Rec'd First Rejection from NYC School

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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Writing as a hook? @SculptorDad had it right. Published, yes. Merely excellent writer, no.

Best strategy I have heard for folks looking to maximize chances, especially for the non-connected and/or FA folks, is to treat applications like a game where any acceptance with needed money is a win. Understand that you might actually have a better chance to get into the school that is not in the next town because Exeter and Andover are bigger and can literally accept more kids. Lawrenceville and Choate are bigger than Hotchkiss and St. Paul’s. “Casting the wider net” because some schools that aren’t the biggest and most famous are looking for the exceptional students too.

It’s the same thing over & over, but the for the unconnected or the FA families, choice of schools is the key to a viable admission. Limiting yourself by geography or perceived prestige or student body size is always going to lessen the probability of a happy student and happy family.

And I yes, I understand it is exhausting and expensive and maddening and intimidating and time-consuming to explore every conceivable option, but the more you can do, the better your chances are.

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Yes laneen I am. My youngest is virtually the same. Been in private, gifted school and now public

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@Center – if you have found a school that can reach your PG child then that is awesome. Congratulations.

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@laenen You bring up some very good points, and we’ll be sorely disappointed if DD isn’t academically challenged at these institutions, but find it nearly impossible to imagine. In 6th grade, she took the Iowas and tested 13+ grade level in reading, writing, science and history (math was only 9th grade). This indicated to me public HS would not engage her with much new material, but having seen the facilities at the BS, hearing about passionate teachers, and assuming the caliber of students, I think/hope she’ll be plenty stimulated at BS. Further, DD doesn’t even seem that smart; Sometimes we wonder if she’s just a good test taker. :slight_smile:

Re: “BS is more about a community with a strong academic focus vs. an elite academic challenge,” I’d say we are looking for a blend. We’ve at one time or another considered all those alternatives you mentioned but I think an intellectual community is the ideal scenario. We are not in a home schooling or dual enrollment community, so DD would likely feel isolated quickly. She looks forward to a fun HS experience so rushing through had little value (Bard). BUAcademy, like Horace Mann and even The Hopkins School, struck me as being almost too serious. If she gets in, I’m optimistic these BS will have everything she wants/needs, though a close friend thinks I’m chasing rainbows.

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@GnarWhail … I agree with you. As I recall, we visited eleven schools in four states over 2.5 years, eliminated six, and applied to five. No regrets on that score. However, there were schools on our list we never even saw simply out of exhaustion. I guess we won’t know until M10 if we should have kept going. To your point about “casting a wider net,” we heard Taft is actively seeking academically gifted kids but we never made the visit. May regret that one.

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All of the boarding schools discussed regularly here are “actively seeking academically gifted kids.” They fill their classes with them. They are also seeking financially gifted kids, athletically gifted kids, geographically gifted kids, etc.

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And don’t forget: there is a lot more value to school than just academics. Kids need interaction with other kids (of all backgrounds and capabilities). There are sports to try and arts to learn. I hate that all of the focus is becoming on how well you can read or what math you can do. There are many, many, many other things in life in which someone can grow and be successful. It is the very rare person that is awesome at everything. We do not expect adults to be superstars at everything they do and, yet, many expect that very thing of children.

@bookwormsmom I am sorry your kid received a rejection. I am sure she will land somewhere great but, remember, many of life’s very best growth opportunities come from hardship and rejection. I learned most of my best lessons that way. :slight_smile:

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Wow!! Pretty profound post for my 1000th (if i do say so myself LOL)!

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Being a member of a large group of parents of profoundly gifted children, I have heard from many whose children went to an elite boarding school and both enjoyed and and was stimulated, and none who found it too easy and boring. On the other hand, I have heard from many who resented a top public school or even private day schools.

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I am with you on the feelings that being rejected from a school can create. My son applied to several day schools and was rejected for several. We applied for financial aid and would need significant financial aid in order to attend. Here is a break down:

Rejections:

Trevor Day School
The Dwight School
Riverdale Country School

He was wait listed at the following:
The Masters School - wait listed due to attrition
Poly Prep - wait listed due to not enough financial aid,
Berkeley Carroll - wait listed due to attrition

Boarding School Acceptances:
Cheshire Academy - pending financial aid
Stony Brook School - pending financial aid
Indian Mountain School - pending financial aid
Cardigan Mountain School - No financial aid awarded, so might as well be a rejection.

I can’t wait for March 10, 2015. There are a few boarding schools that we are still waiting on. I don’t take the rejections personally. There are several factors that the admissions committees at these schools have to consider, that we are not privy to. If a school has not accepted your child, it does not mean that your child is at fault.

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@ChoatieMom … That info about Taft was from someone deeply involved in the prep school industry. I took it to mean that Taft is currently trying to raise its reputation (to the HADES or GLADCHEMMS level?) by giving preferential consideration to HG/PG students vs. applicants who are smart+athletic or smart+wealthy. I’m not saying they are exclusively recruiting the highly or profoundly gifted, nor am I saying it’s a good strategy for raising their profile; I’m just saying that’s how I interpreted what I heard. In other words, an HG or PG student who has little else to offer might find Taft more receptive than similar schools.

