I’m a girl from a rather small town in western NC with shamefully high aspirations and a throbbing desire to do something spectacular with my life. I’ll be entering high school next year as a freshman.
My family is lower-middle upper class, my mother is unemployed and my dad will be starting a job with the state very soon. I have one sister.
My school offers few possibilities for me, it’s a stagnant pool of not so motivated kids, most of whom irritate me to no end. The classes are limited and I do not feel challenged enough. I am involved in many academic extra circulars, as many as possible, and yet I remain unsatisfied.
I would very much like to attend a boarding school during my sophomore/possibly junior year until my senior year. I already have my eyes on NCSSM, which is a lovely school in and of itself, but I would like to explore possibilities with other boarding schools. Preferably ones I can attend for free, some way or another.
The thing is, though: do I stand a chance against anyone from huge, opportunity-filled high schools with extremely impressive resumes? It’s frightening how ahead some of these students are in comparison to me.
Any advice for my situation? Any school recommendations?
I would appreciate any guidance given in this area.
And yes, there are a lot of students in opportunity-filled areas of the country who are “ahead” of you. That’s just the way it is when you grow up in a small community.
You, however, are proactively seeking to challenge yourself. As I understand it, that is one of the traits boarding schools like to see. Go for it, and best of luck!
I just want to know what is lower-middle upper class! And best of luck to you; you sound like someone who would do well at boarding school. Read this forum widely, do your own research, and ask questions. There are many people here who know all about boarding schools and are a great resource. And try not to compare yourself to the kids with long resumes. Just be yourself and do your best.
There is a whole country, and at least one driveable coast, worth of terrific schools for you to consider. This is a great time to start researching and asking questions. Do some word searches on this board as this kind of thing comes up a lot. Also, there is nothing wrong with contacting school admission offices directly to inquire how scholarships work and what the qualifications tend to be for a particular school. You are definitely not alone and the aspirations of a self-motivated person like you should never be considered “shamefully high.” NCSSM looks very interesting and you will no doubt find other interesting schools with opportunities for you. Try hard to avoid the silly prestige game that some get caught up in and best of luck!
@twinsmama - Oops ! It was a typo, how embarrassing haha. I meant that we were lower-middle class.
@ EveryoneElse - Thank you so much for the encouragement! I’ll work on researching different boarding schools to the perfect ones to apply to. I appreciate everyone’s interest.
Just based on the snippet written above, you sound very interesting. I’m sure admissions committees would love to meet you. You have excellent writing skills for an 8th grader, and I’m sure this will get noticed during the applications.
It sounds like you will need financial aid. My advice is to have a broad range of schools, not just the brand name ones. Most of the boarding schools (except Andover) is need-aware. So they tend to give financial aid for those students they like the most. Getting a full ride is going to be difficult, but not impossible (read about stargirl).
Indeed you will be facing an uphill battle compared to students from well-heeled families, but the admissions people will know this. Just be yourself and hope for the best. Even if you don’t get in anywhere, it will be a good learning experience for you when it comes time to apply to college.
@FlowerCrown take the SSAT. Your score will dictate your opportunities to some degree. They will validate your grades. The scores will also level the playing field for you with kids from more prestigious schools etc
What you wrote above could have been written by my daughter, just with a different geographic location. She’s currently a rising Sophomore at a school far, far from home…so don’t count yourself out just because your education up to this point hasn’t been stellar compared to others. Be candid in your essays, talk to your interviewers about wanting more from your education, take the SSAT, cast a wide net for school possibilities, and don’t count yourself out!
You absolutely stand a chance without having come from a competitive school. I think, though, that this is an easier sell for an incoming freshman, when the expectation is that everyone is coming from different backgrounds/educational systems. At many BS, the freshman curriculum is structured to move everyone to where they need to be to handle a rigorous BS course load by sophomore year regardless of where they have come from.
Definitely cast your net wide because FA will impact your options. In looking at schools, read about their FA policies and on their commitment to diversity, especially SES diversity. Some may turn up as good possibilities for you.
Take the SSAT to see if that limits your options in any way. Go for it!
@FlowerCrown “My school offers few possibilities for me, it’s a stagnant pool of not so motivated kids, most of whom irritate me to no end. The classes are limited and I do not feel challenged enough. I am involved in many academic extra circulars, as many as possible, and yet I remain unsatisfied.” Many people come from average, even subpar schools and go on to do interesting things. You don’t need to go to an elite boarding school to challenge yourself or do more. That comes from within. This is not to say you shouldnt try and/or shouldn’t go for it but many kids and their parents proffer these same arguments and quite frankly it doesnt hold water. If you are that bright you can find a way to get what you need whether it is boarding school, reading, online, and so on. Many great minds attended ho hum public schools --with the added burden of wars, poverty and deprivation. Boarding schools-even the best–have many mediocre kids who will irritate you to no end.
I think your reasons for going are good - it sounds like you want more out of your school experience and to be challenged. Start researching schools, prepare for SSAT, and apply to a range of them, not just the ones that are “the best” on paper. There are many good schools out there.
Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA is a great school. My daughter goes there and we’ve had great experiences. They do offer scholarships. As long as one student is interested, they will work with you. My daughter wants to do a senior take over day like the one at our local high school, she brought it up to the president and he said as long as she organizes it they will do it.
It’s worth a look. I agree with the others, you’ll do great no matter what.
NCSSM is a great school if you like STEM and being from the Western part of the state can be attractive for the school in admissions. The nice thing about NCSSM is that it is without cost and only for NC students so for your situation it is worth spending time to learn as much as you can about the admissions process. There are many threads on College Confidential so just spend a bit of time going through those to get an idea of what others from your district have done. Has anyone gone to NCSSM recently from your high school? Perhaps you can speak to them.
At a high-level, my understanding is that you will need most if not all As, rigorous classes compared to others in your high school, above average SAT compared to your high school. Additionally, you will need to write essays, get recommendations from some teachers, demonstrate strong interest in STEM and perhaps have some STEM-related ECs.
And best of luck to you; you sound like someone who would do well at boarding school. Read this forum widely, do your own research, and ask questions. There are many people here who know all about boarding schools and are a great resource. And try not to compare yourself to the kids with long resumes. Just be yourself and do your best.