so yes, look at Exeter and Andover and Choate’s percent of students of color, approximating 50%. that’s huge.
Choate’s figure of 30% is domestic students of color. I think they like to quote at or just over 50% if you include internationals.
And by the way, Pomona’s stats don’t reflect that state’s diversity. Pomona is a liberal arts college with kids from every state and internationals. To say that its diversity is so great, only to reflect the state’s population is a mis-statement. Its not a state college.
Internationals are 18% per Choate’s website. Surely, 100% of that number aren’t students of color. Even if it were, that adds up to less than 50%.
Regardless, they are finding students of color obviously. People here are reporting that their children of color are not getting accepted despite high stats. They can’t be that desperate than, can they? Sure, IMO, being URM will get you a second look but I think the amount of hook it represents often gets overstated here.
Considering California is one of the most, if not the most, diverse state in the country, I do think that is saying a lot. (2010 Census figures posted show a large difference between the USA as a whole and California) But, enough about Pomona as it has little relevance to this thread.
Yes, I think if you can identify a particular need, like bassoonist, and meet that need, it’s a way in. That’s old news. But more broadly, they need students who fit into each of the boxes I identified: geo diversity (kids from every state). Sometimes parents joke that we’re all moving to North Dakota. URM, recruited athlete, no pay, and full pay etc.
If you’re a violinist from North Dakota the year they don’t need any more violinists, being from ND might not help as much as you think.
^^^Anyone from North Dakota, violinist or not is needed, but I get your point. They all need all the time someone from every state.
For various schools I would be curious to know the percentages of FP and FA applications to compare with the percentage of admitted students from that applicant pool who are offered FA. Does anyone know or want to hazard a guess?
For Andover if you’re a kid from North Dakota or Wyoming, your chances for the most part are better than the student from Massachusetts, unless that student from Massachusetts can fit into the day school bucket that they have allotted to a certain number of students that year. My point is that diversity of all types count. This is to address the question of parents whose child from Massachusetts is applying for a boarding position with great grades and scores is passed over. They don’t get it. They assume the kid from Wyoming has better GPA and scores, when really that student was admitted because of some type of diversity that checks a box. And yes, that student from Wyoming may have comparable grades, but they may have lesser credentials, and their only advantage is that they’re from an underrepresented state.
nces.ed.gov lists the individual stats for some of the schools:
Exeter has: Asian:244 Black:118 Hispanic:95 White:604 American Indian:6
They don’t need anything, although they might want something. Pretty much every school is not going to admit an unqualified student just to say they have a student from ND. Similarly, if no oboists in this cycle are academically qualified, the musical director will have to go without for a year. While diversity/need may give an applicant a bit of an edge, the primary function of an admissions office is not to stick pins on a map or check boxes on a list.
Agree, @skieurope. Nobody in the boarding school community wants kids to go there and do poorly. It’s not good for community.
“unless that student from Massachusetts can fit into the day school bucket that they have allotted to a certain number of students that year.”
Actually, day student slots can be MORE competitive at some schools.
^^We can agree to disagree. When Choate puts out all the flags of every country represented during parents weekend, its basically an advertisement that they have a microcosm of the world.
If they only had one international flag, it would be pretty sparse. It’s an advertising statement. The same with the states.
They all love advertising how many states they have represented in their student pop. They both want and need this, and yeh, they all have a map in the parents and students waiting room and invite applicants to put a pin in the map where they’re from.
Yes, they are very much looking at this.
Choate: Asian:209, Black:75, Hispanic:58, White:435, American Indian:0 Pacific Islander:63
Hotchkiss: Asian:114, Black:59, Hispanic:21, White:347, American Indian:0, Pacific Islander:59
Groton: Asian: 70, Black:32, Hispanic:13, White:230, American Indian:0, Pacific Islander:24
So few Latinos! I wonder if it is lonely for them there…
@CaliMex - it wouldn’t have to be…lol.
@preppedparent Not sure what you mean by “credentials”. Test scores? Awards? ECs? I think they are also looking for nice kids who will THRIVE in the boarding school environment (both academically and socially) and make it a better place by giving as much or more to the community than they receive. (Hours of community service performed in order to appear socially minded in admissions is NOT the right indicator for this last bit.) “Credentials” are only a small part of the story. Some of the most “credentialed” people I know are real jerks. I wouldn’t want to live with them for four years!
The racial diversity statistics is just a joke when Asian obviously is not considered as URM but counted in the so called “students of color”.
Yes indeed, Hispanic is the winner of URM based on the stats posted above. And to be honest, I’m a little surprised at the ground black students have made up. Of course, i don’t think these stats have separated international students out? So that means students from places like Kenya and Haiti could skew the stats…
We are certainly not whites 
The reality is that all this doesn’t really matter to each individual candidate and their odds of getting in. To restate what was said before by @corrales90 but in a different context, “If the door is not open, it’s not your door.” If you aren’t a faculty child, you’re not going to get that faculty child spot. If you’re not Latino, you’re not eligible for that percentage they carve out for Latino students, if you’re not an impact football player, you’re not going to get one of he handful of spots the football coach has some pull for. If you need and qualify for FA, you’re in a different basket from the full pay basket of applicants. Barring policy changes, the stats don’t really vary much from year to year.
All you can do is play with the cards you are dealt.