-applying for 9th grade, FA
-Demographics: ORM, female, Tri-State Area
-all A’s (90+) in school
-Coursework includes Geometry, Advanced English and Spanish
-95% SSAT
Activities:
-Saxophone (Regional band, school Jazz ensemble,school band),
-Girl Scouts (Silver and Bronze Award), Counselor in Training at Girl Scout camp
-4-H Junior Council
-Seeing Eye Puppy Raising Club
-Violin (private lessons, Chamber ensemble)
-school Volleyball team
-FIRST Lego League
-Yoga club
Have you considered Westover and St. Andrew’s School in DE? They might round out your list nicely…
My daughter is a current 9th grader at Emma and we couldn’t be happier with her experience so far. She had a similar SSAT score to your daughter HotCocoa and the school awarded her enough FA to make it possible for her to attend.
All 9th graders complete the same English course so I am not sure what to say about that. Otherwise our daughters have a similar profile… There are lots of opportunities for music and I know that there is a volleyball team. Who knows what your chances are but nothing ventured, nothing gained…
Looks great on paper, but just make sure you can ace the interview. A very important aspect in prep school admissions. Be genuine and talk about what you care about, what you would do at X school, etc.
@hotcocoacharms
Just as a heads up, Emma Willard announced to their students last week that they are phasing out AP courses. The class of '23 (current Gr. 9) will be the last class who will be able to take any courses with AP in the title, and they are hard capped at 6 (one in sophomore yr., two in junior yr. and three in senior yr.) I don’t see this decision reflected in the material on their website yet. This may or may not be a factor in your decision-making but given your advanced standing in some areas, you may want to bear it in mind.
Hotchkiss is phasing out APs as well. Several of the top BS no longer offer them or have cut back on their offerings. The reasoning is that they believe that their top level courses are at least as rigorous as AP but are more flexible without the limitations of an AP test focus. Students can still take the tests, however. Frankly, AP courses have become so ubiquitous that they’ve lost most of their luster and fewer top colleges accept good scores for credit so if a school is already known for its rigor, what’s the point?
You need APs or similar if you have a kid who wants to apply to schools outside the USA. APs or IB are required unless applying to non-selective programs which take anyone who can pay international tuition fees.
You need APs or similar if you have a kid who wants to apply somewhere which is not a university/college where the BS/HS regularly sends students and the counselors have relationships with the admissions deans. If your student doesn’t have APs or similar that Acceptances List the school produces is likely to be the menu of choices for your kid.
APs or similar are going to be helpful unless you are the biggest donor in the graduating class, in which case getting rid of APs is to your benefit. If two kids want the same university/program and you are heavily relying on College Admissions Counselors to advocate as the gate keeper, why wouldn’t they want to keep the biggest donor happy and supporting the school.
@CheddarIsBest : Well then, I guess a lot of expensive BSs aren’t worth going to. fullsnarkintended
The trend in BSs seems to be towards eliminating AP courses in the curriculum. There are still advanced/excellerated/rigous courses, their syllabus is just not limited to AP exam components. Students can still choose to take an AP exam in that area.
Perhaps someone should make a list of schools that ascribe to your theory about the necessity of AP classes in a quality BS/HS curriculum.
Perhaps you would advise @hotcocoacharms to consider a BS with an AP heavy course catalog, like The Stony Brook School. https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/the-stony-brook-school-profile
Bonus: it’s right by an LIRR stop.
@stalecookies What @CheddarIsBest said is not wrong.
1/ You need APs to apply to some top schools overseas, I know Oxford and Cambridge for example require them.
2/ While in theory you will not be penalized for not taking APs if your school does not offer them, if there are a lot of kids who still take the AP tests and post 5s on them it is expected you do the same to be competitive. Our boarding school is in this category, no designated AP classes but lots of kids do take the tests, so many they offer AP testing on campus. Of course it means kids have to cram to, in addition to studying for finals, to cover the 20-25% of content that is on the AP but was not covered in class, take practice tests etc. I don’t find it that great, but it was the same at my older kid’s private that too ditched AP courses years ago.
3/ The AP credits are very nice to have once you get to college, many schools (including T20 ones) do give you college credit and even if not, it will waive you out of the large entry level classes into more interesting one. Especially for classes outside of your major, this is great. We know kids who managed to graduate in 3 years due to all their AP credits.
@417WHB While what @CheddarIsBest stated in not wrong, it is also not relevant to a Chances thread, particularly one where half the schools listed don’t have AP courses.
You don’t have to take AP courses in order to take AP exams.
@stalecookies I am not sure why I deserved ANY snark. I posted a piece of factual information that would not have been available to the original poster when she applied in Jan. The information was relevant to exactly one sixth of the schools that the original poster referred to, and that was intentional as I have no idea whether any the other schools have courses based on the AP syllabus or not.
It is much more difficult to take AP exams as a student at a BS without an AP test center simply for logistical reasons. In addition, it is much more work to take APs if you are having to self-study the material that was not covered in the course. It is probably optimistic to think that most students wouldn’t be negatively impacted taking AP exams without the preparation that they would have received in the past from the school compared to before.
If APs are an important factor for a student/family for whatever reason, and both 417WHB and I have given you some, then the information that a school has suddenly changed their policy between application and M10 day is not inconsequential. This factor might not be relevant or of interest to you, but no one needs your snark.
@CheddarIsBest
Choate doesn’t offer AP classes: http://thechoatenews.choate.edu/2019/05/10/let-curriculum-dont-need-ap-classes-2/
Andover doesn’t offer AP classes: https://www.businessinsider.com/phillips-academy-andover-doesnt-offer-advanced-placement-2017-11?op=1
Exeter doesn’t have AP classes.
That’s half the schools OP listed.
I am not questioning the wisdom of applying to those schools.
I would hope that those applying to these schools have done their research before applying, and are at peace with whatever choice they make.
@stalecookies add Hotchkiss to the list for next year.
Actually, of the six schools on the OP’s list, only Hockaday is committed to offering AP classes in the future, @CheddarIsBest , @stalecookies , and @cinnamon1212
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Move on from the AP discussion, please; the OP did not ask. Nor did the OP indicate that s/he will be going to college overseas, so the derail to present facts not in evidence is not needed.