Help Needed Fast - Very Unusual Scenario

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>BACKGROUND (please read as this is relevant to my questions):
I consider myself American but have lived in the UK for the past 6 years, so have recently become a British Citizen.</p>

<p>I'm currently home-schooled (I follow an American curriculum) but will be applying to attend high school in the US for one year (as a repeat senior/Post Grad - I'm 18) before applying to colleges. I can't state the reason in this post as it will make me identifiable - however if you'd like more details before giving me advice then please send me a Private Message.</p>

<p>I currently live on my own in an apartment and have done for almost a year now. Whilst it's almost unheard of for an 18 year old (still in high school) in the US to live by themselves, it's not unusual over here (although it still isn't common). </p>

<p>The reason I live alone is because I have a medical disorder (again, I can't post the details here) that makes me extremely intolerant to noise - my apartment is completely soundproofed. I went on a summer program in America in July and, despite being assigned one of the only single rooms, I had to move out of the accommodation because I couldn't sleep at all due to the noise of people next door/above/in the corridor. </p>

<p>QUESTIONS:
1. Will any day high school (private/public) allow an international student to reside in the US without parents (mine live in the UK and can't move back to the US due to work commitments)? I do have relatives living in New York, Los Angeles & Chicago who would be happy to help with anything, although I wouldn't be able to live with them because of my noise intolerance (as mentioned before). I'm aware that the majority of universities allow international freshman to attend as commuter students and rent an apartment nearby - and I'd be the same age as these freshman. I would also be able to demonstrate responsibility - given that I have lived independently for almost a year. I'm reluctant to ask the high schools this question as they would likely think of me as odd, which would significantly reduce my chance of being admitted.</p>

<ol>
<li>Are there any boarding schools with single dorm rooms that have good sound insulation between the dorms (i.e. you can't hear other people walking down the corridor/on the ceiling or talking etc.)? The single room would also have to have an en-suite bathroom because, due to my medical condition (the one that makes me noise-intolerant), I have a prolapsed bladder so have to use a catheter and go to the toilet frequently throughout the night. For this reason I would be extremely anxious without a private bathroom. Again, I do not wish to ask the boarding schools about their soundproofing/bathroom layout/room allocation policy as I do not want them to view me as an overly-complicated case (I can't find any of this information on boarding school websites - with the exception of some schools stating that they have single rooms).</li>
</ol>

<p>CONCLUSION:</p>

<p>The deadline for most high schools is January 15th and I am yet to start any applications/campus visits due to time spent in hospital this past month (although I should be able to get everything done in time as I am home-schooled with no additional commitments and have already taken the SAT).</p>

<p>Therefore, please answer my two questions as soon as possible. I am aware that the majority of you will not be admissions officers/faculty at a high school but it would be extremely useful to hear opinions from parents/students currently living in the US.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance :) </p>

<p>[If I have come across as over-privileged - "own apartment" "soundproofing" "en-suite bathroom" - I would like to clarify that I'm not spoilt but that these measures have been necessary due to my serious illness. My family is not wealthy, we are middle class.]</p>

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<p>I’d think they would have to accomodate you. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>stargirl3, did any of the boarding schools you have toured have any single rooms with private bathrooms (for seniors/post-grads)? </p>

<p>(I’m looking for good academics - my SAT score should be around a 2300 based on practice tests.)</p>

4

<p>1) It’s assumed that day students live with parents or other adults. It’s possible that it would be acceptable to have relatives living nearby who could pick you up if you got sick, etc, but you’d have to discuss that with the individual schools. In any case, since you currently live beyond commuting distance, you’ll need to explain how how you’re going to be a day student. </p>

<p>2) You really need to discuss this with schools during the application process since there’s otherwise no guarantee that any particular school has the facilities to accommodate you. </p>

<p>In either case I don’t really see how you can proceed without talking to the schools about your situation. Prep schools like to admit students who have overcome obstacles, so you’re not necessarily putting yourself at a disadvantage by telling them about your requirements.</p>

