Do all the BS provide good college counseling?
All the ones commonly mentioned on this site certainly do
Overall, yes. Some better than others. And often, this depends on the counselor you are assigned and how well you work with them. As folks who have been here for some time know, our family could have built a shrine to DSâ CC. She totally âgotâ him and what he was looking for. She was 200% available when he needed her. She was reassuring to the parents. And she helped him strategize well and present himself well. It also helped that he ultimately got into his top 2 choices.
DS had a close friend who really didnât click with his CC (who had been the head of college counseling at a much loved BS here on CC, so presumablyquite capable.) He didnât love the process, did not have as positive an outcome, and ended up transferring after freshman year.
I would say that overall, his school has excellent college counseling but hopefully you can see from my tale above that it will be about expectations and people (of which you are one!)
My daughter was accepted this year as a repeat Junior to a HADES school. They accepted 17 Juniors (but 44 Sophomores to give an idea). She is young and even though she is repeating a grade will be 18 when she graduates. The schools she applied to said they accepted Seniors, one said they took about 3 the previous year and another said they didnât actually accept any, they were all PGâs.
I would say you definitely need to excel in everything as far as the application goes, grades, test scores, interviews, essays. And well-rounded is good but you also need a hook like varsity athlete, or something that stands out in the arts.
Taking what gardenstategal said, does anyone know which boarding schools have a prevalent Muslim community and South Asian community?
Most schools have them.
Interesting question - my daughter will be applying for jr year as well. She is also on the young end of the class (august bday) and has no interest/appetite for repeating the grade. To her perspective - if she has a fabulous academic sophomore year - she be even less inclined to consider that option (less as in less than 0%!). To her, repeating a year after excellent academic performance simply due to her birthdate or year of entry doesnt make sense and sheâd rather finish HS at her private school. In the end - even by repeating a year in BS - she could end up in exactly the same college as she would from her current school
Which is still young.
We get it: youâre proud of always being the youngest. You equate it with being brilliant.
Consider this: boarding schools want students with emotional maturity. And no, this adult has observed in your responses a certain lack of emotional maturity.
Actually, the average SAT at Concord Academy is higher than the expected SAT, based on the average SSAT, more so than some of the GLADCHEMMS, according to what has been posted in another thread.
Since CA doesnât âteach to the testâ, I can only conclude that they are actually learning something there.
Caveat about applying to Hidden Gems: they can tell if youâre only applying as a âback upâ, and wouldnât want to actually go there.
Overall, boarding school is what you make of it. Even at the schools that are not known for their academic rigor, a student can choose to find opportunities to challenge themselves.
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Iâm just a student heading to BS in the fall, but I would have to agree with @stalecookies. I am similar, started Kindergarten at 4, will be 14 starting 10th grade(although I will turn 15 a month in). I was, and you can ask @stalecookies who was one of the first replies on my first CC thread, not very mature. In fact, I think it mightâve been her that first told me to consider repeating-and I did consider.
I almost applied to 4 schools as a repeat. I decided against it because I went through a lot months August-November, and I had matured a lot. I felt a lot more comfortable applying as a 10th grader.
Your situation is different. 10th and 9th grade have similar admits compared to 11th grade. Unless you do A LOT- an unthinkable amount of maturing, I would repeat. Even if you did mature this much, Iâd still recommend you repeat. Youâre really young and 10th grade most likely will yield better results than 11th. Repeating is common and you wonât be the only one. @CavsFan2003 probably has a better perspective on this since they were in a more similar position than I was in, but I hope I have made some helpful points.
At my BS, pretty much all the new 11th graders are athletic recruits.
All we want is the best for you. I think repeating will be best for you.
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Most of the incoming Juniors we know (at least for the guys) are athletic recruits.
BTWâŠif you think that you will get much better college advisingâŠ
@skyofstars âŠHONESTLY NO.
Depends on who you get, if youâre a recruited athlete and the package schools want. We have all known of a couple of lazy advisors. If you donât vibe with your advisor, then find another one. Just because you are at a well known boarding school, it does not mean you will get a good college advisor. Donât drink the kool-Aid they serve at Revisit, either.
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@skyofstars I am not sure that you fully understand what ârepeatingâ a year entails. It does not mean taking all of the same classes over again, or being in anyway ahead of your peers, or that you will not be extremely challenged in your classes. Any school who allows repeats will work with you to create a class schedule that ensures youâre not actually ârepeatingâ course material that youâve already learned. You just get one more year to take interesting electives, peruse EC interests, and maybe do another program like studying abroad.
I agree with @stalecookies, it seems as though you view being the youngest as a badge of honor. I get that, I really do. In 8th grade I was able to skip two school years of coursework and take all 10th grade classes, making me over a year younger than everyone else I was around. This past school year I was also the only 9th grade student in every one of my courses except gym. It feels good to be doing the same work as older students when youâre multiple years younger. But to be completely honest, it is a very dumb thing to be proud of. It gives you absolutely zero advantage in college admissions, and when you get older you end up not being able to participate with your peers in activities involving driving or drinking (not at the same time ofc!). Although you may not see the difference right now, youâll realize it soon enough.
Boarding schools (especially HADES, if thatâs what youâre going for) look for maturity in candidates. You are applying to go live away from your family in a very rigorous accademic environment. Being âtwo years youngâ for your grade does not scream âIâm emotionally mature and capable of excelling at XYZ school!â.
Beyond grades and test scores, which only get you over the first of many hurdles, schools look at your teacher recs, interviews, and essays, to see that you are a mature and interesting person. Honestly, I know for a fact that my interviews and teacher recs are likely the biggest factor that got me accepted to a number of HADES schools. Giving yourself an extra year of HS when you will still graduate as one of the youngest students has little if any disadvantages. BS rarely accept unhooked 11th grades, if you decide to apply in that pool youâre likely setting yourself up for disappointment.
My vote is to take the previously mentioned advice and apply as a repeat 10th. It will give you extremely higher chances at almost any school. Unless you can give us a really good reason why you donât want to, that is likely the advice youâll continue to hear.
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If youâre only interested in 11th grade, my advice is to look for IB schools. The IB diploma program is an 11th and 12th grade curriculum, so often times those schools will accept more 11th grade students. If you are open to looking at schools outside of the US, you are likely to find many options that admit 11th graders. I know of a few Canadian BS that do this, as well as many in the UK, the EU and Asia.
One option that you may be interested in is UWC. It is fairly prestigious and difficult to get into, but the first year youâre able to apply for is 11th grade.
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