<p>Interesting post - lots of great information to ponder.</p>
<p>But test scores and grades alone never tell the whole story, which is why I think the schools ask for so many “non-academic” things in their applications: personal essays, recommendations from teachers and other adults, parent statements, lists of community service and interests/activities outside of academics.</p>
<p>I am in no way an expert - I did not attend BS, so I don’t have any first-hand experience - but I believe that high test scores and high IQ alone don’t guarantee success at boarding school, or even in life for that matter. Is it an academic advantage to have an “off-the-charts” IQ, or a photographic memory, or an uncanny ability to require zero drill/repetition to learn new material? Absolutely! But do you need that level of ability to be successful in a challenging academic environment? Absolutely not!</p>
<p>A book that really challenged my thinking about intelligence was Howard Gardner’s “Multiple Intelligences” (which was revised and updated about 5 years ago). My guess is that AOs are looking for a mixture of “intelligences” in their classes, and ideally, a group of students that each possess a range of “intelligences” - in effect, a rich, complex, multi-dimensional mixture of individuals.</p>
<p>But I do think some “minimum” level of academic aptitude is required to be successful. Students need to have a life outside of studying, and if the only way you can pass your classes is to study 12 hours a day, that’s not much of a life at all! (And how do you define “successful” at BS? If you graduate with a “C” average, is that OK? Or is “successful” being in the the top 10% of your class?)</p>
<p>I believe (once again - just my personal opinion) that even if 100 Davidson Young Scholars (99.9 percentile) all applied to the same HADES school, only a small portion of them would be accepted if the ONLY thing they had to offer the school was demonstrated high IQ/test scores.</p>