5

<p>Thank you for the advice, photodad.</p>

<p>1) “It’s assumed that day students live with parents or other adults”.
I do plan on asking any day schools I apply to if I can live alone (especially, as you rightly pointed out, because they’ll ask me where I’m going to live). I only posted on here first in order to identify the conception most Americans have - which you clearly and very helpfully stated (as quoted above). </p>

<p>2) At the moment I think I’m leaning more toward the boarding school option (if a school with such facilities exists) because this would enable me to integrate into the community as supposed to being ‘the odd one out’ so to speak.
The boarding schools I’m interested in are all very selective to selective (Deerfield to Blair) and I don’t have a fall back option for next year so I need to get accepted somewhere! Therefore it would be helpful to know which schools do have single rooms with private bathrooms (perhaps from a student/parent of a student currently attending a boarding school/that has toured boarding schools?). This way I will not have to explain my situation (in detail, obviously I will have to mention my diagnosis) to the schools before applying and could simply request the single room with a private bathroom once (IF) I’m accepted.</p>

<p>3) “Prep schools like to admit students who have overcome obstacles, so you’re not necessarily putting yourself at a disadvantage by telling them about your requirements.” I think that I am a little bias due to past experience - but my experiences have been such that a school/program knowing about my illness has meant that they don’t accept me/kick me out. :(</p>

<p>If anyone does know of a boarding school with single rooms and en-suite bathrooms please post the name below (I’ve heard that Exeter has a few?)</p>

6

<p>I don’t know about private bathrooms, but most schools have some singles (Deerfield is mostly singles). Good luck again! :smiley: I hope you have the chance to apply.</p>

7

<p>As an 18 yr old, u are considered an adult in the U.S., so I see no legal reason preventing u from living alone as a day student.</p>

<p>U are focusing on whether the boarding schools can PHYSICALLY accommodate u, but a larger issue is whether they would be willing to SOCIALLY accommodate u.</p>

<p>As boarding schools are small residential bubbles, they place a lot of emphasis in the selection process on how well the student will fit in in the community. The bar for getting admitted into a selective BS is a heck of a lot higher than getting admitted into a summer program lasting only a couple of weeks.</p>

<p>Even if u do not disclose your condition to the boarding school and are admitted, what would be different vs. what happened last summer? From your account, the school made a reasonable accomodation for you, but it was still intolerable. </p>

<p>Why can u not wear earplugs/earphones? That’s what my S does in his dorm.</p>

8

<ol>
<li><p>Have you given up your U.S. passport after becoming a British national? If so, you will have to apply to the schools that issue I-20 form (visa) for your stay in the US. If you still carry the U.S. passport, you will have no problem staying legally. </p></li>
<li><p>You will probably be ok staying alone as long as you have a guardian. But check with the schools. I know some boarding schools with a single dorm room such as Cate and Deerfield. But if you do have a noise issue, do you think it would be a good idea to be a boarder? I am not sure if schools will put the sound-proof the dorm room for you. In addition, it is a fit issue. </p></li>
<li><p>Getting into a top boarding school as a repeat-senior should be very difficult, if not impossible. It’s not a matter of being smart or not. Many of them do not accept seniors and so, you’d better check with the schools. As for the day school, I have no idea. I hope you could find some schools suitable for your needs.</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>I can’t think of a single boarding school where there is not endless noise except for a few hours a day between 1am-5am. A single room would only partially mitigate the problem. Given your condition, I would never choose to board at a boarding school. Now, if you can find some sort of hermetically sealed cone of silence off campus, that’s different. Maybe that would work. </p>

<p>Keep in mind that while boarding schools talk about accommodating kids with different sorts of needs, the top schools don’t do that well, IMO. They are filled with active, noisy, over achieving, generally healthy kids. Special needs are more like a prozac or Adderall a day…nothing terribly exotic.</p>

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<p>I’m going to post a few more details (before I reply to each individual comment) because I think that without this information it is hard for anyone to provide accurate advice:</p>

