<p>It seems like so many kids were left without any offers this year, more so than normal. Is it just that more are posting on this board and it's always like this but we don't hear about it? Or has then been a particular waitlistingish year/ (I do realize that I just made up a word.) What are other people hearing about out there in RL?</p>
<p>I'm wondering if it's only going to be worse next year. I'm not being doomsdayish (another made up word), but just curious if this is a new trend that reflects either more kids applying, the same number applying to more schools, or a combination of the two.</p>
<p>My observation is that more kids are applying for FA and the schools are cutting down on FA for new kids as the FA need for the returning students has increased due to the economy (Previously FP needing some FA now).</p>
<p>Invent is reflecting what we have heard as well about FP becoming FA needy now. At our children’s previous school and a couple others in the area, many students apply to prep school. It does seem that it was a difficult year. Many families we know were either rejected, waitlisted or accepted but waitlisted for FA. Not a ton of acceptances, especially when compared to a few years ago.</p>
<p>I think what we are experiencing is an increasing # of families looking for an alternative to an increasing # of poorly performing public schools. As the economy worsened, and school budgets were squeezed, more and more families have been searching for a quality education for their children. Private schools are experiencing record numbers of applications at nearly every entry point (elementary school, middle school and high school). </p>
<p>The sheer number of applicants have continued to rise, while the number of “seats” available has remained static. Good kids are being turned away at quality schools across the country, whether they can pay or not. </p>
<p>I have an older child about to start the college application process, and we are hearing pretty much the same thing from private universities and colleges. We live in California and the UC system is under so much budget pressure that the average graduation rate is now 5 years. This causes families who would have otherwise been in the public university system to look for private alternatives. </p>
<p>What we are all experiencing with BS is just a microcosm of a bigger issue.</p>
<p>From what I’ve read, many more families are considering private schools these days. A big reason: PS budget cuts. All the schools our children applied to with in the past 2 yrs announced record applicants.
I’ve also noticed the increased stress about getting into a private schools. A lot of great well rounded kids w/ high 90 ssat, sports, music and straight As are being turned down. I compared notes w/ families in our area and was shocked to hear about the extra ECs added in their kids schedule to look more “unique”. One kid entered every writing contest under the sun for the last 2 yrs. Also sent in articles to local paper to be published. Another went out of the country to work with a charity group over the summer. I’m not even sure they were passionate about it.</p>
<p>I think Goodchoices and Muf123 have it about right! So many parents around the U.S. bought homes in school districts they thought would provide a top notch education to their children only to find that despite ever rising property taxes and spending that the quality wasn’t what they hoped for. Then as some financial pressures were applied to the PS the programs most valued by those parents were the first things to be cut. Outside major cities the private day school option isn’t really that robust, so boarding school and home schooling get seriously considered. This is how applications can be up 40% in a decade when household formation in the U.S. is only 2% per year. Expect this to continue. In NYC there are new private schools being formed, including the for-profit Avenues School which has yet to open. [The</a> World School | Avenues - Private School in New York City](<a href=“http://www.avenues.org/world-school]The”>http://www.avenues.org/world-school). Consumers are voting with their feet and dollars.</p>
<p>Thank you all for responding. One of the great values of the internet is bringing people together with different perspectives and I appreciate hearing from people in different parts of the country.</p>
<p>We are in a rural area and there aren’t even any viable private coed day schools within an hour’s drive. There are a few decent day schools in the nearest large town, but it’s over an hour away in the morning traffic. Do to lack of options, people who are dissatisfied with the public school often homeschool, which we did for a while. Even if there was a good day school around, most families in our town couldn’t afford the tuition. That said, the dissatisfaction with the public schools seems to be universal. There is one local family where both parents had attended prestigious schools in the NYC area and had decided to raise their kids “in the country.” This is a family that tried to make public school work for their kids and were very involved and committed to the idea of public school. They threw in the towel last year and the youngest is now at a boarding school. </p>
