Just a quick note: This is pretty long, so i’m sorry. I also talk about my own application as examples so it is highly based off of my own experience.
Hi! Just to introduce myself, i’m an incoming student at Emma Willard. As the new application cycle starts soon and people start getting ready, I would like to provide some advice that I would probably give myself if I could go back in time and I think would be helpful for new applicants (especially if you are first in your family to apply to boarding school).
I also want to provide a disclaimer that this is based off of my own experience and the mistakes I personally think I made in applications, so please correct me if i’m wrong. (I don’t want to be spreading false info!)
Just for some background, I applied this cycle to only Loomis Chaffee and Emma Willard for 9th grade. That would be my first mistake. If you are set on boarding school, please, please, please, make sure that ALL the schools you apply to are schools that you would absolutely love to go to if accepted. And apply to multiple! If you know you won’t be happy at a school, don’t apply because that’s probably going to lead to a miserable few years if the place just isn’t a right fit for you. So just to boil it down, I would recommend applying to at least 2 safeties/backup plans and try to apply to some more match/reach schools if you are able to pay for the application fees, (for those who the fees present a challenge to, I am sure the school will offer waivers if you ask) there is no harm in applying to more schools. Personally, I wish I applied to some other schools, although now I realize that Emma is everything I’ve been looking for.
Also, for those financial aid applicants, I get you. Try to research some schools that offer generous aid and apply!
Additionally, don’t expect to get in/not get in. Obviously, I’m not saying to not be optimistic. I’m just saying that there’s no way for sure that you know you’re going to get accepted or rejected, so that shouldn’t hold you back from working hard on your applications. I don’t want to discourage anyone, but I also just want to say that I had several national awards, an international award, good essays, lots of leadership, and I still got rejected from Loomis. On the other hand, one of my best friends who does a couple of clubs/activities and works hard with not as many opportunities/awards but LOTS of spirit and ambition got into Choate.
A piece of advice I was given: “Don’t be stressed, don’t think about your applications all the time.”
I think only those of us who have gone through applications understand how hard this is, so I will not tell anyone to not THINK about their applications, but I will say, don’t stay up at 2AM reading other people’s amazing profiles because it ultimately won’t help you. Don’t miss out on fun stuff and stay at home all the time working on applications. Obviously, work hard on your applications but I think what i’m trying to say is “work hard, play hard.”
For me personally, when the process was over I realized that it wasn’t that deep. For most people anyways, if you have the ambition and spirit to apply to a bunch of BOARDING SCHOOLS as maybe a 12, 13, 14 year old, that’s already something amazing and it shows me that you’re going to succeed wherever you go to school. I also think a lot of people define success in high school as getting into a good college, (I feel like lots of people apply to boarding school because of the amazing college maltricurations) and I think that is true. However, I also think that success in high school is about being HAPPY, and being able to learn and grow with people you love. It’s about finding the right place for YOU, and even if it may not be the right place for others or the most prestigious school, if you feel happy and challenged there, then that’s AMAZING. Go to that school.
Okay, that was mostly all mental and school-choosing stuff, but here’s the actual application advice part.
Here is my ranking of the most important things in an application. I also want to stress that boarding school applications are not like college applications. AOs take a longer time to get to know you whereas in college admissions they only have very short limited amount of time.
- Interview
- Essays
- Recs / Grades
- Awards / ECs
- SSAT or other standardized tests
Please understand that I know ALL of these are important. However, personally for me, this is the order I think was most impactful towards my applications.
I really think I got into Emma because they liked everything; the interview, the essays, the recs, my awards. A quick trip down memory lane: I was thinking about applying to Emma. I missed the interview sign ups (which was required) after I had finished my essays, recs and awards. I thought without an interview, it would be an automatic reject. However, they reached out to me asking for an interview a couple of times saying that they liked the other parts of my profile, and I think the interview was what really secured my spot. My interviewer quite literally said she thinks I matched the schools mission and really understood and embodied it. I was also very proud of this interview, as I thought I was very genuine and real.
On the other hand, looking back at my Loomis interview, I thought it was okay in the moment. Now I realize it was quite awkward, and I didn’t talk about the stuff I really loved, in depth. I quite literally just said that I liked language arts, history, debate, piano/violin, etc. For those new applicants, PLEASE try to be interesting. In a genuine way, of course. (By the way the Loomis interview was completely my fault, because the interviewer was insanely nice and he was listening and responded to me by painting me in the best way possible and gave lots of compliments.)
To sum up interviews, they are extremely important. Before your interview, your AO probably only knows you through a screen and written words. How do they know your essay is genuine? Teacher recs could possibly be biased. What if you’re really mean? (I’m sure no one is really mean but just an example.) Interviews can show an AO that you’re funny, passionate, and perfect for their community and make them like you better and advocate for you when making decisions.
Okay, moving on from interviews. Essays are probably the most time consuming, but for those who aren’t that good 1 on 1, it’s one of the best ways of showing who you are. Again, be genuine, don’t be basic, and make sure your essays match the full image you are trying to show your AO. Make sure it matches up with your teacher recs, ECs, and awards. Tell the AO why you are unique and how that will contribute greatly to their school in a way no one else can. Tell them why you want to go there beyond prestige. But most importantly, don’t be fake/overly dramatic. Please do not go in saying something like “In the crucible of that pivotal moment, where the very fabric of my perceived limitations threatened to unravel, a profound recalibration of my existential framework occurred, necessitating a radical re-evaluation of my previously held deterministic paradigms.” You get what I mean. Make it readable, and in your voice. Tell your story. If it’s a sad story of a challenge you faced, okay. Focus on what you learned instead of complaining about how hard something was (although you should of course explain what the challenge was).
