<p>Hi everyone, I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions or tips as to how to make your high school decision easier. (If applying to an independent high school) I have already written down a pro's and cons list, but I'm looking for other strategies.</p>
<p>Congratulations on having a choice. Other than revisiting the schools and doing what you have done, I got nothing else for you. You said on another thread that you were 75% leaning one way; you’ll never get to 100%. You’ll be fine with whatever choice you make.</p>
<p>If you have choices, congrats! I think most people never, as @skieurope said, get to that 100%. You need to revisit and do as much research as possible. Look at even the minor stats like dress code. Check out their social media accounts. Keep in touch with your revisit buddy/find a contact to ask questions. Find the school that fits you best. In addition, do keep in mind that you don’t need prestige or even the best sports program. You need a school that fits you and your needs and that you will be happy at. Finally, remember that you can love more than one school but it comes down to fit.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! @pdI00 @skieurope</p>
<p>You should just spend like a whole day just looking up schools and figuring what interests you about certain schools. You’ll learn to look for different things, like whether or not they seem to value art vs. athletics, or the percentage of boarding vs. day students, or how far away it is, or what kind of clubs they have. There are many factors to consider and narrowing down what schools you want to further pursue is something that you should carefully consider. You should also inquire, though you should wait until august or September to do that so you can be in their mailing list, though maybe you could even do it now, who knows. </p>
<p>Every school is what you make it so choose the school where you think you will be most likely to be able to take advantage of what it offers. Be realistic about what makes you happy. You want to be able to strike a balance of academic challenge, developing your passions and cultivating friendships with both students and teachers. Ignore college matriculation, average SAT scores, and prestige. These are the very least important things when considering a school. If you are happy, you will thrive and be the kind of student that colleges want.</p>
<p>
I would probably ignore average SAT because usually it takes you a better or much better than average score to be competitive for a selective college, so average score doesn’t mean much here. As for prestige, I always believe that there are good reasons why a school is prestigious. While it doesn’t mean that less prestigious schools can not be good choices for you, I wouldn’t “ignore” prestige. Instead I’ll take a particularly closer look at the school and find out whether what I see matches up the prestige it enjoys. And when all things being equal, it doesn’t hurt and may help to choose a more prestigious school. While you shouldn’t use the college matriculation data to evaluate your own chance for a specific college a few years down the road, the matriculation data does give you a good idea where each “tier” of your classmates will likely go to college. And when 80% of the classes in your school go to top 50 or equivalent colleges, you should feel confident that most likely you won’t lose out in the end. To end up in “the college you want” (if it’s a tipsy top college), it actually has little to do with whether you are truly happy in the school. It’s about standing out, which can - believe or not - often be more easily achieved by staying in your less competitive public school, in which you might be not very happy and which is probably why you started looking to attend BS in the first place. </p>
<p>Check if the schools have clubs that are active in your interested activities or hobbies. Could make a difference.
Also, ask the existing students on the revisit days if there are things that they especially like or don’t like about their schools. Sometimes you can get valuable answers from them. Transportation to and from your home if you are a boarder can also be an important issue. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not having that particular club you’re looking for can pose a great opportunity for you to start and lead it. CK was initially disappointed to find that his school did not have a club for his passion. The school has been very supportive of his new organization and, in retrospect, he is glad that he didn’t just become a passive member of an existing group with an existing vision. He’s been able to lead and direct the club, and he has made some great like-minded friends along the way. Creating and running a club is also a way to get leadership experience.</p>
<p>@ChoatieMom That WILL be me with my veggie club! :D</p>
<p>@Stargirl3 I am assuming your club t-shirts will be green… 
</p>
<p>@london203 Of course! :)</p>