Hey guys,
Could I have some tips on getting into Episcopal, Deerfield, or Hotchkiss? My GPA is around 3.9, and I got around a 95th percentile on the SSAT. What should I do to maximize my chances of getting into one of these schools?
Successful candidates can show the admissions committees evidence of the ability and likelihood of contributing meaningfully to the school community. If you want in-depth advice, you should provide more information about yourself, such as extracurriculars, special talents, level of maturity, need for financial assistance and any challenges you’ve needed to overcome.
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Hi there @andypan -
Your GPA & SSAT look on target for many schools. It’s not just about the numbers, however. AO’s are looking for interesting students who do interesting things. So highlight your EC’s, hobbies, athletics, talents, service involvement, educational enrichment and travel experiences. They also look for kids who are sociable and verbally engaging. Here are some extra tips:
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Know the history of each school you apply to and don’t mix it up, or confuse it with others. It’s interesting stuff, as well as good stuff to know. You might be quizzed about in an off-handed way by an AO - if you weave the facts into your interview conversation or into a school-specific essay, it might enhance your claim to be serious about the school.
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Look happy & interested during interviews and tours.
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Do prepare questions to ask the interviewers or AO’s
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Some schools have essays for parents to write, also. Prepare them.
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Examine truthfully what you have to offer the school - what will you contribute besides your smarts? Are you a strong athlete? Do you play in the band? Will you be active in dance or theatre? Are you dying to be in their glee club? Do you have a talent to share with the school?
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Check out what the “vibe” is at school before you get to the interview - read the school newspaper online (if it’s posted), talk to students who attend, check out the multiple (legit) social media posts sponsored by the school - not just the ones via private accounts.
Important to understand that applicants in need of significant financial aid usually face more challenging odds of admission.
Boarding schools look for signs of maturity when reviewing applications.
Boarding schools seek students who are likely to contribute to the community socially & athletically as well as academically.
Very important for applicants to be open-minded, accepting of others from varying backgrounds, and willing to learn.
Sorry, here’s some more information
Played travel soccer for 6 years straight. Basketball for one year.
At school, my team and I won the national award for AMCSUS (fitness competition for military schools in the us.)
Compete in Mathcounts competitions at school. Inducted into NJHS in 7th Grade.
Regularly do creative writing and essay writing.
Avid reader
If you are a serious athlete - and the OP sounds like they are - here are some additional tips that worked for Golfkiddo.
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Make early contact with the AO and the coache(s) for your sports.
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Review highlight and game films on the school websites - get to know the team.
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Figure out which school teams need certain positions - this worked for us, but maybe not everyone. My kid knew the rosters of every school applying to that year - who was graduating, where they needed help, what could someone bring to the team, etc. Know how you might contribute to their team(s) For example: “Oh - DreamSchool is graduating 4 Seniors on their Curling Team this year - they may be looking for someone like me who is really good at being the Lead. Maybe I should send a quick email to the DreamSchool coach and the AO I met with my short, one-minute, highlight reel of me at the district curling championships”
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Performing arts are big draws to many schools. Visual arts, also. A couple of the schools we applied to had a dedicated portal for submitting visual arts portfolios. For dance at some schools there may be an opportunity to audition, attend a dance class, and/or submit a video.
I am very familiar with travel soccer. If you are one of the top players on one of the top teams for your age in the area or state, I would definitely emphasize that. If you can show how you try to make your teammates better and more successful on the pitch (in addition to having scored a few goals yourself), you should emphasize it.
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Here is what we did and maybe it will help you, as kiddo did get accepted to Hotchkiss, Deerfield and many others (did not apply to EHS).
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Kiddo did homework on the schools and the sports/performing arts programs way in advance. Kiddo looked at social media posts, also - not only the official ones from the school, but also posts from the teams or performing arts departments of the schools. Kiddo wanted to get the vibe and a view of recent events/games/concerts/performances.
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Knowing about the programs also provided a strong platform upon which to ask intelligent questions during interviews (so I heard). While some people on CC scoffed at the due-diligence (checking rosters on line), this type of information proved helpful - as the coaches expressed they were impressed with how much kiddo already knew about their programs and could tell kiddo was serious about their school.
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Kiddo sent emails to AO’s, coaches and performing arts director (specific person) alerting them to the date of our intended visit to campus. Requested to meet with those coaches and/or performing arts director. Included in those emails, were attachments of a highlight video. Kiddo was a multi-sport athlete and was able to meet with 2 coaches at Hotchkiss and Deerfield. Also was able to meet or at least speak on the phone with coaches at the other schools. Also did performing arts audition at 2 schools back then (they probably are not doing that now).
Caveat about this: I don’t think Kiddo would have made these gestures without having confidence in abilities. Kiddo did not want to waste anyone’s time. If you are really are a strong athlete and will be confident in getting a strong recommendation from your coach, I would connect with the coach and send highlight video. We did this and included stats/rankings.
If your strength is performing arts, you can also send in a video, also. Find out the appropriate person to send it to or to meet with in advance - the admissions office can you with getting the names.
thank you for the advice and input- if you don’t mind me asking, what did you kid do during the interview to maximize his/her chances?
