<p>Do we do the interview or the SSAt first?</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter. You can do either one first. You also don’t have to apply even if you have interviewed.</p>
<p>When is the best time to schedule an interveiw for around the month of December and do you already get the tour with it?</p>
<p>Yea you get a tour followed by an interview most of the time.</p>
<p>It would be best to schedule your tour and interview the first week of December, if you must visit in December. Most boarding schools close after the second week of December, so during the second week of December some students will be busy studying for tests and preparing papers. You can still visit then, but students may be busy. </p>
<p>A fun time to visit is during the week leading up to Veterans Day. This is almost always spirit week culminating in a football game against the rival school Saturday night. I think it will be Sat. November 14th this year. Of course, if you schedule your visit for this date and the rival school is hosting the event, the campus will be deserted.</p>
<p>my interviews were in the fall, usually september or november. it was nice to see the beautiful campuses in the fall foliage, plus it wasn’t freezing cold and our tours were pleasant. I enjoyed myself!</p>
<p>basically plan an interview, register for the ssats and you’re great! :)</p>
<p>Can you interview in the spring of 7th grade?</p>
<p>Are we at a disadvantage if we don’t visit the school? I mean if afraidtoapply is a poor income guy and his family never goes out of state but he really wants to attend, say, Andover?</p>
<p>You should check the school’s website for their travel schedules and open houses. Many times the admission officers are in your area and you can arrange for an interview with them at that time.</p>
<p>What does that mean, kali3000. Because I am hhaving an idea to apply too.</p>
<p>First, Research on line to see if the schools are right for you.</p>
<p>Request liturature - this will put you on their radar.</p>
<p>Go to an open house; dates will be listed on the website.</p>
<p>Check to see if admissions officers are coming to your area, or if alumni groups are meeting. Talking to alumni can give you a great head start, with both information and with holding a prep-schoolesque conversation.</p>
<p>Then, armed with you knowledge of the school from all the above, schedule a fall interview and tour; foliage season is lovely. You should be able, from your research, to speak with confidence about why boarding school and that school in particular is a good fit for you. Be able to speak about some interest or some passion. Be able to describe your best accomplishment and your greatest embarrassments. Be able to say what periodicals you read, and what book you have read lately. Generally, be able to speak. T-shirt clad, baseball-cap-backward teens who grunt and don’t make eye contact are at a serious disadvantage. Schedule side interviews with departments of interest (coaches, arts teachers, science, English) I would suggest practicing interviews, but I’ve heard the disparagement term “coached” attached to some applicants. Its not a complement and the adcoms can tell in an instant. Just be confident and articulate and look then in the eye.</p>
<p>Take the SSATs as late as possible, so that you are the most prepared. You can take it multiple times. Check out the website for dates. </p>
<p>To cdgni: Interviews in 7th grade are unlikely and may not be in your best interest because you will be competing with students one and two years older then you. However, you can attend an open house or informally tour the campus. Sending for view books two years in a row is a good thing. Visiting to learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk is a good thing, and giving yourself a full year to grow to be a prep school kid is great; listen to how people speak and look at each other, and move and dress. But save the formal interview and application until you are as old and as prepared as possible. That said, if 7th is absolutely and positively the only time that you will be in the US, then go for it.</p>
<p>To Belly, the low income kid with parents who do not go out of state:</p>
<p>Boarding schools love well prepared, smart, low income kids. Lots of people don’t interview on campus; check the schools websites to see when adcom reps will be in your areas, or track down alumni. You have to reach out to overcome the lack of on-campus exposure. </p>
<p>But first of all, you will need your parents support. Are they open to your applying and going out of state? If they are not going to get on board, you are wasting your and everyone’s time. I’ve know three kids who applied without parental permission, hoping that acceptance would encourage parental approval. The admissions people spotted it immediately and the kids received ‘no’ across the board. Boarding schools are not looking for trouble with parents or rebellious kids, because they don’t want that rebellion to be their problem for four years.</p>
<p>Prep schools are very competitive. You need SSAT scores in the 90s, a transcript that is rigorous and shows spark or passion, and a compelling reason or “hook” for admission. If you come from a mediocre school system, you will have to supplement lots on the side. In your campus life, you will be in classes with very well prepared students and will need to keep up. </p>
<p>Apply to several schools that will “fit” at a variety of competitive levels. Don’t set your heart on one favorite school; that will break your heart. Instead apply to 4 to 6 schools that would make you happy - they are all very very good - and rejoice when accepted somewhere.</p>
<p>Hi,
on Milton school’s website, for example, it specifies that visiting school is essential. My parents agreed for me to go to another state, yet they don’t know English. How should this prevent me from getting accepted?
And although I come from a mediocre school, I think I deserve to be in the most competitive public school in my city. My GT coordinator offered to apply for me last semester, yet the teacher weaseled out, tricked me and never applied. And when I realized it was too late, she denied it and I missed the deadline. The school told me my application cannot be proccessed. But from the GT matrix I saw online on that school system, I’m qualified for that school.</p>
<p>I have never taken the SSAT before. Is it going to be very hard?</p>