<p>Tell your dad that it is sort of like the difference between say Harvard and Williams - if you don't get into Harvard, will he still let you go to college?</p>
<p>Nelly - are you able to do any actual visits? I think you need to let your parents know that the "best" boarding school is the one that fits YOU the best. You and your parents could see first hand how great some of the "other" schools are. They will likely be really surprised. We're up to 7 visits now (3 to go!) and while our first choices at first were DA and SPS (3 of the three to go) we have found great connections at other schools that are not "top tier."</p>
<p>we're at the west coast---and well--flights are expensive. we went out to boston and saw andover and exeter. we're not going to be able to see anymore tho unless i get accepted.i told my dad last night that i was going to whatever school i liked and was accpeted to. my mom gets it tho, she's letting me apply to five of my choice. but thinks i should stick with the five i have now. I am so confused.</p>
<p>That's why I asked because I knew you were far.<br>
What are your five again? Andover, Exeter, SPS, DA, Choate?</p>
<p>And, are you applying for FA?</p>
<p>Nellyrae,
I think you should describe yourself again to everyone so that you might get some advice on which of these schools will really meet your needs. What are you interested in? How are your grades? Do you care about dress codes, Saturday classes, sports etc.</p>
<p>Are you going to be content with your local school if you don't get into any of your 5 schools? (You might get into all of them!!!) There are great schools out there that aren't as well known or talked about that will give you a great education. </p>
<p>My son's list only consisted of the "top schools" until we realized how difficult it was to actually get in, especially if you need FA. I am so thankful that we expanded that search because two of his favorite schools were not on the original list. You may just find that the perfect school for you is not one of those that you started with.</p>
<p>warriorboy658 has a great idea. The posters on this website are the most knowledgeable of any source which I have encountered regarding boarding schools. We often disagree, but that is really to your benefit so that you can see the many options with a critical and more discerning eye. Although, as a cautionary word, there is a great deal of misinformation with respect to average or median SSAT scores, that is , in large part, caused by the schools and swallowed by the public. As an example, in short, there are several students at even the most elite boarding schools with SSAT scores in the 60s; but they had and have something special to contribute to the community.</p>