<p>So it seems to be universal. Parents from all socioeconomic groups are saying that there must be something better and are letting their kids put themselves out there for scrutiny. It’s a shame that it has come to this because it can be so demoralizing for the kids, especially if they are unhappy at their current school.</p>
<p>And school cuts…I found out yesterday that our school cut another AP class for next year. They’ve never had honors classes so the APs are the closest thing that kids can get to honors level courses. The one remaining academic elective has also been cut. The “enrichment” program for grades 4-8 is gone (but it was pretty ineffective to begin with). So yeah, when you start cutting programs from a school that doesn’t even have things like debate, mock trial, MUN, or even a school newspaper, people start to get desperate! :)</p>
<p>Based on the growth in home schooling and new private schools, can the formation of new boarding schools be far behind? Admittedly, creating day schools and home school coops is easier, but there are so few total BS seats available and so much demand that I’d expect supply to find a way to increase.</p>
<p>Oh, I think it’s even MORE competitive for the international kids. I haven’t seen a rise in the % of international students at the top BS, have you? Of course, I haven’t been looking for that information.</p>
<p>I agree, although it seems that the international percentages are stabilizing. Now it’s getting worse for the Koreans and Chinese so a school can plant its flag in more exotic locales. ;-)</p>
<p>I don’t know if this holds true for BS, but the dark secret of university admissions is that the university recruiters aggressively tour the U.S. plus int’l to encourage high school kids to apply, just so the university can then reject them. A higher number of rejected students translates to a lower admission rate, which boosts the school’s exclusiveness and cache.</p>
<p>On a less cynical note, I think there is simply more awareness nowadays of the existence of boarding school, based on popular media like Gossip Girl and Harry Potter, hence a greater pool of interested applicants. When I was a teenager (back in the Jurassic Age), I didn’t even know BS still even existed in the U.S. I thought they were the domain of British culture (i.e. Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre)</p>
<p>Three kids of good friends of mine applied to boarding school this year. The parents did talk to me about BS extensively this past Summer, then all was quiet. I just learned of their acceptances to Westminster, Loomis, Kent, Berkshire, Avon, Pomfret and Suffield. Noticeably all in CT and not all commonly mentioned here on CC this past year. As much as I believe in fit, I could not get any of them to consider my SG. They went on fit of which I am a strong advocate. They also each applied to only 2 or 3 of the 7 schools I mentioned. Putting fit aside for a moment, I know their kids and they are good, smart and engaging kids and would have thought there would have been more prominent schools on the lists, at least Choate or Taft. But, I know a Suffield senior going to Cornell next year. They did not fall into the the prominent name syndrome. I also have to say that they are all FP. I have not spoken to any of them at length about their strategy or why they applied to so few schools, yet. I can only surmise that they wanted their children within 2 hours driving range. I also know that one was based on a specific sport, only. </p>
<p>Sports and distances were topics that I had discussed with them of which they obviously all disregarded my input. But, one topic I did emphasize is the number of terrific schools that just don’t receive the prestige they deserve. I have to admit, some of the postings I’ve read here on CC are absurd, especially when it comes to faculty qualifications at the more well known schools. I can assure you that as much as there are fantastic PS teachers, there are also superb faculty at those 7 mentioned schools. Faculty are like the excellent prospective students and there simply is not enough room at BS X for everyone. The other factor is of course the ability of full pay. Our government can print and spend and borrow to the extent that our astronomical debit will come back with a vengeance to knock this country to a second rate European nation. The schools and the rest of us have to be and are being more frugal with their/our finances. So yes, the FP does have an advantage and the same is going on with the colleges with respect to “early decision”. You’ll find that 70-80% of the BS seniors have already been accepted under the ED procedure. I believe the hammer is going to fall gradually and the schools want to be prepared and are acting accordingly. There are those parents with or without the means that realize education is the key and will go to the ends of the earth to obtain the best education they can for their children. </p>
