I’m currently a freshman applying to boarding school for 10th grade. I know for sure that I’m applying to Andover, Exeter and St. Paul (side note: I’m fully aware that the odds of getting into these school are low, but my local school is also really good so if I don’t get into any of them that’s okay, which is why I’m not applying to any safety schools). Anyway, I’ve been reading a TON of stuff online about a bunch of different schools and I’m really conflicted. I am most interested in humanities, and I want to go to as rigorous of a school as I can, while still having some time for extracurriculars. Location isn’t a huge factor. My parents say I can apply to five schools, so I’m trying to figure out what other two I should apply for. I’ve looked into Lawrenceville, Deerfield, and Choate a little bit, but I am EXTREMELY open to suggestions.
I’ve been going mainly off the Business Insider list of top 50 US Boarding Schools (it won’t let me put the link).
Applying this year is pretty horrible because there is no option for visiting any campuses. I therefore don’t have ANY grasp on what the culture, campus and student life is like at these schools. Most of the things I’ve read online were written pre-pandemic and therefore strongly encourage campus visits, which is simply not an option. If anyone can speak from personal experience or knows people at a specific school, I would love to hear your perspective.
Please help me!!!
I think that once you STOP reading things like the Top 50 Business Insider lists and START thinking about why you are applying, what you want in a school, and who you really are, you’ll know what to look for in a potential school.
Right now it looks like you are only looking for prestige.
Yes, it makes sense to only go to a school that offers more than your current one, but that doesn’t mean that only the pressure cookers with low admit rates are the only ones to consider.
- What kind of student are you? Not just grades, but learning style.
- What ECs do you currently have. What ECs would you want to continue?
- What would be your ideal home? What level of rules can you stand? (Hey, you’ll be living there.)
Look at the schools virtual tours, profiles of students/teachers, shows, instagram, etc.
So much about the application process is about “fit”. A non-pressure cooker can offer a high quality education, and reading between the lines, that might be you.
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Thanks so much taking the time to reply to my post!
I first want to mention that I’m going off that Business Insider list because I am entirely clueless about this whole process, and didn’t have any idea where to even start. I knew that lists like those would have respectable/well established schools on them, so I’m not necessarily going only after prestige, but I figured prestigious schools probably are pretty good overall or they wouldn’t be prestigious 
I also really like my current school and enjoy being with my family, so if I do choose to go away I want to be confident that I’m making the right decision (I already know from past experiences that home sickness wont be a big issue for me, so that’s not really a factor).
To answer your questions:
- I have pretty good grades (all A’s and one B+). I really like discussion based learning, and find I do best in classes where the teacher asks a lot of questions. I love to talk and am fairly inquisitive. I generally dislike classes that rely on memorization more than understanding. I am taking the hardest classes possible at my school right now, completely of my own volition, because I really like to challenge myself.
- The current ECs I’m in are debate, model UN, student council, and Chinese club. I also established and hosted a Chinese camp for three weeks over the summer with students from my local elementary school, and in the past I’ve done a few selective summer programs with academic and volunteer focus. I definitely want to continue with debate because I have an interest in politics and am pretty good at it, and probably some of the others as well. In terms of sports, I’ve swam on a competitive team for the past nine years, and I recently started playing lacrosse. I’d love to continue with athletics, but I’m not great at either sport and do them both mostly
for fun (I’m currently on competitive teams for both, but would never make varsity at any of the schools I’m applying to), so athletics aren’t a huge priority.
- I am in no means a huge ‘rule-follower’, but I have enough common sense to rarely get in trouble. I can tolerate strict rules fairly well because my school last year was extremely strict and I doubt many places could surpass that (it was still a really great school that I loved, just a bit authorization lol).
I’ve been on a lot of school’s websites, but I want to make sure I’m not just falling for a sales pitch. I’ve also scrolled through some pages on TikTok of current Andover/Exeter students, and they all seen to generally enjoy it (I’ve looked for other schools but couldn’t find much).
Niche and Boarding School Review have some additional info, though pouring over school websites is still of paramount importance.
Curious - why the 5 school limit?
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Honestly, I don’t have a clue why they only want me to apply to five. I think if I pushed them about it they would be more lenient. Neither of them ever went to boarding school or really knew anyone whose gone, so we are all completely new to the process. I know a few kids from my current school who are going or have siblings who’ve gone, but no one I’m close enough with to ask any questions. I also think they consider applying to more than five to be somewhat excessive, considering all of the essays and interviews, when I will ultimately only choose one anyways, so they believe that I might as well narrow my list from the get-go.
One of my college roommates went to Hotchkiss and loved it. I know the learning style would be compatible with what you are looking for, it is a “round table” (literally, I think) where class discussion and debate of topics is the norm. It is is rural Connecticut in beautiful surroundings, as are the large majority of boarding schools lol. If you have an idea of what your goals are for college, you might want to look at matriculation patterns if you have hopes to attend a specific university. Some schools have great ties to specific universities where the counselors may be better prepared with insight and relationships that might facilitate your acceptance.
