@preppedparent oh wow, that is an astonishing news for me. I thought you have to be the top 9. My world view is changed now, guys.
@GrotonKid123 did you get in Groton?
Building upon what @preppedparent said: you are making an assumption which is incorrect on many levels.
• Believe it or not, Harvard is not everyone’s dream school; there is no evidence that the top 9 students all applied to Harvard. Some might have preferred an LAC for example.
• Harvard (and its peers) do not do acceptances in rank order. Someone ranked 30 may have been accepted, while someone ranked 10 was rejected. There is more to the application packet than just GPA and rank.
@skieurope Too bad your statement can’t be the default screen on CC. I would just tweak it slightly:
Harvard (and its peers) do not do acceptances in rank order. Someone ranked 30 may have been accepted, while someone ranked 10 was rejected. ** In selective US college admissions, there is more to the application packet than just GPA, test scores and rank. **
@suzyQ7 I was just tweaking my comment to the OP’s question (and with only one cup of coffee at 8 a.m. 
), but you are quite right.
You have to be one of the top 9 athletes, maybe…
Nope. Not even then, at least for an Ivy League college. You would have to be one of the top 9 athletes that also passes the admissions prescreen, which will not happen before the summer between junior and senior years. @OHMomof2
@Golfgr8 depends what school. WDMV, sure, Dowling, sure. I know a kid from WDMV who’s at Harvard right now. But the issue is that if you live in the middle of nowhere (me) boarding school or moving is necessary to be competitive for top colleges. I’m not saying Exeter/Andover/acronym schools are necessary for this; after all, if good public schools can do the job, there’s no need for a top 10 school. Still, for many students, almost any boarding school, including Exeter, would be better for college admissions.
@TPAJ03 could not disagree more. You are competing with a highly concentrated pool: highly qualified URMs. highly qualified legacies, highly qualified students in general. Top prep schools USED to be feeder schools. They are no longer and the schools are saying it flat out themselves. Motivated students from subpar schools are getting into Ivies at astonishing rates. (social engineering-not judging it, but it is what it is)
@center I think we probably have different definition of subpar schools. And the school is only part of the equation. In my community (or lack thereof) and schools, its impossible to set yourself apart because there’s nothing to set yourself apart in. We have sports teams, but that’s about it. There’s only so much one can do living outside of a town of 3,000 people with no neighbors within a few miles, and about 70 kids in the graduation class. What I can do, grades, test scores and summer camps, are not enough to set myself apart from the competition. I think my results this year attest to that; 5 waitlists are the schools way of telling me “You’re good, but nothing special”. And it’s true; schools could fill their classes 5 times over with kids with strong test scores and grades. In a school with only 1 academic activity (which I participate in) I am in no position to get into an ivy. I’m not saying that I could guarantee myself an ivy spot at boarding school. No one can. But it certainly would be easier.
Nonsense. You are living in an age that parents of my vintage couldn’t have even imagined 30 years ago. The internet opens up opportunities to anyone never before available in the history of civilization. What are your academic interests? For instance, I know kids who have completed the entire high school math sequence by end of 8th grade (including AP Calc), and are working through MIT opencourseware for the undergrad sequence. Kids who have gotten 1500+ on the SAT and 36 on the ACT in 7th grade. There are numerous opportunities to submit essays, start a blog, write a novel - the sky is the limit! There are summer opportunities like math camps, the TASP program, the MITES program, and about a hundred others. Get out there and make your mark.
Honestly, living in a rural area is going to make your pursuit of the Ivy League easier, not harder. Start by being number 1 in your school. And then take it from there. Don’t accept mediocrity in any effort that you make. Remember that unless you have a very strong hook to get into a HYPSM sort of school, the talent competition starts at the 99th percentile of ability. And, contrary to what many will lead you to believe, there is more variation within that top 1% than in the next 15% of ability. Believe me, it’s doable. Good luck!
@TPAJ03 there are plenty of kids just like you who got in. The elite prep schools–and colleges-want kids from schools like yours. Exeter and Andover dont just want kids from Great Neck or Darien or Boca. Maybe they saw someone who instead of availing themselves of opportunities creatively felt they were a victim of their location. Thats how I perceive you based on your comments. I assure you the top schools take plenty of kids with less than 4.0 and less than stellar scores and without a boatload of ECs–who they view as motivated.
SatchelSF is correct. My sister’s kids live in a tiny midwestern town where the biggest thing is the Dairy Queen ( actuallly, not even a real Dairy Queen because the town is too small to attract the franchise, so
it’s just a locally owned soft serve place). A trip to Walmart is a big deal because it’s almost an hour away. Her kid was at the top of her high school class, was not an athlete but was in the marching band . She graduated with her BS with no debt because of scholarships and financial aid from a very well regarded midwestern private university. For grad school, she recently fielded offers from several prestigious universities. She went with the school that sweetened their offer with an extra several thousand dollars stipend after she toured their department. Not one Ivy League or prep school in her path, but I think that when she gets her PhD in Science from Carnegie Mellon in a few years, she’ll be sitting pretty. Ivy leagues may have the name, and if that is your dream, pursue it. But don’t bemoan your small town- colleges like taking kids from remote places, as evidenced by a
college friend of mine who was heavily recruited from the upper nowhere region of North Dakota.
As I see, others have pointed out that going to a school like Exeter DOES indeed make it MUCH harder to get into the Ivies. But, to me at least, I value an education at Exeter more than going to Harvard. So if I go to Exeter and that means going to another fantastic college that just maybe is not as well known as Harvard or Yale, that’s okay with me!!!
Will A&E acceptance rates ever go up? Like would they consider building more dorms or just leave the cap at a total of 1k?
No
It’s not that simple. They would need more teachers, probably more dining space, athletic space, etc. As far as Andover, John Palfrey, the Head of School, has actually said that he would not mind seeing the size of the student body decrease.
@TPAJ03 I agree with Satchel. There are so many opportunities these days to create,learn and showcase who you are via the internet. We used to be locked into where we lived but not any more. Are you taking advantage of the benefits of living in a small rural community? Without knowing you, I would say, in a local school you will have more time to do your own thing, you will have connection to others in a way that isn’t present in many suburbs. Look around and see what could be changed or improved. Take online classes.
For my kiddo who applied to BS this year, one of our discussions was about college matriculation. I told him/her that chances would be smaller since the schools s/he was applying to were hyper competitive. Yes, you will be more prepared when you get where you are going. Yes, it will be MUCH harder to get in to an Ivy if that’s what you want. S/he’s still considering all of the factors.
For some people living in certain areas ( NE, NYC, parts of CA) there is a hyper competitive class of parents and kids who do everything to the Nth degree. They are hard to compete against. And frankly many don’t ever learn the value of cooperation and working together unless they play sports. Few can distinguish themselves as they follow similar paths. I think this must be boring for admissions.
Look I don’t think taking all the normal HS classes in 8th grade is the way to go. LOL. Even if you can. But I do think that having passion, drive and commitment is unusual. Know what you want and go for it.
Harvard is great but so are 100 other schools. You know what you need. If you think BS is the route for you, then go for it. But like anything in life, there are pros and cons to everything.