Sorry I misunderstood @doschicos. This was an important question for us during the process as we wanted to make certain selection for varsity teams is based on potential contributions and not class, year that is. I think it will also depend on a particular sport at a given school. Some schools seem to value some sports over other and that might make a difference. My daughter’s good outcome on M10 may very well have to do with her ability to have an immediate impact as a freshman who knows??
I don’t have the perspective to know which hook carries what weight, but I know that in our case the ability to be a starter on a varsity team as a freshman opened admission doors, and was a huge bargaining chip post M10.
I agree with you that some sports seem more valued than others @MAandMEmom. Also, for some sports athletes have to come in at a certain aptitude to be impact players. Crew - you can start off as a freshman with zero exposure and develop into a recruitable college rower. I’d say the same for track or wrestling. That can’t be said for some of the other sports.
I also think it is more common for a freshman girl to be a varsity starter than a freshman boy. Sure, some guys come in at 14 and have the physical size to compete against seniors but a lot don’t yet. For females, there is often less physical difference.
I know my pre-pubescent 14 year old (way too much info I know ;)) hopes that she’ll have some growing that will help her in her sport. Seems like every sport favors height. And I’ve seen not a gymnastics team at any BS where shorter is always better! And DD was a great gymnast back in the day who knew…
Wow, @GoatMama. That’s a big change, not that SPS has ever been an athletic powerhouse. That new league will be more challenging as they all take PGs and are bigger. How are you feeling about it? Did you already know the news?
What a poor/misleading headline.
Taken by surprise. (By the headline too… ) :-?
The ISL issue does not really impact GK’s sport because all ISL teams are also NEPSAC teams, so they need to play them anyhow. It may end up giving them a more competitive schedule my dropping a few weaker games and replacing them with a few against Choate, Deerfield, and NMH, which actually is good! The other potential benefit, for GK’s sport, is that it will open up more opportunities for players off-season.
Unlike URM’s, potential impact athletes still need to take extra steps to make themselves known to the schools and coaches, right? When DC was applying and we had figured out that DC might be considered an impact athlete, our instinct was that DC needed to contact the coaches at the various schools to let them know of DC’s interest, and to determine if DC could meaningfully contribute to their team if DC were to gain admission. Can the really, really good athletes afford to skip this step and simply rely on the information submitted with the application to become identified as an impact athlete? Maybe it depends on the timing of the application and how good the kid is at the sport? Do BS coaches actively recruit local and/or more remote talent? Does it depend on the sport?
Just in case someone hasn’t figured it out about us, we DID NOT use an educational consultant. Lately I have been having daydreams about how this whole process could have gone down differently, i.e. with less confusion and stress, and with more grace and finesse. Driving 3,035 miles in one trip while crisscrossing NE and the mid-Atlantic to visit 12 BS campuses was NOT elegant. Without a doubt, the number one lesson for us was that it would have been SO MUCH better if DC had started looking into schools last spring. Alas, BS didn’t even get on DC’s radar until October 19th.
I think I can hear some of you snickering… I’m sure the AO’s were too. It’s all good; DH, DC and I have had many laughs at ourselves as well. There’s a lesson in that too.
Holy cow, @AppleNotFar! How much school days did DC miss?
" Can the really, really good athletes afford to skip this step and simply rely on the information submitted with the application to become identified as an impact athlete?" Probably not. Contacting coaches is the right thing to do.
@AppleNotFar Just to clarify, my exclamation isn’t at all an expression of a judgment, and I hope you don’t perceive it as such. I just didn’t think such a trip was even possible! Our current school limits the days a student can miss for school visits to… two!! 
The only place we knowingly saw a consultant with a family was at NMH. We did not use one nor sat for a private ssat sitting. Our vetting was based on research on the school’s website and we visited 13 schools and applied to 7. Like @AppleNotFar we reached out to coaches in advance of DD’s interview date. Only in one case did we hear from a coach before we had a chance to email and this was likely because the coach works in admissions. We didn’t need to travel as far as applekid’s family but I guess we might have eliminated some non matches pre-trek. I can say we enjoyed visiting all 13 regardless and on the bright side, DD will have the benefit of knowing the campuses a bit when she goes there for athletic events.
