Should I Bother?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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<p>I have done very little research into boarding schools at this point, but it is my dream to get into a top college. As I will be entering eighth grade this fall, I finally realized that I must "buckle down" and start truly focusing.</p>

<p>I never really considered boarding school as a viable option, but one of my best friends will be attending a private school this year and I feel that I should at least explore the possibilities.</p>

<p>Financial issues would probably be my most prominent setback. There is absolutely no way that my family would be able to afford so much as 20k a year. Although we have a relatively high income (120k), my mother has two disabilities (minears disease and chronic migraines) as well as teeth problems; the medical bills are substantial. I have no idea whether or not the majority of prep schools would even offer aid to someone with this income.</p>

<p>My extracurriculars would not be considered special, and I am to blame for that. However, hopefully my academics can make up for that. I do not have my grades with me at the moment, but I do remember the letters.</p>

<p>7th grade:
Algebra, A+
English 8, A+
Science, A+
History, A+
Public Speaking, A+
Spanish, A+
Gym, A
Art, A+
Tech Ed, A
Business Ed, A</p>

<p>ECs:
Girl Scout
Active member of a Lutheran Church
Forensics Team
Library Club
National Junior Arts Honor Society
UNESCO
MATHCOUNTS
CTY Distance Ed </p>

<p>8th Grade Workload:
Honors Algebra II (at HS)
Honors Geometry 8
Honors English 9 (at HS)
Science 8
History 8
Spanish (independent study)
Health (independent study)</p>

<p>SAT Scores (January of 7th Grade):
1930
V: 640
M: 580
W: 710</p>

<p>I won a rotary award in 6th grade based on my academics, character, and volunteer work.</p>

<p>I can write well for my age, or so I've been told, and I intend to enter several competitions this year. I have taken English at a higher grade level for 3 years now, and this year I will be the only one in the district taking an extra math class, also at a higher grade level.</p>

<p>My teachers tend to like me, so I would probably be able to get some excellent reqs. I'm extremely close to my enrichment coordinator; we are almost what I would call friends, as I spend time with her daily and she is the head of the forensics and mathcounts teams.</p>

<p>Would I have a chance at a prestigious boarding school, and are there any that offer significant aid, need-based or merit? What are some schools that I should look into? Would Andover and Exeter even be reasonable goals?</p>

<p>thanks for the help. :)</p>

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<p>Oh, an I live in Pittsburgh, so nothing on the west coast.</p>

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<p>I forgot to mention that I’m white. Middle class white girl= not the greatest, I believe</p>

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<p>I am no expert but it looks liek your a great candidate. As far as financial aid I do know that the more prestigous schools usually have large endowments and would be able to give you financial aid.</p>

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<p>@laughingworld, It sounds like you have a good chance. Most schools don’t have many kids from the Pittsburgh area. If you have any questions, PM me. I am an incoming prep at Exeter from Pittsburgh and would be happy to answer your questions.</p>

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<p>Thanks to both of you for your answers!</p>

<p>What are some things I could do to improve during my eighth grade year? I’m definitely not an athlete, so sports are a last resort. I wouldn’t mind putting in some volunteer hours, though.</p>

<p>Is there any way to guess how my SAT scores would compare to future results on the SSAT or ISEE?</p>

<p>Do top boarding schools offer math placement, or is the curriculum already challenging enough?</p>

<p>I forgot to mention in my post that I go to a pretty good public school at the moment.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Yes and no. The results page that they send to you via mail has a box at the bottom stating your likely ranges for each section on the SAT. There is some correlation, but not a lot.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes, normally you take a test that is sent by the school that you enroll in. There are course change requests though if you believe you were placed at an inappropriate level.</p>

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<p>@AlexMac- Thanks! I was actually wondering how my SAT scores would translate into SSAT or ISEE… Not the other way around ;)</p>

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<p>Well, I guess you could reverse compare it. Anyway, good luck with your apps!</p>

