<p>We're looking BS. Here are the details: My student wants a medium size co-ed school, likes playing basketball, soccer, and is great in math. He doesn't have great extracurriculars however. He's recently re-taken up his past interestkyudo/martial arts (the art of Japanese archery), but just started it again after not doing it for several years, so he's a beginner. He'll be taking his SSATs in October. He'll also be entering as a 10th grader. I'm concerned that he may not have a great a shot at some of even the medium reach schools because he doesn't have strong extra-curriculars and his A/B grades, though good, aren't the most competitive. Also, he's an international student, but speaks English quite well. An adult led and more regimented school would be better too (e.g. he's a smart kid and learns quickly but he's not the best note-taker, he needs to develop his study skills more, and he performs better with a little more structure). Though either extreme would not be helpful for his learning. He's been attending a very competitive day school for 2 years (how long he's been in the U.S. total) on the East Coast, where he picked up his English rather quickly due to I think the fact that he was one of the few international students and none from Korea (where he's from). This is actually one of the reasons why he wants to transfer. Although it has a great reputation, a few of his day school peers haven't been too responsive to the fact that he's "Asian". He really needs a close-knit community and good friendships. With this said, he doesn't want a school with lots of Koreans, because he really wants to improve his English and feels that having too many students from the same country (i.e., Korea in this case) in the school could be too "cliquey". He's a little shy at first, but starts to open up when he feels comfortable. He performs best when he feels accepted and in a close-knit community environment, so a medium size school that offers this while developing independence would be ideal. Basically, he's a good kid/has a good heart, and is a good student in the right environment until he finds his own comfort level (e.g. he got Most Improved awards in his subjects after the first semester at his school). He gets stressed when he doesn't feel he has good support, especially good friendships, and that affects his work. Also, I think he has to take the TOEFL b/c he's technically an "int'l student"? He is full-pay, which I guess could help? I also thought his interest in the martial arts of Japanese kyodo would help stand him a bit as he doesn't have strong extracurriculars (e.g. he likes community service, bball, soccer, but hasn't spent a lot of time in it) Because he's already in the States, the TABS event would be hard for us though it sounds great. The schools weve narrowed down (not narrow at all) to are: peddie, governor's, taft, st. andrew's, brooks, mercersburg, westminster, williston northampton, hill, george, blair,gunnery, st. james, westtown, brewster, berskhire, tilton, cheshire, canterbury, holderness, vermont, tabor, kimball-union, hebron, stonybrook, portsmouth, blue mountain, promfret, millbrook, suffield, loomis, st. mark's, st. andrew's, middlesex? I know this list is mega-long, but we're in the process of narrowing down boarding schools, but it's difficult to know the best way to proceed without knowing more info. (We're getting some from schools, but sometimes it's not very helpful). We picked these b/c they're not too small and not the largest either (except Loomis which he seemed to really like despite the size). They're also in the mid-Atlantic and NE region, which is what we want. We're newbies to this whole process and have no idea so you're thoughts would be greatly appreciated! This is a consolidated message from another thread and I'm putting it here per suggestion of Burb Parent.</p>
<p>If you can get to New York City on Sept. 24th, I suggest that you attend this school fair <a href=“http://www.parentsleague.org/independent_school_day.html[/url]”>http://www.parentsleague.org/independent_school_day.html</a>
It may be the largest school fair in the country, and I think most (if not all) of the schools you are considering will be there. It will be a good starting point for you to get to know a little more about these schools and the boarding experience in general. You might enjoy the panel discussion. You can ask questions about structure and support and % Korean, etc. Because you are new to the process and need to learn quickly, you might want to buy “The Greene’s Guide to Boarding Schools” published by Peterson’s. If you continue to feel overwhelmed, you might consider hiring an educational consultant.</p>
<p>Are you opposed to an all-boys school? If not, you might consider Trinity-Pawling. Their materials sound like they talk to you son (and mine!) It’s about 30 minutes from Canterbury so you could easily do the two visits in one day.<br>
Loomis, while “big” at 700 students is only 60% boarders, so our placement counslor is saying that makes is feel like a smaller school.</p>
<p>I am going through the school search process with my son, too. He is international, too, but in different ways (living abroad but is dual citizen of U.S. and another country, native speaker of English and one other language). We started with a shorter list (just the ones we had heard of from my friends and his friends) and went through many adding and culling processes. We are now down to about 10 and at this point, my son wants to apply to all of them. Visiting campuses early on definitely helped. I found that you really don’t know what would fit until you see the way a child responds to a campus. My son identified his first choice on our first trip (more than a year ago) and his preference has not changed since. Before that trip, I would have never guessed that he preferred schools with a strict dress code and formal atmosphere… he is so casual and laid back at home! So, I recommend visiting campuses soon – not the official campus tour and interview – but maybe drive by and walk around a few in your area and see what clicks with the student and family. Then, you can select other schools with a similar feel. </p>
