Reaching out to BS teachers while applying

Prep School Admissions
1

I’ve heard a lot of people on this forum say that is great idea to have inside connections to teachers/coaches during the admissions process. So here are my questions:

  1. How do you know the right people to contact? If you have a specialized interest, let's just say, economics, which people should you reach out to?
  2. More importantly, how much does having these "inside connections" help in the long run? I'm sure having coaches on your side would be impactful, but how about just the director of a club?
  3. How do you actually build that connection? Probably emails asking a bunch of questions won't be that effective. How do you take it to the next level?
  4. What should the initial email say?

I’ve done an application before (for the CDB Scholarship in 7th grade) but this aspect is new to me. Any help would be appreciated!

2

My two cents (just as a parent) are that it is unnecessary to contact teachers, and that if you do their support would mean very little with admissions, unless there is a compelling reason for their support. In other words, randomly contacting a history teacher, for example, because history is your favorite subject would not do much. I guess, however, if you had a passion for astronomy and had been very active in that area, and wanted to continue or even build on the school’s astronomy program, then it would be a good idea to contact the astronomy teacher. I doubt very much that most 8th graders have that deep passion and have been active in a particular area like astronomy (don’t jump on me people – I said “most” – I’m sure some kids have that passion).

Coaches are slightly different, and I would expect their support (to whatever degree they can offer support – it is not like college recruiting) could have some influence. But you’d have to be a star player, playing on a club team (if your sport has club teams) etc.

3

Agree. Do not contact the teachers and hope to build a connection that would tip admission chances. It will very likely backfire. With rare exception, there are not recruited academic talents. And those kids will have strong ECs to support their application - for example, math awards for a kid who can support a school with a strong math team. If you have any interest in connecting with teachers of a particular subject when you visit the school, ask the admissions office to facilitate it and don’t contact any teachers directly.

4

I would suggest that if you want to make teacher connection that you 1. Have a clear objective in doing so and 2. Have your AO make the connection for you.

For example, I can imagine that a student who was very advanced in math might want to talk to someone in the math department about both the academic path in math and the math team.

If the AO resists, it’s also unlikely that they would be receptive to pressure from that teacher to admit you.

5

I think you are getting good advice here.

I’ll add a similar-but-slightly-nuanced take on it.

Reaching out to a teacher/club advisor makes sense if you have a true objective/question, and if you are getting more information that helps you determine your own fit at that school. (And of course – do NOT reach out to ask about anything that is on the website already.) If you, as a result of the connection, now know more about a program, and see some specific ways that it is actually the perfect fit for you, then that fuels your own fire for truly believing that you two are meant for each other. And THAT can absolutely help you get in because you will be better at explaining how you are a fit. If you hear nothing else hear this: THIS IS HOW YOU GET INTO A SCHOOL – They see you super clearly succeeding and contributing on campus.

BTW – this is also true for doing well once you are in school. I am a huge fan of connecting in academia – office hours, etc. Not because a professor will give you a better grade simply because you show up to office hours. But because you gather information in direct connection that then prepares you, the student, better for tests, papers, class participation.

Same thing here.

The play is NOT “reach out to the teacher so they contact admissions.” It’s far more organic (subtle?): Dig in to determine if you really are a deep fit. And that will help you make the case for admissions that you belong there. (And yes I would also go through AO to do that kind of outreach. For two reasons: 1. more respectful and 2. It also subtly lets your AO know that you are deeply interested.)

Finally, on this point, if you ask any time of anyone, YOU take the responsibility for having a purpose. And if it’s deep-down really just a thinly veiled hope to get a leg up in admissions, this will not be well-received. If you don’t have anything, truly, to ask or discuss, then don’t reach out. Don’t put the burden on THEM to come up with a purpose for your meeting. (This looks usually like this: Student says something vague like “tell me about your robotics club.” That is the language of putting the burden on the other person. Do not do that. But saying: “I saw that your robotics club went to the World Series of Robotics in Romania last year, and I wondered if that meant you followed Eastern European circuit protocols because I’m interested in international electronics, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a secondary school teach both Western and Eastern theory.” NOW, you have a conversation.). (Albeit not a good one since I was just making something up, of course.)

FWIW – my DD2 last year reached out to zero academic folks and just a couple of coaches (before she realized she was absolutely not in varsity-recruited level of her sport so she stopped coach-contacting), and it did not seem to hurt her admissions at all.

6

Don’t do it. Teacher outreach is not necessary unless the teacher is a coach of a sport that you are interested in.

7

People who need to contact teachers during the application process: kids who will be taking Multivariable calculus or Linear Algebra their freshman/sophomore year of highschool.

People who do not and should not contact teachers: everyone else. The AO’s can answer all the questions you have and if they cannot they will go find out for you or they will suggest that a teacher gets in touch. Teachers have no pull.

If you are a sports star, and that really is a big if, then talking to coaches is somewhat helpful. But you need to meet the academic requirements too. Also, (for future readers not necessarily the OP) consider how hard you want school to be. If you are using sports to get into the best BSs in the country know that playing a varsity sport as a freshman is exhausting. Both my kids did it and were more sick freshman year than ever before - the exhaustion of varsity sports + uber hard academics takes it’s toll. You end up thanking your lucky stars when your team doesn’t make playoffs because it means you have time to actually prepare for exams. That is kind of hard on 15 year old kids so please consider fit!!