Boarding school help!

Prep School Admissions
1

I am a rising 8th grader (13) and was looking to apply to some boarding schools for my freshman year. Currently unsure of what schools i should apply to and if things like hotchkiss and taft are realistic goals. My main reason for application is schooling near me isn’t pushing me to my full abilities work wise, i do well on state-wide testing reaching my goal score or higher…when put into work i feel like it gets just tossed to me not taught. Another would be sports and that’s a huge one, sailing is something i’ve found myself to be very good at but sailing at my high schools are middle ground, lacrosse opportunities are little to none, and volleyball is just a middle school thing.

From south eastern Michigan, family of 3 with a younger sister included, go to a top 10 public school in Michigan, FA needed, pretty sure i can i apply for one (full FA or nearly full)

Grade

6th grade - mostly As with a few Bs

7th grade - All As and Bs with one C due to covid and family emergencies

8th grade- undecided but planning on working hard this year especially with this goal of going

SSAT scores

undecided

Was the top player of my small club lax team (not many woman’s options near me)

Played middle school volleyball for two years

Extras

Have been teaching myself multiple languages, have been learning culinary things for years, Honors english student all through middle school, did some volunteer cleaning and teaching at sailing programs, close family friends there ( don’t think that matters)

Sailing is a huge one for me and i have sailed in
Multiple home regattas, placing often
Junior olympics in optimists
2019 J70 corinthian nationals
Offshore racing
Youngest 420 skipper in our night time series
List goes on…

Lacrosse is another big sport but have been doing very well at more recreational competitive stand point

In the end, Hotchkiss and taft are my unrealistic top two and culver is another i like, any suggestions on schools? Please help ASAP, thank you!

2

Tabor?

2 Likes
3

I don’t have enough insight to chance you on admission but…

Hotchkiss has their own (gorgeous) lake for sailing, and a pretty good lacrosse team. But they’re both spring sports so you’d have to choose between them.

Tabor has an amazing sailing team, I’m not sure how good their lacrosse team is but again, they’re both spring sports.

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yea, sailing is something that i have a better record on and am more interested anyway, i’ll check tabor!

5

@Maddie2, sounds like Tabor would be an amazing fit for you. I applied last cycle and was accepted but I chose another school. If you want, I can tell you a little bit about the application process there, (and in general). I also applied to Hotchkiss and was waitlisted. I had mostly As and 2 Bs, and an SSAT score of 79.

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An application process for tabor and hotchkiss would be amazing! Those currently are looking like my top two

7

any specific questions?

8

a couple!

  1. Are sports and records of them good app boosters when it comes to final choices?
  2. will one or two bad grades during COVID mess me up much?
  3. How helpful or interviews/tips on them?
    and just kind of an overview on it would be more than helpful!
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  1. Sports at both Hotchkiss and Tabor are amazing. Sports can really help you if you can make varsity your first year. Being able to make a positive contribution to their teams will help you, regardless of level.

  2. If it’s just 1 or 2, probably not much. Just explain to your interviewer what happened.

  3. Try not to look nervous. I wasn’t really nervous, so I don’t know how easy or hard that may be. If you come across confident, interviewers will really like that. Definitely look put together. Don’t have your hair in a messy bun and look like you just woke up. Tabor does have a dress code, but for my interview which was virtual, I just wore a nice shirt and leggings(couldn’t see my pants anyway). I suspect your interviews will also be virtual since you live pretty far from all of these schools, but in the small chance they are in person, try to adhere to the schools’ dress code. Be yourself during the interview. Don’t try to put up a front because interviewers will know. After the interview, say thank you and then email a thank you after the interview. When the interviewer says “email me with any questions,” they mean it. Do stay in contact with the interviewer if you need anything or want to update your application. Make sure to research the school before the interview. Coming across knowledgeable about the school puts up a big green flag that you actually are interested in attending. When interviewers ask you “so why our school?” Bring up specific details and mention any programs that make the school interesting to you. Make sure to be polite at all times.

My biggest and best piece of advice is to apply to some less selective schools, which it seems you are open to, and to also apply to a variety of schools. This is something I am extremely thankful I did, because I had good results on M10. Go on boarding school review and filter schools. If you tell me what exactly you want in a school, I can help give you some school suggestions if you’d like. Are you open to all girls schools?

I didn’t apply for FA but I know a little bit about it. Since you say you are a family of 3 including your sister, If I’m correct you have 1 involved parent? If that’s so, FA shouldn’t be a problem for you to receive if a school really wants you.

Attend virtual information sessions. This will really help you get a feel for the school. Talk to current students or check out students’ instagram pages. This will also give you insight on the community.

Feel free to reach out with any questions.

1 Like
10

Also check out:

St George’s - look at their sailing program,
Lax, and travel-service programs

11

thank you so much! All girls school isn’t really my thing but east coast schools are my main choice here, thanks for all the help :))

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no problem, don’t be afraid to reach out!

I suggested all girls because they tend to have higher acceptance rates and give better FA.

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Lot’s of fun at these schools!

https://www.stgeorges.edu/academics/connected-learning/geronimo/programhttps://www.stgeorges.edu/athletics/teams/fall/sailing

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I definitely agree with what most people said. I am an incoming freshman at Hotchkiss and was accepted into exeter, choate ect… Honestly your grades dont matter. Its 100 percent your personality! I had a c and b in 7th grade and a few B’s in 8th and it was clear that I still worked hard and yeah. Honestly as cliche as it sounds but be yourself like the reason i think i did quite succesfully is because i made sure i was myself and interwined my personality in all the sections of my application. If you need any help at all just send me a messages or we can chat if you give me a way to contact you. If you need any help at all message me.

1 Like
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Awesome! one question but what are questions interviewers usually ask? interviews are the things i’m most nervous about

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I’m a current Lawrenceville student. Here’s what I experienced during the application process:

  • Why would you like to attend [xyz school]?
  • Why do you want to go to independent/boarding school?
  • What contributions do you think you will make to the school community?
  • What are your favorite things to do in your free time?
  • How do you like to spend your summers?
  • Do you have any questions for me? (always have questions prepared).

Be authentic. They want to know you and understand if you’re a right fit for the school. When I was interviewing at Lawrenceville, I managed to get away with telling the AO “if [the K-8 school I was attending at the time] had a high school, I’d stay there,” forgetting my phone in the AO’s office and only realizing so after having arrived back in the main lobby, and laughing so loudly at the satire magazine that they had in the lobby while attempting to look “intellectual” (I was feeling incredibly self-conscious after seeing all the applicants around me reading something, while I was on my phone) that the person at the front desk remarked to me “you can keep that if you want.” All quite awkward mistakes (potentially one of my most disastrous interviews), yet I made it in. I also didn’t have a laundry list of accomplishments I dished out to each AO (particularly because I lacked them); rather, I just talked about what I found interesting and why. If you can show that kind of spark in you, it really leaves a mark on the AO—my acceptance package had a personalized post-card where my AO referenced some very specific elements from our interview.

If you have any questions about what attending a boarding school is like (I’m a day student but of the “spends 12 hours on campus each day” variety), feel free to ask here or in messages.

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You included this but didn’t say anything more about it. Honestly, this kind of intrinsically motived, curiosity-based learning is something which, depending on how far you take it, could make you quite appealing to AOs, above and beyond the other stuff you offer. If you’re really just dabbling, probably not so much. But if you’re really into this stuff…it matters.

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good to know! thank you!

19

Is there a reason Cranbrook isn’t on your list?

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OP wanted east coast schools.