<p>I've walked across a few frozen lakes, and I think I've been in an ice house once or twice, but I don't fish either. To be sure, my family's ancestral home town is in the part of Minnesota with the fewest lakes--more like Iowa, really, than like most of the rest of the state. The thing I would like to get up nerve to do is to drive our car across the really large lake near here. Some people do that every winter because it is such a shortcut between two upscale towns on the lakeshore.</p>
<p>You are soooo funny, no skate, no fish....hmmmm. So you better drive across the lake this year and tell us all about it. Do you eat the lovely MN wild rice?</p>
<p>I wouldn't miss the wild rice. And I simply couldn't afford to get skates when I was a kid, so that's why no skating for me. </p>
<p>But this brings up a possible more topical ;) question--I have read that the major prep schools emphasize trying a LOT of different activities as a normal part of their physical education programs. Does that mean that any student at, say, Exeter, even a student from Barbados or Singapore, can learn to skate? I've read that there is opportunity for the majority of incoming students who have, for instance, never held a lacrosse stick or never rowed crew to possibly be walk-ons for the school interscholastic teams. Has that been your observation? Or do most of the varsity athletes at the prep schools come to school with their varsity sport already well developed? What new sports skills did you pick up at prep school?</p>
<p>Quote by TOKENADULT: "I'd really like to know) prep schools report their average (mean) TOTAL percentiles on the SSAT for each entering class" Are these reports available some where from the prep schools? If you know when to read the reports, I would appreciate it if you can share. Thanks.</p>
<p>How are the essays used in the admission decision making? What kind of weight do the essays have in the process? Are the SSAT essays graded at all, from which we can see where the kid stands from a national standard, I guess. Can we obtain a copy of the essay written at the SSAT? Thanks.</p>
<p>Boardingschoolreview.com contains "some" SSAT percentiles for some schools, not all, if that's what you mean. Good luck</p>
<p>My understanding is that a copy of the essay is just forwarded onto the schools for their review.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the SSAT essay is probably overrated as a evaluation tool. It just measures how fast you can write a canned 5 paragraph essay and make it fit the question.</p>
<p>The application essay is more telling about the person and what their personal thought process.</p>
<p>You can tell those who are trying to say cliche things about themselves from those with self awareness and the ability to put those issues to paper.</p>
<p>Good luck to all the kids/parents applying!</p>
<p>Thanks goaliedad, for the interest. Son should have straight As upcoming, although won't get a report card before application time (although some schools have said they'd take later SSAT scores, so I guess they'd take later grades). </p>
<p>He does have a sport (fencing) which he enjoys a lot and is planning to get into some competitions, soon. Some boarding schools have teams, some don't. He's also initiated a public service project in MS and plans to do so (start several) in HS, too. Guess we'll see how it plays...</p>
<p>All this SSAT talk is a little disconcerting. Both son & I are good at standardized tests ... applying ourselves to the daily tasks is less fun, LOL. Hopefully the SSAT (and SAT) are not being completely phased out of consideration...!!!! :-)</p>
<p>NewComer05, I think schools like to see the SSAT essay because it is a good representation of the student's writing ability. Schools know that SSAT essays are obviously not critiqued or edited by parents, like the application essay can be. While the application essay gives the student a chance to show the school who he/she is, the SSAT essay is more geared toward measuring the students ability to write a coherent, well organizd, grammatically essay responding to a specific question. At least, this is my take on the whole essay issue.</p>
<p>A couple of considerations: in college admissions, the belief as I've learned on this board is that high SAT scores/low grades (where there's a real disparity) is not good. The student looks like a bright slacker. Grades always trump test scores because they are a record of work over a longer period of time. </p>
<p>I thought the SSAT essay (like the SAT writing sample) was used by admissions officers to gauge if the student actually wrote his/her own essays on the application. Some students no doubt get a great deal of "help" by well meaning adults and others might be very mature writers - looking at the sample can verify a student's writing style as his/her own.</p>
<p>Oops, I meant "grammatically correct."</p>
<p>In answer to one question, all I know about mean SSAT scores at various boarding schools is from the Web site already mentioned after the question. In answer to another question, it's clear that an admission essay (polished over several days, possibly with adult advice) gives one picture of an applicant's writing abilities, while the SSAT essay (dashed off in minutes on some random topic, by the student alone) gives another picture. Happy is the applicant who does well on both kinds of essays. The SSAT essay additionally serves as an identity-verified handwriting sample from a particular applicant, which is useful for reducing the probability of some kinds of fraud in applications.</p>
<p>For what it is worth I would stop obsessing about SSAT scores and take the schools at their own value which is that they are looking for students who can benefit from the type of education that they offer and who can contribute something to the community. Since they are in the first place preparatory schools--for college and for life-- the going in assumption is that a student has the intelligence and energy reasonably to aspire to a decent education. The SSAT is only a rough indicator of academic aptitude. Much more important is whether the student has actually read any books, has done interesting things, has some intellectual curiosity. Again, explore the schools for fit and don't worry so much about class rank. There is a reason these schools don't rank and the kind of invidious comparisons based on very small differences iin SSAT scores is probably why. If your child is lucky enough to get in he or she will probably will get the finest education available in the country if not the world. Academic ability does vary but to my perception there is no great divide between the sports types, the artsy types and the academic all-stars . They all seem somehow to bump along accept and value each other.</p>
<p>Ok here's the deal, I have a d who's in her second year at bs that seems to be a match made in heaven for her. My other d who is in the 7th grade is very different from her sister, and here lies my logic......... Second d would not be a good fit with 1st d bs, again because they are so different. Is my logic flawed or? ?</p>
<p>Flawed is a word frought w/ win/lose. I'd say that no school fits just ONE personality type. I'd say the mere fact that you have a same sex sibling demands that you consider the feelings of both girls. </p>
<p>Perhaps D2 is more interested than you know. Would benefit from D1 being at same school. Likes to have big sis around. Wants to make your life easier </p>
<p>These seem like obvious considerations......you have much to consider and thus I don't see that it is flawed or not flawed logic. You will have to also accomodate both schedules and such....you have input yourself.</p>
<p>Preparent, I have the same problem...two Ds applying to boarding schools, but both very different. The older one is extremely motivated academically, while the younger is mostly creative and is a natural on the stage. While the top boarding schools may be best for my older D, the younger D may thrive at less competive schools. But...we don't want them at separate schools.</p>
<p>Is there any indication that prep schools treat applications in the same year from siblings differently from those of students without siblings applying? Would there be any tendency to admit by pairs?</p>
<p>Twins are very commonplace at my school! I can count three pairs in my grade alone. Siblings are even more common and the ad comms seem to really like younger brothers and sisters even if they may be a weaker candidate than their older siblings (I know one of my fellow classmates has a sister here but didn't get into a less prestigious boarding school. Sibling legacy helps a lot).</p>
<p>The sibling issue is something I'll have to keep in mind for my younger kids. The gap between my oldest son and my second son is the most years, so they wouldn't go to the same school anyhow, but any of the other children could be in the same school as a sibling.</p>
<p>Is there a reason that nobody seems to be applying to Lawrenceville? I'm a junior there, and actually I didn't apply anywhere else. I speculated to an admissions officer here that many students assume the best schools are up in New England, and forget to come south from NYC or Boston. I'm hoping to spread a little awareness about the school on this board; I think it's not only one of the best boarding schools in the country, but it could be a perfect fit for lots of people who think Exeter, Andover, St. Paul's, Choate, and Deerfield and the others are the only options. So anyone who's applying to Lville and has questions, or someone who might be interested, send me a message.</p>