<p>The frenzy of this year's admissions cycle has passed. Now we are in "Low Season", those months before early autumn when the whole circus revs up again. What advice can you share to help new applicants and parents plan and prepare during the spring and summer? </p>
<p>Have you thought about getting a head start on the essays and applications? Although you won’t be able to get the actual forms until the fall, you might want to start writing up your essays now.</p>
<p>Also plan out dates for school visits/interviews in the fall. The best dates tend to fill up quickly.</p>
<p>What are you going to do this summer that will make a good conversation starter for interviews?</p>
<p>Here’s my list:- </p>
<p>Get organized - develop a filing and record keeping system for each school you are investigating. As time goes on, it is very easy to lose track of where you are with each school - when did you contact them, who did you speak with and what happened? Every application has several steps and many have different procedures from one another.</p>
<p>Measure your needs - make lists of what you are looking for in a school - academics, culture, location, athletics, ECs, etc. This will help you sort through the many possibilities and create a short list of real contenders.</p>
<p>Get acquainted - spend time on the websites of the schools that interest you. Find the Student Guide or rule book, whatever the school calls it - and read it. Try to learn as much as you can about the true culture of each school, don’t rely on hearsay or rumor. Locate students and parents on these boards and PM them with specific questions. If there are school events in your area, go to these and ask more questions. If you can visit schools, do that if you have the time - there is no rule that says you should only visit when you schedule an interview.</p>
<p>Measure yourself - If you have never taken the SSAT, take a trial run in this season. Buy an official SSAT guide or one from the major test organizations. Take the test under simulated test conditions - a quiet, uninterrupted desk environment. No phone, no study aids. Time the sessions and breaks exactly as the SSAT does. Score the test or have it scored for you to get a sense of how you might do in the real test. Are your scores good enough for the schools that interest you? If not, start working on your weaker areas - use vocab flash cards, and/or ixl.com for math prep and/or consider tutoring. </p>
<p>Prep yourself - Make a file that will become the core of your application - who are you and what are you bringing to each school? Write down your personal history, your skills, your passions, your goals. Gather your evidence of your EC successes, your community service, your athletic stats, etc. Start a list of potential recommenders.</p>
<p>Use this time well - try to do everything now that you can do now. In the fall you will be facing a lot of application work just when you are also beginning a new academic year, with new teachers and new courses.</p>
<p>At the moment, there’s nothing much you need to do, I don’t think. Just get a list of schools you’ll apply to and focus on narrowing down that list to the ones you’ll actually apply to, and maybe visit.</p>
<p>Read. Read lots. Read books. Read fiction & non-fiction. Read newspapers & magazines. Read the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, National Geographic-- these are the best written periodicals for absorbing vocab & reading comprehension skills. These skills are best acquired slowly and by avid reading, rather than by cram memorization of vocab lists. </p>
<p>Agree with GMT. But 10-20 minutes of SSAT prep with a couple prep books a few times a week is a pretty relaxed way to get used it its rather peculiar methods. </p>
<p>Don’t do essays ahead though–chances are the prompts will change.</p>
<p>I would say people should take an SSAT practice test and then based off of their score, figure out which schools to apply, and which ones are worth applying to. If you get in the 82nd percentile and don’t see much room for improvement, you might not want to apply to Andover or Exeter (who have avg. SSAT scores at the 94th), but maybe Taft or Blair, or Peddie (who have avg. SSATs in the mid 80s). All five schools mentioned are all great schools, but you want to insure some sort of success come March of 2015. </p>
<p>I remember the first time I applied to schools in the 8th grade, I only applied to schools with the avg. SSAT being like at the bare minimum an 85% (and I had like a 76), which explains why I got all rejections that year. </p>
<p>So idk just narrow down your options, and think realistically.</p>
<p>Then again don’t be afraid to apply to maybe two or three “reach” schools because you never know what amazing results can come your way! </p>
<p>Also of course don’t think that you can’t improve your SSAT score (or that it means everything for that matter, because it so doesn’t), just make sure that you have a variety of schools with different standards so you can have some safety schools, as well as some schools. :)</p>
<p>@boardingjunkie, I disagree. I honestly don’t think that the SSAT holds much weight because I think the look at the score out of 2400 as well. You could be in the 82nd percentile but still have a 2240/2400, which is a high score.</p>
<p>@needtoboard I actually just realized that haha. I got a 2208/2400 and was at the 86th.
I’m so dumb wowwwwwww yeah guys don’t take advice from me but I guess look at how well you as an individual you did and then judge based off of that. Also remember that you have grades, interviews (which in my opinion are very important), essays (also very important), and ECs and awards and stuff.
Also try to read your score better then I did when you get it back. ;)</p>
<p>@sgopal2: You mentioned the “best spots for visits and interviews”. In your opinion, what are the “best times?”
Anyone can pitch in on this!</p>
<p>I like mornings, especially if you are traveled between states. I had a ten o’clock visit at Loomis, finished by 11:30, had lunch, then drove to Concord, NH to SPS and got to the hotel at about 5:30-5:45.</p>
<p>I agree with that. You can also set it up for one of the first and one of the last slots of the day at two nearby schools to shorten your trip. However, a main component is whether you will be jetlagged, exhausted, or just not a morning person; you might want to select a time that works for you and your schedule. Ideally, you’d also start making connections with the school now by meeting with a coach or teacher if possible, walking around a bit, and simply ensuring you have a fair amount of a time to tour and interview. </p>
<p>Keep everything in perspective. Don’t be too proud. Always be open to constructive criticism. Read up on the things you’re interested in. Prepare for the SSATs (buy the books; there are also websites online with practice questions). Be confident at the interview, and be modest. Start your applications at least a week before it’s due.</p>
<p>@mathman1201 wrote:</p>
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<p>When my son applied, I planned everything based on geography and timing. For example Deerfield and Andover were scheduled on back-to-back days. In some cases I was able to book two interviews on the same day (Hotchkiss and Taft) for example.</p>
<p>My son’s school counted these absences as “unexcused”. So to avoid having him miss too many days, I scheduled several of these interviews during days on which his school was closed, but that the BS was open: staff inservice days, teacher convention, etc. </p>
<p>So bottom line: start planning out your fall now. Get your current school calendar and compare the open dates for interview slots at the schools you are interested. Pin them all on a map and see which you can schedule on back-to-back days. As soon as the BS admissions offices open up in September, call and book! The best days are filled up quickly.</p>
<p>I often took advantage of professional development half days or Friday afternoons.</p>
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<p>That’s cutting it really close, isn’t it? I’d say a month. I had 2 weeks last year for 1 school and it killed me.</p>
<p>I started mid-November. Last year, though, like @mrnephew, I only had two weeks. </p>
<p>Unlike @mrnephew, however, I didn’t think it was too hard. I’m still alive. :)</p>
<p>I didn’t have very long either. I wrote one essay at a time, beginning with ones I knew I could do relatively quickly or that were due first. I’d write in chunks, getting it done in a few days, and then check it multiple, multiple times in an evening or over the weekend. It was mostly the few weeks leading up to the deadline, though; I’d give yourself more than a week.</p>
<p>Especially if you have ONE essay to do, that will drive you insane. Then you keep coming back to it, is it perfect? Is it okay? Do I have any errors? Self doubt and madness.</p>