I see it as every school is a business with a marketing team until after you get accepted. After you get accepted, the business becomes your school and you move on to the next business: college. 
@wayoutwest18 My child also had 93% SSAT, nearly straight As, a number of interesting ECs. But he does not have a strong hook and is just a well rounded kid who is happy being what he is.
We did have schools in our list with -20 to -30 % average SSAT margin and fortunately, we do have good options but I’m also scratching my head.
We were aiming at “second tier” or “n-th tier” or whatever, because he is not first tier as he has not yet discovered a cure for cancer, never will be an olympic athlete, nor qualify for USAJMO. His strength is sense of humor and empathy.
@jmtabb: Please consider the wait-list option. As a legacy applicant, your child has a decent chance of getting off the list. I was taken off the waitlist from an extremely selective school and was able to thrive there. I never harbored any feelings of resentment towards the school for not taking me right away and I never felt inferior to any other student who may have been accepted outright. Don’t have too much pride over this, see it through and call the AOs. Ask to speak with the admissions director and let them know how disappointed you are about the wait list result.
@payn4ward, looking at the reported results you guys have several school in common with us, and an analogous mixed bag of waitlist and rejections. What you did that was very smart was spend your energy applying to more schools rather than reaching for a couple of big names. Much better strategy, it would appear. My question is, do the qualities of empathy and humor, and even drive and discipline if they have not yet produced quantitative results, count for much here? I somehow imagined that these AOs would be able to look at my kid’s application package and interview and see the fire inside him and say “that’s the kind of kid we want.” I am feeling delusional.
And Mr. Nephew has pointed out the real issue for all of us again. At most of these schools, more kids will get a “no” than a “yes”.
The problem is that for those of us with kids that have the test results and grades that would imply that they belong at the highest level schools, the schools that should find our kids “more attractive” think (or know) that they are the safety schools and also WL these kids to also protect their yields.
It feels like these kids - the smart ones without a hook that pushes them over the edge at the more competitive schools - are at a disadvantage no matter where they apply.
But just to clarify, I’m trying hard to not sound like sour grapes here. It’s just not possible for everyone to get the happy ending here - there are a limited number of spaces available and by definition some of us won’t get in. This year my kid is one of those kids despite all of the things we thought would work in our favor. We’re willing to work the waitlists, but aren’t counting on them. And we’re trying to protect our kid from further disappointment by not lingering on the low chances from the waitlists. There’s no way to know whether any school will go to their waitlist, and if they do, if we’ll fit what they are looking for. I expect the chances to get off the waitlist to be even lower than getting an acceptance in the first place. So we move on.
It does seem that way, doesn’t it? If they belong on the full bus, the emptier bus will waitlist/deny in some cases to protect yield. Good luck with the waitlist. It is probably worth working on a strategy, and/or moving on with the public school. I will say, that you may wish to tell them that your option is a public school. You will not have to dis-enroll from a private school, along with all of those tangles, in order to accept a spot off the waitlist.
@jmtabb Would it be out of the question to ask the AO at his rejected schools what that-something- was? Especially if you or hubby are alums? Or is this simply not done? I just think it would be helpful to know, especially for next year and/or colleges. Best of luck to your son.
London203, looking at safety/reach schools is an interesting idea. How would you decide which is a safety BS and which is a reach?
My DS has all A’s & 2 B+s in MS; great letters of rec; 91% SSAT; 4x Champion Athlete in one sport, 2x Champion in another sport. He applied to Mercersburg, Episcopal (Alexandria) and Georgetown Prep.
He got accepted to Georgetown Prep & Mercersburg was WL at Episcopal.
Statistically, GP is more than 2x harder to get into than EHS and Mercersburg is about equal.
Yet he did NOT get into EHS, he got WL.
So, if you are starting at the beginning and evaluating safety and reach schools, what data would you use as a measuring device when the outcome of admissions is so unpredictable?
Sometimes your “safety school” will WL you because they know you will get accepted somewhere else and likely attend if accepted so they WL you to protect yield.
@winchestermom That is the $64,000 question! I wish I knew. I think you need to use acceptance rates and SSAT scores to start with. But, the reality is there are no sure things when applying to boarding school. I am a firm believer in applying to schools outside of the 10 most well known. It seems as if you did that. Did your son just apply to 3 schools?
There are many variables to this process. It is made more complicated by the fact that schools are crafting a complete class vs. accepting everyone’s with similar stats. There are way more applicants than spaces available for most schools – all of this adds up to situations that are hard to predict with 100% certainty. And yield is a factor.
Mercersburg and GP are fantastic schools. I hope one works for your son.
I’ve always thought of the safety school as just staying home and attending your local public.
Hi Gryffin & London,
I had never considered a school trying to protect their yield. Huh. I’m new to all this and find the entire industry fascinating.
Yes, we only applied to 3 schools.
Mercersburg and GP are fantastic schools. How familiar are you with GP? (I have questions).
I called EHS and told the AD we wanted to stay on the WL. I do know people do get off their WL but I have no idea how likely it is for my son. Have you ever heard of anyone coming off the WL at EHS; if so what was the situation?
Throwing down a decidedly non-sequitur gauntlet to the CC BS forum to chime in on this thread:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-cafe/1752298-the-cc-bs-podcast-club.html?new=1
@WinchesterMom: You might want to reach out to @i70sband who is a great resource for information on Episcopal.
I just want to put in a good word for Mercersburg here. If you are concerned about the level of academic challenge, don’t be. Please let me know if I can answer any questions for you.
Does anyone have the link to the “yield protection” thread?
I am interested in this topic, but I don’t think that I have come across a thread devoted specifically to this concept recently. I did a search and came up with these:
Reliability of Admissions Data
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17665515#Comment_17665515
2014 Acceptance Rates
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17322251#Comment_17322251
The Yield Rates
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/11469619#Comment_11469619
Tufts Syndrome
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/10167564#Comment_10167564
Search for “Tufts Effect” “Tufts Syndrome” “Yield Management” or “Yield Protection” in Prep School Admissions