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@Serioussweetie I’m sorry too for your rejections but wish you the best on the others. As they say, “Love the school that loves you.” Best of luck.

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Thanks @SculptorDad. Comforting. Unless my kid doesn’t get into any of these in which case your post will haunt me ;).

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Taft is already a top-tier school and does not need to raise its profile. Search for posts from @ExieMITAlum. Any student would be fortunate to go there.

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All schools that aren’t Andover or Exeter need to “raise their profile” – or at least keep running to stay in place, as it’s an awfully competitive marketplace they’re all in. I’d say that Taft has raised its profile considerably over the last decade or two. For instance, a generation ago, Taft and Kent were viewed as being on par with each other, and both decidedly not “top tier.” Since then, that has changed considerably, and while many people wouldn’t necessarily quite put Taft in the same group as say Choate or St. Paul’s, neither would you hear Taft discussed as a peer school to Kent. I’m sure Taft wants to do everything it can to keep that forward trajectory.

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At the risk of cementing a reputation as a “mean” poster (funny how times change, right?..I used to be considered one of the more helpful parents on the forum!), I am going to be the guy who points out that the approach of only applying “to what we considered to be ‘the best of the best’ to ensure the whole effort was worthwhile” is a risky gamble (even for the brightest kid).

But more than that, at least to me, it speaks to a POV that I don’t and have never agreed with.

This sort of POV puts WAY too much emphasis on the “right” schools, the “best of the best” schools.

I believe, even for PGs (don’t love this contraction when used in the BS context, as PG is much more associated with the concept of “Post Graduate”…those 5th year seniors who want an extra year of schooling for any number of reasons, sometimes athletic in nature) that pretty much any of the schools mentioned with any frequency on the forum can and will serve them just fine — well, in fact.

Yes, yes, there is an extremely small cohort of kids who are already beyond what even the majority of “top” BS can offer. But as noted above by others (TBH, I haven’t read this thread all that closely), a traditional HS (BS arguably being the most traditional) may not even be the right route for these kids.

To the OP, your daughter sounds like a smart cookie and I’ve no doubt that she will end up with at least one acceptance on M10. Also, I was going to write to you about St. Ann’s…regardless of how selective their admit rate is, they have a pretty average fencing team. So if you are into schadenfreude, there’s that.

Before I go and prepare for a big new biz presentation at which I am both the dog and the pony, I wanted to leave with these words from a post I penned last summer:

  • There is no "magic bullet" to getting into one of the more selective boarding schools in the US
  • With admit rates in the teens, your chances of getting into schools like Phillips Andover are not good
  • Considering schools other than PA and PEA is wise
  • Applying only to PA and PEA is not that wise — if your goal is to attend boarding school (and not just PA/PEA)

That bullet list also included the following advice, which I stand by based on years participating on the forum as both a Q and an A:

  • Starting many random new posts that indicate you have done little to no research about specific schools will yield little
  • Searching, finding, and reading the volumes that have been written here on CC about the most popular schools is smart...writing directly to the key contributors to those sorts of threads (assuming they are still active on the forum) is even smarter

These last two points are not meant to diss newbs…on the contrary, they represent advice on how to get the most out of the forum — again, based on experience, both direct and observed.

7D, out.

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What he said.

Dear Bookwormsmom, your daughter sounds like a super kid. She’s fortunate to have parents willing to support her dreams. Good luck with the rest of the process. It seems to me it’s harder for parents to receive bad news than for their kids. Kids are resilient.

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@bookwormsmom, thank you for the kind words. Your daughter is a spectacular. I am sure you are very proud of her! I wish you the best of luck. Remember that when one door closes another one opens! :wink:

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@SevenDad, your posts all have been very helpful, and didn’t feel mean at all!

My own conclusion with a academically high achieving, heavy FA need and ORM applicant was that it would be unwise not to apply both PA and PEA, just because they are best funded and still are not reach in terms of the applicant’s personal qualifications.

Then, the same logic goes to many of the acronym schools, even ones that we couldn’t visit. Then I should cast a wide net and apply to some none-acronym schools, because who knows which school will like my child enough to pay for it? And there we go, ending up with applying too many schools and the list is disclosed to the schools through our FA application. :slight_smile:

@Serioussweetie, sorry for your rejections but I hope you will get more acceptance on March 10th, and lots of FA for the pending FA schools. I can guess what it feels because I have a pending FA school too, a JBS nonetheless!

One question: What does it mean by “wait listed due to attrition?”

@bookwormsmom, thanks. Should I have heard it earlier. we could have applied Taft too! (But now I know which school to include next year we she is going to reapply) And you will get some acceptance!

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@SculptorDad … Do you know for certain your school list is disclosed on the FA forms? And please I hope no one tells me I haven’t done my research here bc I’ve been on CC more hours than I care to admit.