<p>My child and I are getting geared up for admissions season and a series of placement activities to take place over the next several weeks. Tomorrow, a local private middle school will host a boarding school panel discussion with 45 reps, many of whom are mentioned frequently schools on this board. This will be followed by a full day placement fair the next day. </p>
<p>The panel discussion is of particular interest to me. I attended last year (with only marginal interest as the admissions process seemed eons away; boy was I wrong!). It's great seeing schools side by side, fielding questions and trying to one-up the competition. The fair (primarily glorified sales pitches...similar to something you'd see at the Javits Convention Center) is also beneficial for those questions and/or concerns that you may not want to air in public (example, resolution to recent events at DA?) Students are highly encouraged to come with their own relevant questions and address the admissions reps directly. They'll also participate in an open house roadshow in the coming weeks, visiting seven boarding schools in a three day period. </p>
<p>This will be a very exciting time for my child and I as well as the students in this school's '09 grad class. On your mark...Get set...APPLY!!!</p>
<p>Good luck nyleco! Can I ask where your child is planning on applying to?</p>
<p>Thanks risingjunior!</p>
<p>Hmm…Where to apply…Well, there’s one school out there that offers the Barbecue Club as an extracurricular! We’re sold! <<kidding>></kidding></p>
<p>A lot will be based upon our impressions during the initial visits and interviews. Of course I have a few favorites on paper (I was an NMH fan before it became popular). Many of the kids in his circle drool over the usual suspects, based on name recognition alone. I feel encouraged because he has a great profile, although SSAT remains an unknown since he isn’t scheduled until late fall. This is all happening too quickly!</p>
<p>I havn’t ever heard of a fair like that where you can meet 45 reps. That’s pretty cool. We did all our research online and then did visits in September/October. We may have had the first interview slots they had, because we had started all our planning in the Spring, like you.</p>
<p>Better set up your folders/spreadsheets!</p>
<p>That sounds great! From what I hear about NMH, it’s an excellent school. I’m glad you don’t seem focused on “The usual suspects”. It never hurts to apply to some- I myself applied to two-especially since they COULD be the perfect fit, but some people would be better off at an equally excellent, though less well-known, school like NMH (and it doesn’t necesarily have anything to do with academic prowess either.) Moreover, too many people stres matric rates, I think. Really and truly, most colleges are familiar with EVERY boarding/prep school and an outstanding student is an outstanding student no matter where they are.</p>
<p>nyleco: good luck! You are very smart starting early…that would be my one piece of advice to any of the families going through the process. Trying to select schools from such a large group was very daunting at first! One thing that we did can be helpful at the start: Is there a sport and/or activity that your child really wants to remain involved in during high school? Some schools may not offer it, so you can then cross them off your initial list. For us, we wanted a boarding school in New England (for proximity reasons) that had a swim team. Well, there are only about 20 out of the more than 100 in the area. So, that made it much easier.</p>
<p>This fair sounds like a great idea! Please let us know your thoughts afterwards.</p>
<p>The fairs are great. I went to one in my fall of seventh grade and it totally turned on the BS in me. The people are nice. The student panel i got were less than good but nothing you could do about it. Go to it and have an open mind.</p>
<p>Nyleco -
It is great that you are getting started now. You say, “although SSAT remains an unknown since he isn’t scheduled until late fall,” but your child can take the SSAT as a practice this June to get a feeling for his score range. You don’t send the scores to any schools and he will have to take next year, but you might find it helpful.</p>
<p>oh geez!
It seems like my application season JUST ended, and now a new one is starting already!!!</p>
<p>We’ll I’m here to help you in any way!</p>
<p>Nyleco: My son’s school offers the same type of fair, almost identical to what you described. It is an invaluable source of face to face contact with the adcoms. Take advantage and ask the right type of questions that will allow you to narrow down your choices come fall. </p>
<p>Advice-Attention to detail.
My son made note of every adcom he spoke with during the fair and emailed thank you notes to all of them, thanking them for coming to the school to speak to him and his classmates. In the fall, during his interviews, many of the adcoms he met in April remembered him. It definitely allowed my son to be more comfortable not having to interview with a complete stranger.</p>
<p>Little advice - if a rep is busy with someone, don’t feel afraid to go see another rep of a different but equal caliber school. I remember the Andover rep being busy and decided to go talk to the Deerfield rep. They pretty much had the same thought process, ideas, goals, ect.</p>
<p>You guys are the best!!!</p>
<p>We will certainly take many of the great suggestions under advisement. I’ve followed many of your individual paths and successes on this board for some time and to the extent that you’d offer such great advice and well-wishes, long after you and/or your children have realized their visions, speaks volumes about the collective caliber of posters on this forum.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>The past two days have been incredible for the parents and students alike. I’ve had so many meaningful conversations with reps while simultaneously observing my child’s newly found skill of “working a room”. As expected, most schools came pepared with their best sales pitches, highlighting those characteristics that distinguished them from their peers. The kids were energized and enthusiastic and were well equiped with great questions, primarily concerning student life. Most parent questions centered around financing. No surprises there. But what is really amazing is that many parents that I’ve spoke with over the past years who were adamantly opposed to BS are now quietly considering it for the first time.</p>
<p>Next step is the roadshow. I’m looking forward to seeing some schools up close and in person. (Online tours can only provide so much no matter how large your monitor is). It’s great to get a lot of this first-glance stuff out of the way early. </p>
<p>I’m also fortunate that my child’s school places such a emphasis on high-school placement. Notwithstanding the great education these kids receive, they also become increasingly sophisticated about their options. They actually require placement as a year-long elective for all seventh-graders. I don’t think this is typical.</p>