<p>My D is wait listed at the only school she applied to. She has A and above grades all along, 99% SSAT, plays instrument for 6 + years, excellent recommendation letters, plays several sports, not a great player, but enjoys sports. Interveiw went well. Only thing that could have been a factor is her essay. Should we bother to apply next year? ( application process and staying on wait list is not fun) Would her chances improve, if she works with a guidence counsellor? Does any one of you have experince with counsellors? If so can you please recommend</p>
<p>Guidance counselors are a very good choice. They are shown to help improve chances for students and can lead parents in the right direction. Good luck!</p>
<p>@anxioustoknow - I would only advise you to work with a good educational consultant IF you are interested in applying to a broad range of boarding schools. To me, the greatest value that an EC can provide is in getting to know your child, and then matching your child’s strengths/interests against the EC’s in-depth knowledge of a wide range of schools, and finally coming up with a list of schools that would be a good fit that you should consider. </p>
<p>(And if you go to the EC and say upfront, “I only want to apply to these few tip-top schools because they’re the most selective, or most prestigious,” you’ve pretty much defeated the purpose of hiring an EC in the first place!)</p>
<p>If there is only one school your D is interested in attending (especially if it is a highly-selective school - admit rate 25% or less), then there is very little you can do if you re-apply next year to increase her chances. If your child is waitlisted, it means that the school thought your child would do well at their school - but they just didn’t have enough room. Your D sounds like a terrific kid - it’s just that there are many, many equally terrific kids applying for a very small number of spots. Every year brings a new group of applicants, and there are some kids who are waitlisted one year, and admitted the next. But there are no guarantees. You say “the only thing that could have been a factor was her essay.” There is really no way to know that - it could have been anything - or nothing. It’s just really, really, really difficult to gain admission at some of these schools. (Deerfield’s admit rate this year was 12% - that means that for every 100 kids who applied, 88 were declined or waitlisted. And the vast majority of kids who apply are admissible.)</p>
<p>If attending boarding school is the educational path your child wants to take, then I would advise you to greatly expand your school search, and apply to more than one school - especially some schools that are not “super-selective."</p>
<p>Good EC’S though can do more than just offer schools. One of my friends used an EC and I knew the schools she was applying were a small stretch, yet she got into 2/3. EC’s give applicants advice on how to improve their application, tips, etc. I think a few also check essays for grammatical mistakes, but I’m not completely sure.</p>
<p>@magusalex - you are right. A good EC will do the things you mention above. They will help an applicant present herself in the best possible way, but ultimately, there are no guarantees, especially at the most selective schools. That is why it is so important to apply to a range of schools, especially if the “local school option” is not a good one, and admission to a boarding school is very strongly desired.</p>
<p>Yes that is completely true. I agree with the fact that ^^^should apply to a large variety of schools. Especially if the schools in the area are bad.</p>
<p>Thanks to all</p>