<p>My son will likely be the only boy in his class of 54 students to apply to preps. As a result, the teachers have limited experience with essay review and recommendations and the school does not have any resources to support the application process. </p>
<p>One big question is this: Is the current English teacher the right person to review his essays or should we hire a professional who has experience with prep school or college essays?</p>
<p>Another big question: In the absence of a prep school consultant, would a college counselor fit the bill?</p>
<p>We went the "do it yourself" route with my daughter and wish we hadn't since we were competing with professionally prepared applications.</p>
<p>We used a consultant who provided some assistance, but not nearly enough to make it worthwhile. It took someone here to point out what should have been obvious: we were using a consultant who was an excellent college admission counselor, not someone used to working with middle school children for the purpose of gaining admission to BS.</p>
<p>The particular areas of strength that I would look for: help with interviewing; depth of knowledge of boarding schools in general and specifically the ones you're most interested in; connectivity to your current school to help them prepare for the process.</p>
<p>My son's school was also inexperienced with BS preparation/admissions. That ended up presenting some unique challenges that I had to deal with like I was playing Whack-a-Mole, from trying to send in recommendations too early in the year to trying to write a separate recommendation for each school (to name a couple of the more benign issues). You will want to see if an educational consultant can help work with the school and prepare them, too.</p>
<p>I would try to find one soon, to give the professional a chance to really get to know your son's personality prior to interview coaching.</p>
<p>Out of 15 of my close friends I think only one used a professional consultant and only one actually studied for the SSAT. Shows how much it helps. A lot of us were in similar situations to your son, applying from schools where there was limited experience applying to prep schools. Also, every year there are students who work with the admissions officers who read the applicants essays. I was talking to one of them last year and she said it is blatantly obvious when a student has been helped. Besides doesn't your son have to sign something that says he didn't receive any help on his essays?</p>
<p>Actually, what the schools do is compare the essays on the application to the essay that the student wrote during the SSAT (they can pull up a scan of it on the computer). If there's a big difference it's a huge red flag. In my experience (having never used one but knowing people who did), educational consultants are most useful in pointing you to the schools that are the best match for your child.</p>
<p>I think what sabooks said is true. Having a professional consultant really work on the kid's essays isn't advisable, because it's transparent. My grandmother, who had two children (neither my mum) go to some top preps, talked to the woman who was the exmissions counselor at her sons' old elite K-9 school, where many kids went to preps. The woman was horrified that I wasn't working with a counselor, and horrified that I didn't have a coach for the SSAT. I did very well on the SSAT and will be attending Andover in autumn. (I am not a legacy, athlete, or URM.) Thus, I don't think it's at all necessary to have a counselor, but more of a helpful luxery that you might want to get if you can afford it--sort of like calling for direcotry assistence versus using a phone book. At your discretion. Just make sure that you get a good one, though, because there are plenty of scams for those things.</p>
<p>I don't think the OP was asking for "help" with the essays, but someone to *review *them. Big difference in my opinion. I know our children's school (Jr. Prep) will review the essays. I also know that there are many other Jr. Preps that are WAYYYY more sophisiticated that ours in terms of counseling and placement assistance.</p>
<p>Sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of that, if that's what you took it as, baseballmom. Keep in mind that essays that are overly reviewed (lots of suggestions and corrections, ideas given, spelling and grammar altered), even though they're written by the child, can give the kid an unfair advantage, and can also be unfavourable with adcoms. Several schools have rules against reviewing of any sort. One was particularly thorough. As I recall, it told me that no parent, teacher, friend, aquaintence, counselor, consultant, or any other person was allowed to read over or correct any part of my written application. Keep in mind, then, that you might not be allowed to have someone look over them anyway.</p>
<p>My idea of review is similar to my D's private high school experience. As part of her AP English class, they wrote college essays. They worked on the essays for the entire fall term! In the end, the result was 12 individual well-written essays that reflected the personality of each student, NOT 12 essays that reflected the personality or writing style of the teacher.</p>
<p>There are private middle schools that work with kids on their SSAT prep, essays, and applications for the fall term of 8th grade. This is a primary focus of the beginning of the 8th grade year. A network exists connecting the middle school to the various boarding schools and phone calls are placed and applicants discussed.</p>
<p>If your kid attends a mediocre public middle school that has virtually no experience or interest in preparing applicants for essay writing, interview or testing, he/she is at a significant disadvantage compared to these kids!</p>
<p>baseballmom, i would have to disagree with you when you say just because you go to a mediocre public school that doesn't prepare you for writing essay/interviewing/testing, that you are at a significant disadvantage compared to others. i went to a mediocre public school, went through my application process with my guidance counselor (who has never seen a BS application in her life), and everything went fine for me. I got into the BS's i applied for, because of the effort I put in, not because of my public school. As long as you are a skillful writer who can get your topic across sharply, and be yourself at interviews, and study hard for the SSAT, and also have great attributes that you can bring to your school of choice, then whatever your public schools does for you is nothing.</p>
<p>I have quite a bit of experience with this, so feel free to PM me.
