<p>Hey guys, another thread --
My friends and I all did this note game when 4 of my buddies were headed off to college. Just put down somebody's username, and ask them a question. Then, that person has to answer the question, put downsomebody else's username, and ask them a question about their school. It goes on and on. We used to leave the notes in really random places, but this could be fun because there are so many people, and you can put more then 1 username down.</p>
<p>Let's go!</p>
<p>PA-C: What has this whole experience taught you from a parent's viewpoint?</p>
<p>Elveedaily: What school did you like the best?</p>
<p>Italianboarder: Where you do you think you have the biggest chance of acceptance?</p>
<p>(Just using people that replied to my last thread.)</p>
<p>I’m thinking that Andover is my best shot. I have some things that they told me they are looking for, and I would say some prolific answer, my interviewer lit up. This guy really seemed interested in what I was saying and the “I get it” percentage was through the roof. We really connected, and we started off some sentences the same way… It was freaky cool. I loved the essay, and out of all the applications I did… That was by far the most “real” application… I think they got the most out of me with their questions. I met teachers while I was on campus, they all said that Andover was defined by freedom.</p>
<p>I’ve fallen in love with Andover over Exeter(Originally it was Exeter all the way).</p>
<p>SAER: Did you ever experience a moment on a tour/interview/normal day where you felt like your applying for FA was apparent/did you feel self conscience?</p>
<p>Not for one gosh darn second. 2/3 tour guides were Full FA (the other was a legacy, but was way too cool anyway) and nobody flaunted wealth or anything. I was told many times that I would be a perfect fit for X School, and not once was FA mentioned in their definition of “fit”. And that mattered to me, haha.
I found that everyone dressed impeccably, no matter whether the clothes had been bought from Target (us, haha) or Ralph Lauren (a girl applying who sat and read during the presentation at Choate…), and as long as you were neat and presentable, it made not a speck of difference. Apparent? no. Self conscience? No. Does it still matter? Pretty much, yeah.</p>
<p>mpicz- Give us an account of a tour/interview, and why it made you like/dislike that school specifically.</p>
<p>I guess the most important thing is for a parent of a highly intelligent child to always keep looking for programs/schools/camps that might benefit and interest their child. My search started by looking up info about CTY and that led me to CC which led me to BS. </p>
<p>Also, even a somewhat shy quiet child can quickly become interested/excited in BS because they are smart enough to see what amazing benefits BS offers. So look at all your options, apply and then decide once you see your acceptances. (Trying to be positive here that there will be some! ) Don’t limit your child based on what you did as a kid, what your parents say about sending your child away or even money since FA still exists for now anyway. </p>
<p>Last bit of advice for parents. Talk to the kids on this board. They are all amazing, wonderful thoughtful people. It will inspire you about the future of the human race and also comfort you about who your child may be living with next year!</p>
<p>I first learned about BS through a front-page story on Exeter’s new financial aid initiative on Yahoo!, my home page, where I often ■■■■■ through news stories. The idea stuck, and I started presenting the idea to my parents. The idea didn’t stick with my mom, and I deferred on pressing the issue for a while. then, in August, 7 months later, I brought it up again after a difficult emotional time where I was extremely unhappy with my current situation. Using this, a little guilt, and the promise that “It’s just a little work! We’ll apply and then see what happens in March!” BS became a part of ours lives!</p>
<p>I’ll repeat my question, since mpicz hasn’t answered.
mpicz- Give us an account of a tour/interview, and why it made you like/dislike that school specifically.</p>
<p>Uhm, I’m honestly torn between the three schools I applied to… Exeter, Cambridge and Loomis. I tried to really go with what schools really seemed to have the opporunities I’m interested in exploring personally, and though they are all on different sides of the “boarding school spectrum” I loved them all :D.</p>
<p>Alright, questions… (I apologize if they have already been asked)</p>
<p>istoleyournose: Why Exeter/Andover over the school you go to now?</p>
<p>keylyme: Did your S approach you with the idea of boarding school, or did you suggest it to him?</p>
<p>Umm I got there and had to walk through a path in the woods which was pretty cool. Then after I got out of the woods and looked up and was amazed (had seen A/E/D)…reminded me of hogwarts (it had snowed). Walked into the admissions place and it seemed very open and welcoming and not quiet…full of old people on the wall staring at you and crap.</p>
<p>I got there and my tour guide was waiting for me…short little kid that likes wresting. Everything seemed cool throughout the place…like the forms and really liked the gymnasium…and the library lol…and some place where everyone was eating and there was music. Umm once it was over and I got back the soccer coach was waiting for me. Talked to him…nice guy.</p>
<p>Then I met with my interviewer (I already interview in atlanta). He just wanted to have another little chat. We pretty much talked about sports…movies…and other fun stuff. The schools seemed welcoming and didn’t have a pretentious attitude or feeling to it. As we were talking the bball coach and track coach came in and talked to me. Then thye let me come watch their practice and stuff…all the kids said hi and smiled and seemed cool.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tag =)
GRRRRRRRR I already wrote all this up but then my internet crashed and now I must rewrite, teh paaain. </p>
<p>First, my current school has great academics and I could get into IVYs from here just as easily as from Exeter/Andover.
Second, my current school is all boys (a great reason to leave by itself), has very little diversity in that I’m the only jew in a student body of 900, mostly white, near all republican. This had really made it hard for me to relate to people as they see me as so foreign and in some cases are racist towards me. So, I have very few friends here, although I have some. At E/A the student body is uber diverse and incredibly liberal/democrat so I could relate to people much more easily.
