We found a JBS and applied for 9th grade for 2016, and scheduled a Skype interview in a few days. She submitted her last year’s practice SSAT score. I wrote all the LoR. Does rolling admission means they may accept before the regular decision date too? Anyway, I think attending a JBS can give her better idea on looking for BS later, give time to adjust BS life from homeschooling, and allow her to start BS at age 14 for (repeat) 9th grade if she wants to.
We think the school will give a wonderful and fun experience to daughter. Their rare sports perfectly aligns with daughter’s. Their other EC would be what daughter enjoy very much. It’s rather unique. Academics and arts seems good as is in the most of other boarding schools. The admission staff has been very friendly. We studied their website and watched youtube clips, as well as reading everything else on the Internet.
Still, answering the question - why apply to our school - with enough detail seems hard. I asked the question to daughter and she only came up with a short paragraph answer that sounds superficial to me. But then, all the information she can get over Internet is superficial. I am not sure if I can come up with a longer and insightful answers.
So, how long answers for those questions should be? What are the things that she can talk about during the interview?
I think you should be very wary of over-coaching your daughter. If she’s able to come up with several sentences to explain “why this school,” that’s great.
If I have the math right, she’s 13 now. Being 13 is a good reason to hesitate about sending your homeschooled daughter away to a boarding school at which she might be the youngest child in the school. At a JBS, she would not be the youngest, while experiencing a supportive transition to classroom learning.
She (and you) don’t need to go over the top in preparation. The school should be looking for fit.
@Periwinkle, Daughter is 12 and will turn 13 this Winter. Trying to avoid being the youngest at BS is why she is considering JBS for next Fall, and BS for the year after. Also the year at JBS will give her a better idea on what BS she wants to apply to.
Well, I hope the school can find what they need. I don’t want to over-coach her. She is already working more for the interview. You think it will be best for me to step aside? I only told her that if she really like the school, then she should talk about it in detail because the school won’t know it otherwise. She just came back from a 3 weeks camp and acts a lot more independently now.
I am afraid if I was over-forthcoming by sending a 10 pages of email collection that I have written over several years about her homeschooling. But I think the school will get very good idea about who she is, and who I am. Whether they will want her is a different matter.
Mom, you need to step WAY back. Schools are looking for the student who really wants to go and a helicoptering parent is a big black mark.
Have her look at the website and look at the specific classes/programs/ECs/sports, etc. and explain WHY these offerings are a good fit. If she has already done this, then the question is answered.
I know that one of the reasons the school admitted my daughter is that SHE was the one who wanted to apply and had to convince me with logical reasons before we went forward. When I told the interviewer this, it was very well received.
Best of luck.
@CindyLWho, I have written many emails to our local homeschooling group during the 7 years that I have homeschooled her. The selected emails give a lot of insight on my daughter’s academic, artistic, personal, and EC development over the years. I choose only one email per each area.
@mexusa, Sorry for not being specific that I am the father. She has already studied the school thoroughly. She is the one who insists boarding school for next Fall and convinced us. I hope the interviewer will notice it. I am afraid too for being an unwanted helicopter parent. But it’s a bit hard to avoid since I am also her homeschool principal, counselor and English/math teacher.
Personally, I don’t really want to let her leave. She just got her first acceptance at a reputable juried art competition as an exhibiting artist. Who knows if she will actually win a honorable mention or something. She can learn pretty well at homeschool and college art classes. Through this Summer’s art camp, I realized that how big is the gap between college and middle/high school art quality. It wasn’t about talent and maturity. It was about if she is asked to spend 3 hours or 30 hours per each piece.
But teenage isn’t just about art and academics. She wants independent living and wide experience. And I want her be successful at anything that she chooses with her life.
As a repeat Seventh Former your daughter will have to turn around and answer the same questions for SS school apps in a matter of months ( when the answers really count ) so this is a really good exercise even if it’s for one app.
Here’s another way to look at the WHY question : Have your daughter look at the school website again and try to find things that interest her that will take her out of her comfort zone. Don’t focus on what she’s already good at or what she’ll continue doing while she’s there. BSs want kids who are willing/ prepared to explore and try new things.
It’s not always about the grades, test scores, athletic ability or an awesome EC. A great BS app doesn’t dwell on past. It’s about how a student wants to be challenged in the future and what they hope to accomplish by having this experience.
Thank you so much! Daughter applied to a junior boarding school as a 9th grader for 2016 and got acceptance email this morning, in few days after a Skype interview. I think the interview was focused on her residential summer camp experience, and things she is interested to do in the school. They have FA fund left for this year and offered admission for 2015 as well. But daughter thinks she has things to wrap up here so she will wait until next Fall.
We all believe that she will thrive there for the year, and be better informed / prepared to apply to a BS for year 2017, in which time I will be seeking more help. For now we will stop looking for other schools unless FA is unrealistic - which I doubt will happen.
Over-revealing everything about her and hoping that they would like who she is might have worked. If I screwed it up there, then they must liked her art portfolio very much. Several schools we contacted have been very enthusiastic about it.
She is a 12yo ungraded homeschooler, and took an upper level SSAT last Winter. I will add detail to the acceptance thread next Spring.