<p>Hotchkiss, Cate, Loomis, and Deerfield are my top choices for boarding school. I, in a confident mood, decided to look at some threads that were about schools like the four above and see how I compared. That dropped my hope of getting in to any one of them. I was wondering if you could could list your grades (if you remember them) that your sent in and your SSAT percentile, and then your hooks. I'm trying to see if I should even apply to these schools or go for different ones. Thank you if you answer! I'm thinking of applying for my freshman year in 2015.</p>
<p>For one-stop-shopping stats comparisons:
<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/”>http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/</a></p>
<p>All of those schools on your list are VERY difficult to get into. If you are intent on going to BS next year, then it would be wise to cast a wide net.</p>
<p>As far as grades are concerned, the schools want to see more As than Bs. They don’t expect straight As.</p>
<p>To be a strong candidate, focus on schools where your SSAT score is at or above the school’s average. The kids w scores below tbe avg often have an extenuating other desirable quality: recruited athlete; grandfather who donated a $60 million library bldg; last name trump, ferragamo, kennedy, etc.; father is dictator of some oppressed country; mother is a senator.</p>
<p>@GMTplus7 thank you 
I’m trying to find some hidden gems or a few easier (cant think of the word) schools</p>
<p>Less selective would be a politically correct choice of words.</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Some helpful threads for your journey:</p>
<p><a href=“What NOT to waste your time worrying about - Prep School Admissions - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1599468-what-not-to-waste-your-time-worrying-about-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“2013-14 Hidden Gem Applicant Thread - Prep School Admissions - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1545276-2013-14-hidden-gem-applicant-thread-p1.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“Question on "second tier" schools - Prep School Admissions - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1628623-question-on-second-tier-schools-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>@ionlyliketheweb I hope I’m not responding to this too late, but Cate alum here, and I cannot recommend Cate School highly enough.</p>
<p>Grades were reasonably good, but certainly not exceptional; don’t remember SSAT; and no hooks. But this is really important: Cate admissions is VERY different from most college admissions, in that the numerical representations of a student aren’t so critically important. Instead, it’s all the other stuff, like the essay and especially the interview. </p>
<p>After four years of talking to the admissions office staff over the dinner table and having been invited to co-host the Cate booth with the Associate Dean of Admissions at a high school admissions fair, I can tell you that Cate cares a lot about the person behind the numbers. They know that you’re only an 8th grader, and they don’t expect you to have perfect test taking skills, dozens of extracurriculars, and straight A+'s. But can you write an interesting essay? Is there something unique about the way you answer the short questions? And, critically, when you walk out of the admissions office, is the interviewer going to think, “I want a person like that on the Mesa”? </p>
<p>Cate was an life-changing experience, and gave me the opportunity to meet amazing friends, develop an academic passion in a discipline not taught at nearly any other high school, and helped me get into Stanford University. If you’ve visited our campus and loved it, I strongly strongly encourage you to apply. In the end, you stand so much to gain and so little to lose, save some wounded pride and a relatively small application fee. Best of luck!</p>