Definitely take the free online SSAT test.
Another school to consider: The Asheville School in North Carolina.
Why do you want to attend boarding school ?
What do you think boarding school life is like ?
P.S. My suggestions at this point are:
The Culver Academies in Indiana (I suspect that this may be a great match for you.)
St. Andrews School in Delaware
Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania
Indian Springs School in Alabama
NMH Northfield Mount Herman School in Massachusetts.
Also, it is common for students to start boarding school in the 10th grade even though most of the class started in the 9th grade.
Students attend boarding school for a variety of reasons. Common reasons are:
Need more challenging academics;
Commute to local private school is almost one hour each way;
Parents are working overseas;
You’ve got some great school options mentioned.
@ghostotter It’s still not clear to me what you are hoping to get at BS that you can’t get at home? (I mean I hear VB, French, etc but are those not available at home?)
SSATs — my gut says not to try to take it unless you get some evidence pretty quickly that you are headed for a nice score. Go into SSAT website and sign up for the free online sample test. If you get most of the questions right, you might decide to pursue studying for a few weeks and then taking the test. But if you get 60% of the answers wrong then it may not be worth the headache.
@ghostotter I had to race out the door hence the abrupt ending.
For your recommendations, you will likely be required to use specific teachers. Usually current math and English teachers plus another academic recommendation. But this is school dependent so not sure I would get too far down that rabbit hole until you get a reasonable list. If you get out recommendation requests by thanksgiving you should be ok.
My suggested way to advance in this project — which you can feel free to ignore:
During this upcoming week or so —
- Identist what you really want in a school, and create a nice list (10-30 ish) of schools to consider. ( if you tell us we can help but feel free to ignore our input — it’s your process).
- Take a sample SSAT and decide if you are going to take the real thing. If so, decide in a study strategy, even if it’s just buying Princeton review book on Amazon.
- Talk to your parents about your plans and determine how many schools you will apply to. (Note many have a common application but you have to pay 50-100$ per application.)
- Start reviewing your list of schools online — websites, comments here, etc.
That’s the list of actions I would suggest if you were my own child. I hope it’s helpful and not stressful. You know yourself best.
Cheering you on!
@Publisher I added those schools you listed!! I was already looking at Mercersburg, NMH, and a few others. I might talk to my parents about starting in the 10th grade since my dad had already thrown that idea out there. I think I want to attend boarding school to chase opportunities that aren’t available where I am from, and I think I would perform higher there.
Groton and George are doing a joint presentation on how do do a good virtual interview next Monday evening. You might want to sign up - it’ll give you an idea of what to expectin that part of theprocess… You can find info on IG. Georgeschool or grotonadmission.
@gardenstategal
Thanks for the info!!
@ghostotter I think applying for 10th grade is also a completely reasonable approach! Lots of folks give thought to the idea of boarding school and let it simmer for a year before diving in and applying.
To offer another perspective, I would say that if the reason behind waiting until next year is that you feel like it’s “too late” to apply for this year, I would offer that I personally do not think it is too late at all, unless YOU feel like it’s too late. I just say that because in the BS world, there are indeed families who have planned for this moment for years, and it’s easy to believe that the application process deserves a year of your life, and actually must require that of you. But my experience is that the BS application process is a little like a purse where if I have a big purse, I’ll find a way to fill it, but I can also totally make it work with a small purse. Apps can take a year and apps can take a month.
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Another school that flies under the radar: The Millbrook School. Only high school in the world with an accredited zoo as part of it. Possibly fits in with your interest in 4H.