Hi- is there a link between taking a course at one of the boarding schools (Taft, PEA, Choate, for example) and admissions? Do admission officers get a report from the summer school office? Thanks
No. It doesn’t impact your chances of admission. I did Lawrenceville summer and got waitlisted.
We were told by an Andover administrator that the acceptance rate for those who had done Andover summer programs was maybe five percentage points higher than the overall acceptance rate. However, that is not the same thing as saying that for the same person, attending the summer school would increase one’s chances at regular admission by that percentage. It is possible that those attending the summer program simply fit the profile a little better than the overall applicant pool.
1 Like
I do not think there’s a big correlation between admission and summer program. But I guess it does show your commitment to that school and you can put it on your application. That being said I was accepted to Exeter summer, but deferred it due to covid and still was waitlisted. There’s not a big correlation.
1 Like
The conventional wisdom is that these are more or less money makers for the schools, and at best a way for a student to get some sense for what it’s like to live at school X. I say live, and not attend, because in many cases the faculty are entirely different for the summer programs.
I do think, to the extent there’s any bump in admit rates, it’s exactly as @ameridad speculates i.e. that it’s a self-selecting pool that somewhat fits the profile better than the overall pool.
My niece attended the summer camp at a top school one year and she loved it. She got to know the facilities and surroundings well, and took the initiative to learn about the courses, as well as the school’s history and culture. A few months later, she back for a formal interview, and was able to tell the interviewer how much she enjoyed her summer, sharing tidbits throughout the conversation. The interviewer was very pleased and gave strong hints about her admission. To be fair, her other stats were pretty good as well: SSAT in the 90s, with decent ECs, but the summer story turned out to be an extra catalyst, IMHO.