<p>Now we got to deal with Clinton's new son... (affair..?) 4.0, 5.0 weighted. Has done everything possible. Full of win... get him. I heard his name is George.</p>
<p>Frank L. Boyden of Deerfield , arguably the greatest Prep School headmaster of all time had his FA parents swear to keep the FA factor a secret from their children. To see why, you need to buy the book "the Headmaster". It's on "books on tape" for you students, who can listen to it to and from school.
I highly recommend it both for parents and potential preppies.</p>
<p>John McPhee has also written a decent book about Bill Bradley at Princeton.</p>
<p>Um.... OK? Is it just me or did you just randomly plug two books lolz? In any case how long ago was he alive? Because I think today, no one would think less of you for being on FA.</p>
<p>Uhmm lol??</p>
<p>Thanks Baseballmom. I think you're right. While the sample size of applicants is large enough to randomly end up with the same amount of financial aid doled out from year to year (given similar applicants from similar backgrounds and no new recruiting endeavors), I tend to think that FA is an up-front factor in admissions. </p>
<p>Back on the gut topic... it seems that I trust my gut for the "no" answer. One school in particular (a reach school) seemed just wrong for our D, and somehow I felt that vibe from the interviewer as well. He was pleasant of course, but my gut felt sour.</p>
<p>The next school (a reach for anyone) felt right. My D loved the tour, I think she nailed the interview, and the interviewer told me that she would do very well around the Harkness tables next fall... that he knew we had a few more interviews, but to keep them in mind at decision time. It just felt perfect. We've since received those current parent and current student letters from the school. My D is hopeful. I am too, but the longer I wait the more I second guess myself. And I wonder if (like Baseballmom's experience at Andover), we were mislead. The waiting is excruciating.</p>
<p>The next two schools, one match and one safety, both felt alright. Neither could compare to the second school we visited, though.</p>
<p>Actually, he didn't want the kids to know so they wouldn't think less of themselves. I'm sure this has no pertinence to you and today's students.
I have no economic interest in the book, but if you need something to distract you from the wait, this is a good one to read.</p>
<p>Watertester</p>
<p>-- I think our family is the opposite.</p>
<p>As it gets closer, my son has no idea why he applied -- He'll tell you we forced him, but um in reality with the amount of work he had to do for SSAT & essays, he applied, not us. He says he wants to stay at his current day school, but his actions are the opposite. I don't know if it is a defense mechanism so if he is rejected, no biggie, or if he just found a girlfriend or if he likes his PS3 too much...</p>
<p>We are the other hand are more certain every day that he belongs at BS.</p>
<p>i'm trying to put it all out of my mind until 3/10 because it isn't worth discussing until he can realistically go to BS.</p>
<p>They only bad thing for us is his contract & initial payment for his current school is due before any revisit days.</p>
<p>Notnim,
We'll have the timing (to put down the deposit for the day school) problem too. I think I'll ask for an extension. If not granted, then we'll be ready to lose the few hundred bucks we put down in case a really good "deal" come from one of the BS's we applied, which could be a long shot. </p>
<p>Let's face it. No matter how mature the adults or the kids themselves think they are, they are still 13/14 year old, who are changing their minds easily. By the time the admission decisions are in, it could be a different story. I agree the girlfriend factor could play a big role. My S was determined to lead a "normal balanced" life (= not pursuing excellence) until he broke up with his former poet girlfriend. He's comparing the days schools and BS's he has visited and you know the answer, but we're not sure. Let's wait to see what we get on 3/10. We may not need to have that deliberation and/or discussion after all.</p>
<p>Even though my child's private day school had an earlier deadline for deposit, they gave her an extension until after her boarding school revisits. So, it's worth asking for---it won't be the first time it comes up for the school.</p>
<p>Notnim and Watertester- hang in there. It is so hard to wait isn't it... After we get our child's acceptances (thinking positively) we should start a thread for supporting parents! I will be on it for sure! Also about making the decision...</p>
<p>I go back and forth between thinking my D will have lots of choice, to thinking that she may get in only to her safety...my gut feeling to her first choice (which I'll reveal after the 10th!), which I had during our campus tour, was not good and the articles in the school paper that I've read since then seem to confirm that initial reaction. Seems to be a pretty cynical group of kids with little joy. I hope that my D will end up at a place with a happy, enthusiastic vibe, and that the decision won't be made for her. I'm counting the days till the 10th, while my D is appropriately focusing on her last few months in her current school.</p>
