All of your takes on the SSAT are quite interesting, and I find at least a little bit of truth in all of them!
@petrich0r BS Admissions 
I jumped into this pond a bit late, so excuse me if this point has already been posted. There are previous threads & posts speaking about “yield”. I do sense that “yield” is a big factor. Some schools are super sensitive about their yield going down - this means $$ and, perhaps for AO’s their job security? A few years ago, there were a bunch of students with really top stats who were accepted to top ranked schools but were rejected or WL’d from schools less known for competitive applicants and academic rigor. The speculation at the time was about protecting yield - so they rejected or WL’d students that were perceived as applying to Academy XYZ as a “safety” or second/third choice.
This topic seems to come up a couple times a year. It also comes up for colleges.
Personally, I think that if a high stats kid shows enthusiasm for, and a connection to, a school, that kid will be admitted. All schools love having great students who are great kids. Often, the high stats kid who is turned down by a school they think should have admitted them is a kid who gave off a vibe during the interview, or who wrote an essay, that suggested they’d never choose this school unless hell froze over. Schools really want to have students who want to be there! They don’t want to “waste a space” on someone who has telegraphed that they don’t genuinely like the school.
Many of the schools that are highly selective just selected someone else like you who fit just a bit better. You will never know if you have a doppelganger who also happened to be a legacy, or who played lax, or was FP.
But if you are thinking you were rejected because you were “too good”, you are probably wrong. The best advice I can give to future applicants is this: Don’t even start to think about which school you like best until you are done with applications.
^ I agree! We figure the reason DS got so many WLs in light of his stats is that he is very introverted and stoic. I know that a certain raise of his eyebrow and twitch of his lip means he’s ecstatic about something but even his dad misses these cues at times. A complete stranger (interviewer) I’m sure thought he was entirely disinterested in anything regarding BS.
DD will be a completely different story. Theatrics is her specialty. ?
I agree with this.
I also think, if you are close enough to schools, go show them love. I think the reason my daughter was so successful ages ago in her admissions was that we went to so many events at the BS she applied to. We showed a lot of interest (she only applied to a few schools) and I am sure the schools felt that she had a lot of enthusiasm for them.
I read that tip here ages ago - go to school events as much as possible. The point was to get a feel for the school. I think it also served to show the school our love.
We used that for our son who was not as strong or compelling a candidate as my daughter and he also had good outcomes.
Hi all, i’ll be attending Hotchkiss as a 9th grader next fall.
I had a couple of questions about the school, and there seems to be a lack of recent threads discussing Hotchkiss.
Are any current students/parents willing to start a new thread?
Thanks (:
@ens2006 hooray how exciting! I’ll go start one because I just came across our recorded voice memos from after our visits in the fall and listened to them all. I’d love a place for people to share their impressions and discuss schools since we can’t do revisits!
@Calliemomofgirls that sounds great! i ended up creating a thread- http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-cafe/2178980-hotchkiss-class-of-24-and-any-other-year-too-p1.html?new=1
i don’t know if your thread is going to be different, but if not, i’ll put a note on the thread that it has been moved to yours!
@cniewinski, my child was accepted to Taft for 9th grade! So you indeed have a friend??
Should I send an email when denying an offer?
Wow, I can’t believe this! This morning, the school contacted me they are willing to accept me and give me $10,000 aid for dormitory! I’m so glad I decided to reach out; if I settled for a waitlist I wouldn’t have gone anywhere.
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@laxgirl88888, We did! We wrote nice emails to the admission teams, thanking them for their generosity and taking their time to consider my scholars application. So indeed you should! Good luck.
@SolarJ congratulations!!!
@SolarJ congratulations ??!! Good for you being proactive
@NYCMOML&L did you email the general admissions email for the school or the email of your admissions officer?
@“NYCMOML&L” ^
@laxgirl88888, we emailed the admissions director of each school. Check who sent the admissions letter to you and the person who signed it is always a good reference point. Or the admissions office is fine too! Have your parents do it from their email and sign it from the whole family.
@SolarJ Congrats!! Which school was it?
@SolarJ Congrats!! So happy for you
@SolarJ congratulations!!! Am I remembering correctly that there was a small school you loved near Seattle and you felt like it was a great fit? Is this that school? I love your story either way but maybe a little extra if that school worked out for you!