Williston is fully enrolled for girls but has a few spots still open for boys in case anyone wants to reach out to them.
My oldest son is a junior there this year and has had a great experience.
Williston is a warm and welcoming place. My son got into 5 schools, and he chose Williston as his best fit. He wanted a collaborative, friendly learning community. He’s taking rigorous AP and Honors courses. He’s a proctor and an admissions intern. He’s also doing a Williston Scholars independent study. Williston has a solid sports program, but I admit I don’t know much about it because my son is a theater kid - on stage every season.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions.
I truly admire the effort you have put into the process. I went through a similar process with my college apps many years ago. I was a top student at an extremely competitive high school, and everyone believed that I would get into my dream college. Unfortunately, it did not happen - I was flat out rejected in the ED round. Totally frustrated, I applied in the regular round, but alas, I was only accepted to my safety school. It felt like the end of the world for a few days, then I realized that I could not turn back time and that all I could do was work hard enough for a transfer.
I worked hard on all fronts during my freshman year, gave my ball in both academics as a walk-on varsity player (I hoop too). I basically slept 3-4 hours a day while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. I then applied to my dream school, and was finally accepted.
The extra year felt like forever, but it was all worth it.
If the boarding school experience is important to you, I would recommend that you reapply next year as a sophomore. Yes, you would have to update some stats, but it is not as if you have to repeat all the paperwork. Have some experienced eyes (teachers, BS grads) review the essays, then try to present your arguments in a concise yet convincing manner. Focus on the values you can bring to your dream school. The admission officers will like the perseverance they see in you, along with the personal growth in maturity, academics, etc.
I am a parent too, and if my child shows such determination, I would definitely support him/her.
Thanks! I have fully overcome now. My only regret would be not being a classmate with people like you and reknihtrevo. You guys are both wonderful human beings. But who knows - we may still meet someday!
I know you guys will enjoy boarding to the max. My motivation for applying to boarding was Choate Summer 2019 (anybody from there?). I heard summers were supposed to be different but I did not feel it at all - the same math head taught us in Invention and was avaialble to answer every question we had. It was learning as we go, building planes as we fly. That was the moment I realized a school’s teachers and resources could make a big difference in practice, despite what I said about Wonhyo in principle (remember the Korean monk who drank from skull?). I am happy for you. Enjoy the journey!
I think around the same. They admit around 60 kids at Exeter sophomore year and they get about 400 applicants. 60/400=0.15 so yeah about the same acceptance rate as rising 8th graders. Although PEAs acceptance rate was 10% this year due to a rise in applications. Let’s hope everyone gets vaccinated and next year admissions will return to a normal level. Hope this helped.
Ah, I know that you would have made an excellent student at any BS. The schools have missed an obvious gem, and I am sorry for that. This year I would have loved to sit around a Harkness table with you and discuss an intriguing topic. If you are still intrigued by the prospect of reapplying, see if your parents are amenable to that option. Sometimes all it takes is some experience to conquer an obstacle. As Henry Ford once said, “Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this.” Yes, while Wonhyo’s legend is true to a certain extent, and it is more applicable to other aspects of life than BS, it is hard to compare with a 371 million dollar endowment like Choate’s. Nearly unlimited resources in the right hands almost always result in a success. I hope to see you sophomore year, whether it be in English class, or on the fields/courts.
The thing about 10th grade admission is that these schools reserve spots exclusively for junior boarding school students (e.g. Fay, Eaglebrook) because they graduate after 9th grade and go straight ahead to a senior boarding school. Therefore, students that are not from junior boarding schools will have limited entrance to 10th grade. Even though the admission rate might be similar for both 9th and 10th grade (as usernameuser98 pointed out above), you will be placed in a separate pool with less spaces if you are a non-junior boarding school student
It’s definitely harder if you are applying for 10th grade, because they have less spots available.
I actually haven’t heard from any of my WL schools: Miss Porter’s, Putney, Middlesex, Brooks, NMH, Concord, and St. Mark’s. It doesn’t really matter to me at this point since I’ve already committed, but just putting that out there.