<p>My son applied to 5 schools. I went back and forth as well, but in my gut knew he'd get into the 3 that he did. He was waitlisted at the other 2. We did not stay on either list.<br>
One acceptance he was WL for FA, the other 2 he got excellent packages.<br>
In hindsight, one of his acceptance waitlists kept telling us that his list was perfect - stating it as though it was the safety, match (them) and reach. We beleive that they thought he was getting accepted to his reach (WL there). </p>
<p>He is at our favorite and the place that we thought, from the moment we stepped on campus, would be, as baseball mom said, lucky to have him. Our gut told us that it would be the best place for him as well - to grow and be the best student and person he can be. For him, it's the best school. In honesty, my gut told me his reach wasn't the best place even though I knew he had a good chance of getting in.</p>
<p>Maybe I am misremembering, but I was not surprised by my daughter's acceptance/rejection results at all. She applied to 5 schools, got into 4 of them, and was rejected at 1. All of them were very competitive, but for some reason I just already sort of knew which kind of school would be a good fit for her and the one outlier was where she was rejected. I think actually she had the very same feeling, and almost did not apply to the school where she was ultimately rejected. She is now in her second year at SPS.</p>
<p>Daughter #1 only applied to 3 schools; all hard to get into; I was absolutely sure she'd easily be accepted into at least 1 of the 3, after all, she'd been told by her interviewer that she was terrific (result: rejected). Waitlisted at both other schools. We were told that she was the first person accepted off the waitlist into her 1st choice, mid-April. </p>
<p>Daughter #2 applied to much wider range of schools. At this point, my gut wasn't being helpful...I really had no idea after D1's experiences. D2 accepted into her reach, her 1st choice (not her reach), rejected by her 2nd choice, accepted by all others. By the end of the process, she really didn't love her safeties anymore and had a strong preference of where she wanted to be. For colleges; I hope she will love her safeties or be accepted EDI, at least for my sake!</p>
<p>I think the "gut feeling" is a combination of many things. For example, if you have contacted the school for any reason before you check your gut feeling, the impression you got from your conversation with the admission officers might affect your confidence level. Some schools (at least people at the admissions) are so impersonal and even arrogant (or are they just to me?), others are more friendly and give you a sense of hope, which may or may not mean your child has a better chance. Your gut feeling may change before and after that conversation. Anyone has similar experience?</p>
<p>I can agree with that, watertester. The problem is that I think some of the adcoms are trained to act a certain way, while others aren't. For instance, it seemed to me that the admissions office at Choate was very well trained, the director of admissions came out and introduced himself to all the parents/students waiting for interviews, the interviewer was very nice and very accommodating and said some of the things that I have heard others report that their interviewers from Choate said - such as, "your child did a great job in the interview," "any school would be lucky to have your child." At the time my gut wanted to believe him but my brain was more skeptical. As it turned out she wasn't admitted there. But she was admitted to Exeter where neither she nor I had a very good feeling after the interview. So it's just really hard to get a feel for things from the adcoms. I feel for all of you immersed in the waiting game.</p>
<p>photoOp---our experience at Choate was very different. They forgot about us in the crowded waiting rooms...there must have been 20-30 kids waiting. After about 45 minutes, we asked how much longer and it was apparant that my daughter's file was overlooked. It didn't leave us with warm fuzzies since we had a 4 1/2 drive home following the late interview. She and we had good interviews and of course we heard the usual "you've got a great kid there" comments, but she was rejected.</p>
<p>yah admission officers are always going to be socially appropriate, but you can tell when you have a really good interview</p>
<p>How can you tell?</p>
<p>Compared to your other interviews of course. You could be a terrible interviewer, but you will always be able to tell when you are having one of your better interviews, or one of your poorer interviews.</p>