BS Class of 2024

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
101

@D1swim2kidshoop I think the schools are all going to < say > that they will for sure reopen, especially in these last few weeks when families must commit (or not).

And I think they may really kind of believe that. It helps in hard times to keep focused on the more positive potential outcomes. But the fact is, they don’t know how any of this will go. There is conjecture about 2nd & 3rd waves of illness once closures are rescinded. That could hit a boarding school hard. But, maybe that won’t occur? Or it’ll be over by August/September? We just don’t know.

When I really consider, it is my feeling at this moment that when real life classes resume, at first (until certain all is safe) the schools will get creative. Perhaps to promote distancing (by aiming to single-fy double rooms) they may offer discounts for families that were slated to board, if that family instead agrees to do a virtual Fall (or Winter) semester. Maybe dining halls will serve “to go” trays to reduce proximity? Maybe schools will set up pods where students/teachers keep with the same 8 - 12 people as much as possible (like our current 3 -6 people family unit restrictions)? Maybe kids/staff will stay on campus Thanksgiving week & weekends, until there is no fear of reintroducing of the virus? These all sound wild right now, but 4 months ago, who thought the nation’s schools would close for an entire trimester (many with mere days notice)? All of the world’s schools?? I think each boarding school must be considering of every possibility with this virus, and every option for response to each of those potentials.

IMO by Winter everything will be largely back to normal. I personally feel “normal” will be different. A lot of people will be afraid of groups - movie theaters, medical clinics, big stores. Society will have lost leaders & artists & innovators. People will be mourning. We will encounter change on the other side of this tragic situation.

I’m going to be hopeful & choose to be excited for my kid starting a four year relationship with the school that has chosen to love us. My son worked so, so hard to get this opportunity. He has already lost much: no graduation, end of year activities cancelled, a dear school friend moved out of state & he didn’t get to have an in-person goodbye, sports cancelled, clubs cancelled. I want him to keep this one very special, amazing thing he earned: boarding school.

102

Did anyone read the news of Boston University including the possibility of not reopening on campus operations and classes until Jan 2021? Certainly not a sure thing yet, but did of course make me continue to wonder, as I’m sure you all are, whether we’ll be online or in person for high school this fall.

103

There’s lots of speculation about this but nothing definitive yet. Other colleges have said they’re prepared to do the same and will make their decision at the latest possible moment. In BS world, PA recently reiterated that they plan to reconvene in the fall but in the same breath said that they’d do so only with health and safety accounted for.

104

Yes, I saw that too.
I’ve just started the school search process this week of having my 8th grader look for a new school for 10th grade.
He’s in the class of 2024.

105

@owlfoxmama9 want to make sure I understand what you’re saying. Is your 8th grader currently admitted to a BS for 9th grade, but you’re now looking at different BS for 10th grade? If so, what would they do in the interim?

106

I understand why new 9th grade families would be concerned with value if school ends up online in September for some unknown amount of time.

We have two in BS and honestly, I don’t mind paying the school. I would not consider asking them to cut costs due to this pandemic. The costs are pretty much the same. Also, the school has additional costs due to the virus (online set up, shipping fees, storage etc).

I guess we look at it differently as entrepreneurs. We are still paying staff, looking at clients downsizing contracts, are unable to get to clients (1 of us) and having to ensure that health care and other long term costs are met, having to get international payments paid when we don’t want to visit a bank etc. Everyone on the business end of things is doing their best and working towards long term solutions and treating each other with dignity and respect. I would imagine that any BS is going through the same. Although they have to answer to hundreds of parents at the same time.
I’d imagine that some number 10-15% of parents will decide that they don’t want to pay and they’ll forgo the spot.

107

@DroidsLookingFor
My 8th grader attends a junior boarding school, and 9th grade is the highest grade at that school, so he’ll need to find a new school starting in 10th grade.

108

@owlfoxmama9 Ah I see. Okay makes sense. Re: plans going forward, I guess each day we come closer to knowing, for better or worse.

109

Hi All, thanks for the helpful comments. Apparently this is the thread I had been looking for all admissions season but I only just found it today… go figure.

TL:DR - DD got no acceptances, 3 waitlists. We went from FA to FP and got a spot off a waitlist. BS here we come.

My DD and I had a steep learning curve as we only began considering boarding school as an option in September. I took a crash course and read up as much as I could on the admissions process and optioned against an IEC, although looking back I wonder how things might have played out differently if we utilized one.
My DD decided to focus on just 4 schools with one FC that was recruiting her for her primary sport. She did all of her own studying and practice for SSAT, no tutors and ended up in the 90th percentile which we were super happy with despite convos she had with others taking the exams for the 3rd/4th times and trying to go from 98th to 99th. She was happy with what she did and managing the amount of time and pressure she put on herself including everything else she juggles.

