<p>For all of those parents (and students) who have been through this before,</p>
<p>Did you have a gut feeling about what schools your son or daughter would be admitted/waitlisted/rejected from? And how accurate was that feeling?</p>
<p>Personally, I seem to waver between "There's just no way." and "Surely, he's a perfect candidate." My gut seems to be bi-polar.</p>
<p>bump........</p>
<p>That's a difficult question to answer. I had a gut feeling about which school she'd be happiest in and prayed and wished and prayed some more that she would be accepted there. But I was never positive about anything. At more than one point I was certain she'd be accepted to all the schools she applied to, and then the next minute I was just as certain she'd be rejected from all of them.</p>
<p>I only felt good that my son's safety school would admit him. I had no idea about the rest.</p>
<p>I didn't know anything about how competitive the admissions process was, so I assumed my D would get into all the schools she applied to. :)</p>
<p>The big mystery to me was how financial aid would work out. I assumed it wouldn't, and the results were successful but very mixed (from Cost minus EFC to large gaps.)</p>
<p>What school does your daughter go to now?</p>
<p>More than a gut feeling. My son applied to three schools & we were near confident that he would be accepted to all three. During the on campus interview he was offered special (upgraded) housing by one top three school, assured of an academic merit scholarship at another well regarded school & ended up at a third school--a top three school--for which we had a very strong gut feeling that he would be accepted. I also recall that my son was "recruited" by two other schools that are both considered to be among the top 5 boarding schools in terms of selectivity & college placement & was offered extended deadlines by one after he did not apply by the published guidelines date.</p>
<p>ColdWind, do you mind posting your S's stats (grades, SSAT, major EC's and other hooks) & what grade he was applying to? I admire his achievement, and want to know if my S is anywhere close to your S's qualifications. At this point, I feel like walking in the dark and don't know what to think.</p>
<p>My son has graduated, but his SSATs were in the low 90's. I don't recall his GPA, but he attended a parochial school that only went through the eighth grade (so he had to find a school for the ninth grade) and he did well. Was involved in athletics & acting & writing. Leadership. Essentially, he may have just been a very well rounded applicant. One interviewer told my wife & I that they really wanted kids who would use all of their facilities as opposed to students that were almost solely focused on academics and rarely left their rooms. The main factor was his interviewing ability. We were told that he impressed them as being very mature. Geographical diversity.
One of his interviewers was a very close friend (and classmate) of the head of the board of trustees & the interviewer also was quite active with the school, so his assessments carried a lot of weight with the school.</p>
<p>Any regional or national awards he won? My S is pretty well-rounded and quite mature for his age as all his interviewers said but I am a little concerned that he has few of the major awards (he did make it to dinstinction award in CTY). It does sound to me that many applicants have the qualifications your S had. I say that not to deminish his achievement (well it would be fruitless anyway) but wonder other than being well-rounded how he stood out, as the response from the school was - phenominal. We certainly did not get any of that kind of treatment.</p>
<p>No awards that I remember other than the CTY type honor for our region. He did win an acting award. So he was & is creative. Maybe a bit unusual is that he was also an excellent defensive tackle in a highly competitive football league, but he was not recruited for athletics. He is just a very kind, mature, well-rounded kid. My son is also very social, non-judgmental & seems to make others feel good about themselves. Similiar results for college. For boarding schools, I think that being mature, social & capable of handling the work are the keys. The schools want to develop the student, not polish a finished product, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Upgraded housing? My children have all gone to the the "top" schools mentioned on this forum (although I don't like the rankings), I have several family members "in the business," and I have never heard of such a thing. Was that a long time ago? I would not want my child to go to a school where any child was treated as "more special" once they are attending.</p>
<p>We didn't have a clue as to how every thing would work out (and really naive about it all, as I didn't discover this forum until after my S applied). In fact, we applied for 9th grade, thinking it would just be a test run, and maybe, BS would be an option for 10th. Now looking back, it is amazing to think of the process, and how your ideas can change once you find out about school decisions. My S had 99th % SSATs, CTY awards, etc., but we never thought that acceptance was a certainty, and indeed, he was waitlisted at one of the schools. My feeling is that the top schools are reaches for everyone, and as has been said on this board before, all of these schools could fill their spots with top academic kids, so you never do know what quality may stand out as to what a school is looking for. In fact, part of the reason for my S attending in 9th rather than 10th, was that we did not want to go through the whole application process again, because you never do know how it may turn out. We feel fortunate to have found a great fit for him, and that he is one lucky guy.</p>
<p>neatoburrito- I too feel up one day and like my s has a great chance to be accepted at 2or 3 of the 4 schools he applied to. Then the next day I read about some super star on cc and feel like we are going to have all small envelopes on March 10th. It's so hard to tell! S is getting pretty set on the idea of bs though so I hope he won't be disappointed. If so we may think about applying again for 10th grade. One thing that I think plays into special treatment and acceptances quite a bit is money and connections of the family of the applicant. That is something my s does not have as an advantage on his applications.</p>
<p>Biohelpmom, do you mind posting the stats of your children (grades, SSAT, major ECs, awards) and what you think were most helpful in getting admitted? Did they attend one of the so-called HEADS schools? FA applicants? I understand that so many factors come into play when admission decision is made, but some "real life" cases would help put us in perspective so we - on top of relying on "gut feelings" - have an idea whether our kids have a GOOD shot.</p>
<p>Watertester- unfortunately I can't be too specific as we have several adult family members "in the business" so to speak, and would be easily identifiable. My children all went through a fairly rural New England public school system through eighth grade. Two of them excelled in public school music, made regionals etc and continue that in prep school. Another played on travel teams in two sports for years, although was never any kind of star. They all had A averages and above 90th percentile SSAT scores with no special prep or tutoring. One of them worked really hard for those achievements, for the others there wasn't that much effort involved. They hand wrote their applications, and did not use any kind of consultant. I'm happy to say that they are all kind, good sports etc and prep schools tend to value recs that show good character. That's really what they're looking for, I think. From what you have previously posted about your son's test scores, if he has any other kind of hook like sports, he will be a shoe in. Keep us posted!</p>
<p>PA-C - been there , done that. Keep in mind that you see a very small slice here at CC. Best of luck to you as well.</p>
<p>Biohelpmom, my son sounds like a 4th child of yours. haha. I'll take your words and sleep well tonight :) I'll keep you posted after March 10.</p>
<p>I have a gut feeling about my sons first two choices but that could be just me wanting him to get into the schools he wants to get into.</p>
<p>Biohelpmom: Almost every elite prep boarding school has housing that is considered better than the norm. Certainly all the top schools do. But it may be as little of a distinction as a single, corner room with two windows, to a new or newly refurbished dorm or a house limited to a handful of students with a faculty couple. Actually I am unaware of any school without better housing options. Some parents from one school even complain that a few elite colleges didn't offer upgraded housing as did their boarding school. Some elite prep boarding schools have housing with increased security & some have housing intended to be more permanent for students of diplomats & foreign nationals who are unable to go home during most school breaks. My info. is fairly recent. I don't know which schools your family members are associated with, but it may just be that the topic hasn't arisen in your discussions with them, or else their functions do not involve housing options. Also, at the top three or four elite boarding schools, security can be a concern for some students due to the wealth and/or nature of their parents business or government position. The most public example of special housing occurred at Exeter over a decade ago when a billionaire's son was given a top floor (along with a few other selected students) with ultra security features. This was the J. Paul Getty family which had experienced a kidnapping & extortion. There are students at the top schools under different names as an added security feature & typically they receive upgraded housing for security & other reasons. I know high academic achievers offered upgraded housing as an enrollment incentive.</p>