Please this is urgent! I need answers!

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hello, I am a student that will applying for the 2012-2013 academic school year. From my understanding, I can have a personal recommendation letter that can be written by a mentor, counselor, coach, etc. </p>

<p>My first question is, when is the due date for recommendation forms and where should my school send it to? Can my mentor write a letter describing me along with the completed form? Next, can the person who completes the form be a former teacher that had instructed me last year? Also, is there any other way I can get the recommendation forms before I complete my essays online? Lastly, can one form be completed by several people, as in only one person will complete the actual form; however the letter, if allowed, will be discussed over a group of instructors that I have had strong relations with?</p>

<p>My apologies in advanced for the large amount of questions asked.</p>

2

<p>(1) The due date for recommendations is the same as the due date for the application.</p>

<p>(2) Recommendations should be sent to the admissions office of the school you are applying to.</p>

<p>(3) Your mentor can either fill out a form or write a personal letter - not both. Either is acceptable.</p>

<p>(4) English and math recommendations must be from current teachers. If that it not possible, for any reason, contact the admissions office directly and ask them what you should do.</p>

<p>(5) I don’t know why you would not have immediate access to the recommendation forms for the school you are applying to, but if you need forms immediately and don’t have them, you can always use the recommendations forms posted on the TABS website. TABS is the acronym for “The Association of Boarding Schools.” Their recommendation forms are accepted by all schools. You can find English, math, and school counselor recommendation forms on [this</a> page](<a href=“http://www.boardingschools.com/how-to-apply/application.aspx]this”>Application Deadline - BoardingSchools.com). There is no TABS form for personal, sports, music, or other types of recommendation, but, as I already mentioned, it is always acceptable simply for that person to write a letter on your behalf.</p>

<p>(6) Group recommendations? Never heard of anyone doing such a thing and would not suggest it. A recommendation is a personal statement from one individual who knows you well. It is up to you to decide who that person should be.</p>

<p>Now, a personal observation . . . </p>

<p>None of the questions you asked (with the possible exception of #6) is particularly original. And all of them (including #6!) could have readily been answered by consulting any of the following sources:</p>

<p>(a) the application form itself;
(b) the admissions office websites for the schools you are applying to; and
(c) the admission offices themselves - which you can contact by phone or by email.</p>

<p>I understand that this process is new to you. But how do you expect to survive at boarding school is you are unable either to read instructions for yourself or do the research necessary to find needed information elsewhere? I am not trying to hurt your feelings . . . for goodness sakes, I just spent over 20 minutes answering your questions! But boarding school is for students who function well independently . . . and that starts with the application process. If you have a question you just can’t find the answer to, then of course you are welcome to come here for advice. But, from now on, please start by trying to find the information yourself first.</p>

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

3

<p>Gee you’re a life saver. Also I’m sorry for disturbing you by answering me; however, I did try to find out the answers by my self. I’m using an online application (gatewaytoprepschools), the application is divided into three parts and the rec. letters are the last; and I cannot access them until I finish my essays!</p>

<p>I knew when the application was due but someone told me that the letters were actually due before the application, I was just making sure.</p>

<p>I’m an international student so I can’t really call them. I emailed the admission office a week ago but they were not replying, so I’m asking here.</p>

<p>Oh and there was a misunderstanding, for your answer 3, I meant that can the personal letter be written by a teacher I knew very well last year in a different school.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>On a side note, here’s my personal observation;
I think you may have judged too quickly…</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Well, shame on the school! And good for you for trying . . . and, if it happens again, I’d probably send them a second email. By the middle of January, I know they get swamped, but this time of year, they should be answering!</p>

<p>And, I hate to tell you this, but about that letter from last year’s teacher, you probably want to ask the school. Here’s why: some schools are happy to get as many recommendations as you feel like sending, but other schools really don’t want to get more than the basic four - English, math, school principal or counselor, and one other. That fourth one is usually your extracurricular - music, a sport, or some other extracurricular. So the letter from last year’s teacher would be your fifth one. So, the question to ask the school is whether or not they’d welcome an extra recommendation. And that really is different from one school to another. But, as a rule, if it’s one of the larger, really well-known schools, the answer is often “no.” They already get so much stuff, they don’t want anything extra.</p>

<p>If it’s any help, my recollection from years past is that Andover, Exeter, and Groton do not want anything extra. The other schools we asked were okay with it.</p>

<p>(And if you really can’t get an answer to your email, then send me a private message and I’ll just call them for you! :))</p>

6

<p>@gradclass2020,</p>

<p>“I’m an international student so I can’t really call them”</p>

<p>If you are serious about applying to BS, then you must be serious about taking on some of the expense to do so. CALL THEM if you have an urgent question. Do not rely on some well-meaning poster on an internet message board (sorry, dodgersmom) to advise you on official rules/deadlines for applying to school. Get the facts directly from the BS AO’s.</p>

<p>Besides, calling from abroad is not all that expensive if you buy a pre-paid calling card. </p>

<p>In regards to mailing the application & recs, CALL the schools and ask if you can email scans of the documents. In my S’s application process, AO’s were happy to receive the materials electronically. S’s prev school’s guidance counselor scanned the grade transcript & teachers recs and emailed the docs to BS directly.</p>

<p>Verify instructions for EACH school. Do not assume they all have the same rules</p>

7

<p>In the OP’s defense, it may not be just, or even, the expense of calling the schools himself. There may be a significant time difference that makes it very difficult to do.</p>

