Funny you say this. My co worker is there for three years. His kids are just in elementary school and he made this same comment. He said they are doing multiplication tables to 12 whereas they’re friends in the top school in Atlanta up to four.
Even in grad school the foreign educated students were ahead academically of us Americans.
https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/ This is a site you can use to research boarding schools. When you locate a few that look like they suit your needs call and email them and ask how they view your family. Regardless of your son’s citizenship, it sounds like your family lives abroad, you own and run a business abroad, and he has been educated abroad. I think that it is more likely you will be be treated as an international family. These are private schools and they can act however they chose.
Admissions are very competitive because the schools are desirable. Financial aid dollars even more so.
I am not sure which you’d take? SSAT or ISEE? Either one take an official one earlier, understand how it is scored, and buy a book to practice. SSAT has better online practice tools. The score for both is unusual.
This is because only the best foreign students make it to undergrad, with less seats available in other countries, let alone making it to grad school in the US (which is where I presume you are talking about).
Yes
He sounds like a good fit at Mercersburg Academy.
Boarding schools operate a bit differently vs college admissions. Not many of them are need blind, and the vast majority take financial need into account.
If you can afford $30k per year, you’ll need a total of approx $75k per year. So thats about a $40k scholarship per year. His best chance will be to apply to schools that want him. There are many schools which offer scholarships to entice desirable students. I would look at schools a bit farther down in the selectivity range. That will be your best chance for scholarship. Counter-intuitively, it might also make college admissions easier. Big fish little pond.
Really helpful, thanks.
Would you please elaborate for the OP and other readers?
Mercersburg is a great school. What in particular makes it stand out for this student? What is the chance of it providing enough aid to meet budget?
TIA.
Mercersburg mom here. The school provides generous aid but I’m not sure how it works with international applicants.
The website reports that 48% of MB students receive financial aid (30% is the average in the boarding school space) and 20% of our community is international, representing 44 countries.
Happy to answer any questions about the school and community.
My son is senior at one of the eight schools. He has several classmates that came to the US for boarding because they want to attend a US college. Like mentioned by another, the college feeder system isn’t what it use to be. Nevertheless, these schools do send a significant number of their students to the Ivy+ and little Ivies. If your goal is to get your child into one of these institutions, I strongly suggest that you find the school with best tennis program and talk with the coaches. They will help your child get accepted to the boarding school and help prepare them for potential college recruiting. Athletic recruiting is one of the best avenues to get into highly selective colleges.