Happy Holidays everyone! Are you guys done with the essays? I have all of them written but I need to edit them a few more times. Thankfully I’m not going anywhere this break so I can devote all of my time to them 
But I’m really stressed out that my recommendations won’t get in on time for a day school. One of my teachers said that she submitted it a couple days ago but it’s not showing up on the school’s application website… Maybe it’s because everyone is on break now.
Anyways, good luck to everyone on the application process! Final push before January 15th!
@ilovechoateeeee please don’t freak out @ recommendations at this point. It is school break and it was our experience that a few were not completed until mid-January. Teachers might procrastinate, also! One AO told us that some recommendations come in late after deadline and they understand. Same with your transcript for first term grades. It will be ok 
@Golfgr8 That’s good to know. Thanks!
@ilovechoateeeee Nope. Haven’t even started them.
Christmas break - what’s that for if not to write essays? Thank goodness my kids are so far apart if I had to do this again next year I would not be happy.
@dogsmama1997 LOL I relate. Last time I applied it was 1 school. Now it’s 11. Winter break is much less fun.
Yes, my hat is off to those of you who reapply the next year. It is a stressful experience and doing it all over again the very next year would be a lot for me!
@dogsmama1997 This is my third year in the application cycle…
@ilovechoateeeee Hi there! If it’s any comfort to you, I was waitlisted when I applied for 9th grade and was accepted when I applied for 10th grade the next year. I didn’t choose to repeat a grade, but I know many people who have and they’re doing great. Going through the app process a second (or third) time sucks, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Best of luck!
@bellsprout Thank you so much! This gives me some hope I’m just telling myself to work my butt off one last time
Good luck to all of you! I didn’t go through the process last year (got a lucky reprieve) but man doing this twice in a row for numerous schools sounds rough. I believe you’ll all do great things no matter where you end up!
I’m super annoyed at myself for only beginning to consider applying to prep schools earlier this month (woohoo!!!), which means that I only have one chance to do the ISEE (the SSAT costs significantly more, and I think I’d do better on the ISEE anyway)! fingers crossed i don’t flunk it, because i’m afraid that it might be one of the strongest parts of my application 
@egnatius I’m pretty sure everyone has already told you this but study the vocab! It is probably the hardest part of the test. Well, I didn’t study the vocab and I got an 8 on that portion, but most people do need to study it. The math and reading aren’t hard.
Good luck to you!
@egnatius This month?! And I thought I was late when I started the process mid November. Did you get a chance to take the SSAT?
This is a great vocab set btw:
https://quizlet.com/178241919/ssat-flash-cards/?i=1kdjv7&x=1jqY
I discovered it a few days ago and I’m trying to learn all 500 in 6 days (Crazy, I know. Don’t judge me)
FWIW my daughter spent most of her time studying the synonyms and analogies or whatever they are called. She didn’t do any vocab lists but just working on the analogies, etc. raised her score by a LOT. I think that practicing those things exposes you to vocab and teaches you how to think about the analogies. So you are doing double studying for the same amount of time.
There are also verrryyyy cheap lightly used SSAT/ISEE books on Amazon! those helped me a lot
Thanks for all the advice! As for the SSAT, I do (desperately) need to study vocab and analogies. Because of late fees, the SSAT on 1/5 is over $200 now, but I emailed a few schools, and the 1/19 ISEE (which is more like $140) should be acceptable, so I’ll probably do that.
Seconding @ilovechoateeeee’s suggestion. That’s what I did, think I spent $3.50 on my Barron’s SSAT book. There was no use and no damage.
Still working on my essays. Only halfway done, and getting them checked by a friend who attends UBC plus some of my peers. Just so nervous, because all my interviews are scheduled for after Jan 15th except DA. I’m so stressed because of these essays and just everything in general!!! Good luck to everyone else.
@tokyoxc, you will do great! Try to take each day at a time and don’t be overwhelmed with trying to be perfect! Just be yourself and you will do fine. After all, just getting to apply to a boarding school is a fun, self reflective journey.No matter what the outcome, you would have learned something!