<p>My son is applying to 9th grade at Hackley, St Luke's, Greens Farms Academy, etc. He is presently in the Westchester Public School system. His ISEE Scores were 9,9,6,7. Should we be concerned about the 6? Are there other schools anyone can recommend, we are fairly new to the area? He plays sports and is an A student.<br>
Thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks for the PM. Since this is my first post, I canāt send you a PM back. He is more into History, Science, and English than Math (the 6 and 7 were Math). Thanks for the tip on Masters - taking a look at the website now!</p>
<p>Have fun looking. Iād be happy to try to answer any specific questions about Masters. (And Iām sorry I missed that your son is applying for 9th - I do see that now.)</p>
<p>Hi HarrietMWelsch, I canāt send private messages because I am too new (mostly my daughter has been posting on some of the boards - this is my first login (Iām the mom!) She is applying to Masters and we have a visit there next week. Do you have a child there? What has been your experience with it? We live in NW CT and my husband works in Westchester so the location is great for us, and I like everything Iāve seen on the website - the approach, the dance program, which is of particular interest to her, the nearness to NYC which is exciting for a kid whoās grown up out in the country.</p>
<p>Weāre huge fans of Masters. We especially appreciate the schoolās emphasis on building a mutually respectful community, on being open to learning from others (at the Harkness table and elsewhere), and on service, plus the strong arts programs. </p>
<p>Plenty of places offer rigorous academics, but the blend at Masters continues to impress us.</p>
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<p>Hi Harriet,
thank you for this. I still canāt send messages (not enough posts yet). People on this board seem very preoccupied with the ātopā schools (weāve met a few of those folks on our various tours, too) but having gone to a āhidden gemā myself thatās so hidden nobody on this board has ever mentioned it, I have no qualms about finding a school thatās truly the best fit for my daughter, regardless of name recognition. (That said, a LOT of people keep telling us about Masters, so I guess itās not that hidden!)</p>
<p>Whatās your sense of the financial aid at Masters? for us, thatās going to be the biggest barrier to her actually going anywhere other than our local public high school?</p>
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<p>āSense ofā is the right question; I donāt have direct experience. I donāt think itās the kind of magic, overflowing pot of aid some schools seem to have, but at the same time I donāt know anybody who was admitted but did not get sufficient aid to attend. </p>
<p>I do hear that the FA office is responsive and helpful when people have questions.</p>
<p>Sorry I canāt offer any real data or first-hand knowledge!</p>
<p>I canāt help you with Hackley or ISEE scores but I can tell you that kids and parents alike have been very happy with St. Lukeās. Other schools in the area are Rye Country Day, Brunswick and King if you havenāt already considered them.</p>
<p>Iāve never heard of any of those schools, but those are very solid ISEE scores. Those ISEE scores will not stop your kid getting into any school. In fact, they will help, alot.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>We are in a similar boatā¦ this waiting is very stressful, I understand that the schools you posted above only take between 10 - 15 students for 9th grade. We only applied to 4 schools - have been accepted to the first (early decision) the other three will not be sending out letters of acceptance/rejection until the end of Feb. Obviously the 9ās are excellent, not to sure about the 6 & 7 - I guess it depends on how the ācompetitionā did in your area. I also know that sports does help sometimes. Which sports does he play?</p>
<p>He plays baseball and football. We are really worried about the 6, too. Hope it does not hurt his chances.</p>
<p>Football is good, most A students, donāt play football. That has to be a plus. Good Luck!</p>
<p>That 6 is unlikely to be a problem at any of the schools mentioned. All of those stanines get you through the gate, as it were. Beyond that, the schools are going to be much more interested in a studentās transcript, recommendations, and so on.</p>
<p>Circling back to Masters for a second: WestParent, youāve seen by now that Masters doesnāt have a football program, right? (The best Masters t-shirt says āMASTERS FOOTBALLā on the front and āUndefeated since 1877ā on the back.)</p>
<p>Took a look at Masters last night. Very impressive. I noticed there is no football team - which I could definitely live with!!! But, we missed the application deadline for 9th grade for September 2013. Looks fabulous - but at this point, not an option for us.
Thank you for your input - so much appreciated.</p>
<p>No problem. Best of luck to you and your son!</p>
<p>Not sure where to post this question. Does Admissions look at the stanine average or the average of the perecentages received on each section? Thanks!</p>
<p>Does anyone have any insight into this? We have the same question. Depending upon how you do the calculation, we come up with ātotalā or āoverallā scores which vary a significant amount.</p>
<p>Anyone who attempts to tell you whether a student has a chance or not - based on limited data, is mostly guessing. And since Admissions is a black box, thatās not going to be much help.</p>
<p>I will say that some schools look at the highest score on each test, and others donāt. There is no one generic one size fits all answer to the questions being asked. And I say that as both a BS and a College interviewer. Trying to figure out the system is like trying to read tea leaves.</p>
<p>A student with lower scores might get a nod and a student with higher scores might not. I will tell you, that in the latter case, some of those students fell flat because they obsessed so much about scores they forgot to simply be interesting and passionate about something that would help them stand out. Schools choose students - not widgets.</p>