@hannuhylu I couldn’t imagine sending mine, either. And your attitude was mine a few years ago. But I didn’t send my kid to BS…he ASKED, almost begged, to go. So, I allowed my DS to pursue his dream to go. He did the work to get there, but yes, I allowed it. And now, kid2 is researching schools that she wants to go to. We endured criticism from our community, friends and even immediate family! And guess what? So far it has been worth it! And DS won’t look back and think of lost time—he’ll think of the wonderful opportunity he was given. It’s all perspective.
Meanwhile, I apologize to OP—this thread has gotten off-track. I think you have every ability to become successful—I still think you should apply if this is something you really want. Make sure you look at schools that suit you…not just schools that you’ve heard of or that have been touted as prestigious. Do your due diligence and I think things will work out just fine for you! Good luck!!!
“That makes no sense to me. That would imply that the BS that are considered very intense like Exeter and Andover are still somehow less intense than public school.”
My experience is a little colored from having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, of course, and having coached math contest kids for a few years. I will grant you that Exeter is considered very intense - I have heard that from many parents and students. Andover a little less so. But… and I don’t know how to say this on this board without sounding churlish or insulting people (we all love our kids for who they are), spend a little time at Saratoga High School or Palo Alto High or Mission San Jose or a number of others. You can google the various achievement stats of the kids at these places and compare things like number of National Merit Scholars, SAT 2 achievement test scores, SAT scores, results of the kids in the big name math contests, etc. and compare them with any boarding school. There is a middle school (Redwood Middle School) that is more accomplished in the math contests than any boarding school other than Exeter, which is superb for math talent. Other than Andover and maybe Choate once in a blue moon, none of the other BS even really show up on the leaderboards. All these public schools mentioned are open admission, and yet still post average stats higher than the most selective boarding schools.
Yeah, having seen these public high schools and these kids, I’d say just about any BS will be a walk in the park by comparison.
As wonderful as boarding schools can be, I don’t think it is helpful to the OP to sing their praises on this thread. The OP loves to learn and thus will probably have a fulfilling life wherever she goes to high school or college and wherever she ends up.
@buuzn03 oh no, what you’ve said so far have been very helpful in my opinion. I guess I made it sound as if I was only looking to go to boarding school because it’s considered presitigious. I’m honestly not. Every boarding school seems to have an endless amount of possibilities that I cannot find in my current school. That being said, I am not hating on my current school, I just wish to seek more opportunities. I live in a very small town with one private high school and one public one. The public one is very… messy for the lack or word and I don’t want to go there, which is why I currently attend the private school which only has 40 high school students so… yeah.
@twinsmama thank you! I don’t know how to add a smiley face, but if I did, I would add one right now
@ephimerally
when you see your scores after two weeks, you might be surprised. Who know!
I think you will get a better score than you have expected. Wait and see.
@ephimerally I never got the impression you were only after prestige…I’m sorry if I implied that. Bottom line—this is a very stressful process…@knowmore has the right attitude! Try to take deep breaths…everything will turn out just fine!
@ephimerally I actually am a current Berkshire student and also applied to NMH so if you have any questions at all feel free to pm me! I would be more than happy to talk to you:)
Your list of schools include only highly competitive ones. Given you need/prefer FA…I would add a couple schools with higher acceptance rates. There are way more “gem” schools out there that will still provide an excellent HS experience.
I’m confident that God will choose the path that’s right for you. If this is truly what you are meant to do, He will open the door for you. If not, just know you have equal chances of being successful, if not more successful by staying. Good luck! 
I recommend at least 5 schools in rank 20+ and 5 in 50+
Those schools still have plenty of very smart kids and challenging courses
You sound like a really motivated, authentic student who is thoughtful enough to worry about his parent’s ability to pay and to be thinking about how you can contribute to a school. You would be surprised how many of those 99%th percentile SSAT applicants lack these same traits. Character counts too! I know that NMH also looks for “sticky” kids - kids who don’t have a true hook but stand out in the admissions process because they present as super nice, interesting kids that teachers will enjoy having in class and who will be a great teammates etc. Focus on what you would bring to each school and make sure via thank you notes, emails to teachers or coaches, essays etc. that each school knows how excited you are about the possibility of attending - but be sincere. Stay positive and don’t let them see you sweat! Schools want students who are truly excited about going to their specific programs and sometimes enthusiasm is enough to have the sorting hat tip your way vs another less enthused student. Do everything you can think of now to put your best foot forward, and then get on with your life and try not to think too much about it until March 10. You have a great list (proud NMH parent here) but it is a good idea to add a few more schools with higher admission rates. NMH is no longer a hidden gem - you need a few schools with admit rates closer to 50% just for piece of mind. Another way of looking at this - every school needs a certain number of piano players so why NOT you?