For recs/grades, just try to stay on top of your work and make sure you’re focusing in class and just try to form a relationship with your teachers. The best way to do this is to be engaged in their classes, ask for help, or even stay after school to work with them on something. I also want to note that a single B will not be the reason someone would be rejected from a school.
Awards and ECs are a bit more difficult because everyone’s amount of opportunities are so diverse. There are those with an insane amount of opportunities and those with very few. I would recommend taking every opportunity possible within 1-4 ECs. Ideally, you would move up in leadership and experience. For example, debate. (In my case, I started the summer before 6th grade and did a couple of tournaments, made states/did my first highschool tournament/made finals in a state championship in 7th, won states in 8th/won a couple national and international tournaments/participated at places like Yale and Harvard.) I am not saying this to brag and I want to recognize again, that students with a lot of awards like me are rejected from prestigious schools while those with no awards get in because they were able to show they wanted it more. I am giving examples from my experience to be more specific.
So my point is just try to build your way up through ECs. Please also have one or more EC that is leadership orientated. For me, one of my leadership ECs was student council, which I also worked my way up (3rd and 4th as member, 5th and 6th grade as rep, 7th as senator, 8th as prez).
However, as I earlier stated, not everyone has the same opportunities. For those who don’t have many, do what you can. Also, it would likely be helpful if you mentioned somewhere on your application or in your interview that one of the reasons you want to go to (insert the name of the schools you are applying to) is because you don’t have as many opportunities.
I have also had friends who applied to boarding school without many ECs about a year prior to their application. This meant less time to work their way up/have bigger impacts. If you also don’t have many ECs, that’s ok, do what you can and show that you have passion for what you do.
Awards are a little different. At this age, AOs are looking for both potential and demonstrated success, so a student who has shown leadership and involvement through their interviews, essays, etc. and no prestigious awards (potential) is not going to be that far behind a student who has national awards. (demonstrated success) That being said, this does not mean that awards are not important. You should try to enter stuff. For example, if you’re an avid writer and you talk about that a lot in your application, try to enter a writing competition. This will show that you are actually serious.
Okay, so next, standardized tests. I personally took the SSAT, although I know there is the ISEE, so I can only speak on the SSAT. I know someone is probably going to get mad at me for saying this, but getting a good percentile on the SSAT is not as hard as you might think. Preparation is key. If you study, study in a good way, and study early (Early does not mean 2 weeks before your test. It means AT LEAST 2 months). Surprisingly enough, the people I know who have gotten 99th percentiles are not in any way geniuses or Young Sheldons. They are regular people (some even have B’s in some classes) who studied beforehand. To use as a more specific example, my friend got a 99th percentile and I asked him how he did it. He told me he started studying in 7th grade.
Although to be honest, you are probably fine with any SSAT score above the 70th percentile for the top prep schools. They don’t need you to be geniuses. They just need to make sure you are academically qualified. I had a friend get into Choate with a 73rd percentile. Many top schools themselves even say that above a 70th percentile is good.
Personally, I did not study (which I deeply regret), and I got a 79th percentile on the SSAT (probably because I bombed the math section), which I did not submit to either school I applied to.
Now for supplemental materials/other stuff; if you’re a really good athlete (by really good I mean travel team, state ranked, typically if you spend 2 or more hours a day on your sport and 5 or more days a week.) submit a video. If you’re a really good musician, submit a video. If you’re really good at anything, really, just submit a video. It cannot hurt you.
Okay, as I now I think that’s it for the main advice, so this is just some more advice for specific groups of people.
For those who are applying to financial aid, do your research! Some schools will only grant aid, others will give merit scholarships as well. Some schools say that they do not take financial aid in account but they do, others stay true to their word. There are also some schools that really wish they could take everyone, but aid is limited. Some schools have limited aid while others are generous.
Athletes and really good musicians/people who are good at what they do: EMAIL THE COACHES/CONDUCTERS. Please. This can literally get you recommended to the admissions office/recruited if they really want you. (Mostly for athletes but worth a shot for those who are really good at things like their instrument, robotics, debate, you get it.)
LAST THING.
When you apply to a school, consider everything. Size, population, programs, etc. Make sure it is somehow mutually beneficial. Make sure it’s the right fit for you. Again, this isn’t about prestige (unless of course Hotchkiss + other schools are good fits for you). I was so in my own head about getting into Loomis that I didn’t even realize when I got rejected that Emma was a much better fit for me and I probably wouldn’t be happy at Loomis. (BY THE WAY I know people who are literally FLOURISHING at Loomis, so again, which school is the right fit is very dependent on you.) For me, I truly believe in the Emma school mission and the people are so truly genuine, kind, not snobby at all (which I think is pretty rare in boarding schools), and they are able to be the real versions of themselves. This along with the small population/close bonds is perfect for me.
Here’s a list of schools i’m familiar or somewhat with (meaning I have gone there for specific reasons/competitions and have friends from) so if anyone has any questions about them feel free to ask and I can help you figure stuff out.
Emma Willard School
Miss Porter’s School
Avon Old Farms
Choate Rosemary Hall
Loomis Chaffee
Suffield Academy
Ethel Walker School
For anyone who is reading this I wrote this quite quickly so please don’t hate me for the horrible punctuation and choice of words. I hope that this was somewhat helpful though. Please tell me if anything is confusing, and for those who are more familiar with boarding schools let me know if I made a mistake.
Good luck!