Hi! I have a couple of questions surrounding boarding schools, so if you all could help answer them, it would be very much appreciated 
- Mainly, what type of applicants to admission officers look for?
- How important is FA in the application process?
- Are grades a determining factor? (I have a b last quarter and one this quarter.)
- Does being a competitive musician possibly factor in when considering me?
- How important are interviews in the application process?
- I wrote follow up emails to every person I interviewed with - is it obnoxious or annoying?
- Now, this last question: Why do so many of these schools send kids to top colleges? (ivy, MIT, etc.) Not asking if going to a prep school will up my chances, but I'm actually curious if there is a reason behind it all.
Thank you
All these questions have been asked and answered many times. I suggest you spend some time reading old threads to get more info.
There’s literally a thread about what BSs are looking for that’s active right now.
FA matters, if you need it apply to more than a few schools.
Yes of course grades are a determining factor. None of us can tell you if having a B or two is a problem. Many of the kids on their thread think they go to rigorous middle schools, I am skeptical. Most middle schools are fairly easy grading. Our middle school is known as “excellent” and I’d tel you the grading was a joke. If you are getting Bs consider that at the most rigorous BS that may drop to a B-/C.
Being a competitive anything factors into the decision. How much depends on how useful your skill is to the school. If you play cello and they are graduating all their cellists- jackpot. Make sure you’re in touch with all the music departments so they can advocate for you.
Interviews are very important. It’s how they find out what kind of kid you are. How you present yourself, what you choose to talk about, what you value. Those are the things they’re trying to find out.
If by follow up email you mean a concise and pleasant thank you note that’s great. If you mean a long email with all the wonderful things about you that you forgot to mention that’s obnoxious.
First of all “so many kids go to ivies” is neither here nor there. In our area the large public’s send LOTS of kids to ivies. Generally BS kids are a self selected group of smart, motivated, curious, kind, independent kids. That’s the kind of kid top colleges are looking for as well so the link makes sense but is probably due to who those kids were to begin with and less with the BS name.
@one1ofeach ahh thank you and sorry, I’m new to CC so I don’t get how it works all that well yet :neutral:
and yes, my email was short and concise. I didn’t want to be all up in their face afterwards because that might seem, again, obnoxious.
No problem. Just skim through thread titles and you will find lots of info.
I think you’re good on the emails. It is expected that you send a thank you after interviews so you did the right thing.