Hi
I am an 8th Grade student. I am considering reapplying next year when I am in 9th Grade. This cycle, I got admitted to two schools I like but I think I can get into top boarding schools next year. I also got waitlisted at Groton, Nobles, and Middlesex, but I am assuming that does not move. My 7th Grade academic performance (GPA of 3.7) and SSAT score likely brought my outcomes down for this season. My 8th Grade academics are all A+/A, and on SSAT, I am on track to be 90+. My extracurriculars, interviews, essays, and recommendations were quite good and will only further improve.
I am considering staying in my current school for 9th Grade and reapplying next year. However, I am born in September 2008, which makes me an older kid if I am regrading in 9th Grade. I am not keen to join 10th Grade because I think I will be playing catch-up to my class in a new school where the rest are settled and will impact my relative performance in a crucial year. Please help me with your guidance and view on the following:
(1) If I was born in Sept. 2008, would schools avoid me for a 9th Grade Regrade application next season? (Focus: Andover, Exeter, Groton, Nobles, Choate, Middlesex, Deerfield)
(2) If I apply and get accepted for 10th Grade - when most of the class was filled in 9th Grade, will that place me at a material disadvantage for the college application cycle? (As a new student, would it be hard to break into student council, varsity teams, etc.)
Just commenting on the two questions posted. Not commenting on the broader strategy.
My understanding is that many BS don’t mind having older kids in their class. I think there was even a recent thread on CC forum about this. I know for fact that at Andover 15-year-old 9th graders are common (impression was 30-50% in very recent past). Not sure about 16 year-olds though.
My understanding is mostly not a disadvantage. Student council probably is harder. Varsity teams would be easier - older kids definitely have advantage in sports, so if you can enter varsity team at 10th grade, you would have a good shot at being considered for captain when you are a senior.
I have acceptances at Worcester Academy and St. Mark’s. None of my sports (Volleyball - I play Club on a National/Open team and Swimming - Club Team, with state medals) are at St. Mark’s. I am aspiring to get admitted in top-20/30 Colleges. Worcester matriculation stat are a challenge - only 4% (5 kids) in Top20, 12% in Top30. St. Mark’s matriculation stats are not clean as they don’t show exact acceptances and keep it vague as bold (3 or more) and normal (1 to 2). With some assumptions, it works to 12% Top20 and 21% Top30. Top schools do 3x to 4x on those stats and I am thinking one year loss will not eventually matter, if I regrade.
I don’t think matriculation is an accurate stat to choose a school. Also, just curious…why would you apply to St. Mark’s if they don’t have your sports?
Curious as to why you applied if you wouldn’t go. I also think this “top school” mentality isn’t the right attitude to have. Instead of focusing on schools for their name or prestige, pick schools that are actually a good fit and that you would like and thrive in. A lot of people think “top schools” are a right fit because they’re smart, but that isn’t the case either. It’s about the culture and community of the school. The “top” schools are a right fit for a very small portion of bright, intelligent kids.
I honestly feel like you are focusing on college matriculation way too much rather than the sort of experience you want in your time at BS. It seems like Worcester Academy’s only problem is that is doesn’t place its students in the highest ranked universities.
However, if you are that set on matriculation, St. Marks has one of the best College Counseling programs among most boarding schools. Maybe if you can still pursue your sport commitments outside of school St. Mark’s might work for you, but I can’t imagine being happy with 4 years of doing that.
As people said on your other thread, go to revisit days and see how you feel, but if it’s not for you, you can always come back for suggestions on schools that are the right fit, instead of prestige.
This is not a good reason to focus on BS like Andover, Exeter, etc. The reason those schools have a high % of students getting admitted to T20 colleges is because they already have a hook (athlete, URM, legacy, development).
If you are unhooked, your best chance for T20 is to graduate at the top of your high school class. You might be better off at the two schools where you were accepted.
Applying to Grade 10 will be much more challenging than 9. My relative’s DS got SSAT 97%, GPA 4.6 weighted, a lot of activities and some sports, with a good feeling for most interviews, and fine essays - he is on WL by 7 schools, with 3 rejects, no acceptance.
