<p>The laundry list of ECs really means very little to most admissions readers unless you have DEPTH in those ECs. Most schools are going to look very hard at a kid with the grades/scores and 1 or 2 ECs with great strength (ie varsity sport potential, first chair violin etc) and a FEW lesser ECs. An applicant with a dozen ECs but none with great depth faces an uphill battle and better have FANTASTIC grades/scores/recs or be a development admit. This advice may be too late for many current applicants but is certainly true at many of the schools with low admit rates.</p>
<p>Oh goodness… I have a lot of ECs. Four of them are pretty strong (11 years of dance, state winning cross country team, etc.) but the rest aren’t. Is that going to hurt my application?</p>
<p>This is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen so far on this forum. You really don’t need to be a super-brianiac with 1000ECs to get in to these schools, more or less ECs don’t hurt or help. For BS admissions, from what I’ve seen, it’s all about the interviews — they just want to know if you’re suited for BS (trust me, a HUGE number of applicants are not). This is not college — they don’t care about having geniuses in their classrooms as much as they care about diversity, and as someone else said, it isn’t just racial, geographic or socio-economic diversity; diversity can also mean diversity of intelligence levels. The key thing they look at is if you’re suited for Boarding School or not — and trust me on this, if you get rejected over someone who isn’t as special as you are, don’t feel bad at all — it just means that he/she’s better suited for BS. The interview is all that matters, and you really can’t fake/prep for what they are looking for.</p>
<p>Is it true that “interview is all that matters”? I thought for most applicants interview would neither make nor break the deal. Unless there’s clear signs that you are not BS material or you’d be a trouble maker in the community, which shouldn’t happen too often, you are fine. I have no statistics about this but I have doubts about the statement “a huge number of applicants are not suited for BS”. The fact that the kids and their parents go out of their ways to apply shows the basic readiness for BS. </p>
<p>Also, “diversity can also mean diversity of intelligence levels”? Does that mean a top school would choose someone with lower “intelligence level” on purpose? Meaning, would a student be selected just because he has lower “intelligence level” and therefore can provide the “intelligence level diversity”? This is highly unlikely. I do believe that schools would choose students with different kinds of abilities (e.g. athletic vs. academic). The result would be a natural “diversity in intelligence level”. That however cannot be the intention to start with, or can it?</p>
<p>An admissions officer at a school we looked at remarked at how many applicants they get that really don’t know at all what they are looking for. For instance, does your child want a large school like PA and PE, a more urban setting like Choate (not that Wallingford is urban), rural like Hotchkiss. They are looking for kids who can in the interview articulate why XYZ BS is right for them. They have a wide variety of skills they are looking for and social skills should not be discounted.</p>
<p>I’m just skeptical about my EC’s because I have 2 sports and 6 clubs, but since I just moved here 4 years ago and I’m a sophmore in high school the longest I’ve participated in any EC is 3 years. I feel like that makes me look like I’m just padding, but I really am committed, for instance I’m treasurer of one of my clubs but on the other hand I’m just JV on the sports and stuff. What do y’all think?</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think the interview is neutral, otherwise it wouldn’t be required for every applicant. If a student hardly talks at an interview, has poor answers (like “Why do want to attend such and such school” “Uhhh…it looks really cool and I don’t like my current school”), doesn’t make eye contact, stuff lilke that, the interviewer should take notice. I mean they do write a report, and I would think that would weigh on the admissions decision.</p>
<p>The interview is important and can certainly elevate a really charismatic/inspirational kid into the “discussion.” However, to say “the interview is all that matters” is not at all correct. If you are dynamite in every other way (grades, scores, ECs) but falter on the interview then you are certainly doing OK. However, a kid with an EXTRAORDINARY interview but poor grades/testing/EC will be discussed and from there it depends on the whim of the committee. Bottom line, the interview matters but it is not the deciding factor. ps If you’re new to a school and new to ECs at that school, don’t freak out. Just make sure you’re clear in your app that you love what you’re doing and aren’t doing it just to pad your resume.</p>
<p>There is a lot of good advice here. I am intimately knowledgeable with just one school but know a few others fairly well. For illustration lets say the process works as follows; an applicant can earn up to 30 points. The points are hypothetically spread 10 for academics, 10 for extracurriculars and 10 for personal. Now realize, while the point distribution implies that all three are equally weighted, it gets a bit more complicated. They do not want to admit Any student who does not have a good chance or surviving academically. So . When the committee looks at candidates, some have already been removed because it is just too big a stretch academically for them. A few may just be stellar. The committee will focus on the applicants that have (hypothetically) points between 18-25 points. Several people will review the application and they will be discussed in depth by a large number of people if those reviewers do not agree. </p>
