<p>@Anxiety251…“ACRONYM” is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the most popular (and usually the most selective) boarding schools. HADES (which itself was satirical in origin) =Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, Exeter, St. Paul’s…to spell out just one of the acronyms tossed around on the forum.</p>
<p>Some parents (myself included) encourage prospective students to look at a wider range of schools than just the most famous. While they are all great schools with great reputations, that’s sort of the equivalent of only applying to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in a few years…something I doubt anyone (your parents included) would advocate. This is especially true if you are not satisfied with your options art home. The notion that only a handful of boarding schools “are worth attending” is, for 95% of the population, ridiculous.</p>
<p>So do your homework, look at schools beyond the “usual suspects”, be honest about your candidacy (knowing that kids who had better grades, scores, ECs, and come from family’s with more money are rejected and wait listed every year), and keep your chin up no matter what happens come March 10.</p>