Third, Harkness, I know everyone must say this, but I’m an incredibly verbally oriented person and love to discuss/debate interesting topics (I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was 8, one of my essays)</p>
<p>Mmoyan:where is you?
Senay: Thank you for leaving. WIll you please not answer this?
Tomthecat: Why are you such a beast?
mpicz: Online you act like your a jock, but you made 99 on the ssat, why not embrace you obvious true nerdyness, no one on here will think less of you, it’s a website where ppl brag about how nerdy they are =)
GemmaV: Do you ever look people up on here? Do your colleagues? Do you think they do at other schools? What’s the most important advice you have for us? </p>
<p>I made a 98 not 99 (and SSAT really does not mean much, and I don’t think it measures intelligence at all)…you can play sports and be smart. Its called versatility lol…Im not sure what you mean by online I “act” like a jock. Not everyone who is smart has to be totally obnoxious and brag about SSATs and grades and teacher recs.</p>
<p>My passions lay in sports mostly and creative writing/music…I’m not obsessed with grades. I just happen to get good ones.</p>
<p>Ya, trust me…one thing I’ll never do is try and act like something I’m not (deerfield short answer actually). Especially on a prep school forum. Like I said, Im a sports guy…I love to play and watch many sports…and I’m pretty good at a couple. I like to write poetry if im in the mood and like to write songs (into many type of kids). Into community service to the country my parents are from and proud of my heritage…there’s not a way to describe me. I’m not the typical one-dimensional kid. But how many kids at BS are? Doesn’t mean when I make it post that hsows more of the sports side of me that I’m trying to act like a jock to a bunch of random people.</p>
<p>mpicz: good athlete, brains, good grades, community service, and you write poetry and songs? I like your style. You’re a rennaisance man. Question: Do you want to date my daughter? jkjk (kinda) :)</p>
<p>Haha ya…Im not that great at all, sounds better on a computer. Just like half the people in the chances thread sound like they should already be in college.</p>
<p>istoleyournose: To answer your questions: Some of you are very easily identifiable. Whether you post what state you’re from, in combination with your extracurriculars (i.e. how many harp-playing applicants do you think we have from Nebraska?)…or if your username is somehow related to your actual name or your e-mail address. </p>
<p>My colleagues do not spend time on CC but I have many friends in the admission world, both in college admissions and in boarding school admissions, who lurk on this site. They do not post but they are reading with great interest. </p>
<p>The most important piece of advice I have for you at this time is this: please remember that on March 10th if you get denied at School X or Academy Y, it’s not personal. It doesn’t mean that you’re not smart enough or not talented enough or not nice enough, and it doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be a great addition to that school. It’s just that, when you are applying to highly selective institutions, the number of qualified applicants is much greater than the number of available spaces, and those of us who have this job have to make very difficult choices. You can (and will!) succeed in life even if you don’t ever go to one of these b-schools. While it would be a great opportunity, at the end of the day, remember it’s just a high school diploma. I did not attend the b-school at which I work, I went to a public high school. I went on to an excellent university. I am surrounded by loving family and friends. I am in relatively good health and I have a very nice job that I enjoy (and thanks to many of you, there’s pretty good job security where I work). I really can’t complain about my life, and I don’t have a diploma from a b-school.</p>
<p>neatoburrito: Oops. My bad. Let me ask you one. What has affected your opinions of the various schools under consideration? There are so many pieces to the “marketing” puzzle–our admissions publications, our website, our video, our campus tours, our staff of interviewers, our post-campus-visit contact (or lack thereof in certain cases). Which are the most important to a prospective parent or student?</p>
<p>Gemma, that is some of the best advice that I have heard. I’ve never really needed that advice(I’m sure most people here don’t really get declined from things/fail in some aspect of their life if they really want something). </p>
<p>GemmaV(Sorry, but I’m really curious!): Do you ever act on what you see on CC/Facebook/Rumors about a student? Have you ever felt like the collective decision(of all the admin officers) was really wrong?<em>you thought a kid would be good, they say bad. You thought a kid was bad, they thought the kid was the reincarnation of william sidis</em></p>
<p>Because the primary reason we are seeking a BS education for our children is to give them the opportunity to hear other voices and examine their own beliefs within the context of those other voices, I didn’t look at a lot of the “marketing” material. Instead, I searched the archives of speeches made by headmasters, students and alums at chapel services, prize days, &etc, looking for evidence that their mottos were more than words carved in stone. </p>
<p>Matriculation lists and SAT scores were the last things I looked at. They could get the nuts and bolts of a classical education around the kitchen table at home. These things are expected. So, median SAT score and #of AP scholars doesn’t necessarily impress me. I expect those things. What impressed me were the schools that focused on education as more than that - as a way to push kids not just in the classroom, but spiritually as well. I looked for lecture series about the implications of the individual’s actions, depth in tutorial topics; but also evidence that school realized that they were kids.</p>
<p>So while the “slick” marketing material that I know the schools spend a fortune on were very nice and we enjoyed looking at them, I got most of what I needed with a combination of google and the school websites. And while the visits were nice and everyone seemed very sincere, it was the words of the school communitity through everything from chapel talks to silly youtube videos, that affirmed or shed doubt on a school being the right fit.</p>
<p>My son says that he just wants to go to a school where the teachers take him seriously.</p>
<p>DiveAlive: How are you going to survive another year before you apply? :)</p>
