So… DS thinks he may have selected the wrong BS. We will be exploring his reasons and our options in more detail over TGiving break. Can someone who has gone thru the transfer process let me know What steps we need to take to accomplish this by the deadline? Does he retake SSAT? Redo the essay? We used the SSAT common app for all our applications last year, other than getting a high school transcript, will all that other stuff carry over?
He was accepted last year to all the BS he applied to, should I be calling admissions offices? The good news is that he reallly liked all the schools, I don’t think we’d be going outside of that box. Any advice or experiences welcome!
Yikes. I dont know. I guess I would call all of the schools he was accepted at and ask. I would have a really good non negative reason for the desired move at the ready. (We tried to transfer a kid while in private day school years ago. It was impossible. It was very awkward.)
I think although they will have last year’s application record, it is a fresh application and you will have to do everything over, essays, recommendation letters and transcript. Your S may be able to reuse SSAT scores, but he may want to retake it if he could improve it.
In addition, most schools accept a lot less into 10th grade than they do into 9th so chances are lower. You should inquire each school how many new sophomores they do accept and consider if repeating 9th grade is an option.
Daughter transferred after two year at one school, now at another.
No retake of SSAT needed. I would not assume those schools where he was admitted will 1. Have that many openings, nor 2. Welcome you back with open arms…remember, you did turn them down.
The advice above about calling AOs ASAP is smart. Also, definitely take your timing making the decision…could it be that your kid maybe wasn’t ready for boarding school in general (not just that specific school)?
Totally agree with @Center about making some calls but having a very good reason that you can give as explanation. Hopefully it will be something that really sets the two schools apart from each other. For instance, ‘we thought [current school] was going to accommodate the sport he plays outside of school, but it hasn’t worked out that way’ or 'we thought vacaKid would do well in an unstructured learning environment but it turns out it would be better for him to have more supervision and structure." If it’s just ‘he’s not very happy’ or ‘he feels like he doesn’t fit in’, any other school is going to wonder why he’d be any happier at their school.
Sorry, I also meant to say that if he ends up looking at schools beyond those that he’d previously applied to, he’ll definitely need to retake the SSAT, as I think pretty much all schools require that test scores be less than a year old. Even some of the schools that he applied to previously might ask for more recent scores if they’re willing to entertain a new application from him, but I can imagine that at least some of them might say that’s not necessary.
My oldest child had a classmate who transferred in for sophomore year. In that case, the student discovered a lack of fit in the first months on the original boarding school’s campus, and had set up interviews, etc. for the break time. It really was something along the lines of, “thanks for picking me up mom, by the way I have interviews set up for tomorrow.”
Boarding schools understand about fit. Students do transfer between schools. Admissions officers are professionals. (And the vast majority of students are happy where they are.) If you can submit SSAT scores through the website still, then he may not need to retake. There is no harm in registering for an SSAT sitting, though. I would expect his grades and comments from his current boarding school to be more useful.
I would contact the admissions people who interviewed your child. You know, the people who gave you their card, who reached out after admission with congratulations, etc. Not just a random call to “admissions person.” Look through your old emails from last year for the contact information. Call them if you have their phone numbers. Send an email if you can’t contact them.
Emphasize to your son that he will need to be on his best behavior and do his best academic work. You are working on investigating a transfer.
It may well be that you will go through all this work, and he will decide to stay at his current school. Certainly starting the process gives his current school notice that he is feeling less than engaged. However, parents usually don’t go to all that effort for trivial reasons.
Many thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions. I just wanted to have some kind of idea of the process just in case. I am a planner… 99% certain he will stay where he is.