<p>Hey there!
I actually think doing your final 2 years of high school at boarding school is a really good option. It's what I'm currently planning on doing, and so while I can't yet vouch for whether or not it will turn out well because I haven't actually gone to boarding school yet, I think it's definitely a good oportunity for those of us who may have missed out on starting the boarding school experience in 9th grade.</p>
<p>However, I do have some experience in applying for 11th grade, so I'll try to explain some of what I learned/describe my personal process.</p>
<p>So I was pretty happy in my old school, but I've always wanted to go to boarding school, but it took my parents 3 years of me bringing it up to realize how serious I actually was. Since I was content with my old (well, current at the time of my applications) school I only applied to three schools: Andover, Exeter and SPS. I didn't really do a lot of research on applying as a junior, but knew that these schools accepted some, so I figured it would be ok.</p>
<p>That was a little bit of a mistake, I got lucky in that both A&E want to add 20-25 new 11th graders to their schools, and thus accept about 40ish; however, SPS only accepts about 4-5 juniors (meaning only 2 of your gender) so I didn't really have a chance there. I wasted a lot of time applying there, because I just assumed that they would accept close to as many as A&E. So definitely research into how many new 11th graders they accept because the competitiveness will vary from regular 9th grade admissions.</p>
<p>That being said, for schools like SPS that only accept a few juniors, the chances of getting in are very slim, becauase they're usually looking for a specific profile. However, for other schools (like A&E) the chances aren't too much different from applying for 9th grade. I know for Andover the acceptance rate for new 11th graders this year was 14% compared to the acceptance rate for new 9th graders of 19%, so not too bad.</p>
<p>I personally got into Andover and Exeter for junior year and know of another girl who got into Deerfield and Groton, and neither of us is incredibly amazing so its definitely do-able. I had pretty decent SSAT scores (high 90s), good grades (As/A-s) and am decent at sports, but I wouldn't be considered a superstar. I was just really sincere in my interview and really conveyed how much boarding school meant to me, how long I had been workign towards the goal of getting there and how I would really throw myself into the school because I only get half the time there.</p>
<p>I think that was pretty important because I had other friends applying for junior year and they got rejected from Andover because the admissions staff just wasn't really convinced that they really wanted to be there, and believed they were a better fit at their old school.</p>
<p>Also, regarding your ECs/Academics, they're definitely good. Don't change your ECs just to get into boarding school, because its really obvious when people are just doing things to impress people. Just do stuff you love, because that way even if you don't get in to boarding school, you'll still be happy and have a good set up of interests for college, etc. </p>
<p>Lastly, my biggest advice is keep it relatively quiet that you're thinking of applying out, because that was the best thing I ever did. Because let's face it, it's sad enough telling your friends you're leaving but to have to tell them that and then not leave because you didn't get in or changed your mind would be really hard. Also, my friends who did talk about it just felt really pressured when it came down to the march 10 deadline, and I was just so much more relaxed because it was my decision and if I decided not to go life would go back to exactly how it had been before I decided to apply.</p>
<p>Anyways, usually I would tell you that you should feel free to ask me any questions, because I love helping people, but I won't have access to a computer for awhile. You can definitely feel free to send me a PM and I'll get back to you as soon as I can but I can't guarantee that will be anytime soon. So I'll just say this instead: go for it, you've got nothing to lose. :)</p>