<p>For what it is worth, I think your chances of getting into SPS as an unaffiliated white applicant from "a less than desirable state" are pretty good provided you want to go for the right reasons. It is a mug's game trying to second guess admissions. The most consisten quality required for getting in to SPS is to make apparent that you and your parents love the place and the kind of education it is able to provide.</p>
<p>In that case, I shall send them a telegram in the morning making that point abundantly clear!</p>
<p>;>)</p>
<p>D'yer.... In the same telegram perhaps you can mention that you are willing to write their PR pieces, Paint the buildings, Lure innocent children as applicants... all in lieu of tuition! What are you doing up at this time in the morning... I have a good excuse as I am in China at the moment!</p>
<p>Good post!</p>
<p>haha i live in China! =P
Is it hard to get into a top b.s. from beijing china? are there lots of ppl that apply?</p>
<p>WOW!!!! I can't believe that!!!! If I didn't get into the school I wanted this year, I was thinking of applying to SPS next year!!!! I am from MA and am a white unaffiliated applicant needing fa! Although, I now play tennis, waterpolo, squash, dance, cheerleading, track, cross country, community service, many ec's. Great grades in school and i'm not challenged at any school i've been to.</p>
<p>(I would be applying as a 10th grader)</p>
<p>worth applying to?!</p>
<p>SPS has been taking a lower % of applicants than Andover for several years now.</p>
<p>All of the top schools are about the same. Same proportion of each "group" and same overrepresented states/countries.</p>
<p>Although it's difficult to believe, some legacies may actually be qualified. Just a thought...</p>
<p>"SPS has been taking a lower % of applicants than Andover for several years now. All of the top schools are about the same."</p>
<p>doesn't SPS take less applicants b/c they have a smaller applicant pool? i know SPS does not have an applicant pool like Andover with 2000+ applicants.</p>
<p>Of course St. Paul's' applicant pool is smaller than Andover's. SPS is half the size, but still harder to get in.</p>
<p>70% of those accepted at both SPS and Andover choose SPS.</p>
<p>interesting....</p>
<p>Legacies at St. Paul's School are probably some of the best qualified applicants regardless of their legacy status. Arizona kids may not want to leave the desert for the frigid, snowy winters of New England. St. Paul's School also is hard to get into due to the significant number of outstanding Montana students that apply for a special "Montana only" scholarship or scholarships. In my opinion, SPS is harder to get into than the statistics indicate- especially, as noted earlier, for students based in New England. There is, by the way, good reason that so many former SPS faculty and administrators are recruited to head other private schools nationwide. SPS is very concerned with the type of student admitted, as well as regarding one's ability to do the work. Obvious- but even more so than many other elite schools. Sorry for the rambling nature of this post- I am attempting to multi-task while learning to type.</p>
<p>"Although it's difficult to believe, some legacies may actually be qualified. Just a thought..."
LOL TieDye, I was thinking the same thing.... my second son is applying to the same school that his older brother attends, and he is, as, if not more, qualified! I also know of siblings that have been rejected, so I am not sure if being a legacy or sibling has as MUCH weight in determining admission as it once did.</p>
<p>I'm surprised they're able to find that kind of information ("70% of those accepted to both SPS and Andover chose SPS"). Do they do surveys of their students and then check to see where those they accepted end up attending? That seems a little weird to me.</p>
<p>By the way, I never should have brought up the whole Arizona thing. I was just thinking about it when someone mentioned underrepresented states, wishing I lived there full-time instead of half-time (for application purposes, anyway ;)).</p>
<p>All the schools do fairly lengthy post-acceptance surveys/follow-up. When a student decides not to attend they want to know, in detail, why as well as what school the child has selected and the specifics on the deciding factors.</p>
<p>Last year, in addition to the written survey, we were contacted directly by the Director of Admissions or, in one case, an assistant director of every "declined" school for a rather lengthy dialogue on the hows, whys and process of our child's decision.</p>
<p>Olderandwiser- so were we. In one case, the school hired a marketing firm to repeatedly call the house and ask to speak to our 13 year old daughter. I finally contacted the admissions director myself, asked him to stop the phone calls and look in her folder. It was the only school that had not offered any financial aid...the answer to why she was not going there was right in front of him!</p>
<p>Prettyckitty: Yes, extensive follow-up reporting is done in the prep school world, which is highly competitive. Many applications also ask applicants to list all schools to which they are applying, followed by post matriculation queries regarding acceptances and rejections.</p>
<p>We've just received a survey to fill out, from a school where we visited & my kid interviewed, but ultimately decided against completing the application.</p>