Confused

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hello,
I have been reading alot of different posts, and what I had hoped would help me has confused me beyond belief.
My son a pretty good student, but doesn't test well, Wants to attend Prep school.
He is also a pretty good Hockey goalie, Playing a AA schedule of 50 -70 games per season
and maintaining a very good set of grades.
I do not make tons of money and will need as much financial assistance as possible.
I have read many posts stating how they need 80 and 90% on their SSAT's. I really do not see that happening. So onto my question....</p>

<p>What would be a competetive hockey school that is academically strong and accepts students who probably have no intenions of attending Harvard?</p>

<p>While looking at all of the school websites, they all look fabulous, My sons first choice was PEA and then SPS. After reading all about them from unbiased posters, I have many reservations about having him even bothering to apply.
Does anyone know of more realistic schools for the "Rest of Us".
Do not get me wrong my son gets A's and B's but he is a 14 year old athletically minded boy. I am just trying to find a school where he even has a CHANCE at getting in.</p>

<p>Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Don't underestimate the value of a good goalie at PEA and SPS. Hockey is THE sport at these schools and if he is an impact player they will certainly overlook weaker areas to make it work. best of luck.</p>

3

<p>Welcome, Printer. While I am not in your position, I do have a son who will be attending bs for a postgraduate year. He is also a hockey player. A great initial step is to go to boardingschoolreview.com and search for schools that offer hockey -most of them do. You can add other criteria (such as location). You should email coaches to get a feel for what they are looking for, especially what their goalie situation is. Many coaches also work in admissions and can offer some very helpful information. We started researching schools last spring and it is quite a process. While I would not rule out SPS or Exeter, they are very selective. Historically they have had great hockey teams, but there are many schools that do well! Since you mentioned two New England Prep Schools, here is a (hockey) site you may find helpful. New</a> England Prep School Ice Hockey Rankings</p>

4

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>As a goalie parent myself (no duh!) - I might be able to help you sort through things. While mine is a girl, most of the experience is similar.</p>

<p>Let's first start with your son's expectations from boarding school. I am going to assume that he is not interested in the shortest path to the NHL (a good thing IMHO), as most NHL goalies of high school age are heading to play some Junior hockey, as the playing level is higher, the season longer and your life is about hockey first, academics second. Don't get me wrong, many hockey players go from Juniors to College hockey (see Chris Chelios as a great example), but for most of them College is not in their plans.</p>

<p>Having the NHL out of the picture, I take it that he is interested in college hockey. There are many paths (including Juniors) to College Hockey. Prep hockey is probably better from the academic end for those interested in more selective college programs and actually completing a degree. Note that most Junior hockey players who go D1 are doing that because they ran out of Junior eligibility and aren't as interested in minor league opportunities. Most of these D1 transfers usually only play 1 or 2 seasons in D1.</p>

<p>Getting back to prep hockey, the first thing you should probably take notice of is that their season is considerably shorter (30-40 games) than your son is used to. Add into that the common occurance of 3 goalies on a varsity team (depending upon school) and the game time is considerably less than your typical travel team. Most schools have JV teams and some kids do start there in 9th and 10th grades before moving up to varsity, but the level of the play (and number of games) is considerably less. So while you can spend 4 years playing hockey at prep school, you may not spend all of that time playing top level hockey or even play much hockey at all.</p>

<p>The point of this is that your son should choose a boarding school education that passes the broken leg test (would he still go there if he broke his leg and could never play again?).</p>

<p>Moving on - if you are going prep, when to go? As I mentioned younger players can play JV and move up as upperclassmen, but there are no guarantees. Would he want to be there if he could only play JV? (another variation on broken leg) If he is there for varsity only, often it is advisable to apply for Junior year admission (or repeat Junior) with the understanding that he is being recruited to play varsity.</p>

<p>Ok, given that you've figured out when you are going to apply, you are wondering "How much advantage does goaltending give me in admissions and FA?" For girls, there is significant value, if you find the right situation. For the guys, if the coach likes you (you'll need to get him seen or have the right references), and you are reasonably competitive for admissions, you will have a very high likelyhood of admissions. You will find there are no guarantees, as coaches will generally recruit 2 or more goalies for a single slot knowing that there are other schools and Junior hockey competing for these kids. You may get admitted or they may be building a waitlist, or they may admit and waitlist FA if you are not #1 on their list.</p>

<p>Now if you are a goalie looking for FA, I'd suggest looking for a weaker program in a stronger league where you son will more likely be higher on the list. No guarantees of generous FA, but if your son is an upgrade from what they already have, the coach will have more leverage. Likewise, if his grades are above average for a school, the same things apply. And being in the top 1/4 of your class as an athlete actually improves your college recruitability - more opportunities for merit FA at DIII schools and if he as NESCAC potential, being near the top of his class (as well as having solid SATs) will open doors available to few players. NESCAC and Ivy do have to balance out rank (or GPA) and test scores over their squad. Being ranked high in your class is a huge bonus in recruitability.</p>

<p>And you can get a great education at schools not in the AESDCH group. </p>

<p>Bottom line, have him take his SSAT (or PSAT or SAT depending upon year of admissions) and find a school where he is above average academically and athletically if you are looking to maximize your chances for FA. </p>

<p>That being said, I have a friend (from another hockey oriented board), whose son goaltends in Junior hockey for one of the top MWEHL clubs who went through the boarding school drill a couple years ago. Got admitted to a couple of really good schools, but were disappointed in the FA offers and as a result chose Junior hockey. Great kid. Seems pretty sharp to me. Point is that you can do all the right things and still not get what you want. Have plan B.</p>

<p>Hope this is helpful. Feel free to ask more questions.</p>

5

<p>I would advise anyone considering BS to take the ssat, or at least a practise one in a controlled enviroment before looking too far into schools. </p>

<p>Before we even started looking at houses to buy, we got a copy of our credit report and got pre-approved for a loan; not pre-qualified, but pre-approved with a letter of credit to a certain amount. I mean, what was the point of looking at houses that we couldn't afford? We did look at a few that had asking prices beyond our approval amount. They were our reaches. The owners might have taken a lower offer if other conditions were met, or if they really liked us for some reason. Then again, having approval in hand was no guarantee that our offer would be accepted or that someone else wouldn't outbid us. </p>

<p>The ssat is similar to this house buying scenario but I'll admit that it's not a perfect analogy. Some schools may be in a neighborhood that your son cannot academically afford. Even if they do take his lower bid (if indeed it does turn out to be lower), because he is able to give something non-academic, he may end up not being able to make the academic cut and end up in foreclosure....metaphorically speaking, of course!</p>

<p>So that's my take on the ssat and it's value to us as parents and students. It's value to the schools is probably as complicated as my debt to income ratio was on our mortgage application! It is just one part of the picture for the adcom, but a part that may tell them, "this applicant doesn't have the necessary academic assets to succeed here." </p>

<p>Boardingschoolreview.com has mean ssat scores listed but I don't know how accurate they are. I would kill to see what the mode is.</p>