You mentioned this being the worst case scenario. Can your expand on what your biggest concerns are with attending public school? If it’s being limited in terms of class placement/acceleration, you could dig in to their (and the district’s) credit by exam and dual enrollment policies and see if you can work around any limitations. E.g. if you need to be in 11th for dual enrollment, see if you can accumulate a year’s worth of CBE credits in 8th and 9th to get junior standing (and thus DE) your second year of high school rather than your third. Of course there can be complications depending on your school’s specific policies; this is just an example.
Oh, okay thank you. Yes, my parents and family will reside in Texas.
Thank you! I will look into that.
Plus graduating from a public high school or other local option & starting college a year early, right after 11th grade, is also a potential option for lulandy2020, something I don’t believe you are allowed to do at a boarding school.
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I did speak about that to my parents, but since I am already graduating high school at 17 due to credit-by-exam in elementary school and will be turning 18 in my first year of college, my family would be uncomfortable with me being 16 in my first year of college.
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If you’re mainly looking for acceleration in a single subject (e.g. math), then coming with credit for, say, precalc will make it likely that you will be able to take BC calc in 9th, and if the school doesn’t have post-calc math, that might make it easier to get a waiver to DE post-calc math in 10th. Ditto if you come in with credit for BC calc, though this would require getting permission to take the AP BC exam, which should be done very early in the school year. (I’m not exactly sure where you’re at with math, but I think precalc in 8th would be very doable for you *if* you’re interested in accelerating in math, which isn’t necessary to this extent even as a STEM major).
One of the nice things about DE is that it gives you many of the academic benefits of early college without the potential social costs of graduating high school early. One thing to note is that your DE GPA will affect your college GPA and thus medical school admissions, so I would recommend starting DE early but light (e.g. one or two classes in areas of strength in 9th or 10th) rather than jumping into it full time in 11th and risking a lower-than-necessary college GPA
Are there are four year public universities in commuting distance of you, or only community colleges? One thing I’ve noticed about Texas community colleges is that they offer engineering statics and dynamics, which are engineering courses that aren’t commonly offered at CCs in other states. Of course they have calc-based physics as a prerequisite so that’s not something to consider until later.
Considering your interests in math and in applying math, you might be interested in this: https://m3challenge.siam.org/ (this years competition is over, but you might be inspired by the topic and the winning solutions: https://m3challenge.siam.org/resources/archives/2026-year-at-a-glance/2026-winning-teams-list/)
The High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM)® and The Middle Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MidMCM) - COMAP - this modeling competition is upcoming, and middle schoolers can also participate in the high school if they wish
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Thank you, @Muu9!
Does anyone have any other tips for awards? I am worried I may not have enough.
Also, the SSAT Verbal section is challenging, what resources do you recommend?
Do you have the official resources? They should be your first priority: SSAT Practice Tests | Official Online Prep & Guide Books
Besides that, try the SAT VerbalPro app or Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder for vocab
For more practice, try The Tutorverse’s upper level SSAT book
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If you are looking for an environment that’s more independent, then I think it’s very important that you understand the culture of the schools that you are applying to.
Andover, Exeter, and Choate are the largest schools and will provide you with an independent atmosphere, but the other schools that you’re considering, even the medium-sized ones like Taft, Deerfield, and Loomis, have quite a bit of oversight and rules for their students. If you are coming from an environment where there’s less structure, you should be prepared for an adjustment at whichever boarding school you attend.
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Yes a thousand times. Part of this is for the saftey of the student. Pat is to protect the school from liability. Part is to manage a number or students.
But a big part is that you will be a member of a community, and you will have to be a good member of that community, which means sometimes doing what is best for the community rather than what is best for you. There are ways in which you need to be independent to succeed at BS but it is not a place where you can operate independently.
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Thank you, @gardenstategal and @FixItDad !
I was wondering, I don’t have a sports hook, as I’ve only played low-level, recreational or school teams. Would this hurt my application or do the other things I do make up for it?
Also, I was wondering, do I have enough awards? All the CC profiles I’ve seen have tons of national/international level accolades and I was wondering if I measured up. Could someone help me? Thanks. If not, I’ve been looking for competitions that fit my interests an timeline to little avail. Thank you!
Don’t worry about this. Work on being the best you you can. Do your school work, keep on doing the extracurricular activities that are meaningful to you, and maybe take up sleep yoga.
Believe it or not, AOs can see through fluff, and you’re good enough just as you are, so long as you keep doing as well as you can where you are. Besides, your time can be better used working on essays, impressing your current teachers (and anyone else you want a letter of rec from), and some light reviewing for the SSAT.
Do you understand how the scholarship works? (Making it to the finalist stage is usually around 50% chance.) The scholarship pays for tuition only and that tuition can be very high at boarding schools. Great! But it does not pay for boarding fees. It does not pay for fees like health insurance in another state, technology fees, books, food, travel. Your family will be facing a substantial bill outside of the scholarship. If you win, make sure you have some local private schools in mind too and keep in mind the same rules apply. Attending a private school as a CDB Scholar does not make you a “financial aid recipient” at many schools so you don’t benefit from that designation in terms of books, fees, discounts on mandatory and desired trips. I just want to point this out because people are often confused about CDB. Even a local private school will generate uncovered costs.
It would help if you were a less vague on the organizations above. Do you mean CTY, CTD, Davidson etc.?
No, you don’t need a sports hook. And there’s no need to add activities for the sake of your application. The AOs understand that people have different access to activities. They want to see that you will get involved in the community and bring something of value.
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Quoting for emphasis.
@lulandy2020 please reconsider applying for financial aid. If your family can only afford less than $20K for school for you, this would indicate a high financial need. Actually look at the FAQS in the Financial Aid section to better understand what we’re talking about. Even if your household income is above $200K, you could qualify for significant financial aid, depending on specifics.
If there is some weird family dynamics going on that makes applying for financial aid difficult, ask the financial aid department for advice.
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Yes, I have the Grand Honors SET award and Davidson Young scholar (not sure if that has any weight at all).
My family could afford the tuition if they really wanted to, but they aren’t even too keen on the idea of letting me go to boarding school, so I’m not trying to push it with the money, which is why I’m keeping the BUDGET around 20-25k. I have done the profilers and estimators on the boarding school websites, and from what I’ve noticed, I don’t qualify for much financial aid because my family makes above 200k and due to other factors.
I understand how the scholarship works, and I do of course know there will be several hidden fees. However, I am quite set on not applying for financial aid. Thank you for the advice, though!
Okay. Not everyone understands how it works and I just wanted you did.
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There is no point applying for financial aid if you know your family can afford it (the PFS/SSS will reveal this fact to the school anyway) because you would be unnecessarily putting your application into the pile vying for the fewest seats. Most of these schools are split 60/40 - 70/30 full-pay/financial aid, so you have a better chance of admission if you don’t require aid. And, not all schools will automatically move an FA app to the FP file if the SSS determines that the family can be full pay. We always warn applicants not to make this mistake “just to see” if they might qualify for aid when it’s clear they won’t.
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Hi OP, any updates on CDB results?
Today, I am meant to call them after school!