Any advice or tips as someone applying to east coast BS?

Prep School Admissions
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Hi everyone
This is my first time starting a thread, so apologies in advance for the length!(also excuse the asterisks)

I’m a 15-year-old from Dallas, Texas, and I’m applying to boarding schools on the East Coast. Right now, my top schools are:

Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH)
Emma Willard**
Loomis Chaffee
Mercersburg
Peddie

I’ve also looked into other schools like Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Choate, Kent, and Taft—but so far, the ones listed above are the ones that really stuck with me. That said, if you have suggestions based on what I share below, I’d love to hear them!

A little bit about me:

I’m African American, a first-generation immigrant, and from Texas.

  • I play field hockey and swim, and I’ve also tried rowing—though access is limited where I live.
  • I’m really into tech theatre, backstage work, and video production. I’ve worked on several middle school plays and was the lead director for a short film in my school’s video production class.
  • I also enjoy photography and the arts in general, but my main passion is behind-the-scenes production and tech theatre.

Academics:

I’d describe myself as a solid, average student—I’m not failing, but I’m not at the top of my class either.
My final semester grades were mostly B+, with high Bs and low As in English and Math.
Spanish is a bit of a struggle for me, but I plan to work on that this year to improve my grade. I’m not sure if recent grades will matter too much in the process, but I’m definitely trying to grow.

Personality & Leadership:

  • My teachers and coaches generally have positive things to say about me.
  • I’m definitely a charismatic, natural leader—I’ve been told this in almost every report card I’ve received.
  • I’m also very athletic, and I love being involved in team environments.
  • If you’re into personality types, I’m an ENTJ, which definitely matches how I like to take initiative and lead.

This is my second time applying this to boarding schools, and I would be entering as a 10th grader.

Any advice?

If you have any tips—whether it’s on schools, what to emphasize in my application, or just general advice—I would really appreciate it! I want to make sure I highlight the right things and tell my story in the most honest and vivid way possible. :blush:

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Did you apply to the same boarding schools last year ?

If not, are you willing to share to which boarding schools you did apply last year ?

While I have no direct experience with NMH other than attending athletic events there, the few graduates with whom I have spoken all liked their experience at NMH.

I have been to Mercersburg Academy & Peddie on several occasions, both are great schools; I think that you will fit in at both.

All I know about Emma Williard School is that, beside being an all female school, Scent of a Woman featuring Al Pacino was filmed there. Great movie. The campus is beautiful.

In the past, I spoke with several parents of Loomis Chaffee students; all were positive except for one couple, but I cannot recall the reason.

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How strong of a swimmer are you? And, how committed are you to swimming? Mercersburg and Peddie both have VERY competitive swim teams. My daughter is a JV-level swimmer who really enjoys the sport. She was admitted to Mercersburg and Peddie but declined both because, among other reasons, she could not be on their swim teams and would have to find a new sport.

How much do you care about location and access to airports? Mercersburg is very rural (another reason we declined to attend).

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I have a child at Mercersburg, happy to answer questions if you have specific ones about the school! They have a great theater and tech theater department. They did a wonderful production of Six this year. Although rural, it is only 90 minutes from the Baltimore and Washington airports, and the school provides transportation to and from for breaks and long weekends. Senior class had really strong college placements this year, you can check out their Instagram page, and they offer very strong academics for a wide range of learners.

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Given all your interests, take a look at George School. It has all the sports you’re interested in, a great theater program, and a very diverse and welcome community. It’s an easy flight to Philadelphia or Newark from Dallas.

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Thanks for the recommendation! I actually took a look at George School—it definitely stood out to me for its strong sense of community and the variety of sports they offer, which I really liked. That said, one of my priorities is a high boarding percentage, and I noticed theirs is a bit lower than what I’m looking for. I’m aiming for at least 70% boarding unless the school checks almost every box for me. Still, I really appreciated the welcoming feel and the balance of arts and athletics there.

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Hi! I actually saw the SIX musical production on Instagram—it looked like so much fun! SIX is the only Broadway show I’ve seen, so I thought it was really cool that the school performed it.

I had a quick question about transportation. I know this isn’t a deciding factor in whether I attend, but I was curious—how rural is the school, exactly? Would there be things to do on the weekends? And if it’s not a long weekend or break, would I need to arrange my own transportation off-campus?

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Thanks for the insight—it’s super helpful to hear about your daughter’s experience!

I’d say I’m a pretty strong swimmer. My school has a really competitive team, and I was honored to receive the leadership award this past season (it’s given to two of the top swimmers). I think if I really pushed myself, I could potentially make a varsity team. That said, while swimming is important to me and something I really enjoy, it’s not the only factor in my decision. I’m open to exploring new interests if needed.