<p>I attended one of the top five private schools in the country until I became ill at age 15 (straight A+s, rank = top 10th). I then spent almost two years of my life in bed at home/in hospital before the beginning of this year, when the doctors were finally able to manage my condition effectively using various medications. Prior to this I was not even able to walk. I love acting and want to have a career as an actress but also enjoy academics. For this reason, my top college choice would be NYU, closely followed by Northwestern, USC and BU. At the end of August I emailed the above universities (along with several others) to ask about my specific case – explaining how I hadn’t been in a traditional high school setting since 9th Grade but had been home-schooled ever since and had covered the same amount of content as any other high school senior. I explained that my condition is now completely under control and has little impact on my daily life (beyond certain small factors, such as noise intolerance). My intention was to apply to college this fall instead of to high school, but this all changed when I received the replies. Each of the 15 universities (some were less selective e.g. Pace) said roughly the same thing: that they would need to see me manage in a school setting for a year before even considering my application. I know that I would be able to get into a much less selective university (90%+)/a community college this year based on my test scores alone – but this is not my dream. Every day that I lay on my back staring at the ceiling unable to get up the only thought that kept me going was thinking about attending Tisch and performing on Broadway stage some day (I realise this is unrealistic) and I just know that I wouldn’t be happy at a less selective university with students who aren’t as academically capable (I would class myself as one of those over achieving kids that Parlabane mentioned) or as artistically talented. I would hate to think that none of this is possible because of my illness, but I am starting to feel that way… So this is the reason that I will be applying to high schools – essentially in order to have my application read at NYU and an opportunity to get admitted.</p>

<p>GMTplus7:

  • Whilst there is no legal reason preventing me from living alone as a day student, I do think that day schools would be reluctant to agree to allow an international student (or any student for that matter) to live on their own, despite me being a year older than the other students.
  • My condition does not affect me socially at all – I do not have a cognitive disability or a mental health disorder and have lots of close friends (and a boyfriend). As I stated before, I don’t want to post my diagnosis here as I know that sometimes people from the admissions departments read this forum, but I will say that it fits into the neuromuscular/autoimmune disease spectrum.
  • The summer program I was admitted to is an extremely selective auditioned program, but I do agree with you that getting admitted to a school at HADES level is much harder as there are hundreds of qualified applicants (and hardly any with a serious illness like mine).
  • You make an excellent point about what the difference would be to last summer and, especially after reading Parlabane’s comments, I have now come to the conclusion that being a day student is really the only option for me.
  • Earplugs: I wore earplugs every night throughout a 6-month stay in hospital and ended up causing permanent damage to my eardrums due to pushing the plugs too far into my ear canals. Now I have partial hearing loss in my right ear and if I put earplugs in (against my doctor’s advice – he has told me not to use them under any circumstance) I start to get tinnitus and terrible headaches. </p>

<p>Patronyork:

  • Yes, unfortunately I have given up my US passport. I was issued an I-20 for the summer program I attended though and applying for a repeat I-20 is often much easier, so I don’t think this would be a problem.
  • As I mentioned above, after reading through everyone’s comments, I have decided that it would not be a good idea to be a boarder. When you say “as long as you have a guardian” do you think that I would only be able to attend a school in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago (the areas where my relatives live)?
  • I am extremely worried about the small amount of seniors a school will accept. Schools like Andover accept around 30 seniors + post grads each year, some day schools don’t accept any 12th grade applicants, others do on a space-avaiable basis (i.e. if a student drops out). In addition, many of the applicants that are accepted are athletes (and I’m awful at all sports!). I do have a ‘hook’ (although not a massive one): this fall I was accepted into an extremely selective 1 year drama program at one of the top drama schools in the UK – I was the youngest applicant ever to be accepted. The teacher has told me that he is really impressed with my acting ability and that he is happy to write a recommendation for me. I don’t know if this will make much difference? Are there any alternatives you would recommend?</p>

<p>Parlabane:

  • THANK YOU SO MUCH for your opinion as you have just helped me to finally decide a path forward: which as you rightly said is not boarding - as the environment would be much too noisy for me to cope.
  • I have one last question for you/others: would you recommend that I apply as a day student to a boarding school, or as a day student to a private high school, or as a day student to a public high school (public high schools do accept international students, you just have to pay tuition fees)? Do you think that it would be easier to be admitted to a school that has a Post Graduate year (although I have recently discovered that I wouldn’t be able to apply as a post grad due to not having an official high school diploma) because they always accept a certain number of repeat-seniors? Or harder because they want the athletes for their teams?</p>