<p>So do extracurriculars matter? Yes, but they may be extraordinary at just one thing and still get 10 points for it. It could be a hobby or an interest. Does the interview matter? Yes, and there it will be a combination of the interview, the essays, and the recommendations. An applicant could still get 10 points on personal even if they were terrified and froze during their interview. It happens. But they do not want to have an exceptionally bright applicant with great extracurriculars, who will not fit in. They are weaving a fabric that will set the tone for the whole school. A student who is weak on personality (lots of measures) can be poisonous. You can (and will) have a few, but not too many.</p>
<p>Finally, they want applicants who want to be at the school. That is why you see very high yield stats for all of the top schools. The applicant pools are just not identical and the offers given are certainly not identical. In addition, you should assume that between your tour, interview and application, they have tried to decide if you are interested in them. That will earn you a couple of points when it comes to making offers.</p>
<p>Now having said all that, each school varies, but most have a process like this. That is why it is almost useless to chance people, even based on honest SSATs, grades and extracurriculars. In my example, that applicant could get 20 points and still be rejected. If the decision process was that simple then the decisions could be made by computer and all applicants would have been automatically informed the day after the applications were due. It is an art and an imperfect one made by a committee of admissions officers, faculty and (in my example) a limited number of Seniors. </p>
<p>All of you should feel good. A schools decision is not a judgment of you. It is clear that most of you have an amazing litany of wonderful strengths. But the people that sound best may not be what a particular school wants for that class for this year. So try not to compare yourself too much to other applicants who post here. They may not get in and you may.</p>
<p>It was a great post. Thank you for that and all your others.</p>
<p>I think that applicants (and their moms!) want make admissions a clear cut process so that it’s easier to deal with not being in control. That lack of certainty can be discomforting, to say the least. It’s kind of ironic because one of the reasons we are seeking BS is so that my husband and I can let go of controlling their education. We want to be able to say, “Here, we trust you to teach him, guide him, challenge him, let him fall and get back up.” </p>
<p>But the way that you described it, Winterset, reminds me of why we are doing this. I really do think that the fact that these schools hand pick their students for all kinds of reasons is what makes these schools so very special. As much as it would ease my mind to think that if my child has X Y and Z he will gain admission, I don’t think I would think as highly of the schools to which he applied if all they did was add up points.</p>
<p>trust the process - trust the process - trust the process
they are very good at their jobs - they are very good at their jobs</p>
<p>Neato: On the subject of “let go of controlling their education”… </p>
<p>Our daughter is a college Senior. My wife agonized endlessly about the college applications. We were all stressed. </p>
<p>Our boarding school son is a senior. He simply informed us he had written his essays, collected his recommendations, and applied to the schools he was interested in. For his second set of SAT’s he came down with H1N1 and so he only submitted his Junior year scores. It made no difference. He got in early action to one phenomenal school and now is waiting on two of the most competitive in the world. If he had been at home my wife would have tried to control the process.</p>
<p>Morals: 1) They can probably handle more responsibility than we believe, 2) Worrying too much about admissions to colleges or boarding schools is not good for any of us and may not change the results anyway. </p>
<p>Glad we have ‘graduated’ from the process. No more applications, unless its graduate school.</p>
<p>:( I’m going to go cry now…jk! I agree with you, but I don’t think it’s going to make or break you either way, I believe that it depends on everyone’s specific circumstances</p>
<p>When the Andover rep was in my city he explained how they look at admitting students:</p>
<p>We look for a over group of students to balance each other and their class. So many math/science types and so many humanities types, so many football/soccer/crew players verses dancers/singers/theater major. Boys balanced with girls. International verses, east coast, midwest, west coast,etc.</p>
<p>As we are applying as 2nd year student I was concerned initially, but many schools take in 30 % of the graduating class a second yr students. Thus, in so ways it might seem easier for a good student to get in as a second year student, especially outside of the east coast group. Here in the midwest, kids go K-8,then go to high school, whereas many school out east go K-9.</p>
<p>Many of the schools are looking for a balanced class. So from year to year what they are looking for differs.</p>
So im with you hoping</p>