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<p>@AlexMac- That is, if I apply! I’m slightly nervous about asking my parents to consider… I have no idea what they’ll say, but I’m so afraid that it’ll be a “no.”</p>

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<p>Well, if you really want to and you point out the advantages, it’s really hard to say no. Especially once they visit the websites and campuses; some of them are just breath-taking.</p>

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<p>@Laughingworld,</p>

<p>Many BS offer FA to families with incomes up to $250k. The amt of aid granted will depend on how the families overall financial circumstances. I would venture to guess that the schools with the large endowments would be able to offer FA to a greater proportion of their students.</p>

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<p>Of course, those are the schools that have the lowest acceptance rates…</p>

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<p>I have to say, you seem like a really spectacular student. Don’t stress too much over your chances, because you’re clearly qualified. Andover has said that over 70% of their candidates are academically admissible, which is really where you lose control of the admission decision. I’ll be in Andover’s class of 2014. </p>

<p>As for financial aid, Andover is truly one of the best schools for those who wouldn’t be able to pay for a full boarding education. Andover is need-blind, meaning they choose (most often) the most highly qualified candidates without regard for financial situation. Of course there are legacy ties and other “hooks” that may take precedence over someone with simply good grades, but I doubt that happens TOO much. Another school that’s need-blind is St. Andrew’s in Delaware. You may want to look into that school–it has a good reputation, and the teachers I know of from there are really passionate. </p>

<p>Again, Andover is exceedingly generous with financial aid. I’m also white from a middle class family, with no extraordinary hooks, and I have an extremely generous scholarship. You won’t find financial aid like that at many other schools. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t think you’ll find many merit scholarships at top boarding schools. Like top colleges, the most prestigious schools have a plethora of gifted students. It would be too difficult to give some students merit-based aid and not give it to others. </p>

<p>I hope this helped! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.</p>

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<p>@Laughingworld,</p>

<p>It’s pretty amazing you are already scoring a 1930 on the SAT in 7th grade (which is already at a decent level for most HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS in an average private boarding school), the more selective boarding schools (GLADSCHEMMS**) come out on a student average ranging from 1950-2100. You should score easily a 90% and above on the SSATs (just a very rough prediction considering your academics). If you apply, just take the SSATs, don’t bother with ISEEs some schools dont even take that score.</p>

<p>**GLADSCHEMMS is an acronym, if you do not know yet, for some of the more prestigious boarding schools.
GLADSCHEMMS = Groton, Lawrenceville, Andover, Deerfield, St. Pauls, Choate, Hotchkiss, Exeter, Middlesex, Milton, St. Andrews
I think i got that right, i could be wrong, since i m still pretty new to this acronym thing.
and also another acronym you would see if you look around in the CC posts would be
HADES = Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, Exeter, St. Paul’s (the even more selective of the selective)</p>

<p>These are the most prestigious, a.k.a. most well known but doesn’t mean other private schools are bad, most are also academically strong. you could look into Boarding School Reviews (just search it on google) and start from there.</p>

<p>Your academics is definitely a NO PROBLEM AT ALL, and it can’t be better. keep those grades up through 8th grade. Maintain the hours you put in volunteer work and clubs, and you would be a spectacular candidate (sports would not matter much anymore with your grades).</p>

<p>It also seems like you are a language person, I suggest u take Andover precedence over Exeter, just because Andover has the stronger history and english programmes while Exeter is slightly inclined towards math and science.</p>

<p>If you want to go to BS and afraid that your parents say no, you can at least tell them it’s worth a shot and it wouldn’t hurt (other than having to write the app forms and the app fees which depends on how many schools u end up applying)</p>

<p>You also would very likely get financial aid in most of the schools i mentioned above, especially as others have said with the bigger schools and ones with larger endowments, again refer to Boarding School Reviews (a bit outdated, but roughly right).</p>

<p>There is a LOT more to the concept of a boarding school (i can easily ramble on for another 500 words) but i m going to leave it to you to dig around CC and the internet. You should get the hang of it eventually.</p>

<p>In a short answer though: You should definitely bother.</p>