<p>Hey! I know that this thread has pretty much, er, died, but I’m one of those “next set applicants” that aubreygal was talking 'bout.</p>
<p>I just have one question: Is it bad that my applications are already ready and shipped off (excluding my recommendations)? 'Cause I hear about all these people who wait for the last minute to ship, and I’m thinking, “Oh no, I was way too rash!” - which I probably was :D</p>
<p>@GMT: Yeah, when I first started out, I was perusing page after page of random private schools, considering whether or not to use 'em as safeties. But then I thought, “Why go to a school I’m not even passionate about?” I want to go to a school I feel really good about, the kind of good that just leaves you itching to go to that school, y’know?</p>
<p>Just be broadminded about which schools might be able to inspire a passion. Too many kids think they can only be passionate about an ACRONYM school.</p>
<p>@Anxiety251…“ACRONYM” is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the most popular (and usually the most selective) boarding schools. HADES (which itself was satirical in origin) =Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, Exeter, St. Paul’s…to spell out just one of the acronyms tossed around on the forum.</p>
<p>Some parents (myself included) encourage prospective students to look at a wider range of schools than just the most famous. While they are all great schools with great reputations, that’s sort of the equivalent of only applying to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in a few years…something I doubt anyone (your parents included) would advocate. This is especially true if you are not satisfied with your options art home. The notion that only a handful of boarding schools “are worth attending” is, for 95% of the population, ridiculous.</p>
<p>So do your homework, look at schools beyond the “usual suspects”, be honest about your candidacy (knowing that kids who had better grades, scores, ECs, and come from family’s with more money are rejected and wait listed every year), and keep your chin up no matter what happens come March 10.</p>
<p>Can you please tell me what ACRONYM stands for exactly?</p>
<p>And yeah, I can see the comparisons between the most selective boarding schools and colleges…but I’m not exactly unhappy with my high school right now, so this will be more of “a test run for college” so “I know what to write on those applications” (quote my parents). </p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll be sure to look up some lesser-known schools (ex. Miss Porter’s, etc.) After all, what really matters is not the “name” of the school, but the environment of it, and if it’s a fit for my own personality.</p>
<p>@anxiety: Sure, just look up the definition of “acronym”! ;-P</p>
<p>BTW, I’d hardly call MPS (Miss Porter’s School) “lesser known”. A certain someone named Jacqueline Bouvier went there, as well as Agnes Gund and many other well-known and powerful women.</p>
<p>Miss Porter’s - really? I think I just asserted how bad I am at differentiating these schools into tiers (?) But I haven’t really seen it mentioned in the forums as much as HADES (somehow, that abbreviation always gives me the wrong idea -_-")</p>
<p>I would argue that the only “tiering” worth engaging in for prospective students is selectivity (what percentage of applicants gets admitted every year).</p>
<p>Here’s why…you are absolutely correct that you don’t see MPS mentioned on here as much as some of the other schools. Mostly that’s because it’s a single-sex school. But it’s also because so many applicants are downright myopic in their view of boarding schools. They have heard of Exeter, Andover, and all the other “famous” ones, and think those are the only “good” ones.</p>
<p>According to Wiki, here are just two of the notable MPS alum: Alice Hamilton (first female faculty member of Harvard Medical School) and Polly Mellen (editor of Vogue). Not too shabby. Then you go to Emma Willard and you have none other than Elizabeth Cady Stanton (suffragette) and Kirsten Gillibrand (current US Senator).</p>
<p>My point is, that, sure JFK went to Choate and Mark Zuckerberg went to Andover, but if you look at many other schools, (have you looked at Groton’s distinguished alum list?!?) you’ll see lots of people who have gone on to great things. And of course, this is hardly the only measure of quality one should be looking at…</p>
<p>Sorry for the lecture. I will now go back to work.</p>
<hr>
<p>I lied, my meeting starts in 5 minutes.</p>
<p>Here’s something I’ve posted before that I think is true…ANY of the 20 or so BS mentioned on this site with any frequency will do a stand up job of giving 95% of applicants a great high school education and prepare you for college/position you well to apply to colleges. The other 5% may be better at either dedicated arts schools, science charters/magnets like TJ, or the larger ultra-rigorous BS that are more like mini-colleges.</p>
<p>I admit that I probably used “tier” in the wrong context; yet there are so many people who catalog schools in the same way. It seems a lot like the “Ivy League” group. I also see your point about the significance of a ACRONYM school, and have also read threads where you (and other people such as Exie, GMT, etc.) argue about how “name” schools aren’t exactly the dream school for some people (which could also be seen in a college context as well…)</p>
<p>I guess it’s also time to look at all the alummi lists Oh, well, I’m the first to confess that I never really pay attention to the alummi - I’m more concerned with the school’s curriculum and activities. Their claims to fame are hardly recent, after all. And, I focus on what they have to offer for me, not how well someone else did in the program.</p>
<p>Hi everyone
My sister went to boarding school. She almost didn’t thou she applied to 3 schools and got into 1. </p>
<p>Her god father who graduated from Andover says you should have a broad range of schools you apply to 10 or more. Competition is so fierce that it would be silly not to apply to a bunch of schools especially if what you want is to go to boarding school. </p>
<p>So for that reason I am applying to several schools in alphabetical order they are</p>
<p>Blair Academy
Cate School
Choate Rosemary Hall
Culver Military
Deerfield Academy
Hotchkiss School
Loomis Chaffee School
Lawrenceville
McCallie
Northfield Mount Hermon
Peddie School
Phillips Academy Andover
Phillips Exeter Academy
St. Paul School
The Taft School</p>
<p>Out of the above school only two of them I haven’t visited. I looked at 6 other schools which I did not feel would be a good fit for me. I have completed all my applications I did each school individually not SSAT or TABS or Gateway. I am excited to see how it all plays out in March.</p>
<p>Riley, welcome to the board - I am new, too. Congratulations on a terrific list. I am somewhat familiar with all of the schools on your list, and very familiar with Blair, as DC is a current student. I’ve posted some information about Blair today elsewhere which, if you are interested, I’m sure could be found under a search. It is a terrific school and kids there seem uniformly happy with their choice. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Hmmm… I guess Deerfield is popular too, but many other boarding schools are very popular as well. I think one of Deerfield’s pros is its traditions and nice campus. It depends on each school you look at, and if you are applying, I highly recommend going to each campus to see which one feels ‘right’ for you.</p>
Oh, well, I’m the first to confess that I never really pay attention to the alummi - I’m more concerned with the school’s curriculum and activities. Their claims to fame are hardly recent, after all. And, I focus on what they have to offer for me, not how well someone else did in the program.</p>