Help narrow my choices?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

<p>I am looking into boarding schools for 9th grade (I'm about to finish 7th grade now.)</p>

<p>Over the summer, I'm going to be very busy traveling, so I won't have much time to look at boarding schools. My mom says I can apply to 5 or 6 schools, but no more then that. The problem is, though, that I have quite a few schools I want to apply to, and have no idea how to narrow them down. The schools that I am looking at are:</p>

<p>St. Pauls
Lawrencville
Groton
Middlesex
Peddie
Blair
Loomis Chaffee
Choate Rosemary Hall
Berkshire
Deerfield
Andover</p>

<p>To give you more information about myself, I love to dance. I dance 6 days per week (a total of 15 or so hours) and I am on a competition team. I also love singing, and am in my school chorus. Another passion of mine is fashion design, and I love composing music.</p>

<p>For academics, my favorite subjects are Latin (I love languages - I'm half Ecuadorian, so I've been speaking both English and Spanish my whole life, and languages come naturally to me), English (writing is one of my huge passions, and I have won several writing competition throughout my life), and Math, which just runs in my family.</p>

<p>Dancing is my main sport, however I also play softball and want to try field hockey. Athletics are not my strong point, but I am interested in changing that, since they've always fascinated me.</p>

<p>With these as my interests, which of the schools listed above would you most suggest for me? If you currently attend one of them, or have attended it, can you to tell me your thoughts, the schools strong points, etc.?</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Based off your interest in dance, I’d advise you to keep SPS on your list. SPS is supposed to have an amazing dance program as well as amazing Latin program. </p>

<p>I’d suggest your final list should look a little something like:</p>

<p>-SPS
-Andover
-Deerfield
-Loomis
-Middlesex
-Groton
-L’ville
-Peddie
-Blair</p>

<p>This might be a lot, but I recommend applying to a lot of schools (7-10). Good luck, and remember that 9th grade admissions is pretty tough.</p>

3

<p>I know I sound biased because I’m going to Choate next year, but Choate should definitely be on your list. They have an EXCELLENT dance program and their softball team is really good.</p>

4

<p>Choate was on her list. You seem well rounded, but being able to distinguish the difference between the words “then” and “than” is needed to go a good prep school on the premise that writing is a huge passion of yours.</p>

5

<p>I meant her refined list. And it could have been a typo. There was no need for the hostility.</p>

6

<p>^ i honestly don’t think there was any intented hostility, it was an innocuous comment…</p>

<p>i’d recommend adding some “safeties” (i hate that word, but perhaps schools with >30-40% acceptance rates) to your list. most of the schools you’ve listed are among the most competitive.
also, your school choices are kind of all over the place in terms of location (rural, urban, suburban) and school population (large, small). i’m sure the environments at groton and andover are huuuugely different, and you must have a preference, so use that criteria to perhaps whittle your list down.</p>

<p>best of luck!</p>

7

<p>I know you don’t want to add any schools, but I think you should look at Hill. I know an amazing latin teacher that used to work at a HADES level school and he said they have the best Latin department out of any boarding school.</p>

8

<p>Thanks, Prepschooler2011, I’ll look into it.</p>

9

<p>Though you should certainly decide for yourself, I would absolutely not classify the Choate dance program as either strong or comprehensive. If you would like to continue to dance as much as 15+ hours a week, there may be better choices out there. However, if you are looking to diversify your interests, and have dance play a more minor role alongside sports/music/math/writing, then it may well suit your needs.
Additionally, while SPS does have a premier dance program - it’s strength it classical ballet and pointe. A smattering of modern to supplement. If you are coming from a more commercial competition school you may not feel that there is enough diversity in their course offerings outside of the ballet universe.
As one who has walked this road recently, if you wish to dance at a high level at boarding school there are very few choices. The summer dance intensives become extremely important for continued training - there just isn’t the time in a boarding school schedule to accommodate the hours if studio time. We have found a balance that works reasonably well - but you will need to compromise somewhere.</p>

10

<p>Liddyb4 - Which boarding schools would you recommend that have a variety of dance styles? What is the balance that you have found for your dancing at boarding school? Thanks so much.</p>

11

<p>Ballerina22- I know this thread is to help you narrow your school search but I just wanted to ask a question.</p>

<p>Everyone- I’m reapplying for tenth grade and want to apply to schools with strong dance programs, like ballerina22, but also with strong humanities programs. What are some of the schools with those? Also, what are schools in general w/ strong humanities.</p>

12

<p>Well I also dance and when I went to Deerfield’s revisit day…the dance program was amazing. They do a lot of different styles of dance and the students I observed were so into the choreography!
@itgirl5 I have heard that Hotchkiss is big on Humanities and has a great dance program (I applied there).</p>

13

<p>Thanks, deerbri. Do you go to deerfield? If so, can you tell me what you think of it?</p>

14

<p>I don’t go to Deerfield right now but was accepted for the class of 2015. It was my first choice from the start and I am so happy that I got in! When I went to the revisit day everyhting was great! One thing that put me off from it though (when doing research) was the fact that everyone said it was extremely preppy. When I visited I really did not get that vibe AT ALL. The people are TRUELY welcoming and I love,love,love the sit down meal aspect. Oh, and the Koch center is soooo awesome. If you have any questions about the process of applying or whatever feel free to PM me!–especially in the fall when I’m on campus!!</p>

15

<p>[Ballet</a> Boarding Schools - Boarding School Review](<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/boarding_schools_sports/sport/44]Ballet”>Best Ballet Boarding Schools (2023))</p>

<p>This is boarding school review’s list of schools with ballet programs :)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/boarding_schools_sports/sport/38[/url]”>http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/boarding_schools_sports/sport/38&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This one is 54 boarding schools with dance!</p>

16

<p>Deerbri - The preppiness was one of the things that was putting me off Deerfield too, so it’s good you didn’t get that vibe from it.</p>

<p>dancerinthedark - Thanks for those lists, they have helped me see which of my top choices don’t have dance programs.</p>

17

<p>I’m not sure if that list is 100% accurate. For example, Andover has a dance program including a ballet and modern auditioned group, dance as a sport, dance concerts, and many student run dance shows.</p>

18

<p>Yeah, I sort of figured as much, because St Paul’s isn’t on either of those lists.</p>

19

<p>I agree with DiveAlive</p>

<p>I am not sure what type of student you are academically, but you should you should make sure you have a couple safeties in your list. Boarding school admissions are becoming more and more competitive. Many schools that you are looking at has record breaking acceptance rates, and I am sure the trend will continue next year. Blair may be a good safety school, although it is getting more competitive from year to year. I think there acceptance rate this year is probably in the lower 30s or upper 20s. However, I have no idea if Blair’s dance program is any good. That is something you should look into yourself. Call them up and see if they have any additional information about their dance program. I take back my recommendation for Hill (although that may be a safety too) if you do not like a very conservative, very preppy school. Hill may even be more preppy than Deerfield. Good luck with your search!</p>