Looking for some help/advice

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
1

<p>I am wondering if anyone here can help our family with some boarding school admission information. We live in a primarily working class midwestern city with a mediocre school system. Our eldest was not hurt by this - he excelled and is a freshamn at a top east coast liberal arts college. Our second child absolutely refused to attend the large public high school here and travels an hour + each day to attend a private school in another city. She loves her school and has had a good experience so far.</p>

<p>Child three is our concern. She is extremely bright and motivated. She has a good friend who has siblings at St Paul's School, and based upon their experience among other things, our daughter has decided she would like to go to a boarding school for high school. She is only in 6th grade! I can see, however, that she may need something more. She is a wonderful musician, has skipped a grade in math and reading, and we can see that she has a drive that exceeds what we saw in her older siblings.</p>

<p>How do we even begin the process of finding a school? Is admission to a top school even realistic for her? We are a typical slightly upper middle class family who would need some financial aid to make this happen. We don't have connections to any of these schools, but if our daughter would like the chance to do this, we are willing to support her.</p>

<p>Any brutally honest advice would be greatly appreciated!!!</p>

2

<p>the fact that she’s only in 6th grade and has taken the initiative to look into boarding school is promising. if she’s bright and motivated, then she can definitely make it happen.</p>

<p>since she’s only in grade 6, she has time to work on her extra-curriculars (ECs). i’d say to rack up some volunteer hours/start a sport/art/instrument, whatever will round out her ECs a bit more (of course, make sure that your daughter’s interested in the activity first). schools are always looking for unique candidates, perhaps she should take up playing the oboe or sousaphone, if she’s interested :)</p>

<p>to start your search, maybe you should try researching schools on Boardingschoolreview. If she’s interested in small schools, maybe look into Groton or Middlesex. If she’s looking into big schools, Exeter or Andover… etc. Narrow down the field by focusing on what she wants (a specific sport? a really strong… English department? School size?). Don’t focus on JUST ultra-prestigious schools (GLADCHEMMS), because they’re a reach for even the most qualified students… Look into some matches and safeties as well (typically schools with higher acceptance rates, lower average SSAT, etc).</p>

<p>Ok, so I’m not a parent, this was just some rushed, basic advice from an 8th grader. I’m sure that a parent will give you some more eloquent, detailed advice, too. Best of luck! :-)</p>

3

<p>Honestly, you are beginning the search at the right time. I wish I had started it that long ago.</p>

<p>Start with boarding school review.com, a wonderful site to give great information. </p>

<p>I am like a lot of parents here…I was looking for fix above all else. I am from Chicago and this is a whole bs experience was almost overwhelming, to say the least.</p>

<p>I believe that if a child wants to go to bs then there is a school for them, it just may take a while to find it. Don’t get over taken my the “tier1 Hades” issues".</p>

<p>Visit as many as possible, maybe the spring or summer before 8th grade, very little stress and the admissions people tend to be a little lonely in the summers and welcome visitors. When we visited in the summer we got almost unlimited time with students and school administrators. </p>

<p>Ask as many questions here as possible. I have met some wonderful parents here with great advice even on topics that I never considered. Read threads written by the students. That will show you where their head is at and what they are thinking. </p>

<p>Talk to your kid about what is important. Challenge was top of my d’s list for bs. She is so bored in her current school and travels 1.5 hours each day to the other side of town for school. She wanted a formal setting, no jeans during the day. Smaller size was better than big, but not too small. </p>

<p>Also what is important to you. I wanted a place where the kids were happy. I wanted close relationships between kids and adults. I loved the sit down meals idea.</p>

<p>Read the old threads when you find the time–lol.</p>

<p>I am happy to say that we have found the right fit for my d. It is our first day home after revisits and we are able to rest.</p>

<p>Good luck in this adventure of findings and self-discovery of both you and your child.</p>

<p>Feel free to pm me if I can be of any help.</p>

<p>Alexz825mom</p>

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<p>Dive, we must have been writing at the same time…as a parent you did a great job.</p>

5

<p>If she’s interested in boarding immediately they have pre-preps like Bement or Fay (Idrk abt Fay.)</p>

6

<p>akamom98 - </p>

<p>Look into the [Caroline</a> D. Bradley Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.educationaladvancement.org/programs/caroline-d-bradley-scholarship][b]Caroline”>Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship). It’s a four-year high school scholarship - for which the student has to apply no later than 7th grade. So, your daughter would be able to apply - and, if she qualifies, it would not only pay her tuition, but also provide counseling to help her find the right school! (I think most of us don’t discover this scholarship until our kids are already in 8th grade - and it’s too late to apply!)</p>

<p>Beyond that, if you can possibly afford, it, I would suggest hiring a school placement consultant - if (and only if) you can find one near you who actually specializes in boarding school. (Most of them focus on college placement only.) A good consultant would be able not only to help you identify possible good schools for your daughter, but could also advise you as to what if anything she might want to do to increase her chances of admission. Yes, I admit, hiring a consultant seems rather extravagant and, goodness knows, you can do a lot of research yourself using this forum and [Boarding</a> School Review](<a href=“Boarding School Search Results”>Boarding School Search Results) . . . but a good consultant will have visited the schools and will quite likely have good insight as to which ones would really be a good match for your daughter. My feeling is that since you’re starting the process early, you should take advantage of any resources you have available to you. (In other words, a few hundred dollars for good advice might be well spent . . . but if someone wants to charge you thousands for a “guaranteed” admission, run the other direction!)</p>