<p>Sorry for this INCREDIBLY long post – I am thinking of getting an admissions counsellor to help with my complicated case but they are expensive and College Confidential is a great place to get advice :)</p>

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<p>@serendipity:
It may be well worth the cost to consult with an expert. An experienced education consultant would likely have seen many unusual scenarios and would be able to guide you well as you attempt to navigate through your circumstances. This is a great forum, but I don’t think many of us are able to offer specific advice for your situation.<br>
You sound like an intelligent, passionate and determined young woman who won’t let an illness impose limitations on your future. I wish you all the best.</p>

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<p>I have read all of this thread and the thing that I don’t quite understand is why you would need a guardian. In the US, the age of majority is 18 so you wouldn’t need one for any legal reasons. Would it be possible for you to just move here, to one of the cities in which you have relatives if that makes you feel more comfortable, and then simply enroll in the local high school as a senior? If you moved to NY, the district would likely give you credit for your homeschooling with documentation and the appropriate Regents exams (which you could take when you lived here). They’re very easy. And since you would be living in the district, you wouldn’t need to pay tuition. I don’t know if the nonUS citizenship will hamper this plan, but it’s worth seeing about. Or, couldn’t you just go to a school in the UK, where you are for a year? That seems like the easiest way to go about it all. You’d be applying as an international student to colleges whether you live here or in the UK so it doesn’t really give you an advantage to apply while living in the US.</p>

<p>I’m surprised about colleges insisting on seeing a year of school. There are many US homeschooled kids who go on to fine colleges without ever having stepped foot in a traditional classroom. Maybe it’s because they have AP tests to back up their mommy grades? Perhaps you could use SAT subject tests? You can take 3 in one sitting. There’s a subforum on CC for it, as a matter of fact. It’s under the Pre-college section.</p>

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<p>cameo43, thank you for the kind words :)</p>

<p>neatoburrito:

  1. ‘why you would need a guardian’
    I do not feel that I need a guardian and would be happy to live in a different city from my US relatives - I think others were suggesting that the school would be more comfortable if a member of my family was acting as my guardian whilst away from my parents. Legally there is not an issue - it is more a question of what the school would be happy with. </p>

<p>2) ‘simply enroll in the local high school’
I know that I would still need to pay tuition ([Foreign</a> Students (F-1) in Public Schools](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>404 - Page Not Found)) - although the cost would be significantly less than at a private school with no financial aid. As for simply enrolling, I am unsure if this is a possibility (although it seems somewhat unlikely?) and will definitely need to find this out. I’ve been so caught up in looking at prep schools that I didn’t stop to consider this option. Thank you for pointing it out! </p>

<p>3) ‘just go to a school in the UK’
Given that I’ve been following an American curriculum it would be impossible for me to attend a school with a British curriculum for just one year and I really don’t want to end up in college with classmates who are several years younger than me, as I am quite mature for my age (the majority of my friends are in their early twenties). IB diploma schools are also two years and, seeing as I would like to be an actress, I don’t want to graduate university aged 25. There are only 5 schools in the UK that offer an American curriculum (AP levels etc.) I applied to one of them as a late applicant in June (they still had a couple of spaces available for this year) but didn’t get accepted and I have heard that repeat applicants have a relatively low change of admission. The other 4 schools are weak academically (I know this because my Mom has several friends who have sent their kids to these schools and also by looking at the stats and matriculation data). If I don’t get accepted anywhere in the US then this would be an alternative option, particularly as all 4 schools have rolling admissions. </p>

<p>3) ‘I’m surprised about colleges insisting on seeing a year of school.’
I don’t think the fact that I’m homeschooled is the reason the colleges advised this. I was given a very detailed explanation by one of the deans of admissions, who explained that because of my illness (which can be fatal at the most severe end of the spectrum) they would need to see that I could function in a structured environment, attending school each day and completing homework without becoming too exhausted or missing lots of school for hospital appointments. Colleges are often concerned about their retention rate and sometimes students who have some kind of illness end up dropping out, as they can’t cope with the workload and increased demands of college life. </p>