We had the unique opportunity of several boarding/private school admissions processes with WildChild. There are some things a well-versed educational consultant can provide. One thing is to help you select a school that is the right fit for your child. It is a little harder to figure this out in the boarding school arena than it is for college, in my opinion. Boarding schools have VERY different "personalities", and our educational consultant was really good at recommending ones (and discouraging us from others) that would be good for our son. Also, she was good at telling us which ones wouldn't accept him. She had some good connections, too, although the school he finally graduated from we found on our own. We made one mistake in selection (9th-10th grade) and one fantastic choice, with a little "time out" in between.
Our educational consultant (nothing like the expensive college ones, by the way, although she does help people with colleg fits, essays etc, too) was very reasonably priced and a great resource.<br>
I think it can be done on your own with the help of this forum. There is a lot of knowledge here (including me). There are many fine boarding schools that are overlooked by the vast majoriity of families who seem to focus on the top 5 or 10 to the exclusion of some real gems. I would not trade my son's experience at his MAPL school for any other place in the world. I miss the place so much that we (H and I) are planning to stop by in a few weeks when we are in the area and visit the wonderful friends we made who are faculty members and staff there.</p>
<p>There is an educational consultant who sometimes on this board. I think his/her board name is something like "educonsultant22." You might search for this person and pm for more information. He/she works at a K-8 or K-9 independent school, so he/she knows boarding schools.</p>
<p>Hi, I am an educational consultant and also work at a K-8 private school, so yes, I would say that consultants are very valuable. Finding a consultant who specializes in boarding schools is key.</p>
<p>I have never had a client tell me that I was not helpful. Usually the school list is most helpful and giving the student an idea of likelihood of acceptance. Regarding essays, it is not an "edit" like a college consultant might do. We sit down and talk about what to write about. For example, one of my clients wrote about his interest in auto racing. I said, "Hey remember when we met and you told me about architecture, and the drawings and study you did, maybe that would make a better essay then car racing?" He agreed and changed it. Sometimes its more subtle than that. I have the benefit of reading about 5 Taft essays each year, so when I see that a good writer has chosen a weak approach, I know it is weak, and suggest a better topic. A parent or college consultant who has no idea what a typical Taft applicant writes about, might say, Oh this is a good essay.</p>
<p>And finally the interview is usually the clincher. Most kids need guidance here and I see improvement as we practice.</p>
<p>Overall, most applicants to boarding school DO use a consultant. They come in many forms, a K-8 private school placement counselor, a program like Prep for Prep and all the others have placement officers, most international students have them, and many many people hire them as well. So I'd say that an applicant is in the minority if they go it alone. My guess is that about 1/3 of applicants go it alone, and the other 2/3 have help of some kind.</p>
<p>You can always check out the Independent Educational Consultants Association for lists of consultants near you.</p>
<p>I work on the other side of the desk, watching families come through with and without educational consultants. As others have pointed out, an educational consultant is a great time saver, helping a family to do much of the legwork to find the right fit for a chlid's needs. Be sure to ask around for recommendations for a good consultant. There is not much to keep just anyone from calling themselves an educational consultant and some have very limited knowledge of the boarding school world, specialize in certain learning difficulties, or have a very limited geographic scope. The IECA is a good place to start.</p>
<p>If you already have your school picked out, you may not need this service. Be nice to the folks in the admissions office and ask their advice in completing the application. If your son plays sports or has specific interests, encourage him to directly contact a coach or teacher with an email message requesting information about the program. Nothing makes a bigger impression on a school than a student who is motivated to learn more about the school on his/her own.</p>
<p>Most importantly, I would encourage you to cast your net widely. There are many good schools out there -- schools that will recognize your son's qualities and potential without the need to hire a professional masseuse to help him look good.</p>
<p>We haven't gone through this process, so take what follows as my own deductions, not verified by experience, nor any sort of personal "knowledge."</p>
