Hi guys, I am applying to Andover, Exeter, Middlesex, Deerfield, Groton, Hotchkiss, etc as a day student. Is the day students pool more competitive than boarding students pool? I am from China and I am a permanent resident while having a green card. I came to America two years ago and had a decent grade. Does coming to US for a short time help me a lot to be admitted to those schools?
How are you applying as a day student? Is your family planning to move to where you go to school?
No.
The question is academic as you cannot simultaneously apply to all of these schools as a day student.
@skieurope I suspect that OP has applied as a day student and the family will move to the area near by at that time
@center I understood that. However, Hotchkiss is not nearby to Andover, as an example. Andover and Exeter, at least, have geographic requirements at the time of application of who can apply as a day student. The OP can try the wishing-and-a-hoping approach that his/her family will move later, but I believe the school will consider the family’s current living situation, not potential future living situation. Nothing in the original post indicates that the parents have contacted 16 (!!!) schools as indicated on another thread to discuss this as a strategy, although they may have. So unless a dispensation was given, the OP would apply as a boarder and make any changes after acceptance, if offered.
But for the sake of argument, no, it is not my belief that there is any statistical advantage to applying as a day student vs. a boarding student.
Its a pretty typical situation for a lot of recent Chinese immigrant families—they are the newly wealthy upper middle class who want to invest whatever it takes in their kids education with the ultimate goal of getting them into a top college like HYPSM. The OP’s parent, probably just the mom, will likely move to wherever OP matriculates. So I think OP’s question for all the knowledgeable parents here really is which school and with which format gives OP the best chance of getting into the best prep school.
IMHO, if OP wants to get into a top college as one the most important goals and can move to anywhere, top public should also be in the mix. Schools like Boston Latin, Stuyvesant, Thomas Jefferson etc are on par with the prep schools in terms of course rigor and competitiveness.
I hope that’s not the long-term strategy though. As mentioned many times on this site, there are many reasons to go to a boarding school, but doing so as an HYPMS strategy is generally folly.
@skieurope thanks for clarifying. I wasnt aware that schools might have geographic requirements at the time of application.
@jzducol But then OP would have absolute residential requirements–ie No Virginia or NYC etc. Personally the best strategy for HYP for a really smart kid with no true hook other than pure academics would be to move to a very poor area and homeschool online.
Yes, I am