<p>Very true. I often consider that for my current school, where the average SSAT score is 94%, while I got an 86%.
It was definitely something to consider… should I go to an easier school (say 75% SSAT scores) and absolutely thrive, or go here and be average?
Overall I picked the harder school because I think I can handle it and it will prepare me for college like no other school. But parents and students need to be honest with themselves and what they can truly do. You don’t want to have your kid go off to a first tier school and then they decide to come back home because they couldn’t handle with the amount of homework they were getting. We all want to think we are geniuses, but we have to take a moment to consider what level of expectation can we match or exceed. That’s how you stand out at a school. :)</p>
<p>MadagascarMom, I have a child like that and I have stepped in and made sure I paved the way for them in terms of communicating a sense of who they really are, if there is a reason to believe they may be too humble or too shy to understand they have to market themselves. Even if there is not a mechanism in place for parental input, I find an excuse to be communicating or to get the message across.</p>
<p>I see no reason why a parent can’t let the schools know that their kid is not a fan of blowing his own horn! Maybe a lot of this will also come out in the recommendation letters. Try to choose someone who recognizes the strengths of your kid and who will communicate that!</p>
<p>What I told my son (who was NEVER going to “blow his own horn,” was to talk about what he loves, rather than how good he is. In other words, talk about how he loves science and bring up a couple of those things he looked up that particularly fascinated him. He and the AO can have a conversation about the subject, and it will be clear how your son thinks and how deeply interested he is. For the art, send some of his work (or pictures of some of his work). Again, he can just talk about how he LIKES it, and the level of accomplishment will speak for itself. Don’t be hesitant about sending in that kind of thing-- it helps the schools understand their applicants, and you don 'to need to say that much about it-- they’ll show it to an art teacher. If he’s interested in some art classes in high school, mention this when you set up your interviews-- if they know, they’ll often have a relevant (art) teacher come talk to him, which may get him excited about the program (they’ll tell him all the opportunities they offer). I did tell my son to try to find a way to bring up things he likes to do, in case the AO didn’t, but if you include his interests on the initial background forms, and maybe send some of his art, they’ll know to ask and he won’t have to bring it up. Again, tell him he doesn’t have to say. “I’m good at this.” Just say, " I love this" and “this is what I do with my time.” A good AO will take it from there,</p>
<p>By the way, most BS actually LOOK for nice kids, who aren’t too arrogant, and have good character, especially honesty and integrity. They want a nice community. They can’t always tell, but they do look for it, if that comes through in his letters, they’ll pay attention. Again, they can find things out about your son without his directly having to say it in an interview.</p>
<p>Madagascar: I had some similar concerns last year. My kid is outgoing and interviewed well, but she isn’t one to trumpet her accomplishments. So I noted some of those attributes that I thought were important (and that she likely would not ever mention) in the parent statement… </p>
<p>One last thing: lots of AO’s ask some version of the question, “how would your friends describe you,” or, " what is your role among your friends?" That’s a place he can mention what he cares about that will show his values-- he can think about it ahead and figure out what he wants to say about that.</p>