@Atria, @maribrazil, and of course, @stargirl3 all had MISERABLE M10s in which they received only rejections and waitlist letters. (@stargirl3 had more than one miserable M10, actually.) And yet, all three of them re-applied to boarding school and all will be attending their dream schools this Fall.
These three astounding young people did not let their initial rejection discourage them entirely. What did they learn from that initial rejection? How did they plot their admissions comeback? What can others learn from their example?
@Atria, @stargirl3 and @maribrazil, you have my admiration and respect. I hope you will feel comfortable sharing your stories in this thread, and that others who have had similar experiences will share, too. Your stories could bring great comfort to those who are still feeling the sting of rejection and might be a powerful source of inspiration as well!
I’m on mobile right now, but I have started threads of my own on this very topic, so feel free to dig them up.
But in a sentence, prep school gave me a goal and taught me the importance of not giving up—not just because it worked out in the end, but because I learned a lot about myself and the world throughout the process.
Swimchild1 also had a miserable M10 last year. Here is what we learned.
Cast a VERY wide net if you need financial aid. Both in type of school and geographically.
Get those SSAT scores up. D.C. Scores improved by about 20 percentile points! We can’t afford classes, so he had to figure it out on his own.
Work your butt off to become even better at your sport
Percervenace is your friend. Swimchild1 applied to all the same schools as last year and was accepted at all except one. They knew he actually wanted to be there when he applied again.
Spend a lot of time writing and rewriting your essays. Last year, they were rushed. This year with 11 apps, DC didn’t have a chance to procrastinate.
Swimchild1 learned a lot about himself this year. About disappointment, unhappiness, rejection, that life isn’t fair, goal setting, etc. It was a very hard year and we are all looking forward to a fresh start! This year we have 6 acceptances, a merit scholarship, and lots of excitement!
We got a book his time and D.C. did sections over the summer, a couple times a week and finished in the fall. Did a practice test or 2. Having a better grasp of the material covered helped since D.C. Was a year older. Would have done better if D.C. Wasn’t so insistant on not skipping questions lol!! Exeter AO told us what he would like to see so D.C. Took that all to heart and made it happen.
I think the most important lesson I learned from M10 2016 was to start early and plan ahead. I still had issues (especially with recommenders and transcripts), but at least I had the time to solve them. For example, last year I got an 89th percentile in the SSAT, but this year I got a 99th because I started studying earlier.
If you play sports, try to get videos of your games and send them to coaches (uploading these clips to Youtube makes it very easy). I didn't have the opportunity to visit any school or talk to any coach personally, but I reached out to them via email and that definitely helped me get accepted.
Also, always proofread or doublecheck your work multiple times. Not only your essays, but everything you submit in your applications. Of course, one or two small mistakes won't ruin your chances; but, before you know it, your application is full of these "small mistakes". This is also valid for FA applications: make sure that your PFS is complete and accurate.
Finally, be patient and take your time. You don't have to submit everything 3 months before the deadline. If you need a month do write your essays, that's fine. I probably took two. On top of that, you also have to be patient regarding the communication with AOs. Last year, I kept resending emails because I was so nervous. Looking back on that I understand how immature I was. They have so many applications and so many applicants to deal with. Eventually, they will get back to you. This application cycle I had to wait until Mid-February for a Skype interview I requested early December, but I kept calm and did not bother the Admissions Team about it. In the end, I was so relaxed about the interview and it went so well that I got accepted.
When we started the application process in December last year, we had absolutely no clue what we were doing (discovered CC post-deadlines). In fact we had only learned of US boarding schools two weeks before, when found out that some of my other classmates were applying. Because we had little time and absolutely no information, we applied to 5 boarding schools- Exeter, Andover, Milton, Middlesex, and Thacher. ← Look how stunningly wide that net is …
Looking back, last year’s application was a bit rushed and unpolished. I had absolutely no idea what the process was, how essays were supposed to look, etc. While AtriaMum did her masters at a hotshot US college back in the stone ages, she was unsure how similar BS apps were to college apps… So I stumbled along with the application and submitted it (barely) before the deadline. I took the ISEE in January, after a week’s prep and walked into the testing room with absolutely no idea what to expect. Still, in the end my stats were good, my EC’s extensive and interesting.