My DD graduated from Andover, in a range below the top 25% of students by GPA, SAT 1560, and got no acceptance by any IVY or other top-choice colleges. She was finally admitted to her top-choice college as a transfer student, and still no offer from IVY.
Just want to share these stories for you to be realistic and maybe better seek advice from a professional advisor before making a decision, as they have a better view than we have.
Frankly, your best shot at getting into a tippy top college will be if are one of the top rated volleyball players in the country, and you are most likely to achieve that by playing with the best club team, which probably means not going to BS.
As everyone is telling you, college matriculation lists are terribly misleading because admissions are so heavily determined by athletic recruitment, legacy, URM, fac brat status, etc. As an example, there is a good, but not so selective K-12 day school near me that sends tons of kids to Princeton as well as other top schools. Why? Lots of Princeton faculty send their kids there. And those same faculty members are alums, often of note, of other prestigious universities. The valedictorian of the class at this school, who (now out of college) is a bona fide academic rock star but totally unhooked, did not get into a single Ivy applying from there. But using your methodology of matriculation stats, this would have been a top choice school.
I would go to the revisits at those 2 schools with an open mind and questions about how you can maintain your sports at each. It sounds like that is important to you. If neither is going to put you in a better place than your LPS, sure, apply again next year. You can think about reclassing then – it has pros and cons.
While you’re wise to be thinking about where you would like to be headed in life, over all, you’ll be best positioned if you stay focused on being the best possible you wherever you are along the way. High school is not a huge admissions test for college – it’s 4 really important years of your life. Be totally there for it. Please trust me on this – if you do that, wherever you end up in college, you’ll be able to make the most of it and thrive.
Reapplying for 9th grade is a totally valid option. There is zero stigma for repeats at this point and at least a third of the class is made up of repeats at most of these schools - probably more now because of covid.
However, going to Groton or Exeter is not going to help you get into a more prestigious college. This has been discussed ad nauseam and the dead horse is throughly beaten. In order to get into a top college you need to be top of your class at any of these schools. Or you need to be a strong legacy or an athletic recruit. Where do you have the best chance of doing these things? How much do you value the high school experience vs looking forward to try to game your college acceptance?
If your goal is Harvard I don’t think Andover vs St Marks matters - the student you are at either matters (and then people can argue on the periphery is it’s easier from one or the other). If your goal is a T30 college it also probably doesn’t matter. Again, the student you are matters more. Either way there’s really no sure bet. You do not yet know if you would be in the top 10% at Groton or Deerfield (which just statically is doubtful since MOST kids are not in the top 10% by definition).
So that’s a messy response.
Attending a private school that doesn’t have the sports you play - if you are serious about continuing those sports seems misguided. If you have a solid school to attend next year vs Worcester Academy I think staying in that school is a valid choice. If the choice is Brimmer or Beaver or BB&N vs Worcester Academy I don’t think I would see the point in moving. If your family can afford to let you repeat a year, then that is a valid choice. With the knowledge that your chance of acceptance at the schools you listed remains very unlikely next year. Upping your SSAT to 90% is not what’s going to get you in - you are up against vast numbers of applications. Maybe you will improve in your sports enough that coaches at the schools will advocate for you - that is something that would actually increase your chances.
How much of this is wanting to go to boarding school and getting a good education vs attending a top college? They are different things. Kids get into ivy and top SLACs from my LPS regularly (like I know 5 ivy-bound kids from ED/EA rounds plus at least 3 going to top 10 SLACs - 1 is a legacy, but believe the rest are unhooked).
I agree with others that the matriculation lists at prep schools can be very deceiving. I think I had 5-6 kids in my grade at BS go to Princeton. Only 1 wasn’t majorly hooked (either related to major major donor or an athletic recruit - or in one case both of those things!). 3 went to Harvard, all 3 were athletic recruits (though one was also #1 or 2 in class so more than qualified). Not to say all ivy-bound kids were hooked (I went to one and wasn’t hooked), but the stats are deceptive.
