lot of luck involved, and you could get unlucky. It won't take you long at all to apply to safeties. You don't have to write the essays as carefully as you did for your super-competitive schools. Take an afternoon and get it done. The upside is great and the downside is tiny.</p>
<p>Consider adding a safety only if (1) you would go to it if you didn't get accepted at any of the other schools; or (2) you would feel demoralized if you didn't get any acceptance letter and do not have a good alternative at home. </p>
<p>It is baffling, but I have many examples I can point to of handfuls of kids getting accepted, waitlisted, and rejected from any combination of the reaches. They really are hard to predict for the kid with no particular hook (i.e., very strong recruitable sport, diversity or legacy with money). </p>
<p>Basically, however, if you apply to ENOUGH of them, the chances are you will get into at least a couple, <strong>assuming you are in the general ballpark of all or some of them</strong>. I have a friend whose child applied to 7 schools, 5 of which were reaches, including AESD. She got waitlisted at 2 of the reaches and rejected from the rest. She got into her two safeties, but she didn't want to go to either of them. So she didn't board this year.</p>
<p>
[quote]
She got into her two safeties, but she didn't want to go to either of them.
[/quote]
Which exactly demonstrates your first point - don't apply to any if you won't go.<br>
Even with a strong recruitable sport and all A's and upper 90's on SSAT's I know a kid who was accepted at 2 of the big ones (AESD) and outright rejected at another - not even waitlisted. You just never know.</p>
<p>Look....no matter what prep school you go to, especially boarding, you will get an excellent education. There's very little difference between Exeter and, say, Emma Willard, or Suffield and Brewster.</p>
<p>That being said, you should apply to schools with a higher acceptance rate than the ones you're currently looking at. "I didn't have time" is going to be a poor excuse when you're stuck in Chicago's public school system.</p>
<p>Wow, as adult who has been around boarding schools for a long time, I really have to disagree. THere is a HUGE difference between the level of academic rigor at an Exeter or a Suffield/Brewster. That's why they have different asmissions standards.</p>
<p>I agree with the above post that there is a substantial difference with respect to academic rigor and educational expectations among boarding schools. Andover, Exeter, St. Paul's, Deerfield, Groton, Milton, Hotchkiss, St. Andrews, United World College of the American West, among a few others will set academic demands and expectations well above the lower tier schools. That is the main reason that these boarding schools do so well regarding college placement. Much more importantly, however, is why do you want to go to a boarding school, what do you want and what do you expect. Even among the nine academically outstanding schools which I listed above, there are substantial cultural and other differences. Additionally there is a second tier of academically elite schools numbering in the teens which will prepare you for the best U.S. colleges and univiversities. All of the listed nine are academic powerhouses which demand more than most students can handle.</p>
<p>Additionally it is important to note that several boarding schools, none of which I have named- nor will I, have significantly more drug and alcohol activity than others. Many parents and students try to dismiss drug and alcohol concerns by stating that these activities go on at all high schools. Maybe so, but there is a huge difference with respect to the frequency and severity among schools. This, returning to the topic of discussion, will affect the quality of education one receives.</p>
<p>Thank you for everybody's input. I have decided on what i shall do but shall not post it.</p>
<p>Hold up icy9ff8. I'm not interested in arguing with you.</p>
<p>1.) Schools like Exeter have higher acceptance rates because of legacy kids and rich families. Sure, the quality of the students there plays a huge role in acceptance rates! But you cannot ignore the large percentage of legacy kids that go to those sorts of schools.</p>
<p>2.) You're actually insinuating that at "lesser" boarding schools there are drug and alcohol abuse issues so great that the quality of education is affected? Wow. I'll have you know that the ONLY drug abusers I know go to Milton and Hotchkiss.</p>
<p>iriseyes, i must agree that implying that schools of less prominence are more likely to produce drug/alcohol abusers is wrong.. however, one thing about schools like suffield and brewster that make a BIG difference is the fact that their diversity can range from 9-12%. even if you are not a student of colour, in my opinion, any school that does not see diversity as a big issue needs to seriously rethink their attitudet towards education</p>
<p>iriseyes: You need to learn to read others posts much more carefully and to react in a far less emotional manner. You are simply injecting your implication into my earlier post. I assume that you are a youngster who attends what you think is a lesser boarding school. I am sorry if your misinterpretation and unduly defensive posture caused you to over react emotionally. This post is really intended for parents and did not imply anything. By the way, my recently completed study revealed that Exeter did not fare well at all regarding college placement over the past five years; so once again your overly emotional assumptions are wildly incorrect. The only one posting "ignorant nonesense" here is you.</p>
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<p>This is one of the wisest things posted here in a long time. I cringe when people post details of their plans or experiences on-line -- especially going into the admission process. Too many times people -- students and parents alike -- will do something very distinctive in their admission process (e.g., have a 5 a.m. phone interview with a female admission counselor at Gorgonzola Academy of Art) and report here, just hours later how the interviewer was weird or how they think the school is their 3rd choice. The Gorgonzola admissions office may never get around to logging in here, but...what if they did and they saw that?</p>
<p>McskittlZ10, you are wise to play your cards close to your vest!</p>
<p>And, as for the rest of you, be on notice: all your schools stink compared to Gorgonzola Academy of Art!</p>
<p>icy9ff8 - "I am sorry if your misinterpretation and unduly defensive posture caused you to over react emotionally." Insinuating (which you DID do) that lower-tier schools have drug problems is a bad idea, and I am not the only one who thought that was what you meant. I won't respond to any retort you have, don't worry.</p>
<p>Ouch! That hurts. :(</p>
<p>I grilled a nice Porterhouse last night, and the little woman made a Gorgonzola salad. Excellent. Always wondered where the name came from, now I know!</p>
<p>For lunch today, I had a Rueben Panini, which was also very good.</p>
<p>icy - your posts are starting to reflect your choice of screen name. The prep school forum has usually been a kinder, gentler place. It would be nice if we could keep it that way.</p>
<p>Everyone who has posted in this thread or has taken a side in their mind is now required to view the following:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4%5B/url%5D">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4</a></p>
<p>The funster got a little teary watching that! </p>
<p>You should see the flow when I watch To Kill A Mockingbird!</p>