With regard to coaching contacts: This is usually very straightforward and the AO’s go out of their way to facilitate it.
First of all, for new parents where the coach isn’t already aware of your kid (which tends to only happen if there’s a sibling or local team connection), all the schools have an activity interest form in which you put down your sport(s) and relevant considerations: Positions, teams, awards, stats if relevant, times if relevant, etc. Then when scheduling the interview, simply remind them (if they don’t bring it up–some will) that you want to meet with soccer coach, lax coach, whatever. Sometimes that can get tricky with the time of the interview and that coach’s schedule, but at a minimum, contact will be made and you’ll be on the radar screen. Some schools will try to match you with a tour guide from the sports of interest as well. Post-interview, especially if it’s a school that you are serious about, there are plenty of follow-up opportunities.
Then, just follow the coach’s lead in each institution. If the coach really wants your kid, you’ll know. If they are indifferent, you’ll also know. Parents can be more involved than in college recruiting, which is really not the parent’s domain; we tried to strike a balance–we wanted our kid to have 1:1 time with the coaches and potential future teammates, but of course we had questions also about various things that were relevant. Parental involvement during this process was definitely welcomed, and frankly I think expected.
I also agree with the posters that are discussing “impact.” I think there are three levels: Slam-dunk prospects who will play at a high level and will have college careers. Very few of these, per team, male of female, are identified at freshman/sophomore year level. Each school gets their share, and depending on the school size, and for most teams, we’re generally talking less than a handful per team per admit cycle–and remember, that’s admits, not matriculations, and the best of them are going to get a lot of offers. PGs factor heavily into this group.
Level 2: Solid contributors, who will definitely play as upperclassman (or sooner), and could develop into college players. Most athletes fall into this category and this is where it’s tremendously important to be aware of team needs and how you match up. If you’ve got a quality Field Hockey Goalie kid, and the starter is a sophomore, that’s simply less attractive than if the starter is a senior within this category. This could also dovetail nicely for a multi-sport athlete–there are plenty of great soccer players that also impact basketball and lacrosse. If you can be a matched “level 2” in two or three sports, that’s pretty huge even though you aren’t a player who is going to be racking up D1 offers is a sophomore.
Level 3: Depth players. Every team needs these, and is generally very happy to have them, but it won’t help you much in admissions because there are always enough of these around from the group that did get admitted.
^^This is exactly what we did for DD’s sport. Looking at championships, I could tell where the various schools were graduating talent. We knew those schools would be looking to potentially replace an athlete. Of course we knew there would be other athletes applying, some probably more talented in said sport, so that should be taken into account as well.
@MAandMEmom I’m still bummed that the School Gods decided not to put us together at the same BS; just another reminder that this is not about us :((
@GoatMama No judgement was assumed at all 
To answer your question, DC missed a full week of school for the big trip, another full week for the revisit trip, plus another day and a half twice for two fly-in trips that we decided were worth the $. On the revisit trip we even ended up Amazon Prime-ing a cheap used copy of a textbook to one of our hotels in order for DC to get some work done. The fact that DC was able to catch up rather quickly without the grades suffering has increased our confidence about DC’s chances of being able to make it academically at BS; not that it was an intentional test, just more dumb luck and an accidental opportunity. DC’s school has a blanket number of days that can be missed before there are consequences. Needless to say, DC cannot afford to get sick for the rest of the year. We had a total of 4 kids apply to BS in DC’s class, and that was a bumper crop for our school, so they haven’t found a need to limit days missed for school visits.