<p>I would not assume that a kid from a "mediocre public high school" would be at a disadvantage, if her test scores were competitive for the school to which she was applying, and she interviewed well. Here's my reasoning. Folks who work in admissions offices at the top preps are sophisticated people. They have to be. They know that applicants from private k-9 schools are coached, and given significant guidance through the process. They expect it, and thus, they probably discount it, a little. That is, a strong student who doesn't need much help may be at a peculiar disadvantage, because some of his strengths are assumed to be the product of his environment.</p>
<p>For such candidates, I assume the K-9 school's track record for behaving honestly and ethically in the application process is of paramount importance. If the school has a history of sending strong students to a boarding school, that has a "halo effect" for future applicants. Likewise, however, if a school isn't reliable, that has a negative effect. Of course, parents of these students don't have any control over this, and I don't think that anyone at the schools would admit such a thing.</p>
<p>In comparison, a kid from a "mediocre public school" doesn't have behind her the strong support a private school can offer. The preps she applies to will know that, and will take that into account. In this case, it may even work to her advantage, in a funny way. Note that in this scenario, relying on a consultant to review the essay, etc., would move her into the "coached and guided" category, without the support of a private school's experience and reputation.</p>
<p>Nobody is supposed to "review" them. It is supposed to be the student's work in its entirety. Nobody is supposed to edit or suggest anything. Read the forms you need to sign. St. Paul's said something a long the lines of, "I declare on my honor that the above work is the work of only me, the student, and it has not been reviewed by any parent, teacher, friend, etc.".... Do you really think that's ethical, to have your kid's writing submitted, not in its original state?</p>
<p>I've had two children apply to bs. My older son had several friends apply as well. No one used a consultant or had their essays reviewed. I would have used a consultant if I had felt totally in the dark regarding the process and was unfamiliar with the schools. But, I would not have considered having the application or essays double-checked by a professional. I did feel that both of my sons could/should get in on their own attributes.</p>
<p>I just find that deceptive and sneaky. I wrote my essays all by myself with no help. I churned out 8 separate, fantastic, ORIGINAL, well written essays. One admissions officer even wrote on my acceptance letter in the margins, commenting on the originality of my essays, and how it was one of the best she had ever read for an application. I did that all by myself, while attending a public school (Exeter in the fall). All of my essays were really good, and I'm convinced that my Exeter essays -- which both took a unique approach to the prompt and were very pensive and personal -- are what were probably what pushed me over the fence in admissions. The essays were all "me", reflecting my individual thought process and unique perceptions..a "reviewer"'s nitpicking will overrule those crucial nuances. But do as you will.</p>
<p>Blairt--How did you become such an accomplished writer? What kind of instruction or encouragement have you received to date in English composition from your teachers?</p>
<p>I don't imagine you are in a school system where teachers from grade 1 to 12 routinely overlook spelling and grammatical errors because they are possibly:</p>
<p>a. too busy to notice
b. don't really care
c. don't recognize the errors themselves</p>
<p>By the way, most of your classmates at PEA are going to be "deceptive and sneaky"!</p>
<p>I can't imagine that schools really think that studens aren't going to have their parents at the very least look at their application. Not make changes or corrections, but look at it and if something is screaming "DON'T SEND THIS IN," they will suggest a change. </p>
<p>Certainly, ALL Jr. Prep schools - even ours which takes an extremely low-key approach to secondary school placement as compared to a neighboring school and probably a lot of others - has students do "practice essays" in English in the fall term. They would be doing writing anyway in 9th grade, so they pick common application essay topics. But even without that, they are teaching them on a regular basis about proper spelling, grammar, etc. I think baseballmom hit the nail on the head with the point about teachers not making those corrections for various reasons. </p>
<p>I think you are the exception Blairt - to be able to write that many outstanding essays without ANY assistance or guidance. And, to have admissions officers comment on them. We certainly are not going to help, write for, edit, etc our son's essay but we will give some *guidance *if necessary.</p>