<p>Does anyone know if boarding schools give more weight to the grades coming from a private school applicant vs a public school applicant? My daughter has gone to a private school and is a B/B+ student with 60% math and 85% verbal 90% reading SSAT scores. Her current school is very challenging and few students get A's. B+'s are pretty good and high at her school. Do you think Boarding schools know this and weigh differently when they look at the grades of an applicant coming from a challenging private school? She has strong extra-curriculars especially in skiing and she is applying to boarding schools with ski teams. </p>
<p>I am unsure whether with her B/B+ grades she stands a chance getting into a good school such as Middlesex or concord academy. I read these posts and it seems like everyone else's kid gets all A's but doesn't say whether they are currently in private school or public school.</p>
<p>I think we are applying to Proctor, NMH, Loomis, Concord, and Middsex.</p>
<p>Gazzed, I think it depends on whether the school is one that boarding schools are already familiar with, and thus know that the grading is difficult. I don’t think it has anything to do with private vs. public. My kids go to a private school and, honestly, it seems like most of the class gets As. I think the grades are virtually meaningless at this particular school, and I suspect that the boarding schools know this. This is why SSAT scores are so important, because it helps boarding schools see behind the grades, especially for schools that they aren’t familiar with.</p>
<p>The prep schools will definitely look at your daughter’s grades in the context of the difficulty of her current school. Your daughter’s current school should provide a school profile with this information along with the forms and transcripts to the secondary schools to which she’s applying. Her recommendations would also reflect this.</p>
<p>If she has been assigned a secondary school advisor who is advising her (and you) about applying to private high schools, this is something you can discuss with that person. If not, you might want to check with whomever is writing the school report for your daughter that they’re including school profile information.</p>
<p>I know students from private primary schools with grades and test scores similar to those of your daughter who have attended Concord (as well as others with higher grades and scores that didn’t get admitted; there are a variety of factors that they consider). Although the school doesn’t recruit athletes in the traditional sense, being a strong athlete is certainly a plus.</p>
<p>The ssat helps to sort through grade deflation/inflation. I’m sure they see plenty of kids with A’s in school who have your daughter’s ssat scores. If she retakes to raise the math score, it should be pretty obvious that there is grade deflation.</p>
<p>Also, as photodad suggested, make sure her school sends in a grade distribution chart as part of the school profile with her transcript and recommendation. This will be very helpful to the admissions people.</p>
<p>Grades aside, private schools send personal recommendations, when some public school teachers aren’t allowed to write recommendations at all. Also, the private school might prep students on interviewing and then follow up on applications (because they have a relationship with admissions). So public school applicants should write a bunch of application questions on cards and practice beforehand with someone. And write thank you notes the day after visiting. Mention something you talked about “I really enjoyed our conversation about underwater basket weaving/Tom Sawyer/best hockey goals” so they remember you.</p>
<p>Thanks! That is very helpful info! Her private school is a very small Friends school so while it is known in our area, it is not well known out of state. Also, the majority of students do not go onto boarding school, a few do, but most continue onto strong private highschools that are local. We have a few nearby that are top notch private schools where kids can board or be day students. most parents at this school are very heistant to let their kids board and if they do let them board they want them very close to home so that means PA or NJ. A few students out of every class (class of 20 kids or less) go onto Lawrenceville since it is less than an hour away. I didn’t know about a school profile. I will talk to the admissions people at her school and find out if they have such a thing, hopefully they do.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I think that the reason the schools use the SSAT is to compare students from public/private schools. It is the same test everyone takes, so that is probably weighted highly. </p>
<p>I don’t remember where I saw this, but I think on some school website it said a big reason they look at grades is to see whether a student works hard over long periods of time for their grades vs. being naturally smart for the SSATs.</p>