Broadly speaking, interviewers observe how applicants’ handle questions in addition to listening to what an applicant says during an interview
Hi @andypan - I don’t want to state personal facts about kiddo, but I will share some general information about what seemed to work well during the interview round:
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Be interested and be interesting
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Highly recommend you practice answering some basic questions any student should anticipate to be thrown at them during an interview.
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Be prepared to explain clearly why you want to attend boarding school, and (also) why their boarding school.
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It was our kiddo’s idea to go the BS and was self-motivated to apply. It seemed that maybe sometimes interviewers want to make sure it’s the student’s idea - rather than something that the parents want.
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Do share your knowledge about their school - so do homework on the school’s history and current news about the school.
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Prepare in advance questions you would like to ask the AO about the admissions process, the school, programs…BUT don’t ask questions that are so basic that it would make you sound like you never read up on the school. Be prepared to discuss your interests and how that school is a great fit for you.
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Present yourself as a student who is happy, verbally engaging, polite, and sociable.
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Dress neatly and be well groomed for your interview. I know some people will jump on me for stating that - but it does look like you don’t care if you show up in plaid pj bottoms, fuzzy slides and a (well known NYC prep school) sweatshirt to your interview (yes, witnessed that). You don’t have to dress up or wear a coat & tie IMHO - I know that there are some schools that have a more formal dress code and you might want to look like you blend in that day, but you don’t have to.
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Don’t wait until the actual day of your interview or visit to campus to make arrangements to meet a coach or performing arts program director. Make those arrangements in advance. If you have a special interest (robotics, dance, model UN, computer science), you might be able to arrange a visit to their lab, studio, or meet up with a student who participates in that activity.
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Kiddo came prepared with the visual arts portfolio (photography, photos of paintings & art installations at a local art fair) in a binder and a short highlight video (30 seconds) from each sport, as well as the performing arts. We know other students who came with their visual arts portfolio, but it is not really necessary - it just was a nice conversation piece. Some other athletes we know came with screen shots of their rankings or Huddle stats (if they had them).
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At several schools, Kiddo was asked questions about family life (are your parents married? What do you do as a family on the weekends? What does your mom make for dinner (that was a loaded question)? How will you feel about being so far away from home and friends? How did you first become interested in attending boarding school? What are your siblings like?….
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Keep in mind that most AO’s are looking to build a community of their classes. Think about how you would or would not fit into that community.
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While the above post offers great advice, our approach differed.
Listen before speaking.
Stop speaking when another speaks.
Be sincere & non-judgmental.
Appearance should show respect.
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tysm for your help everyone!
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At the risk of arousing the wrath of the mods for a tangential comment, I have to say that some of these questions are…interesting in light of how careful employers, landlords, lenders, etc. have to be in screening applicants. Maybe different laws apply to schools, though I suspect not.
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Yes @DroidsLookingFor - these questions are now several years old. But, keep in mind that sometimes AO’s may want to know family information relevant to the “why” a student is applying (divorce, death, move overseas). We had a sense that a couple of the AO’s were really curious as to why a kid from far away with no family history of attending a NE boarding school, would want to attend one. One AO asked me (during the parent interview) if there was a divorce or job move as the reason kiddo was applying. A couple of questions asked of kiddo were wonky (“What does your mom make for dinner? She doesn’t make dinner - my dad does or she makes reservations), but Kiddo tells me it was handled it with humor.
Ummm ….to my knowledge @DroidsLookingFor , private boarding schools are not interviewing students for employment but are interviewing them to join their community as residential students. 
The most annoying set of questions (mentioned on CC in previous years) were those that asked my student to rank schools on their list and to name other schools applying to. This was done at multiple schools . This can be tricky for any kid to answer.
There are a couple ideas to tackle this type of question. There are smarter people than I on CC (eg @skieurope) who have good strategies for answering questions about other schools you’re applying to. Here is what we learned to do a while back during the interview process.
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Try to deflect the question to one of what you are looking for in a BS, rather than naming a specific school. “I am very interested in schools that offer XY, WP, and QRS…and your school offers all 3”
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Do be careful with answers if you are applying to both single gender schools and Co-ed schools. For example, when interviewing at single gender school and have just mentioned how important it is for you to be at an all -XYZ school….you may then be asked later what other schools are you looking at or applying to? If you list all co-ed schools, it sounds disingenuous.
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AO’s are interested in yield - that is why they ask some of these questions.
NYC co-ops aren’t interviewing students for employment. Landlords aren’t interviewing tenants for employment.
Ask them how it goes when they’re reported for inquiring about marital status or other family aspects.
I’ll assume we’re done with this tangent.
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DS was asked “Tell me what your current school is like.”
Overall, they want to know what you observe in your current situation and present a topic on which you are the expert. Family questions are similar. Schools aren’t trying to trip you up on these – they’re trying to get to know you and see you in the best possible light.
You might be asked what you’ve read recently (not for school), how you do your homework, how you like to spend your free time.
While it’s good to think about questions in advance, DON’T prepare bunch of answers. This should be a conversation. The AO will be thinking about how you’ll fit into their community, what kind of roommate you’ll be, etc. Outside of “I really want to stay at home – this is all my parents’ idea”, you can’t go too wrong. Be yourself!
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Thanks, but what’s a DS?