We are likely sending our own kid to a prep school for the education, but actually think their matriculation will possibly be worse than if they want to LPS due to being middle of pack vs. top. However, the quality of classes and rigor is worth the tradeoff, we think. School should be about learning IMO!
Agreed with all that has been said above - when Sunnykid applied to BS, multiple admissions reps told us something along these lines in the Admissions Information meetings - “we are looking for kids that want to come here because of the educational experience; if you think coming here will get you into an Ivy or top 20 school, you may be very disappointed.”
Being older in the grade will not be a big deal at all. As I said in another thread, so many kids are repeating the grade it’s a wonder why they don’t just have all the kids do that. There were absolutely 16 year old freshmen in Sunnykid’s freshman class. I obviously can’t speak to what their experience was like; I would venture a guess that it may not feel like a big deal as a freshman but I do wonder if it feels odd to be a 20 year old senior? But again so, so many reclassifications - I doubt it would matter.
Dating and friendships may be weird, my kid will be barely be 17 at start of senior year. So one could be be as close in age to teaching fellows (who are just out of college and potentially just 22) as a classmate. Something to consider.
I would counsel to simply think about the pros and cons of reclassing at any given school – don’t consider it simply because you think it’ll improve your admissions odds. While most schools admit fewer 10th graders, the pool is also smaller.
Are you willing to accept the possibility that you are still WL at those few “top” schools next time?
I applied to Nobles near end of elementary school, and got WL. I had no passion for private schools when I was 10. I thought this time I applied near end of middle school, had very high SSAT scores, very high GPAs, good recommendations and essays, won music awards and won math competition…yet Nobles still waitlisted me. I also got WL from Groton and other 2 “top” boarding schools. I assume Nobles didn’t like me that much the first time or the second time (despite giving me WL both times).
I am going to one of the two schools that accepted me.
I think that I will talk about this aspect of your post.
IMHO you should forget about high school rankings. Forget about university rankings. Do not attend a high school with the hopes of getting accepted to a top ranked university.
Instead, do what makes sense for you. Attend a high school that is a good fit for you. Take the classes that make sense for you. Participate in the EC’s that make sense for you. Whatever you do, do it very well. While you are doing this, always treat other people fairly (the people who write your recommendations will notice). Understand that “leadership” means making the activity better for everyone who participates.
Also, read this blog on the MIT admissions web site, and think about it:
This describes what I did to get into MIT (for my bachelor’s) and Stanford (for my master’s). This describes what someone I know did to get into an Ivy League school for her master’s. This describes that someone else I know did to get into a “top 5 in the USA” DVM program. We each did what was right for us. However, what we each did was entirely different.
There are plenty of students at MIT and Stanford who came from public high schools. However, they did very well at whatever high school they attended. This is easier to do if you are at a school that it a good fit for you.
In terms of continuing with volleyball and swimming, again do what is right for you. IMHO these are both great sports. I have done enough volleyball to know how difficult it is. I also think that it is quite enjoyable and a great workout.
Quasi-related: I do alum interviews for an ivy, The students who clearly truly LOVE to LEARN and pursued something they are clearly passionate about do best in admissions. Another key is showing why this school is right for them…what can it offer that other schools can’t? Kids who are just looking at “the name” can’t answer that very well (and it shows). Fit matters. Intellectuality curiosity and passion (not just grades) matter.
(This is not including athletes, who are a whole other bucket).
Long way of saying I think admissions does (usually) reward passionate, curious, self-motivated AND smart kids. In fact, BS can be limiting, or helpful, depending on your interests and personality. If you want to build large scale sculptures, that may not be an option at BS, but may be in your suburbs with your local art studio. Having very driven peers can be very helpful to some, and mentally a struggle for others. Having a huge workload of homework takes time away from other things you can be doing.
PS I feel like I sound very down on prep school. I went to a BS and don’t regret it, it was the right atmosphere for me, and unlocked ambition and understanding of colleges and the world I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. This isn’t the same for my own kids, due to my own advantages. My kids have had time in PS and independent school, really depends on fit, school and kid what makes sense.