Hello,
I would really love it if you could honestly tell me if I have a shot at getting into Loomis Chaffee. I am sorry this is so long.
I am an 8th grade girl at a private day school in MA. I love my school, but they do not offer any advanced or honors courses due to its size (less than 100 students). I would be applying for either 10th grade at Loomis or 9th grade (which would be repeating a year). The reason why I might repeat 9th grade is so I can fully develop my writing style before college.
I really want to go to Loomis because of the community and the level of the academics.
Last semester I took:
Intro to physical sciences: 91
English 8: 92
Algebra 1: 94
Health: 96
Art: 96
French 1: 97
Civics: 98
This semester I am taking all the same courses except health, which was replaced by intro to Latin.
I love music (singing) and I have been in the school chorus for four years. I am currently learning how to play guitar (I started a few months ago) and I absolutely love my advanced ceramics class. Have played soccer this fall, Basketball the past two winters and Ultimate Frisbee the past two springs as well. Although my school does community service day and two community meals, I want to do more community service than that. I help out in the kitchen at school, making the meals.
I am truly passionate about languages and math.
I am a citizen in America and Germany.
I would also need a lot of FA.
I have not taken the SSAT yet, but I will. I have practice books at home, and it seems to be going well.
I know it’s hard to judge because I haven’t taken the SSAT yet.
I think that this would be the only school I’d apply to since it is the only school I’d be willing to leave my current school for.
Thank you!
being financial aid, you are in a tougher pool. Just an FYI. If you don’t care staying at your current school then only apply there. But if you are really interested in boarding school, I highly suggest casting an extremely wide net.
Thank you! What do you think I could do to improve my chances of getting in (higher grades, more ECs, etc…)
I wish I knew the special sauce! SwimKid was waitlisted at Loomis this year. We too needed a lot of aid, but also applies to 11 schools. Loomis wasn’t a top choice and I think they knew that. I would defineitly tell them that you are their only choice and if accepted (with enough aid) you will be a 100% commit. Show passion for the school in your interview, study hard for SSAT this summer, and nail the essays. But nothing is ever certain.
It’ll be hard given that you don’t have any honors classes, but you can explain that to them in your application and interview. That’s what I would see as your only weakness at getting into Loomis. Best of luck!
Casting a wide net means applying to more schools. Would you consider others?
You don’t necessisarily need to take advanced or honors courses to be accepted to a good boarding school like Loomis. Sure, it helps but you don’t really need to explain yourself unless they ask. I was accepted to Loomis while taking no advanced or honors courses. @LearningandStudying
No it won’t; the girl is in 8th grade, and the school, as she said, does not offer honors courses. Quite frankly, I look askance at any smaller MS the offers honors courses, but I digress. Neither Loomis, nor any other BS, will reject an applicant solely based upon the curriculum offerings at the current school.
That’s good to know! Thank you so much for you responses!
In response to GMC2918 I would say that I would definitely consider applying to other schools. My only concern is that my parents wouldn’t allow me to go because they wouldn’t want me to be too academically stressed. I figure that Loomis is not quite as academically competitive as Andover, Exeter, Deerfield and Choate while it still offers an excellent education.
Thanks again!
I can see where you’re coming from. Good luck, you are on the right track.
In addition to your comment above, I’d say you should check out: Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), Berkshire, MX (may be too academically stressful?), St. Georges or Brooks?
Thank you lusitari for the list of school. It was very considerate of you to point out those schools! In fact, I live relatively close to NMH so I’ll be sure to check it out!
Thank you so much to everyone who has responded! All the responses so far have been really helpful in the BS search process!
I think so. It’s basically academically equivalent to Exeter and Andover but seems to have a more nurturing feel. My impression comes from my revisits, although I didn’t end up choosing MX. @CaliMex
I’m a current student at Berkshire School, which was mentioned above, so if you have any questions pm me and I would be happy to answer. Good luck 
You have a good chance in my opinion,Though I’m pretty sure that algebra is advanced math,at my school it is at least.
I don’t have any advice, I’m going to be applying this fall so I’m still new to this stuff so yeah.