The wait to M10 was possibly the most torturous part of the app. I would spend hours daydreaming and school websites often crowded my tabs. Everyone knew I was applying and I was continuously told I would get in, or it was a sure shot. And so as M10 creeped closer, my hopes only grew.
Then M10 came. I woke up to Exeter’s waitlist. Discouraged, but still blindly optimistic, I went to school. Break started and all my fellow applicants rushed to the computer rooms. Even some teachers came give congratulations. As Andover, Milton, and Middlesex notifications came in, my smile grew more and more fixed. I remember going home, keeping the emotions at bay, and tearing through the mail hoping to find that one letter. There was none. For some reason I still held out hope, mail gets delayed. Then the email came in and I was crushed. Thacher was my dream school last year. It was the only school I had visited and the school that I fell in love with. And so I shed (more than a) few tears, stuffed my face with ice cream, and watched Netflix with AtriaMum. It was over. We had decided that we weren’t going to re-apply, and I would continue on in a public school. The BS chapter was closed, or so we thought.
Early May, came a call from Exeter. An offer as a day student (we had previously said we would consider moving if granted a spot). But AtriaDad had already signed a contract and committed to a project overseas. I remember begging my parents to reconsider. But it was not to be. And so it seemed an even crueler day then M10.
Schools ended, summer started, and I for some reason I found myself on CC.
I found a source of inspiration on CC - @stargirl3 . It was her story that made me reapply this year
When I re-applied this year, I think the fact that I had experience (and CC ) made a difference. I started early, got my interviews scheduled (skype interviews bc I am abroad), and I poured my heart into my essays. Last year, I was so focused on what I thought the AO’s wanted to hear that my essays sounded bland, robotic, and perfectly unremarkable. This year I made my essays personal, deep and tried to include as much of me as I could. And this year, I didn’t devote every moment to BS. What I mean by that is, it sometimes feels like the app and BS is your future and you want to spend every moment planning and perfecting everything, that you don’t do the things you normally do. That doesn’t mean I didn’t daydream or spend an unhealthy amount of time on CC (just look at my post count ) I just kept reminding myself that my life is going to continue on; BS or no.
I want to end with something I posted on another thread:
(I wish you could be more specific about the opportunities and experiences that challenged and shaped you this year… …very curious. PM is fine if you aren’t comfortable sharing here…)
Maybe “dream schools,” but I dunno maybe not quite. Are they your dream schools? My point is that although I can appreciate the valor in tenacity, and tenacity has its good points, I’m a bigger believer in NOT trying to keep hammering away at trying to fit the square peg in the round hole. By that I mean, I’m a bigger subscriber to and I think it’s far more important that “When Life gives you lemons, Make Lemonade…”
Life is full of opportunities. Look for your opportunities. There is nothing wrong with LPS (local public school) also. The opportunities you are given may not be the ones you are pursuing. The Common App has a question specifically about failure because failure makes you look in another direction, and sometimes in that direction you find the answers you’re looking for. I love the motto “Love the school that loves you,” because I really think it is about picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, continue to be the person you are with all the God-given talents you have, and continue to make lemonade. Someone will want to buy it.
There wasn’t a huge difference between my 9th and 10th grade applications. I started early for both, having learned from my rushed 8th grade attempt. My essays may have been better, but my SSAT percentile went down 6 points. It’s a crapshoot. I won the lottery the third time around. That’s it.
One thing that helps for a 10th grade applicant is to do extremely well in 9th grade, academically and in other areas – to go into high school, wherever it is, wholeheartedly. There’s no strategy in that; it’s just the right thing to do.
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