The bigger issue we ran into was with DC missing athletic practice. DC’s coach was not very happy about that at all. Getting the evil eye from your kid’s coach is no joy, and it certainly was no picnic for DC. In fact, the biggest negative impact this journey had on DC was on athletic performance. DC opted to pass on an important contest in order to retake the SSAT. (That’s also when we knew that DC was into this BS thing for real.) Then there was an out of town contest that began the same day that most of the applications were due, and two still had to be completed, and it was clear that DC’s head was not in the game. DH and I got a lot of evil eye from the coach that weekend! Then the big, big contest happened right smack between M10 and the revisit trip. DC choked in three face-offs before managing to refocus and finally bring it for a few match ups. Again more dumb luck for us as this turned into a chance to talk about how life often happens this way, when you can’t control all of your circumstances but you still need to meet your commitments and responsibilities. I can only imagine what it will be like when DC finally gets romantically involved (no rush!), has a major falling-out with the beloved and has to show up for both school and sports. Let’s be honest, that’s really why we send them away, isn’t it???
@Mr.Wendal thanks for your comments. We’ve felt pressure to hire an EC but both my DS & I are huge researchers and preparers.
Brief introduction: I am an african-american sophomore (just turned 15) and am heading into my first year of matriculation at the St.pauls school.
I know this is a handful, but I hope you will read it!
[2016]
Applied: St.Andrews, St.pauls, The Webb school, Trinity-pawling, Andover, The Hill school, Wesstown, Asheville, MCcallie
Accepted: St.Andrews, St.pauls, The Webb school, Wesstown, Asheville
Wait-listed: Mccallie, Trinity-Pawling, Andover
Rejected: The Hill
[ SSAT ]
Took: 2 times
Highest Percentile: 78th%
Lowest Percentile: 62%
SSAT Tips:
I am not going to alleviate the matter. The SSAT is an arduous test. For anyone who is looking to gain admittance to any boarding school, but especially an elite one, is going to have to work extremely hard. Last year November, I took the SSAT. And to describe my results as an utter disappointment would be the understatement of the millenium. I scored at the 62nd percentile. WOW! When I received my test scores, I was an a state of absolute stupefaction. I was totally unprepared for the math section, scoring in the 30th percentile. I thought I did great on the reading portion but scored at the 59th percentile, and the only thing that saved my score from being a downright disgrace was my score on the verbal section, where I scored at the 92nd percentile. Now before I continue, my intention is not to offend those who scored less than, above or around the 62nd mark. I am writing with such vigor and emotion only because of the fact that I set lofty standards for myself and I expect greatness out of myself.Actually, what most people aren’t cognizant of is that anything above the 50 percentile on the SSAT designates you in the top 25th percentile nationally. Remember, the vast majority of those who are taking this test are the elite of the elite. Although I realized I was in top 15th percentile nationally, I was not satisfied. If my goal was to consign myself to a second-class standing I might as well had taken my behind to the nearest public school. Anyyyywwwaayyy… My dream school was Andover also regarded as Philips Academy in Boston. So, to receive the news that I had scored at the 62nd percentile was devastating. There was a glimpse of hope though. Luckily, there was one more date the exam would be administered. This date was approximately 2 weeks away from when I received my results. So, I immediately signed myself up to take the ensuing test. I do have to say, in hindsight, those were the most depressing two weeks of my life. The first few days during that epoch was a reiteration of the previous day. I would go to school, come home, cry, eat, then sleep. But I realized that sulking and lamenting over my problems wasn’t going to solve anything. I knew that I had one more chance to excel on a test that would essentially determine my destiny(probably not to that extent,lol). I quickly got myself together and worked indefatigably for the next SSAT. I love tests, because they test you both physically, mentally, and spiritually to a degree. There are some people who dont believe that there is a such thing as bad test-takers. I do. I believe that those who deem themselves to be bad test-takers are bereft of both mental fortitude and extensive competencies. Yes, possessing skills is a key component to Acing a test, but sinew and mental willpower must also be there too. So the second time, I went in there with a totally different mindset. One of my downfalls has always been to overthink things, and that has been extremely detrimental to my advancement. So I just went in there with a clear mindset. At the end of the day, its really just getting the most problems right. I was ver y shocked the first time though because I consider myself to be a very good reader. But that is besides the point. I went in there cool and collected and came out pretty confident. I received my scores about 3 weeks later, and I had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Some of me was relieved and the other was slightly disappointed. I still felt I had left to much on the table. But for the most part, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.I still wasn’t happy about my reading score. Again, I consider myself to be an excellent reader so I didn’t know what was going on. My math score improved significantly, and my verbal decreased by a 3rd percentile. I wasn’t happy about that because my goal going into the second test was to make 99 percentile. But, in the end I was just thankful I had produced something that elite people could take at least halfway seriously. Ok, I know all of that is a handful. But, I said all of that to say this: If you are in a difficult situation and don’t think you are capable of making it out. Just know you are not the only one who has, is, or will go through the same or worse than you. I have fallen so many times, but one thing I have learned is, if you dont fall you are not going to know what getting up feels like. If you want something you are going to have to fight for it.
