<p>Hi everyone, I just thought I'd start this thread because I am beginning to seriously consider boarding schools and have a few questions for those well aquainted with the process. The schools I am hoping to apply to are SPS, St. Andrew's (DE), Miss Porter's, Blair, and Brentwood College School in Canada. Is this a good list?</p>
<p>Anyway, one of my major concerns lays in finances: how will I be able to afford these schools? Even if I am awarded a considerable amount of financial aid, my parents are beginning to save for college, and will thus have to put away a great portion of their incomes each year as I have an older sibling. I was wondering if there are any scholarships, either offered by certain schools or by other organizations, that I could try for? </p>
<p>Also, I have a question about boarding school in Canada, specifically Brentwood College School, in Mill Bay, British Columbia. When I saw pictures of the school, I absolutely fell in love, but my parents have told me that it would be too expensive to fly me there if I got in. Do they offer a lot of financial aid or scholarships for students in the US? I've heard that it is hard to get any aid as an international student, but perhaps US students aren't considered too international. </p>
<p>Finally, I have a general question - What should I know when entering the admissions process (DOs and DON'Ts)? </p>
<p>I think the schools you’ve listed are great. It’s a good list, very diverse. It’s refreshing to see people who don’t just limit themselves to HADES. Due to your interest in Miss Porters, naturally I have to recommend Emma Willard, because I go there, love it, and know how similar they are. </p>
<p>As for Financial Aid, I’m currently on aid at my school, and still have to work around the airfare even though I’m domestic. It’s probably the most challenging part because it isn’t included in the tuition. Stress to your parents how schools award aid as grants, not loans, and that they take everything (siblings, savings, ect) into account when deciding the ammount of the award. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything at all about Brentwood, sorry. </p>
<p>As for application tips, the biggest one I can give is to start now. It’s never to early. You’ve narrowed down schools, which is the first step, now look into application requirements, ect. Be prepared for the SSAT, it’s a hassle and I really wish I’d prepared more. Focus on interviews and essays because they’re the most personal. </p>
<p>To add to Samantha’s great advice…
I would say that you should begin writing the essays as soon as receive the prompts. Do the essays, have your english teacher read them if possible so he/she can give feedback, revise, give essays back to teacher, revise again to come up with final draft. Although it may seem like a long process, I found it to be very helpful when I applied to Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, and Exeter because many of the essays were similar. The feedback that teachers give really helps. As well, it would be good for you to make a list for each of your schools of what you like most about them. When you do this, the interview questions like “what attracted you to our school?” won’t be as surprising. My last bit of advice would be not to stress yourself out too much throughout the process. Don’t forget about your current friends and activities at home and the schoolwork that is assigned. Plan to do something fun the day of or before the decisions are sent out so that your day isn’t planned all around waiting. Acceptances do not always come the day they are supposed to! If you have any other questions throughout the process…feel free to PM me!!</p>
<p>hey! i live near brentwood college and i’ve been on campus before. you’re right, their campus is totally stunning but the highest scholarship amount they give is 10 thousand dollars and it’s only open to canadian citizens, so you’re out of luck there. lots of canadian boarding schools have stunning campuses but unfortunately they’re really lacking in the FA department compared to the US </p>
<p>brentwood doesn’t give financial aid to non-canadians, either, so you’re out of luck there. of course, i’m not actually a rep of the school so you can’t be totally sure (i’m just regurgitating stuff from their website) so to be totally sure you should check their financial info on their website or call them. </p>
<p>also, since you’re applying for FA i would expand your list. no school is a safety school when you’re applying for FA, really, so you should cast your net wide and apply to some less selective (>30% acceptance rates) schools, rather than only super-competitive ones like SPS or St Andrews. of course, don’t apply to any school you wouldn’t see yourself happy at.