8

<p>@RedJacket,</p>

<p>We are int’l too, and we made accommodations for the time difference and called. It was not entirely convenient, but managable. </p>

<p>If you are serious about the admissions process, you do what you need to do. And you get answers to critical questions from the source.</p>

<p>Don’t assume all schools have the same application policies any more than your friends’ parents have the same house rules as your own; the schools are independent entities. And don’t accept that strangers on an internet discussion board can give you accurate information about the policies of a school you don’t indentify.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Good for the OP for not having divulged information that might have made him or her more identifiable. And shame on you, GMTplus7, for suggesting that the OP perhaps should have included this information in his or her post.</p>

<p>It is not always feasible for a middle or high school student to schedule a telephone call to an admissions office - much less pay for such a call! Emailing is a perfectly reasonable alternative. My student, who was not international, could never have arranged a phone call during business hours . . . he was in classes then! But emailing worked quite well for him.</p>

10

<p>Considering that U.S. BS business hours are 8 hours long (assume 8a-4p), it is entirely do-able to find time to make a call from elsewhere on this planet. From Europe or Africa, you call as soon as you wake up. From Asia you call before you go to bed. S.America is more-or-less same time zone as U.S. We’ve done this calling to U.S. from different time zone for years, so trust me, it’s not a big deal. If OP can afford int’l flight to U.S. to attend BS, then OP can afford an int’l phone call.</p>

<p>If OP intends to live abroad in U.S., then OP better get used to making int’l phone calls. </p>

<p>OP does not divulge his/her identity by identifying the BS that he/she has a question about.</p>

11

<p>A word of general advice to all applicants: If it is urgent then PICK UP THE PHONE & MAKE A VOICE CALL. Email does not have the same urgency as a voice call.</p>

<p>It’s funny how teenagers today (mine included) have this total mind block about using a telephone to make a voice call; they always facebook or sms when they communicate. It’s OK to actually use a telephone to TALK.</p>

12

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>thank you for your suggestions (:</p>

<p>The reason I can’t call is because, like redjacket mentioned, is the time difference. Not only this but I also get extra academic schooling (out side of school. In Korea they are called Hagwons) I wake up at 6 am and come home at 10 pm everyday, with the exception of holidays and weekends. So I don’t really have time to call them (because I do sports on the weekend). I will try my best to spare some time for calling the schools!</p>

<p>@dodgersmom
Thank you for your advise, but they emailed me back yesterday! </p>

<p>One more thing, what is an OP? (Sorry I’m new here)</p>

13

<p>OP = Original Poster</p>

<p>If you are in Korea, call U.S. before you go to bed.</p>

14

<p>You’ve confused me with the time zone stuff. If I called as soon as I woke up, it would be around 2am at the schools I’m applying to (I think) which doesn’t make any sense. Have you switched it round or have I just got it wrong?</p>

15

<p>@UKgirl,</p>

<p>Thx for catching my brain lapse-- it’s been while since we lived in europe. </p>

<p>You should call the U.S. from Europe when it’s p.m. in Europe, or from Asia when it’s very late p.m. in Asia.</p>

16

<p>I do not usually involve myself in discussions here and I am not vested enough in this website to argue with anyone, but I find the tone of your “answers” to the OP to be unnecessarily harsh, GMTplus7.</p>

<p>Telling a person (who is still a child btw) what he can certainly afford, without ever having laid eyes on him/her is presumptuous. For all you know, a relative has offered to pay the school costs, but the OP does not have money at hand to pay for a phone card.</p>

<p>Telling a child who is just at the beginning of his school admissions process, what he/she “better get used to” is also presumptuous and harsh.</p>

<p>I am assuming you did not intend for your posts to come across as so aggressive, just like I am assuming the OP did not intend for his/her questions to upset you to such a degree.</p>

<p>My family has also lived all over the world, and I can assure you that if my child said to me that she would need to stay up until midnight or later to make a telephone call to a school that was not responding to their email account… my answer would be to send my child to bed and look at different schools.</p>

<p>Not responding to an email in a week’s time shows a complete lack of professionalism, in my opinion.</p>

17

<p>Sorry to all if I came off as aggressive-- I genuinely meant well. You can tell I have pent up frustrations with getting my own teenager to use a phone to make a voice call rather than make a text msg. lol.</p>

<p>OP does not need to stay up past midnight to make a phone call. OP says he/she is in Korea and comes home from tutoring every day at 10:00p. That’s 9:00a on the U.S. east coast-- a good time to call. If you still can’t manage the timing, then ask someone to make the call for you.</p>

<p>I suggested a pre-paid phone card as an ultra cheap way to make int’l calls rather than calling directly from a fixed line or cellphone account. I never assumed that a 14 year old kid would have to self-fund and procure a phone card, any more than I assumed a 14 year old would self-fund his/her tuition. </p>

<p>Having helped DS navigate the admissions process from abroad last year, I am only trying to share what we figured out by the seat of our pants.</p>

<p>My general guidance is: if it is a critical question, better to get the answers directly from the BS. We were surprised how different the schools’ rules were, even amongst the HADES schools. It would be sad to miss an important deadline because of info from this board that only applies to some other school.</p>

<p>As to the delay in response to the OP’s email, one must take into consideration the volume of email these AO’s get (thousands of kids apply). Email is not as urgent as a phone call. If I want an answer right away, I pick up the phone and call.</p>