Now, there are couple of tips, in particular, I have in regard to the SSAT. First and foremost, if you indeed wish of doing extremely well, l would advise you to purchase a couple of books that pertain to the Verbal and Reading section of the SSAT. These books are Word Smart, Worldly wise and the Kaplan SSAT and ISEE 2016 version. Additionally, try to know as many words on quiz-let as you can. That was exceedingly instrumental to me on the verbal section. I practically knew every SAT word on quiz-let(that helped me a lot). Now here are some books you should buy for the Math portion: Cracking the SSAT/ISEE, 900 Practice Questions for the Upper Level SSAT & ISEE by The Princeton Review, and math power. I know its tempting, but try to abstain from wildly taking practice test. Actually go through the processes the book lays out. That is a huge mistake I made. Last but not least, make sure to take the test three times, so you can get a feel for it. So then by the third attempt you will feel at home.
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he interview is probably my favorite segment of the boarding school process as a whole, because you are just having a conversation and just being you. I had the prodigious pleasure of venturing to some of the world’s best boarding schools including Andover, SPS, and St. Andrews, and I absolutely loved it. I had the greatest time of my life. Now, before I proceed let me remind you of the schools I interviewed at: St. Andrews, St.pauls, The Webb school, Trinity-Pawling, Andover, The Hill school, Westtown, Asheville, McCallie. Ok, lets go on. Now, some of you may have not even heard of some of the schools on this list and some of you may be very aware of some of them. I made this very diversified for a reason. I could’ve just applied to the top 10 schools (which I regret not doing). But then, my thinking was that my scores weren’t consonant or nearly tantamount with their average SSAT scores so I held back a little bit. Oh how I wish I ‘d applied to more of the Elite NE schools, but I cant do anything about it now. Mostly all boarding schools are elite though. But, in a way I was glad I did that, because I used some of the smaller schools as practice for some of the bigger schools like Andover and St.pauls. Interviewing is one of my greatest strengths, because I love talking. This email is a prime example of that. Lol!!! I do have to admit. Prior to going to Andover and St.pauls, I was slightly nervous (not too much actually). Andover was the first big school I went to interview at. And, right after the Andover interview I would be going to St.pauls to interview. For my standards, I think I did pretty well. My interviewer and I had a couple of great conversations. He was real tough. I left out thinking I had a very legitimate shot of getting in. My interviewer said he was very impressed with my speaking skills and my comportment. My parents told me that my interviewer told them that any school would be lucky to have me. I thought everything was going copacetic until that point (It kind of was though). I’m not trying to brag, but there is a couple of things that kind of makes me intelligent in a way- like being able to interpret seamlessly minute insinuations. For example, there were a couple of things my interviewer said that hinted that I was extremely talented but that I wasn’t great to the point that I totally shocked him. Which was kind of understandable. Because let me remind you of the fact that I was in the 78th percentile on my SSAT. So, I guess one could say that I was already at a disadvantage. But as I previously stated, I did pretty good, actually really good, but not good enough for a guy who got a 78th percentile on his SSAT (just being real). So, consequently, I had the St.pauls interview coming up so I wanted to make sure that I tore it up. Andover was my first interview, so I guess I did really well for my first interview. I arrived on the BEAUTIFUL St.paul’s campus. And I do have to admit; I arrived with pep in my saunter. Think about it. I had just come from a first-class school, and I did pretty well. At this point, I am feeling very good. That’s really one of the key elements-confidence. I walked in acting like I owned the place. First off was the tour, then, the interview. The interview was amazing. I haven’t even sat down yet and already my interviewer is telling me that I am so manner