Honestly, I wanted to know if others were feeling nervous too. Advice from people who have experience with the whole boarding school application process is appreciated.
Check out the m2022 freak out thread
Here are some tips from a parent who supported a student going through the process a few years ago.
- Applying to BS is a marathon, not a sprint. Have that mindset.
- Keep organized! We had a separate folder for each school - you can do this on your desktop or in an old fashioned file system. Keep names of AO’s and coaches in each folder, copies of correspondence, supplemental essays, etc.
- Throw a wide net
- Don’t waste your time applying to a school you would never want to attend…some kids do this just to see “if they would get in”. Why play games or add to your stress?
- Do your homework about the schools you are applying to - know the history, the vibe, the sports, arts/performing arts, focus, etc.
- Take stock of your true reasons for wanting to attend a boarding school. You will most likely be asked to share these reasons during interviews.
- Practice for interviews.
- Have a discussion (not argument) with your parents to review your respective expectations about the many aspects of boarding school. It’s ok if your expectations are different. Just have the conversation - it will set the stage for more important ones. Plus, it’s important to figure out what you expect of yourself, what you expect from the experience, and what you expect from the school.
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During this time in 2018 (when I was an applicant), I barely knew anything about the schools I was applying to beyond their names—if you’re preparing this early, it’s a good sign.
Aside from echoing what Golfgr8 said:
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Visit campus (if you can) and get a student-guided tour. The tours, especially if you get a freshman as your tour guide, are the perfect way to get an idea of what the actual student experience is like, no matter how much we try to cover up the parts we don’t like :^) (not that there are any, of course)
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Look at school media. Does the school have a newspaper? A political magazine? A video news channel? Most of those tend to be completely student-run-and-produced, so they’re a good way to see legitimate community voices that are not filtered by an admissions department.
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Make sure you have questions to ask, both to the tour guide and to the AO. At one of the schools I applied to, I wrote out a list that I kept in my pocket (by the way, though none of the schools I applied to had formal dress codes, I did wear a suit to every tour), which helped me focus on exactly what I wanted to know. Both generic questions (“What’s your favorite thing about this school?”) and specific ones (“I noticed that this school doesn’t offer AP classes; why is that? Does this have an impact on college results?”) can be helpful, but you should always have at least one of the latter when speaking to the AO.
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Realize that everyone is just as nervous and awkward as you are. Not even the students that you see confidently walking around know exactly what they’re doing, and that’s OK. You will be fine.
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If you intend to be a boarder, ask to see a dorm ROOM in a [freshman/sophomore/whatever year you’re applying to] dorm (this is very important—a lot of schools have nicer dorms for upperclassmen, so make sure you get to see what you will be living in). If you’re applying as a day student, ask to see a locker room, or at least the area in which they are located. Also ask to see dorm bathrooms, if allowed.
I realize that a lot of these are contingent on getting an on-campus tour, but you can always ask to get in touch with a student tour guide who can do a similar thing through Zoom/FaceTime/etc. Going on campus should be your number 1 priority, though.
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