We made a trip East in January (we’re in CA) and visited all her schools, had tours and interviews. It went great. Submitted all the apps and waited to hear. I forgot to mention we were FA applicants.

M10 came along and we anticipated at least 2 acceptances judging by all the info we had and communication with admissions, coaches, etc. The reality was we ended with one rejection and 3 waitlists including her FC. Definitely anti-climactic.

Turns out our SSS application indicated we needed about 90% FA, and hadn’t even known how to find that info before. We think that played a significant role in her admissions decisions. She’s a great applicant but probably not 90% FA great. We know that would mean less money for other FA applicants as well. Made total sense once I understood more fully.

We had indicated in our SSS app that we could pay significantly more than 10%, but their calculations didn’t agree and there was nothing to be done at that point for FA, we knew we had missed that boat. So, after turning to CC and finding some guidance in the Waitlist thread here, we got creative and made some sacrifices, found a way to go full pay. We contacted her waitlist schools and informed them of the change.

I’m happy to report she was recently offered a spot off the waitlist, for full pay, at what came to be her 2nd choice school. After some deliberation about the potential impacts of the pandemic and reconsideration of the financial burden we decided it was still too good of an opportunity to pass up and she didn’t want to wait a year to reapply at her FC or other schools next year. She took the spot and we just became official. It doesn’t carry the same name recognition of her FC and it’s a little smaller of a school but I think it might be an even better fit partly for that reason.

We’re all very excited to join the BS class of 2024!

There are definitely things we would do differently if we had the chance. Probably would’ve applied to more schools, and definitely would’ve started earlier/visited earlier and asked more questions. One thing more than any other I wish I had learned more about was the financial aid application, how it works and how it can impact an applicant’s chances. I’m speculating, but confident that if we had indicated full pay from the start, or if we had a way to indicate our full ability to pay a certain percentage, she would have had at least 2 acceptances, including to her FC school. But that’s in the past and we’re looking forward to the future!

Congrats and good luck to everyone as we navigate the unknown.

110

What a great story! thanks for sharing!

111

How is your kid feeling going off to start BS during a pandemic? Mine is a little nervous but excited.

112

I think the pandemic might actually make the transition easier for my daughter. She is a bit of an introvert, so the idea of moving in with less than half the school (those flying in arrive two weeks early), is quite appealing to her. Hopefully a “soft” move-in will prove to be a benefit. I don’t think she’s the least bit worried about covid.

113

Our twins are SO EXCITED, regardless of what it looks like…

114

Today my daughter said goodbye to her friends. She starts her pre-school quarantine in a few days, so we had one last get together with her closest friends. While I have been counting down the days until she is fortunate to have the BS experience, today was still incredibly hard. Not only will I miss our having our daughter home, but I’m going to miss seeing her friends too. I already told them they can stop by to see ME anytime they want!!

This will be the first of many tears (from me) I’m sure.

115

For a second there, I thought you had a preschooler heading off to BS. Punctuation and eyesight matter. Good luck to both of you, @cityran. Off to clean my glasses…

116

Ha ha! I should have phrased it differently. Though I do feel like she was a preschooler not that long ago.

117

You phrased it properly, I just skipped over the hyphen. But, I agree, they WERE preschoolers not that long ago. Dang them for growing up!

118

So.

Just hit me hard as I make our final family Saturday night dinner before DD heads out to Andover Thursday.

I’m so happy.
But I’m also devastated.
And my mom tears betrayed me, flipping gooey grilled cheeses and blending roasted tomatoes into soup.

This will be a long week.
The shortest long week.

How are you all doing?

119

I hear you @Calliemomofgirls ! Hugs to you and your whole family this week as you have precious time together. Our drop off was a week ago and drop off itself was fine. Really a whirlwind with very little parental time on campus. But being at home without her is HARD though. I still look for her whenever I walk in the door. Her empty seat at the dinner table hurts. It is a constant struggle not to call, text, etc. as we are trying to let her take the lead on reaching out. This long weekend has been particularly hard. We cleaned her room yesterday (it was a disaster!) and that was rough.

The good news is that, other than one hard day (unpacking and settling in to her permanent dorm room after initial testing and quarantine), our daughter seems to be really happy at her school. I hope that, the more settled and happy she becomes, the easier it will be on us.

120

We are starting to pack today…leaving Wednesday for drop off Saturday. I wrote a note yesterday to leave in her room on Saturday and cried like a baby. I know this is going to be such an incredible adventure for her, but it makes me sad knowing this is the beginning of the end, and we will miss her so much!!! I am however excited to clean her room once she leaves (it’s a complete mess)!!! :smile: