St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire is need blind. (However, this does not apply to international applicants.)
I note there are also cool special programs at a lot of other boarding schools.
Of course in the end, you want to be excited about where you are going for secondary school. I am just suggesting you make a point of taking the time you have available before applying to really explore what is out there, to make sure you are not overlooking anything that might be a great experience for you.
I do also hope you are excited about the idea of boarding itself. That alone is a big difference from going to a day school.
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Thank you for all the encouragement! I’m planning to take SSAT in the fall. I have a few questions if you don’t mind me asking.
1: How do you feel about my essay idea? How should I talk about the others EC’s I’m passionate about in my essays (newspaper, NHD, politics)?
2: Does being a a FA applicant at need-aware schools (Choate, L’ville, etc) significantly reduce chance of admissions or just slightly?
3: I am very interested in rowing, but I have like no experience whatsoever. How do I demonstrate interest in the application?
4: Finally, if you could give an approximation, what would my chances of getting accepted into any one of these schools be? Thanks once again!
Agree. Adding: Deerfield does do something that is helpful for applicants, as the absence of net price calculators on boarding school websites can be intimidating. They make clear that no more that 10% of a domestic family’s income will be expected to cover costs. And families earning less than $150k/year pay nothing.
There can be enormous discrepancies between schools’ support offers, and DA is among the most generous. We used this policy as a way to open conversations with other schools and have realistic discussions. It was helpful.
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I think you are an amazing applicant and wish you the best of luck! In my opinion I would say for the interview be well informed about said school and bring up interactions from the tour. In my opinion you are not under-qualified and in fact in a good position. Like someone above said these Admission Officers are looking to build a class! I also have questions for you:
1. What do you like about these specific schools?
- What would you contribute to these schools? (Why should they admit you)
I think a big part of admissions is staying authentic and being yourself. I know this is honestly a really cliche thing to say and during my admissions process when I would talk to my friends at BS they would say to be authentic and I genuinely thought ‘Whatever, everyone says it, it will not help’ but it really does. These AOs are looking for a kind class. When an applicant is truly themselves, the interviewers can sense that and like that about you. Lawrenceville says this perfectly and I quote, “When I sit across from a student, I’m not searching for perfection. I’m not tallying checkboxes against a secret rubric of “the ideal candidate.” Instead, I’m listening. I want to hear a student’s story — their background, their hopes, their quirks, even the things they think don’t matter but actually do. Because admissions, at its core, is not a contest. It’s a process of connection, growth, and finding the place where you’ll thrive.” I would take this in account as you start touring and applying to schools. I wish you all the luck and if you need help with anything or info about anything in the fall feel free to contact me!
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Hi, thanks for the response! That was really insightful and made me reflect more on why I chose these schools.
- I think first and foremost, there are lots of programs and courses at each of these schools that I am really interested in. I’m interested in political science/economics, and all these schools offer great programs that expand beyond the typical classroom (i.e. Hutchins Center and Research Institutes at L’ville, the JFK and Capstone program at Choate, Harkness at Exeter, etc). Also, just the idea of going to BS where I can constantly with great teachers and peers excites me!
- I think I would offer my skills such as speech & debate, experience in student publications, etc, to the school. In my opinion I also think I’m a pretty good communicator and willing to try new things.
Also, I’m not planning to visit/tour these schools as they are on the other side of the country for me. Would that be held against me?
I think not as I did not do a tour for Andover or Deerfield.
I love this, Now include this in your narrative.
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No, it won’t hurt you. But do make a point of fully exploring every website and attending online sessions. All of these schools - and many you aren’t considering– have excellent academics, but each is different in its own way. George School, for example, has an academic calendar of 7 terms that allows (funded) travel study or pursuit of passion projects. The vibe at each is a little different. And fwiw, if you are what a school is looking for, they will likely provide the FA you need, so don’t limit yourself for that.
You seem like an interesting person, and you’re smart to start early. Please explore options fully. This is an amazing opportunity to make these 4 yests what you want them to be.
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Ahh, I see. Based on the schools I’ve chosen so far, how do you think their styles/vibes differ from one another? Additionally, when do they offer online sessions and what are they typically about? Thanks
Usually, after you indicate interest to a school, they’ll let you know what sessions they have. They could be on anything from special programs (debate, music) to academics to athletics to virtual tours of the campus. Very helpful in general, sometimes better than touring in person.
As for vibe, the 3 you mention are larger and very selective.
It’s pretty common for high-achieving students to think that they belong at only the most selective schools, yet some portion will end up at one and be unhappy while others who end up at less selective schools will thrive. That could be becauseof the attention they get, a better social fit, extra curriculars where they stand out, rtc. Remember that even the schools that are easier to get into still select their students and have numerous ways of ensuring that they will be challenged.
Indeed.
I think a sort of implied misconception some applicants seem to have is that all the highest academic aptitude kids go to the most selective schools, then it is an entirely different population at the next-most selective schools, and so on. In truth, these are overlapping populations, including with high academic aptitude kids ending up at a variety of schools for a variety of reasons–personal fit, geography, family, finances, and so on.
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There is no hard and sure answer to this question.
When admissions is going through applications, there are some who will stand out more than others. There are some applicants that a school might admit regardless of how much financial aid is requested. However, most applicants don’t fall in that category. In schools that cannot afford to be need blind, the reality is that when evaluating applications, there is an awareness of how much total financial aid is available. It becomes a balancing act of how much FA is requested/needed versus how compelling the application is. Because yes, needs met schools do waitlist some qualified FA applicants whose needs can’t be met.
Some people will advise you “cast a wider net” for this reason. However, this is only effective is you put a lot of work into creating a list tailored to you. Just applying to GLADCHEMMS is not a wide net. If you are truly interested in going to boarding school, you should include some of the schools with an acceptance rate above 20%.
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Have you considered what sports you would do at these schools? I don’t think that any of them has a boys VB team so, if that’s your sport, you should find schools with those teams.
Also, many of these schools will require participation in sports/activities. Some would allow debate as a sport for one term, but many also require team sports and physical activity. The AO will likely ask you how you would think about this in your interview. Have you thought about what sports/activities you would like to do?
Boys Volleyball is becoming more popular on the east coast - Andover, Exeter and Choate all have boys’ teams now and I suspect more schools will add.
But high school is a great time to try new things, and while some will require a sport others will just require you do any afternoon activity. At my kids’ schools, this includes things like theater (which counts as a “team”), art studio, yoga, swimming lessons for people who don’t know how to swim, etc.
This is also a great thing to ask at interviews - do they require sports each term specifically or do they have entry ways to learn new sports? Many people have not had access to try crew/rowing before boarding school, so that is one that typically has a lot of beginner level training.
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Thank you @FixItDad and @ssdh25 for the feedback. I do think that many more east coast schools are adding Boy’s Volleyball teams, and am interested in joining those if I get in. Additionally, I am interested in rowing and squash.
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I hadn’t realized that Boy’s VB was getting so popular. That’s great to hear.
Spring sport as opposed to Girls, which is Fall. That may have crossed you up.
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I am also wondering if my location (SoCal) is considered to be underrepresented or overrepresented? Does anyone have insight on this? Thanks!
Not underrepresented
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I may be responding to this thread a bit late, but just wanted to lyk, I am also from SoCal, and MANY students from my school and community (outside of school) were applying as well. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by overrepresented (in which aspects?), but what I can tell you is that there are many people in SoCal applying each year, for a variety of reasons (ex: college admissions, though this was not my motivation to apply).
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