<p>That is just an incorrect theory.</p>
<p>i apologize for starting the abercrombie arguement, but now i have another controversy.</p>
<p>if you guys keep picking fights at each other, especially abercrombie, you're not going to do well in boarding school. that's immature and if you can't take other people's perspectives and opinions, you're going to have a hard time making friends with a diverse group of kids. all i'm saying is good luck and maybe you should change your attitude a little.</p>
<p>lol .. anyways, I got in with a full ride, u really think because I play hockey and that I'm canadian that I got in janemac ??</p>
<p>haha blairt...they post on the exact same days, too.</p>
<p>omg its the weekend everybody is posting u ..</p>
<p>WHOA, lets all take deep breaths. janemac, blairt, could ya try to be a little nicer? Lets try to get back on the subject. I love CC, but sometimes the conservsation spirals into the depths of bickering and figthing over trival matters. abercombielover, those are impressive stats... but as shikashakegurl said, the admissions at any boarding school is quite complicated. Good luck!</p>
<p>thank you liza and i agree completley! So which schools do you guys attend?</p>
<p>Abercrombie, may I refer to post #59? It got a bit lost amidst the... conversation. ;)</p>
<p>Although #59 has solid information, while you're on that page be sure to absorb #57, preferably by osmosis so that it oozes through your pores and courses through your bloodstream. If you fail to heed the warning at #57, you will be in for a rude awakening.</p>
<p>Indeed. Post #57 is very important.</p>
<p>Abercrombie
Don't let the children get to you. I agree that posts #57 and #59 make a lot of sense. You seem to be on the right track. Don't get too wrapped up in the most "prestigious" or "top" schools. Don't worry about having a 4.0 or acing those SSAT's either. There's a lot more to an applicant than that.</p>
<p>amen to that</p>
<p>don't worry about having a 4.0 or a great ssat score? umm those are really important. they don't take kids with really low grades & test scores unless they are like amazing at the african fiddle. (if there's such thing)</p>
<p>having uber high SSAT scores and GPA doesnt get you in...
not having that shuts you out
sad but true specially for a white non athlete</p>
<p>most applying have these scores. many of the 4.0/99% are accepted, many are rejected. the kids w/ less-than grades must have something to compensate.. $10,000,000 in donations, french horn soloist at carnegie, a 10-generations of highly involved legacies, URM (though it doesn't count for much, i don't think. there are many URM's with high scores, and other hooks, like sports, etc.), or a recruited hockey player. and sometimes that isn't even enough. as we've seen from the 2007 admissions that most kids have all of that -- the 4.0/99%/a few sports/a few awards/amazing recs/great interview/etc. -- is not enough. you then need something else that makes you even more desirable than the the group of highly qualified and unusually diverse group of students. and then, asking for FA on top of that is even tougher! and then not being someone they don't usually grant FA to -- a middle class white kid.</p>
<p>AGAIN, I direct you to the archives.</p>
<p>Olivia knew 2 high-powered trustees who wrote letters of rec, and was rejected.</p>
<p>Chaos was studying highly advanced math and science material, and was rejected.</p>
<p>both had great grades/scores, letters of rec, great EC's... etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>And those are just 2 i could think of.</p>
<p>I know all the odds are against me but I am not applying only to prestigous schools. I am also applying to schools were 65% of those applying get in! yes I agree 57 and 59 do provide great advice.</p>
<p>I also speak from knowledge of people who did get in without the 4.0/99% SAT's'; first, my eldest son. He probably had close to a 4.0, but from a very bland, non-competitive middle-school. We have no tracking program here and there are no alternative educational options in our area. His SSAT's were in the low 80's. He had no major hook and he is New England/caucasian. He has an extremely engaging personality and had several highly developed EC's (but nothing exotic). A friend of his went to Exeter coming from the same school - same year, again no 90's on the SSAT's, white New England. Yet another friend (same year) got into Andover. I am just saying, plenty do get in without the 4.0/99% and while you, of course, need some pretty outstanding EC's they don't need to be exotic. I think it's been discussed over and over how enigmatic admissions are. I know so many boarders (and their parents) at the New England schools because we live near so many of them (SPS is right up the road) and my son's soccer team practices at Exeter...he has several teammates who are day students. Actually, just being good at a "normal" sport (no african fiddle, required!) goes a long way to helping you get in....which reminds me of my son's teammate who got in to Andover just last year....again low 90% and nothing more outstanding than soccer and lacrosse on his resume. (Very good at both).</p>
<p>Agreed keylyme. You don't have to be a 4.0 99% to get in an elite boarding school. The admissions people look at different aspects of you.</p>
<p>congrats for you son and thanks for a little hope because I do take part in a lot of ecs!</p>
<p>kelyme, that's wonderful. depending on how good he was at whatever EC he did, then I don't think that's a complete anamoly. But, assuming your son was talented and did develop his talent in that one (or two or maybe three, depending on how naturally talented he was and how much training he needed in each) EC, then I don't think he was an undesirable candidate at all. If it was a sport which he was really good at, then even better (they don't recruit sculptors or cartoon artists). I don't think that's unlikely at all. ESP. if your family did not request financial aid. But even if you did, if your son was an accomplished athlete with decent grades and scores and a jovial personality, I wouldn't say the odds are against him.</p>