Also, regarding the indignant teacher, sadly that response is not uncommon when some teachers hear a student they like wants to leave. They tend to take it too personally or they aren’t familiar with boarding school and don’t understand the choice. However, a teacher will 95% of the time be professional and put their personal feelings aside when they write a recommendation. It is possible that having a longer conversation with the teacher about why you feel the need to change schools might help, and also give them some details to share with schools when they write their recommendation.
Thank you all for these helpful comments. About adding more schools to my list, I would love to, however I have a few reasons that I feel like I can’t add more schools. First of all, most of my teachers already submitted the recs, and I’m not sure if they would have to rewrite one if I were to add schools now, but my teachers would not write another rec for me. Second of all, it would mean more interviews and since it’s been snowing in the Northeast here, it would be difficult to travel to interviews. Lastly, my mother made me swear that I would not apply to schools that are more than two hours drive from my school, eliminating a lot of schools with higher acceptance rates. What do I do?
@ephimerally to me, it sounds like you need to do some soul searching. My DS wanted to go to BS so many ch from the age of 9 that he fought first to win me over to the idea. Then, he let nothing stand in his way. Travel to interview? If traveling to the school is not possible, most schools offer Skype, local and/or phone interviews. Asking a teacher to submit another review? They’ve already written the letter. It is not much of a request to ask them to submit it to another email. And how do you know they wouldn’t write another? Did you ask or is this an assumption? Your mother made you swear? Being a mother, I want what is best for my child and for my child to be able to fulfill their dreams. If my child proved to me that BS more than two hours away was really what they needed to achieve their goals, fulfill a purpose—I may grumble, but I’d support them in doing so. Throughout this thread, I’ve seen you list many excuses. Maybe the doubt I’ve seen, your parents see and that is why they aren’t so sure. Take some time to really think about what you want—if after a deep and truthful conversation with yourself it is truly to go to BS, you will take everyone’s advice and do whatever it takes.
P.S. this uncertainty we can see, the AOs will definitely be able to pick up on, make no you a risky candidate to them. They need applicants who they know will see the four years out come heck or high water.
@buuzn03 I guess I have been making a lot of excuses. I just wish I had added more schools in the beginning of the admissions process and not so late. Anyways, do you have any suggestions that I might look at? I’m looking for a school that stresses academics, performance arts, and athletics. Thank you for your advice
The one thing I always tell people is it’s never too late to adjust your list (well, before deadline). You want to make sure you like the schools you are applying to and can see yourself there. The one thing my DS wishes is that he’d modified his list and not applied to some places where he knew were not good fits. What your are looking for (academics, performing arts, athletics) most schools offer. Go to boardingschoolreview.com and see what schools match the specific items you are interested in and then choose from there. Also that website will allow you to sort by highest SAT scores etc (some of the schools, though, don’t publish the scores to the site, so just because they aren’t listed doesn’t mean they don’t have higher SATs…) And plenty if these schools will be academically challenging without the academic stress/competition.
Remember…this is your home for 4 years. Don’t just pick schools based on a name…pick schools that have the specifications you are looking for! And I’m so glad you were accepting of my tough love…this is such an important decision, I just wanted to be sure you were looking at things with clear eyes. I am very sure, if you do your due diligence, you will never regret your decision! For us, It was the best decision DS could’ve made…he is thriving in every way (academically, athletically, socially, and musically)… and he couldn’t be happier!
If you add schools on the same system (e.g., SAO or Gateway), then that shouldn’t be an extra recommendation. You just add the school, say on SAO, and pay the fee. The application/recommendation automatically goes to the new school. There might just be a supplemental section you need to do.
However, if the additional school(s) are on a different system, or have their own unique application, then this is hard to do. It prevented us from adding more schools too, because we didn’t want to go to the teachers again with another recommendation format.
Sounds like you have a bunch of good choices nearby. Keep in mind the advice someone told me - that schools sometimes prefer kids from further away for boarding (for school diversity), so they will only take so many from in-state. Try to find some schools to add with very generous admit rates - they may just be great options.
Yes, list all your instruments. They will see you as a multi-musical student! That’s good, I think.
But keep the positive attitude - it may just work out - you only need one acceptance!
I just got my SSAT scores back. They are in the 85%ile. With my score, are my current schools all reach schools? The Emma Willard interviewer said their average is 2100 and I got a 2199. Would that be good for me or bad?
Sounds pretty good to me! @ephimerally