<hr>

<p>OK, so I’ve been doing some more research and have a couple of new questions:

  1. I’ve heard that the majority of students applying to Interlochen apply for senior year only – are there any more academic schools (not performing arts high schools) that also have applicants mainly applying for senior year?</p>

<p>2) Another option that a friend pointed out to me earlier is to apply to a less selective college/community college for next year and then apply as a transfer applicant to NYU, Northwestern etc. the following year. I was under the impression that it extremely hard to get accepted to a selective university as a transfer from a less selective university. Perhaps even harder than getting accepted to one of HADES? I’m interested in opinions on this</p>

<p>Thank you again for all your help – this thread has certainly given me a lot to think about!</p>

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<p>If you are not US citizen, you need to have a proof of residency to be enrolled at public schools. Period. </p>

<p>A proof of residency includes a green card or i-20 or any cerrificate that enables you to stay longer than visitors. Usually one year I guess. And unfortunately public schools dont issue i20. </p>

<p>You can go to a public school in Canada by paying some tuition. They issue i20.</p>

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<p>It IS difficult to transfer to selective colleges. In general, the more selective the school, the fewer transfers they take. NYU isn’t as bad as some schools-- their website says they accepted about 1900 out of 5800 transfer applicants. But it won’t be easy. Still, it’s also very difficult to get accepted as a senior at private boarding or day schools. I would just start contacting schools and see if you get any encouragement to apply as a senior. Cast a wide net.</p>

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<p>Suggest begin looking carefully for colleges that allow freshman to live off campus (most do not). All dorms are incredibly noisy. </p>

<p>Look into a year or two at a top community college with an “honors program” that links to admission to Amherst or other top 4-year LAC schools. Just saw an article about it today in NY times. </p>

<p><a href=“Top Students at Community Colleges to Have Chance to Raise Ambitions - The New York Times”>Top Students at Community Colleges to Have Chance to Raise Ambitions - The New York Times;

<p>You could find a quiet place to live and establish a great academic record that would be transferrable. Probably more flexible for you than prep school.</p>

17

<p>I cannot understand the choice of NYU for a noise-sensitive person. I lived in the NYU dorms one summer and there was noise all night long outside…sirens, honking and yelling. Frankly, any dorm in any college is also going to have significant amounts of noise inside.</p>

<p>I agree that you might be more successful at a college where living on campus is not a requirement, and you could live in your own quiet apartment off campus.</p>

18

<p>2prepMom & siliconvalleymom - even at the colleges that require freshman to live on campus it is possible for me to commute because every college (even Yale!) has an exemption criteria, which I fit (I’ve checked with the colleges).</p>

<p>I’ll be following Daykidmom’s advice first (contacting schools about senior year) and will start looking at community colleges only if there is no encouragement/availability - as I do still think that it will be easier to end up at a selective college if I’ve attended a good high school for a year. I’ll also be doing some more research about US residency, as I would hope to live in America permanently after college anyway.</p>

<p>Thank you again for the great advice - I’ll make sure to let you all know how I get on!</p>

<p>(If anyone has anymore suggestions/could answer the unanswered questions I posted earlier that would be really helpful)</p>

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<p>VERY challenging situation, I’d like to second the recommendation that you find a good college/secondary school consultant in the US to help you identify an educational option that might work for you. That being said…
Have you considered Simon’s Rock or other early college programs?
I wouldn’t rule out community college/transfer possibilities if your goal is to show that you can handle a traditional school environment. In many states, the community colleges are feeders for the state universities.
Wishing you success in your search!</p>

20

<p>My Mom has now agreed to pay for an educational consultant but we are having difficulty assessing the reputation of the 100s of consultants found on the internet.</p>

<p>Has anyone had a good experience with an educational consultant and could recommend them/their company? </p>

<p>Please PM me if so</p>