BS suggestions in NE

neatoburrito
Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:31:18 +0000

Here’s what I did and it worked out very well for my son (and hopefully for my daughter as well!)

Don’t mention her IQ or SAT and SSAT scores when you interview. You can include a copy of her SAT scores with the app and list any organizations, like Davidson or CTY, that she belongs to under awards, etc.

Do not limit yourself to school with the points you mentioned. Just because a school has an endowment of less than 50 mill does not mean that they won’t offer a huge amount of FA (I know - trust me.) Average SAT is directly related to incoming SSAT. There was an Exonian who once posted that he got a 99 on the SSAT and is regularly made a fool of by kids with scores in the 80s. My son would likely say the same.

Add some schools with greater than 30% admissions where your daughter will be in the top of the applicant pool. In the more need aware schools with lower FA budgets, they will be more likely to accept (and be glad to have) your student.

Do NOT write off schools that don’t come up in the top ten of whatever category you search for on boardingschoolreview.com. There are so many amazing places out there.

Always keep in mind that academics only count for so much. Your daughter’s intellect will not be anything remarkable at Exeter, Andover, et al. (Again, trust me.) My son had wonderful interviews and wrote beautiful essays at plenty of top schools where he was waitlisted.

Sometimes, even when a school would really love to admit your student, they just can’t. They have a balance to keep and only so much FA available. They use that money to get the students that they need to round out their class. Smarts is not something that any of the schools that come up in your search criteria is lacking in applicants.

Every math geek in the country applies to Exeter. Just so you know.

ALL boarding schools will find a way to challenge your daughter. If she is very self-motivated, she doesn’t need to be pushed into a crazy workload. And no matter what school she goes to, she will not be the only one there with her intellectual capacities. She will find peers. Some really brilliant kids don’t want to go too far from home. I know a kid who is applying this year who is a great candidate for top schools but isn’t even applying to any because she doesn’t want to be more than an hour from home. You’d be hard pressed to find a school without kids like this so please please widen your search if you really want your daughter to have this opportunity. Another advantage for a brilliant kid going to a not-insanely-competitive school is that she will have more time to develop leadership qualities and a passion if she’s not buried under the level of work expected at say, Exeter, which even the smartest kids find themselves unaccustom to. It’s a “whole new normal.”

Visit as many schools as you can, but none that you would not be OK with her attending. You don’t want to have her fall in love with a school that you don’t like so do that initial sorting first.

Don’t worry about the lack of sports. My son had 4 offers with full to nearly full tuition covered last year and his only sport was golf, which he’s terrible at. He had other interests, of course, but it doesn’t have to be sports. They need kids on the debate teams, math teams, theatre, orchestra, chorus, etc. But, he’s enjoying sports for the first time at BS.

Good luck.