<p>By the way, I’ve been told repeatedly on this forum to let the student take the lead, whenever possible, when it comes to contacting schools, setting up interviews, etc., so to the extent that your daughter is willing to do things herself, that’s great!!!</p>

<p>Ahhh . . . and one other bit of advice. Let your daughter select the schools she’s most interested in, but try to discourage her from focusing to heavily on just one. The more “favorites” she has, the more likely she is to have a happy outcome to the admissions process.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

7

<p>Caroline D Bradley scholarship is a great scholarship - it is merit based - your daughter could apply for it during the spring of 7th grade. My daughter received the scholarship and it pays for all of high school (it does only pay for the day school tuition and if the student chooses a boarding school, you pay for extra tuition for boarding)</p>

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<p>I agree with the posts so far. People get hung up on the HADES schools (I went to one) without casting a broader net.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Have your daughter go to a summer program. Access Exeter is a good one and is aimed at middle school students. My daughter attended as a rising 8th grader and loved it. It will allow you and your daughter to “test drive” being separated, and will test her ability to navigate a campus and block scheduling. St. Paul’s has a good summer program but it’s only open to New Hampshire residents. Other schools have similar programs - so start there.</p></li>
<li><p>If she likes the experience, call the schools and ask for a viewbook. Many come with DVD’s. You can start looking at campus size, types of activity, rigor, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Pick a few to visit. We visited 5 schools over an extended weekend (5 days). It was amazing the differences as compared to a catalogue. Some feel like college campuses, some feel like smaller “country day” schools with a boarding component, others feel more like an European boarding school. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>The visit will tell you the most important thing - would your daughter fit in. It’s not something that can be quantified. </p>

<p>Starting early is wise so you can narrow down your choices. The posts above gave you excellent information. And if you can’t afford a consultant (I’m not sure how to tell who has the right skills), then mine these discussion boards for data and when you narrow it down - ask for opinions from other parents. I did - and it has been very useful.</p>

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<p>To find a consultant (if you want to go that route), go here:</p>

<p>[IECA</a> Find-A-Consultant Page](<a href=“http://www.iecaonline.com/cfm_PublicSearch/pg_PublicSearch.cfm?mode=entry]IECA”>http://www.iecaonline.com/cfm_PublicSearch/pg_PublicSearch.cfm?mode=entry)</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your thoughtful and helpful responses. I guess we are not too early to begin thinking about the process of admissions!</p>

<p>Visiting during the summer is something we can do since we will be our east for other family obligations. When you visit a BS in the summer, do you plan for just a tour, or should our daughter also meet with the admissions office?</p>

<p>Thanks too, to those who referenced the Bradley Scholar program. Our daughter is excited by this and our state is on the qualifying list.</p>

<p>We have our work cut out for us. I appreciate your encouraging replies!</p>

11

<p>Akamom, when you think about the HADES schools and the pricetag, also realize that they too are the ones who have the money to give for FA and they are extremely generous for need-based FA. My personal experience for both BS and college is that the best schools are also the most generous when it comes to FA. Although lower tier schools are less expensive, they also don’t have the financial resources. My daughter was accepted at both the HADES schools and the next tier schools and when you put it all on paper, it was much less expensive for her to go to a HADES school than the next tier down. I also would suggest you apply to at least three BSs. I think one of the worst mistakes a student can make when they start applying to BS is to fall in love with one school and not apply to at least three. Good luck!</p>

12

<p>Mummyof 2, I second you thoughts. </p>

<p>I would increase you pool to apply to at least 6 or 7, making sure that your child would love to go to any of them. Within our group my daughter and I had a clear 1 or 2 but none would we have turned down if they were they only one that selected her. Staying in her current situation was not an option for us.</p>

<p>We applied to schools, some Hades not because of their name but due to FA. Without a great FA package bs was not going to be possible, so I checked endowments first and if the school didnt have enough to offer good packages then they were not considered.
(Note on boarding school review, they tell endowment, tuition, % of students receiving FA and how much on average they give).</p>

<p>As much as we felt bs was perfect for my d if we couldnt afford it, it wasnt worth looking into.</p>

<p>We all was said and done we didnt take the school that offered the best package, almost nothing from me, but the school with the best fit, and it happened to be one of the schools with a package that was doable with a little tightening of my purse.</p>

<p>Just my 4 cents :-)</p>

13

<p>Be sure to check the travel schedule for the admissions officers for the schools that might interest your daughter. Generally, the admissions officers travel to different cities and sometimes travel as a group, e.g. TSAO (Ten Schools Admissions Organization). You can learn a lot about the schools in this type of setting.</p>

14

<p>Northfield Mount Hermon also travels with a group of schools. I missed them when they came to Chicago, but they explained it is lite the TSO.</p>

15

<p>I agree with the above posts, but wouldn’t completely set aside schools with smaller endowments if they’re really a good fit. It’s true, at least in our experience, that a HADES school will offer more FA–but it’s also possible that you’ll be waitlisted at those schools and accepted at a school that wants students of your child’s caliber and is willing to expend limited FA resources to get her there. </p>

<p>For example, we were offered good financial aid–up to the SSS amount–from a school that stated pretty clearly on its website that its FA resources were limited. If he hadn’t gotten into the HADES school, we could probably have made the other school happen–though I agree that the SSS system is pretty flawed (which is why, I think the aid was so much more generous from the top tier school), and I don’t think we could have done it without borrowing. </p>

<p>My point is, though, that if the fit’s right, the aid may just come along with it!</p>