I got into Concord Academy. It’s not one of my top choices– I didn’t really like how the boarding and day students are 50-50. I also was intimidated by how smart the school is, and I consider myself an average person.
However, the schools i really wanted to get into all waitlisted me. St. Paul’s, Loomis, Milton, etc.
The official date I have to make my decision is before the date when the people who get accepted from the waitlist are announced. I honestly don’t want to go to high school in this town. If i say yes to concord, i have to go. However, I really want to go to Loomis or St. Paul’s. My interviews with both schools went fantastic, so someone suggested to me to email my interviewers and tell them that i really liked their school. What to do??
@tacoluvz Sadly, there is no guarantee right now that any school will take someone off the waitlist. It is common for schools to take zero kids off a waitlist and there is no one date when kids are taken off a list. Most CCers will tell you to love the school that loves you. The best thing to do right now is likely to go to the revisit day at Concord and see how you feel once you spend the day there. If you are feeling more confident about Concord after your revisit, your parents can pay the deposit. If you are offered a space at another school later on, you can still accept it, but your parents will likely lose their deposit. But if you don’t pay the deposit at Concord, you may not have any option other than your public school come September. I understand it’s disappointing but there are lots of kids today in the same boat. There are also a lot of advantages to being a day student that may not be obvious to you right now if that is a concern, and most boarding schools expect day students to do all the same activities that boarders do including sleeping in the dorms on occasion.
You should absolutely also email your interviewers at the other schools and let them know why you would still like to attend, but it is probably better to wait a week or two to do this as the AOs are very preoccupied right now. Right now, just make sure you notify them you want to remain on their waitlists
If you feel that way about Concord, just try St. Paul’s!
I believe that if money is not an issue for you, you can commit to Concord, but if offered a place at another school later, you could forfeit your deposit at Concord and make the switch.
It is very important to carefully read the contract before signing.
Just my opinion, but Concord is a great school and commuter students bond with boarders, bring them home for weekends, etc. When my D was applying to BS, Concord was the one school where we made an exception for our “predominately boarding” requirement.
Concord Academy is a great school. They wouldn’t have accepted you if they didn’t feel you were capable of doing the work.
If you really don’t want to go to your local school, I would immediately let the waitlisted schools you like better than Concord that you wish to stay on the waitlist. In addition to responding to the waitlist in the manner they ask for, send an email to the person who interviewed you and cc: the Admissions director letting each school know you wish to attend and why, and update with any new achievements you may have since you submitted your application. Then accept Concord’s spot prior to their deadline. If you get pulled off the waitlist at another school (slim chance because it is for everyone), then you can change to that school. You will, however, lose a deposit at Concord.
Hopefully, you can go to Concord on revisit day and get a better feel for and appreciation of the school.
I have four kids who have been or are in boarding schools (Hotchkiss, Groton, Concord). They have all had phenomenal experiences at the schools they attended, but even in the amazing world that is boarding school, Concord has turned out to be special in ways we never could have predicted.
We were struck by how different Concord is from many of its peer schools when we attended revisit day. My son was choosing between two schools (the other school often ranked higher than Concord). The two student panels could not have been more different. The students were super smart at both schools but the students at Concord were more thoughtful both in terms of ideas and of each other. They deferred to each other and worked together as they answered questions rather than each trying to have their moment in the sun. They also focused more on ideas while the students at the other school focused more on how their experience was preparing them for college. It was our first introduction to the ways in which Concord students are less competitive with each other than students at many of the other boarding schools.
Like you, we were concerned about the boarding issue but my son’s boarding life is probably even richer than the boarding experiences of my other children. This is partly because the dorms are smaller and therefore very personal. The non-hierarchical relationship between students and teachers that is so important at Concord (where students all call their teachers by their first names) also contributes to the warm atmosphere. As you know, the dorms are on Main Street, so my son and his friends can just walk out the door and head to a café to study or just hang out, something that is far more difficult and therefore almost never happens at more isolated schools. And yet there are lots of hiking trails close by, so Concord students don’t miss out on one of the main perks of attending a more isolated school.
Like you, we were also under the impression that there was a boarding/non-boarding split. Actually the split is three ways–the local day students, the boarding students and the train students, who come from all over the Boston area. Having three groups prevents the sort of day student/boarding divide that often exists at other schools. Having day students from all over the Boston area rather than just from the local community means that the day students are an incredibly diverse group. And while initially we were not at all fans of the idea of closing the dorms during the day, this too has turned out to be a great policy. It apparently first happened by accident. Concord had to close the dorms several years ago during the day and discovered that the students became much closer during the period. They decided to continue the policy, a testament to how incredibly hard Concord works to forge community.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the athletic program. I watched a game in which my son made a mistake. No one on the team yelled at him or got mad at him, something I’ve seen at many an athletic event over the years. Instead his team mates kiddingly chided him. It was funny and sweet and yet it had the same effect. He won’t make that mistake again. This is typical of Concord where positive reenforcement seems to be the preferred approach in the dorm, in the classroom and apparently on the athletic field.
You should not worry at all about succeeding academically. Concord is incredibly supportive. All of the schools, of course, provide support. But there is often a bit of a stigma associated with support at other schools. At Concord it is woven into the close faculty student relationships. Concord even requires that all new students make an appointment with student services so support becomes something that is normal.
Good luck with your decision.
@calrenoma thank you so much for your response! As i’m looking into CA, I’m beginning to like it more and more. thanks!
@calrenoma also, how does commuting between CA and home, work? I live across the country (Cali), so would I take the plane by myself to California every time there’s a break? Or do my parents come to CA and fly back with me?
@tacoluvz – at 14 you can fly by yourself. Find out from your school how to get transportation from the airport to you r school. You may have to take a taxi.
By 2018 you will be a pro at it.
I do get not digging the boarding-day ratio (one reason why my younger kid transferred BS after two years)…but you knew that before you applied, right?