Hi all!
For the 2021-2022 school year, I applied to private school as an 8th grader at the last minute and was expectedly rejected. My family and I weren’t looking too much into applying to private schools for high school, but there is a pretty good private school near where I live so I decided to take a shot. I am going to reapply for the next school year as a rising 10th grader with a wider range of schools, but my parents don’t really want me to go to boarding school. Just for insight, I live in Connecticut and was rejected from Loomis Chaffee. Either way, we might decide to apply to some schools that are farther away and see the acceptance decisions before deciding about being a day student or boarding student. Whatever the decisions are, I don’t mind staying put at the high school I am attending next year but I would really like to take a chance at a private school again.
My main question is concerning how to raise my chances for applying next year. I’m in all honors classes with my lowest grade being a 98% in French. I will be taking Engineering next year at a public high school, and trying out for the soccer team (I play on the B Team for my town) and potentially trying crew in the spring. I’m looking to join some clubs, like Model UN and maybe a club that helps with less fortunate people in our area or an environmental awareness club as those are areas I am passionate about. I have done some research about nearby schools that would allow me to attend as a day student, but I’m not sure what specific schools look at in terms of academics or sports. This year I am also going to take the SSAT. I am taking an SSAT prep program at the Loomis Chaffee Summer Program as well as a writing workshop. One of my biggest strengths is writing, and I’m looking to enter some contests that will look good on my applications. I also am bilingual and fluent in Mandarin as I have been taking a class for over 5 years. If my high school permits it, I will take the AP Chinese Test as a 9th grader.
That’s all for now 
Please feel free to offer any advice on applying as a rising sophomore, and some things I can take on as a freshman to strengthen my applications next school year!
You seem qualified. Since you are, there’s not much more you can do except be yourself, and put your best foot forward. My advice would be to apply to a lot of schools, especially ones with higher acceptance rates.
You have to decide now whether you would board at said school because when applying, you must choose whether you’ll apply residential or not.
Thank you so much for helping out! In terms of boarding, what I meant in my post is that I would apply as a boarder at schools that are farther away, then if I have acceptances M10 I’d see whether I’d choose to attend a school as a boarder or attend another school as a day student. Sorry for not making that clear, but either way I would just cast out a wide net regardless of whether I end up boarding or not.
In addition, Loomis will probably be one of the schools I apply to again. Do you think that they will take note that I applied last year and was rejected? Since I’m taking multiple courses on their summer program, I really hope that will showcase my interest in their school but I don’t want my previous rejection to be a setback. Thanks for all the help!
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Many people including myself would advise against reapplying to schools you were outright rejected at. The usual is to reapply to schools that waitlist you.
They will know you and see that you were rejected, and yes, I do think it will be a setback.
Summer programs don’t do anything. They are just moneymakers. That will not change your decision.
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I don’t know that I agree with this. There are success stories for people who reapply every year. I wouldn’t let rejection deter you from reapplying to a school you really like. If your application is exactly the same as last year I wouldn’t expect a different result, though. Sometimes a year of reflection and growth makes a huge difference in an applicant.
I don’t think reapplying improves your odds, and you have to psychologically prepare yourself to be rejected twice, but I don’t think a school will hold it against you that they rejected you last year.
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You may be right on that, but I do agree with the fact that there is no sense in reapplying if not much change has occurred.
I think OP should consider if Loomis is a good fit. It seems they have terrific stats which makes me wonder if Loomis is the right fit.
Reapplying makes sense if your application will look different. If your application this year was rushed and therefore not a solid effort you may have a chance. I caution you to understand that “improving” your academic profile is unlikely to be what gets you into a school. It sounds like you already have good grades. Taking an ap test or not won’t make any difference. Schools are looking for impressive people, not comparing people to see who had one more A+ than another. Or who took AP tests as a freshman. Those are not the things that impress AOs.
Off of my list of “things that impress AOs” that you can actually change at this moment - A true commitment to community service. You don’t have this. Think about finding something to do over the summer that is truly NOT about you. Bonus if it’s service you can continue through the school year.
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I second @one1ofeach’s suggestion of community service. I’ve done Girl Scouts for 8 years and completed my Silver Award- this really helped me in the long run. If you can, I would suggest joining a local group that does community service if you don’t know how to start on your own. Community service can be life changing to both the person receiving the service, and even the person performing the service!
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I actually have been participating in Relay For Life for the American Cancer Society for a number of years by participating as a team captain. The team I relay for is very solid with thousands of dollars raised every year as well as placing well in our region. I am planning to participate again this year as well as look into more service opportunities. Thank you so much for the advice.
I’ll definitely look into some groups, thank you!
Raising money for research is fine but I am thinking about opportunities to interact with people in need. Volunteering to babysit kids two weekends a month while their parents take GED classes. Serving food at shelter. If you are stuck getting started you can contact the local public school, they often have a teacher or contact in charge of service opportunities. Churches/synagogues/mosques would be another avenue for serious service (it is unlikely they would care about your religious status - my kids both volunteer through a catholic charity and we are far from catholic).
Granted covid may make this hard but start researching now.
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It may be about what you do, but it’s more about who you are. Yes, doing things for others and things that bring you in contact with others are good, but arguably more so because of what it teaches you about yourself and your relationship to the world.
I would give some serious thought to who you are – honestly! – and who you want to be. Being able to do and articulate this shows self-awareness and maturity and both can help you stand out in the applicant pool.
If you’re going to be the same kid but with another activity when you apply, I wouldn’t expect radically different results. But if you can show real growth, that can really help.
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Yes, doing things for others is definitely not something I am only going to do as an attempt to be admitted. Since I’m okay with staying at my current high school in the worst scenario, I really hope that I will emerge from this whole experience as a better person. Just bonus points if admission officers are able to see it.
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