<p>Also, it might help to take practice SSAT and TOEFL tests just to see what would be comfortable matches and safeties. I like to think that test scores don’t really matter but as long as they are requirements, you might as well find out to see if the student is applying to the right range of schools. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your suggestions. So the list is narrowed down to the following schools, but still we would still like to cut out at least 4. It would be great to cut out 6 and leave some very good options for each category. We’ve based this on a few things: size, acceptance rate for international students, and all the above mentioned in the initial profile. I would love to hear anyone’s suggestions on opinions of the schools themselves, whether you agree with the categories and whether you think these schools are way off what we’re looking for (e.g. close-knit community that supports yet fosters independence, somewhat structured, and mainly boarding).</p>
<p>High: Taft, Brooks, Mercersburg,
Blair
Match: Gunnery, Pomfret, Westminster, Hill, Vermont, Proctor, New Hampton
Safety: Berkshire, Brewster, Holderness, Kimball Union</p>
<p>Brewster seemed most receptive so far. Thanks!</p>
<p>I forgot to add Portsmouth as a match.</p>
<p>When I saw your post, I thought “Brooks” so I am glad to see it on your list.</p>
<p>I think you have the right number of schools for now and should focus on getting to know them better and setting up some visits. I don’t think you can do the high/match/reach until you have the SSAT scores.</p>
<p>Thx for your replies so far. Just as a FYI, he’s actually a family friend’s son and I’ve tutored him a bit in English and now I’m helping them out with the search. Can anyone tell me anything about the schools mentioned, in terms of selectivity, general rep (I heard St. Mark’s rep, though it contradicts some posts, is a school that has good smart kids)?</p>
<p>Oh, and Inquiring mind, why did you think “Brooks”?</p>
<p>What is your definition of a “match” school and a “safety” school. From my perspective, your safety schools are more selective than your match schools right now.</p>
<p>Hi GGL, thx for your reply. Which particular schools did you think should be moved around?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Gunnery, Pomfret, Westminster are definately not safety schools.
I would put Proctor a safety for most.<br>
Maybe move Holderness up? Not sure on the rest. It really all depends on the student.</p>
<p>To answer your question, I’m defining the safety and match based on the guesstimated acceptance rate I surmised from their numbers the schools quoted me. Because it is so competitive for international students coming from one country, I think it’s more accurate to say the following, which I also changed a bit. </p>
<p>High: Brooks, Taft, Mercersburg
Less high: Pomfret, Gunnery, Blair, Proctor,
Match: Portsmouth, Brewster, </p>
<p>I still don’t know much about the int’l student selectivity yet for kimball, new hampton, vermont. Also, George seems like a good option except there seems to be only 55% or so boarders, which can make it less like a close-knit community feel maybe. We’re a little concerned, b/c it seems it’s incredible competition for int’l students in particular. Can anyone suggest some “safe”
safety schools?</p>
<p>Linda S., I think I would also put Proctor on the safety, but it’s acceptance rate is just so low for Korean int’l it seems.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>With Korean students (a growing segment of BS populations), some of the schools that US applicants consider safeties are a bit more difficult for admissions. Many of these schools do active recruiting in Korea and are able to get many excellent students. Other schools that may not actively recruit in Korea may be easier for a Korean international students to get into as they may not receive many Korean applicants.</p>
<p>I think in this case, the data for specific country acceptance rates is difficult to find and is often more anecdotal (from hearsay) than not. Perhaps D’yer or fun have some statistics they can share (without getting into another flame war?).</p>
<p>Hi goaliedad, that’s a really great point–if any schools do active recruiting in Korea. Anyone in TABS list then would for sure. It’s too bad we won’t be able to attend any of the fairs, the parent’s league and the tabs.</p>
<p>Sorry mml, I didnt’ think about the Korean aspect of it.</p>
<p>No need to apologize Linda S.! It’s always great to hear the opinions of others’ who’s experienced before.</p>
<p>mml - a while back, there was some discussion about the level of competition among Korean applicants. An education consultant had some interesting statistics.</p>
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<p>thanks Lexima. I had looked at that post before and forgot about it. edconsultant22’s post reemphasizes the competition, which is good to be reminded of when realistically thinking of schools to apply to. Would you be able to comment on some of the schools to which we’ve narrowed down the list? it would be great to hear more about people’s experiences with the schools on the list, e.g. general feel of it, culture of it, what they’ve heard, personal experience either as a parent/consultant/student, application process, and interview process.</p>