best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys, it’s really helpful to get your feedback </p>
<p>@DiveAlive - that’s awfully sad news about Brentwood, but thank you for telling me before I applied or visited. I will call them up to see whether they have any FA options for me, but just looking at the cost of flights I realize that Brentwood probably wouldn’t be possible for me unless I was rewarded a full scholarship or at least a lot of FA. I’m in the process of expanding my list, but I want to make sure that I don’t apply to any schools that I wouldn’t be thrilled to get an acceptance letter from. Do you have any suggestions - any very good schools that are also not as competitive as the ones on my list? Thanks :)</p>
<p>I know Westover is a very good all-girls school in Connecticut. My friend went there and ADORED it. It’s very small, though–around 200 girls in the entire school.</p>
<p>I believe Miss Porter’s is one of the few Boarding Schools that offers merit based scholarships in addition to need based. If you are looking there you might want to inquire about that.</p>
<p>Kent is well-known for FA, i would really look into that school. i applied there this year and was ultimately waitlisted for FA (but i’m international so the fact that they’d even consider me- phenomenal) and their admissions people were unbelievably nice… nothing but good things to say about kent from my end.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch - I’ll try to schedule a visit to Kent as I’ve heard it’s a very good school, and I’ll definately look into Westover as well. @sonoratoo - that’s very interesting to hear - I had no idea! Thank you :)</p>
<p>I’m glad to see that you are already thinking about the boarding school asmissions process. One thing that I think really helped me this year was that I started during the summer, when I had less distractions. It gave me a big head start when in September I already had a game plan laid out. I needed quite a bit of FA this year myself, and fortunately was given a generous package by 2 of the 3 schools. My advice in this area would be to look closely at the schools’ finances and FA info on their websites. How big is their endowment? How many students are on FA? What is the average package size? How much FA does the school put aside esch year relative to other costs? This gives you a big clue as to whether you are likely to receive aid or not. </p>
<p>My last word of advice to you is to have a strong interview. Many people brush aside interviews as the least important, but I think they make the difference between a good canditate and a great one. Have a strong, friendly presence and be comfortable. Answer what you think, not what you think the person would want to hear. Chances are, he/she will like you more for having a unique perspective and showing your character rather than being safe and boring. And if the interviewer does not, it is a good indicator that the school is not for you.</p>
<p>Good luck!<br>
PS If you are very hooked on Canadian schools, I think Ridley gives FA to U.S citizens. Not positive though.</p>
<p>futureboarder, did you ever end up looking into brentwood more? I live pretty far away, but I would love to go to school there or somewhere in Canada. I just wondered what schools were still on your list now.</p>
<p>ah, if you’re interested in Canadian boarding schools i recommend you take a look at Ridley-- it’s Canada’s most prestigious (and from what i know, academically gruelling) boarding school! of course prestige isn’t everything, but it does prove a certain quality of education…</p>
<p>Brentwood College and Shawnigan Lake in BC are stunning, awesome boarding schools. seriously, their campuses are beyond gorgeous!
St. Michaels University School on Vancouver Island is another good one-- a friend of mine went there and is really loving it!</p>
<p>if you’re a boy, St Georges School in Vancouver is pretty much the best day school in Vancouver. it has boarding as well and if you have any questions about it, i know a lot of people who board there and i could probably hook you up with them. (their campus is in a gorgeous area of vancouver, is super glassy, and is super pretty!)</p>
<p>and last but not least, Appleby College in Ontario is worth taking a look at as well. it’s pretty well-known for being academically strong.</p>
<p>Canadian boarding schools are pretty lovely-- awesome campuses, friendly people, fun sports… however, FA is pretty dismal. if you need FA, American boarding schools are probably a better option.
best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you that’s so helpful! I was having a hard time distinguishing the competitive Canadian schools. I’m a girl and mainly interested in coed schools. I really like the BC schools so do you know how Brentwood shawnigan and smus compare to each other?</p>
<p>I am applying to deerfeild, hotchkiss, and taft. I am a good student and have until this year gotten straight A’s. I play basketball, soccer, and softball. I volenteer at an old age home, at my local library reading books to little kids, and at a local preschool called headstart. Also at an animal shelter. The courses I am taking are highschool level and I am a hardworking, good student. I was on the debate team and my schools literary magazing. Do you think I will get in???</p>
<p>SORRY! ignore any posts by me about boarding schools! my sister hacked my account and was trying to be annoying! I am actually a college student from Arkansas! So sorry! everyone ignore any posts by me I am going to make a new account!</p>
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