As for location, I definitely take it into consideration, especially when it comes to accessibility and weekends. It’s not a dealbreaker, but I do think it’s helpful to know how rural the school is and what options there are for getting off-campus or to an airport. I’d just want to understand what kind of weekend activities are available and how students typically get around if there’s not a scheduled break.

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Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on the schools—it’s really helpful to hear different perspectives, especially from people who’ve visited or talked to families directly.

Last year, I applied to Kent, Loomis, and Choate. To be honest, I didn’t put in my full effort—I didn’t take the SSAT, and I wasn’t as focused on the process as I am this time around. This year, I’ve been much more intentional about researching schools, preparing, and thinking about where I’d be a good fit both academically and personally.

I really appreciate your insight into NMH, Mercersburg, Peddie, Emma Willard, and Loomis—it’s giving me a better sense of what day-to-day life might actually be like at each school.

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My daughter picked Hill. (I can’t really speak to it since she starts this fall, but Hill’s communications and onboarding have been strong so far.) You may want to add it to your list for consideration. It has a high percentage of boarders, around 80%. Everyone is required to board at least one year. It is located in the outer-ring of suburbs around Philadelphia.

Mercersburg is very rural. There is not much by way of shopping or restaurants unless you drive 20-30 minutes. It does have a lot of outdoorsy things to do, if you are interested in that. Some people here find the town charming. We did not, including because the locals were pretty hostile toward us. We really liked the school itself. The programs and facilities are top-notch. The admissions personnel and White Key parents we met were lovely. But the location was just a no-go for us.

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NMH is an awesome school but it is extremely rural.

Springfield, MA and Hartford, CT are the nearest urban areas, neither of which is often praised by visitors.

Boston is a long drive away. NYC even longer (~3 hours).

The nearest airport would be Bradley in CT, outside of Hartford.

This is not meant to disparage NMH in any way. I would have loved it there myself. But it’s not for kids who want close proximity to cities or even suburbs.

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The school has a lot of activities on the weekends, as well as weekend trips to nearby movie theatres, malls, etc. the town is very small but has the necessities of a grocery store, coffee shop, a few restaurants, etc. the buses only run on breaks and long weekends, most kids don’t leave otherwise due to school and sports, but you can hire drivers or get rides with local students if you need to leave on another weekend.

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I’d look at it even though it doesn’t check your boarding % criteria to see if the feel is right. It’s possible that you’d find that the boarding community sticks around on weekends and that there’s a lot going on. Or not! But there are schools that have high boarding % that empty out on weekends, smaller schools with high boarding % but small absolute numbers, etc.

In the end, it has to feel like a vibrant community because it’s your home.

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Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I actually looked into Hill as an option early on—I can’t remember exactly why my parents and I took it off the list, but I’ll definitely give it another look. I really appreciate you mentioning the strong communications and onboarding process. That kind of support makes such a big difference!

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Thanks so much for the insight! That’s really helpful to know. We’ve heard great things about NMH, but yeah—the rural setting is definitely something to think about. I don’t necessarily need to be in a big city, but I do want to have access to a bit more going on nearby.

Do you happen to have any recommendations for boarding schools that are a bit closer to larger cities? I’d love to explore a few more options that strike a better balance location-wise.

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Having done this with my son last year, I think admissions at these schools is incredibly difficult to predict. Each school is trying to select a set of students to meet the needs of the individual class and then as a school as a whole and the seniors departing often influence the incoming class. Let’s say school is growing their football program, if you are an outstanding player and play a position needed your chances of admissions probably just tripled without even looking at grades etc. This is not specific to sports - it’s really anything special you may bring to better the school.
.Choate, Loomis and Kent are all extremely competitive academically so most kids applying are going have impressive academics and SSAT’s (A average and > 85% SSAT) so it’s really being able to differentiate yourself as unique.

Applying for 10th is different as well because here I think admissions is looking to fill holes in the class. What’s the class missing? Do they need more day students? Someone who plays a certain instrument?

Use the application to not necessarily what you have already done - but what you will, can’t and have the drive to do given the opportunity.

