BS suggestions in NE

Periwinkle
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:27:07 +0000

^^Yes, we all agree that she is not a shoo-in, but then most other applicants are not more of a shoo-in than she is. Academic excellence IS an addition to the community. There are so many co-extracurricular and academics related activities she can participate in to contribute to the school community. And being intensely acadmic is not in contradiction to “character, energy and concern for others”.



I’m relying on memory here, but I think a parent has reported that an AO from Andover claimed that 75% of the applicants were academically qualified to be admitted. Remember, the pool of applicants to these schools is not an average sampling of high school students.

Andover in particular has stressed that they look for “nice” students. They do not say, “we don’t care about character.” I don’t know why people always assume I’m knocking academic kids when I say that these schools are not admitting students solely on test scores.

Of course, being intensely academic is not in contradiction to “character, energy and concern for others.” On the other hand, it depends on the student. Some students who have good grades and high test scores are amazing in many aspects, and will throw themselves into the school’s activities. Some are on their way to becoming amazing adults, but need to live at home for the next few years. The AOs have the heavy responsibility of predicting which 8th graders will be happy in the boarding school setting, which is very intense.

How well do you remember your 10th grade social studies lessons? How well do you remember your high school friends, and your extracurriculars? They’re all part of high school. Nothing happens in isolation.