Is is already too late to apply to boarding schools? : (

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I REALLY want to go to a boarding school- but obviously, I can't because most admissions closed in January. I'm so upset- I've been to public school (which sucks here) and am homeschooled currently, and I really felt excited about the idea of boarding school. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince my mother of the idea until now, when I can't even apply anymore. </p>

<p>And even if I could apply, I probably wouldn't get in. I'm a sophomore and I only got mostly B's in public school because I had health problems and was absent a lot. Also, I wouldn't have any teachers to write me recommendations. And I think by now there wouldn't be any financial aid left.</p>

<p>Are there any schools I could still apply at?</p>

<p>I'd prefer coed on the east coast or southern states. Possibly all-girls. </p>

<p>Thanks for any help!</p>

2

<p>There are many boarding schools that will still have openings, especially after April 10th contracts are signed. In general, the higher the acceptance rate, the higher the probability there will be openings. I don't know about financial aid after the first round of applications. You will have to talk to admissions at the schools you want because each situation will be different. </p>

<p>Take a look at <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.boardingschoolreview.com&lt;/a>. If a school is listed as having rolling admissions after March 10th, then historically they still have openings after April 10th. Around the 3rd week of April, take a look at the ssat website. They should have a list of schools with openings called something like the scca (sp?) list. Schools may still have openings but not be listed as having rolling admissions or not want to be included in the ssat list. You and your mother should discuss a strategy for explaining your grades and illness. You will need to have recommendations, so you should think about that as well. </p>

<p>You are in luck with the girls' schools because they have a great reputation but are not as popular as coed schools. As a result, most of them still have openings after April 10th. Here are some coed schools you might want to consider: Blair Academy, Mercersburg Academy and Baylor. I have no idea whether or not these schools are a good match for you or if they have any financial aid money left. There are several in the south that look very nice. </p>

<p>It's best for you to do your own research. A good place to start is a listing of your criteria. As you learn more about schools, your list of criteria should expand. Because you are looking for financial aid, you should move quickly. As you already recognize, you will have some obstacles because you are applying for 11th grade, you are applying late, your grades were not stellar (can be explained), and you need financial aid while applying late. Think carefully about what you can offer the schools in the way of sports, academics, ec's and/or the arts. If they still have financial aid $s left, they will want to fill specific needs the schools has that the entering class might not have yet. Remember that as an entering 11th grader, they will need start college guidance. Have you considered applying as a repeat 10th grader? A number of boarding school applicants repeat a grade. </p>

<p>You should register to take the ssat right away.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>You're still in the game if you want to play. Your biggest obstacle may be getting an SSAT score delivered to the school(s) you apply to. Recommendations and the timing of your application don't necessarily trip you up. Also, keep wise counsel. You're jumping into this head first and that concerns me. Then again, at this stage, you have no choice but to press forward with haste. But you'll need someone who's level-headed helping you out...ready to pull the plug on this if it doesn't make sense. That is going to be difficult for you to do -- even if it becomes prudent -- as the law of inertia* may cause you to "stay the course." Find an "unbalanced force" you can trust to help guide you through this and stop this effort if it appears that you're diving head first into shallow water.</p>

<p>That said, and at the risk of aiding and abetting you in this enterprise, I'm going to jump-start you with some information I pulled together. According to boardingschoolreview.com (you should also check out K-12 school information at petersons.com) these are the all-girl boarding schools on the East Coast (New England and Mid-Atlantic regions; only schools enrolled with that web site; * = indicated rolling admission policy):</p>

<p>*Dana Hall School All-girls 9-12 Wellesley, MA <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/379%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/379&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*The Ethel Walker School All-girls 9-12, PG Simsbury, CT <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/25%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/25&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Miss Hall's School All-girls 9-12 Pittsfield, MA <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/52%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/52&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Miss Porter's School All-girls 9-12 Farmington, CT <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/55%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/55&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Stoneleigh-Burnham School All-girls 7-12, PG Greenfield, MA <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/132%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/132&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Westover School All-girls 9-12 Middlebury, CT <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/166%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/166&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Emma Willard School All-girls 9-12, PG Troy, NY <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/48%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/48&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Garrison Forest School All-girls 8-12 Owings Mills, MD <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/230%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/230&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Grier School All-girls 7-12, PG Tyrone, PA <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/239%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/239&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Linden Hall All-girls 6-12, PG Lititz, PA <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/203%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/203&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Oldfields School All-girls 8-12, PG Glencoe, MD <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/257%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/257&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>*Purnell School All-girls 9-12 Pottersville, NJ <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/266%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/266&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>St. Timothy's School All-girls 9-12, PG Stevenson, MD <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/161%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/161&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Even though some of these schools say they have rolling admissions, they may not have spaces remaining. You'll want to contact them to see which ones have slots that make it worth your while to invest your limited time researching them. Also be sure to determine what standardized testing requirements they have; and then determine whether (and how soon) you can comply with that requirement. This may further limit the pool of schools you can consider. After seeing what's left, you may decide to expand your list to include co-ed schools. Try to get as much done right away because, in a sense, you are no worse off than where you'd be if you had started this up a couple weeks ago when most of these schools began their spring break. Get as much done as you can from home and try to get answers to your most pressing questions from the schools next week as they return from break.</p>

<p>And, remember, keep a life guard/wise counsel/unbalanced force by your side through this!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<ul>
<li>Newton's First Law of Motion (a/k/a The Law of Inertia): An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. So, don't put this into motion unless you've got your unbalanced force ready to stop it if necessary!</li>
</ul>

4

<p>Hi Vermilion, also about the SSAT's - If you want to take the ssats sooner than April 21st, (the next scheduled test date) you might look into being tested by an educational consultant. They do charge an extra fee, but you'd possibly be able to get tested sooner and get the results that much sooner too, if you are in a huge time crunch. Best of luck ~</p>

5

<p>Oh God, not Newton's laws and inertia!!! We had a test on all that today!!</p>

6

<p>Check the SSAT site, they will post schools that still have openings in May. I hope this helps</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ssat.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ssat.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>Chatham Hall, my alma mater, has rolling admissions. It's single-sex, in southern VA (45 min. south of Lynchburg, 2 hrs north of Raleigh, NC). </p>

<p><a href="http://www.chathamhall.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.chathamhall.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>Chatham Hall no longer does rolling admissions--my sis applied this year, and there was definitely a February deadline. However, if the OP called they would probably be flexible. I assume even after the deadline they keep a few spots available since they've supposedly decided to increase enrollment. Also, I know that they still give the option of taking the SSAT on site when you do your interview, so that could help solve the test issue.</p>

<p>I'm also an alumna of Chatham, and I think very highly of it.</p>

<p>Artemis, where are you at now?</p>

9

<p>I'd be willing to bet that there's no way Chatham would turn down a well-qualified applicant now - when I graduated (in '05) they were pretty keen on increasing enrollment.</p>

<p>naoka - I'm currently a sophomore at Swarthmore, how bout you?</p>

10

<p>I'm a doctoral candidate at Duke (i.e., 3 years into my PhD). </p>

<p>Too bad, I was hoping you were another Triangle area alum. :) That's great that you're a Swattie, though--what an awesome school. Whenever I hang out with people who went there I start to wish that's where I had gone.</p>