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Mom of 3 kids who all went to Mercersburg for very different reasons and through very different paths – feel free to DM if I can help answer any questions.
I’ll answer the rural question – MB is indeed in rural Pennsylvania! To answer your question above, if you want to fly somewhere for a weekend, you would have to provide your own transportation to the airport and it would be very expensive. That said, in five years of having 3 kids at MB, I can only think of 3 times that we needed to do that because honestly BS kids (at least at MB) don’t really leave for the weekends unless it’s one of the 3 long weekends planned at school (in which case there IS bus transport to airports and train stations). The 3 times we had to do it were for: 1 family thing, and 2 admitted students college visits that fell on very specific dates we couldn’t change.
Weekends at MB are definitely full of activities – sports/theater, etc, as well as fun weekend activities (comedians on campus, performances, speakers, or other campus wide events, bus trips to DC or movie nights or bus to mall or paintball or whatever). In 5 years of my kids being there, they have always turned down our offers to come stay at our hotels when we come to visit – they always felt like there was “too much going on” on campus to miss out.
We visited a ton for people who are a flight away. :). So the distance from the airport was a bit of a drawback. But we thought it was worth it because we LOVED that the school was almost all boarders who stayed on campus on weekends. Being a family from far away, we didn’t want our kids to feel like they were being left on a campus that drained on the weekends. Also, the fact that there are 3 airports that are under 90 minutes away meant we could check prices and logisitics of 3 major airports, which was really helpful for finding flights.
To me, the big question would be connecting with the swim program and seeing what that would look like for you. My daughter was a diver (brand new to diving when she arrived at MB), and so we had a chance to see some other swim facilities of other BS when she competed. Wow. I knew MB had great facilities, but I had not idea truly how spectacular they were until I visited others. Which I saw not to be disparaging at all – I just didn’t realize how special the MB swim and dive program was since none of my kids were super into swimming or diving before arriving at MB.
That said, the swim program is (from what I hear from my daughters who have had swimmer roommates) very intense. The good news is: it’s fabulous if you are into that. I do NOT know, however, if it’s possible to be a casual swimmer at MB. I am going to guess not, but I don’t know this for sure. (Note: it IS possible to be a casual diver as two of my daughters did it.)
Just a quick note about Six the Musical – my daughters also did some theatre at MB. When they announced doing Six, I had my doubts internally that a small school of 400 kids could support the talent needed for this show. Boy, I was WRONG. It was truly wonderful. And the technical aspects of the show were spectacular. if you have ANY interest in the tech side of theater, run don’t walk to MB theatre department when you do a visit there. I’ll add that the most recent play we saw last month was Twelve Angry Jurors and it was also fantastic. My girls have been involved in MB theatre over the past four years, and this year just blew me away. I think it’s a great time to do theatre at MB, both on the tech side and performance side. Also, I love that you don’t have to be a “total theatre person” to do theatre at MB – there is space for the BFA-bound total theatre person AND the kids who just want to dip their toe into it. My kids did theatre in addition to their sports and it was great.
I’ll add on the theatre-adjacent side: the dance program is also lovely, and there is space for the casual dancer as well as the dancer interested in doing it more intensely.
Both programs perform in the Burgin center for the arts which we jokingly call in our family the Mini-Kennedy-Center. If you tour, BE SURE to see it. Gosh we love the Burgin. :). I have a 4th daughter getting her BFA in Musical theatre (did not go to MB), and honestly she and I agree that the Burgin is nicer than most of the college BFA program theaters we visited. :).
Anyway – that was a little rambling – apologies. I hope it’s a little helpful.
TLDR: Mercersburg town is cute but honestly not a great appeal (but personally I LOVE the countryside it’s in), but there is SO much else we loved about MB, that it was totally worth the airport drive for us as a family whose kids were far away from home.

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My daughter went to Hill for 2 years. We really liked the school, it is in a suburb and there are a lot of things to do. High % of boarders. Good education!

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Hey! Thanks so much for this insight — it’s honestly one of the most helpful ways I’ve heard someone break down the boarding school process, especially for 10th grade. I completely agree that admissions is more like building a puzzle than checking off stats. I’m focusing a lot on making sure my application reflects not just what I’ve done (like tech theater, directing short films, and sports), but also what I want to grow into if I’m given the opportunity.

I’m really hoping schools see that I’m someone who loves being behind the scenes — leading without being in the spotlight — and that I bring something unique to both the arts and athletic sides of the community. And honestly, it’s nice to hear that it’s not always about having perfect grades, but about the energy and drive you’re bringing to the school. So thank you again for this — seriously, I needed to hear it. :folded_hands:

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Thank you SO much for this — seriously, it’s incredibly helpful. I’m actually a swimmer and also super into tech theater, so it was really exciting to hear how strong both programs are at Mercersburg. I wasn’t sure how realistic it would be to keep up both at a boarding school, so hearing your daughters’ experience with juggling theater and sports gave me a lot of hope. And now I’m definitely putting the Burgin Center at the top of my list for when I visit — the “mini-Kennedy Center” comment totally sold me. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Also, I really appreciate your honesty about the rural setting and the airport logistics — coming from Texas, that’s been one of my bigger questions. But it sounds like MB makes the weekends so packed and community-focused that it more than makes up for it. I’m honestly really excited to learn more about the swim program now and whether it’s flexible for someone who’s passionate but not necessarily D1-level.

Thanks again for sharing such a full and honest picture — your message gave me so much to think about and helped me see the school beyond the brochure. :heart:

Also, I was wondering — since your daughters were involved in both sports and theater, how manageable did they find the schedule? Were they ever overwhelmed, or did MB do a good job supporting kids who wanted to explore multiple interests like that? I’d love to try both swimming and tech theater, but I’m nervous about balancing them.