able, and she’s never seen a boy as comported as me, and I looked depart from all the other candidates within literally 10 seconds of walking. Then I take a seat and tell her that I am exceedingly honored blah blah blah… and she asks me a question (cant remember the question). I think I said something about priding myself on demonstrating protuberant leadership and making an impact on their community or something… And she was shocked. Within 30 seconds, she tells me that I am basically accepted and that if what I am saying matches up with my academic dossier then I have nothing to worry about. So, apparently my interviewer hadn’t seen my portfolio yet or my test scores. Then I realize oh crap! She hasn’t seen my test scores yet. I take a big gulp. Then we started to talk more, and she mentions how I am the perfect fit for this school and community. At this point, not only was I making sure I was leaving a lasting impression on them but I was also evaluating them, making sure they were a great school for me. Believe it or not, one representative of the school can tell you enough about the community at large. And for the most part, she came across as kind and congenial. Surprisingly, my interviewer pulls up my scores in the middle of the interview and I can tell she’s not so impressed with them telling me I did “pretty good” on my test. Remember I scored at the 78th percentile mark. A mark that is not that impressive. An 80th percentile or higher with at least one 90th percentile really stands out. All in all, I had a fantastic time. Before, I close this section out I am going to provide you with 10 tips and helpful things to remember.
- The best way to approach an interview is to know that not only are you being evaluated but that you are evaluating them also.
- Boarding Schools, especially the highly renowned ones are not looking for normal people. They are looking for special talents. Bring something new, unique, and unheard-of to the table.
- Do not hold back. Apply to the most and best schools you possibly can. I applied to 10.
- Walk in there like you own the place, like you belong
- Be you. Don’t go in there trying to be something that you are not
- This is an important one- make sure that you have strong, piercing eye-contact, and tell them how honored you are to be there or something.
7.Make sure you are confident in your speech. Try not to mutter or stutter
- Ask the interviewer questions; remember, it’s just a conversation.
- Exhibit lots of energy. Smile!
- Give your interviewer a firm handshake
I know you have heard this about a thousand times, but your SSAT score are not the only thing that these schools look at. I have heard countless stories of people who were in the 90th percentile and up who got rejected and waitlisted to schools. Don’t get me wrong, because great test scores are key. But as I have alluded to in my story, you can steal the show in your interview.
Essay tips: Writing is another one of my strong points. I believe that my essays were another factor that got me through the hump in spite of my SSAT scores. Writing is so fun, because you are just talking about whom you are. Now, it’s fun and easy but at the same time it can get really difficult. Since I interviewed at 9 schools and I was kind of late in regard to the deadline, I had to write 11 essays in 1 week. That was excruciating.
Your essay is another thing that they really do look at and rightfully so. Writing is powerful, and I believe that anyone who is capable of writing compelling narrative can chart his or her own course in life.
If I had to give you a couple of tips, I would tell you to just speak from the heart, make sure you narrative is error-free, and try to differentiate yourself by adding something that other people didn’t add to theirs. Because at the end of the day, its all about standing out!
Conclusion: The day I received my 62nd percentile I never would have thought that in a couple of months I would be on my way to St.pauls. Anything is possible. If you really want to get into an elite boarding school, you are going to have to work hard and work smart day and night. Make sure you have great study habits and make sure that you are capitalizing on every point. Feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding the whole Boarding school process, and I will respond to you in a jiffy. Have fun!!!
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