<p>I think that CC does a disservice with the HADES, ST GROTTLESEX acronyms that lead many to believe that there is only one road for the journey and nothing could be farther from the truth. Some FP have moved over to FA but it’s really in the single digits percentage wise for most of the schools. For the past 35-40 years the schools have been literally competing to reach out to those capable students and unwilling parents who are financially unable to attend. The word has been out for a long time now and more are applying and the schools have discreetly started to scale things back a bit. I also think that many here on CC have the name syndrome, I’ll even attest to that. I don’t know if it’s a new trend, too many variables. I’ve rattled on long enough but it is all very interesting.</p>
<p>My d applied to two of the schools you mentioned and liked both of them very very much, one of them more than a few of the so-called HADES schools. She would have done well there and been in a very good position. Alas, she was waitlisted at one and rejected at the other.</p>
<p>I agree that too many are too fixated on the “name brand” schools. It’s particularly stupid because the ones that are dismissed are indeed “name brand” to the rest of the world.</p>
<p>I think that there are many differing groups here on CC, those who are BS alumni; had a good experience for the most part and are advocates for this.</p>
<p>There are those who are seeking better schools for their children then they have found in the public arena; they are not necessarily sold on the “transformative process” etc. Many see it as a sacrifice to send their child away and go into the process hoping for the best. These people might believe if they are in a top public school only one of the really known schools “is worth it”, etc.</p>
<p>I just don’t think the groups that are trying for the HADES, etc really well known schools are doing it for just the name presitige. Also those hoping for FA see the schools with the highest endowments as the best bet…</p>
<p>Anyway, I appreciated your post; however, I think the issue is very complex with a lot of differing motivations for non full pay, non BS culture parents…</p>
<p>@flowers123: While I’ll grant that there are plenty of folks who didn’t apply to certain schools “just for the name prestige”, check out some of the more recent student threads to get a feel for just how little it seems some have researched even the schools to which they applied.</p>
<p>Or review the many threads pre-M10 that were all about “I’m only applying to FAMOUS ACADEMY(s) because I think it is/they are the only one(s) that fit(s)”. Or ask yourself, “How many 6th graders are going to get on CC and write about how they’ve always dreamed about going to Avon?” (I picked Avon randomly from ops’ list, btw.)</p>
<p>Though we did consider a few of the ACRONYM schools in our search, and my D applied to two, I’m glad that we looked into non-ACRONYM schools as well…one of which is about to go mano-a-mano with one of the ACRONYM schools for my daughter’s affection in the coming weeks. [An aside that if my daughter had 100% driven the process as some suggest kids should, she would have only applied to schools she had heard of…which would have been regional schools + AE.]</p>
<p>I think the ACRONYM schools will always enjoy strong applicant pools. They don’t need our help. But the less famous schools might benefit from some online advocacy from people who know them well. Here’s my attempt to get some traction for that:</p>
<p>Going back to neato’s original post–I do think that many kids who post here are very driven by name and prestige, and they fail to look beyond that, setting themselves up for disappointment. It does seem to be more the kids who post, not the parents, but for all we know it is the parents pushing the name-brand schools on their kids. I can’t get over the snide remarks from some of these applicants about other, less-well-known schools, including many of the ones my son applied to.</p>
<p>I think part of the answer to neato’s question also has to do with being realistic about choosing schools to apply to. We are total babes in the woods when it comes to boarding school and I’m almost embarrassed to admit that we hired a consultant to help us with this process, but I’m glad we did. He got to know my son, looked carefully at his grades and SSAT scores and ECs, etc., and then put a list of schools together that worked out quite well for us. We added two almost-brand-name schools (Taft and Loomis) based on recommendations from acquaintances (no one we know has a kid in BS). Our son liked Taft but knew that it was too intense for him, so he didn’t apply; Loomis he wasn’t sure about, but did apply–it was his reach school, if you will. All of the other schools to which he applied were “just right” for him if you look at their stats, and he did well in the crap shoot that is BS admissions. But again, I think that much of it had to do with setting realistic expectations for him/us. And yes, we are FP, which I am positive helped. We will be revisiting Loomis and Berkshire, but I think his heart is set on Berkshire, and we want him to be happy above all. I guess we’ll see how the revisits go.</p>