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Okay, I’m still really lost. I feel like there are SO many great options out there and I’m going to widen my list a bit, but I’ve got to finalize it today. I am really looking for a school with a great humanities program (I want to get into politics after college), a strong writing program, and a good alumni base in DC.
Side note: I know it looks like I’m really behind in this process but I’ve already completed the Gateway part 1 and gotten my teacher recs 
This SCREAMS Loomis to me. Extremely strong signature writing program, check it out if you haven’t already.
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All the schools will have discussion based classes. All have excellent writing programs. I know Hotchkiss best and they have a required humanities program in 9th and 10th grade, which is phenomenal, though I am quite sure the other schools have great humanities education as well. When I was aware of the Hotchkiss debate program, 10 years ago, it was literally one of the best in the world. However I have no idea what it’s like now.
Perhaps at least consider setting and size as a way to winnow your list.
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Can I be a mom here for second?
Don’t worry. You aren’t behind. You are fine. I promise you we added schools over Christmas last year and it was all just fine.
So a couple of thoughts if you are open to them.
First — what is magical about today that the list must be finalized? It would seem unlikely to go from total open brainstorm mode to finalized list in a matter of hours. So I’m wondering where this deadline is coming from and if perhaps you might be drumming up unnecessary stress for yourself?
Second — if there is any chance you might expand beyond 5 applications at any point in the next month, my suggestion would be to have at least one school in SÃO if you possibly can. So if you apply to Loomis, for instance, I believe they accept both gateway and SÃO and so maybe do that in SÃO? I’ve written a lot about this before so I won’t repeat here. But it sure does make adding schools easier. Many folks would point out that five applications to highly competitive schools is risky. I think you’ve indicated that you have a good day school option at home though?
Agree with comments above that the vast majority of BS will offer discussion based classes. (I will say HK humanities seemed extra special when we visited.)
Have you considered episcopal given your politics and DC interest?
However — if you are SURE not to add more applications later on, even if you come up empty on M10 — then obviously sticking with gateway would be easier for your recommenders. (Which is also why I recommend doing SÃO and gateway from the get-go for future readers).
Feel free, OP, to list your broader brainstorm list here and we can maybe help you weed some out?
Unless you have some unusual circumstances, you are FINE. Work with purpose, of course, but don’t panic at all. (My DD didn’t even write a draft of any essays until Christmas break because she bomber her SSATs twice and she ended up with lots of acceptance and is now at Andover. Really, it’s ok.)
If you already have recommendation letters in on Gateway for the schools you already added, when you add new schools, would the common letters ( ELA, Math) automatically transfer to the newly added schools or you have to ask the recommenders again?
@chemsider I can only speak to how it was set up last year as we had both gateway and SAO schools. The answer is: in Gateway, it depends on the teacher. Apparently, the recommenders have an option to allow for the recommendation to be sent to other schools automatically. Last year, my daughter added a (gateway) school and she had one teacher who had NOT clicked that box. So DD had to email that teacher, who then had to go into the interface and allow the recommendation to go. It was apparently a very quick thing, so not a lot of work, but an email to teacher nonetheless.
In SAO, the recommendations and such are all right there and no one is notified or needs to sign off on you sending to other schools – you add a school, pay with your credit card, and within minutes they have your application.
Good to know. Thanks!
We are still debating if we should add another school (s) to set a wider net as many recommends in the forum. Our logic is that if DC goes to a boarding school, at least it would be a top school otherwise DC would go to a private school in NYC in which case we set a wider net ( though we don’t have guarantee for that neither). For Boarding schools, we applied to very selective ones : Exeter, Andover, Choate , Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Middlesex, Lville, Loomis, and Taft. We are done with interviews and most of the applications is complete except the essays, transcript reports. Interviews went well but I guess it is common for almost everyone so I don’t know. We will see how it works out.
@Calliemomofgirls It’s actually extremely reassuring to know that I can still add schools in the next few weeks. I thought I was so behind on this entire process because I keep hearing of people who have finished their interviews and are about to submit their entire application. My parents are very supportive and willing to help, but all of us are completely clueless about this entire process. They’ve basically told me to research the schools and decide where I want to apply because they’re unfamiliar with all but the top three-ish schools (and even those they only know by name).
The reason I set today as a deadline for myself is because I have finals coming up and want to be in a position where I can mostly set aside my applications for the next week and a half without completely blowing my chances at getting into BS for next year. I think I’m now in a position where I can do that. I’ve submitted part one, asked for rec letters, scheduled interviews and outlined essays for the schools I know I’m applying to. I can’t tell you how comforting it is to hear that I will still be able to add a school or two to my list during break. I just have so much going on right now with the end of the semester approaching that it’s been very stressful.
This is my list so far:
- SPS (this is the only school that I went to an information session for before COVID and I really liked it)
- Andover
- Exeter
- Lville (I’m not entirely sure why but I really liked everything I read on their website)
- Loomis (my English teacher’s brother went there and when I told her I was applying to BS she strongly recommended it)
- St. George’s (I really like their travel programs, and you can’t beat that campus)
Thank you for your input and reassurance, I needed that!