Am I crazy for wanting to apply to top boarding schools?

Prep School Admissions
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Hi everyone, I’m currently a junior a public school which I hate and I have been thinking about applying out for a really long time. I’ve moved across the country and to multiple schools in the last few years and I didn’t have the chance to apply out this year unfortunately. I usually do well in interviews and I have many great personal reasons for wanting to leave my current school environment. I’m thinking of applying to top schools like PEA, Andover, Deerfield etc to repeat 11th grade and go on to 12th. I have no idea how possible this is but I would love to try, even though my high school career has unfortunately not been nearly as successful as many of the posters I see on here.

Grades- My 9th grade grades were great. However, my 10th grade grades were not, with mostly B’s and C’s (but I would be able to partly explain that).

Everything else-Full pay, professional photographer and videographer, varsity tennis player, pianist of over 7 years, cross country and track runner

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Your reasons for wanting to explore boarding schools are yours, but consider a couple of factors in your decision:

  1. Have you taken the SSAT yet? You might gain some insight in checking out the CC Boarding School results thread from last spring to give you an initial sketch of where you might stand.

  2. Please widen your scope on the type of school that you’re considering. There are some wonderful choices outside of GLADCHEMMS that boast very impressive college/university outcomes.

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Can’t be said enough. Schools like Exeter and Andover can and do turn down kids with straight As and almost perfect ssats. It’s a crapshoot at a certain point. Not applying to a wide range of schools makes zero sense.

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Thank you both for the responses, I appreciate it. I took the SSAT last year and did okay, and I will probably retake it again. Do you think I would have a chance at a school like Taft or Kent?

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Do you need financial aid? What percentile did your SSAT score fall in?

You haven’t given enough info for us to chance you, or for us to suggest schools for you to research.

I frequently suggest The Millbrook School, and Berkshire.

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Also! Since your applying for 11th grade if you’ve already taken the PSAT at your school that’s also an option to :>.

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hi— current junior at BS here :slight_smile: this is my first year, and i did get in with several c’s in 10th grade. what you need to do (if you’re serious about wanting to go to BS) is apply to schools that aren’t ridiculously selective. my school has about a 30% acceptance rate and despite not having a GLADCHEMMS name, my school has great college matriculation and i’ve had a great time. i genuinely could not see myself at any of the other schools i applied to, despite some of them being much more “difficult” to get into. look into hidden gems— i found my school from a hidden gems thread on this site. i hope all works out for you :smiley:

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So glad you’re happy!!!

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thank you!! it’s been a wild ride

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