That’s kind of interesting that the MS would reach out to schools where their kids applied rather than the BS reaching out if they had any questions. Ironic that just a few weeks ago people here were telling individuals not to update their files but this is, in effect what these schools were doing for their tuitioned kids! Goes to show you if you’re on your own and you feel you have something important to update your file with, DO IT, because a certain class of applicants are still having updates made to theirs.
It would be interesting to see what your friend says after M10. No doubt every school is different but it’s one of those times where you’d love to be a fly on the wall for any of these admissions processes (MS, HS, college, med school, law school, etc). Such a crazy process in such a short time period.
You can’t really compare the two…junior boarding school kids are in a different category. It’s in the best interest of both boarding schools and junior boarding schools to have open communication during the application process. Is this an advantage for JBS kids? Absolutely. But it’s also an advantage for boarding schools because they want to admit kids who are going to do well away from home, and be an active, positive member of the community. For the most part, JBS kids have learned those skills by the time they apply to BS, so they are an especially attractive applicant.
We spoke directly with each school that we applied to and said while for some we would rather be a day student, if it came down to being admitted, if it made the difference, we would do either day or boarding. We reached out both via email and over the phone. In our area there are several that are more day than boarding so if you are flexible it can help - some of them are looking for those “heads in beds” as a former headmaster family told us! Also, several students we know were offered more FA to board rather than be a day student - obviously day is cheaper but I mean they are paying less as a boarder than they would as a day student.
Agreed; and it’s not so much the JBS reaching out to the BS’s, as much as an agreed upon process. This particular JBS had multiple BS “fairs” where schools visited and met with students well ahead of the interview process to promote their schools. Lots of already established relationships between the JBS and BS AO’s to help students find the right fit for the next chapter.
I don’t think it is just JBS. My kid goes to a day school and it has close ongoing relationships with AOs at the schools most attended (a mix of day/boarding schools). These high school AOs visit the 8th graders and do presentations about the school, etc. When we toured, my kid had often already met the interviewers. I think the middle school does do some proactive advocacy after applications are submitted, but I am not sure about that truthfully.
My point being that regular students here, who were asking awhile back if they should update their files, whether with new achievements or any information important to the application, should do so. If a select population of students have someone advocating for updates to their application, then new information from the other group of students shouldn’t be a problem either. It shouldn’t come down to whether a student attended a BS faire, their school rubs elbows with BS, or a school wants to matriculate so many students on to top schools, we all know those schools that are dubbed “feeders” (whether that term is actually a thing of the past or not) want their students going to top named BS so that THEY can pull students in to their halls. But a kid from East Oakland should have just as much a right to updating an application as a kid from a school whose objective is to get their students into big name places. It’s great they have someone on staff that is paid to do that considering their job is even harder these days with declining “feeder” numbers but some of these kids who asked about whether they should send updates getting “don’t bother, they’re busy, it won’t make a difference”, makes it rather comical.
So as I’ve told many here before, no one is going to do “it” for you, and despite people not liking that as an answer, these advocate stories have proven my point. Students who aren’t in these “feeder” type schools HAVE to do their own heavy lifting like call a school when they have a question about their application, etc. or you can sit back and watch “JBS kid” pass you by while their school advocate does some of that heavy lifting for them because afterall, that’s what one of the things they get paid for. You are ALWAYS your own best advocate, why let someone who already has an edge get an even bigger one on you?
Just got accepted to my first school! It’s a top private school in my area and i’m super proud… hopefully it will carry onto M1 and M10! Best of luck to everyone else!!!
I agree it is an inequitable system (obviously not just in this way!).
I also am curious if this level of individual advocacy (either reactive or proactive) between JBS/day schools and high schools happens at the tippy-top and the large boarding schools, or only at smaller boarding schools and day schools. At a school has 40-80 kids a grade, you really need to pay a lot of attention to the mix of kids. Getting extra first-hand info about an applicant makes it more likely the AOs accept the “right” ones the first time, which they very much want.
