Help me to choose some private high school

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I need to choose 6 to 8 high schools from following list for my daughter interview, but I don’t have any idea. I checked ten websites, each has its own merits. It’s really hard to make decision. Please give me some comments for the following high schools.Thanks! </p>

<p>Berkshire School – coed, 390 students, Sheffield, Massachusetts <a href=“http://www.berkshire%5B/url%5D”>www.berkshire</a> school.org </p>

<p>Emma Willard School– all girls’, 315 students, Troy, New York Emma Willard School | A boarding school for girls in Troy, New York </p>

<p>Ethel Walker School – all girls, 215 students, Simsbury, Connecticut The Ethel Walker School | A college preparatory school for girls in grades 6-12</p>

<p>Kent School – coed, 560 students, Kent, Connecticut, Kent School - Welcome</p>

<p>Mercersburg Academy – coed, 430 students, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania <a href=“http://www.mercersburg/.edu[/url]”>http://www.mercersburg/.edu&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Millbrook School – coed, 265 students, Millbrook, New York Millbrook School ~ Millbrook School, a coeducational boarding school in Millbrook, NY </p>

<p>Miss Hall’s School – all girls’, 190 students, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Miss Hall’s School, a private, college preparatory boarding and day school for girls in grades 9-12. </p>

<p>St. Mark’s School – coed, 400 students, Southborough, Mass, St. Mark’s School: Home</p>

<p>Westminster School – coed, 390 students, Simsbury, Connecticut, Westminster School </p>

<p>Westover School – all girls, 210 students, Middlebury Connecticut, Westover School</p>

2

<p>yan629, you should repost this query in the Prep School admissions forum on College Confidential, or its parents’ forum.</p>

3

<p>As you want help winnowing this list down to 6-8, it would helpful to know how you came up w this initial list of 10, so we can understand what your priorities are.</p>

<p>The only common things I discern about these 10 schools is that they have smaller sized student bodies, top third SSAT range, and are within a reasonable reach from JFK. But then there are a number of other good schools of this criteria, which come to mind, which are not on your list.</p>

<p>Are you an international applicant?</p>

4

<p>St. Mark’s enrolls about 350 students, not 400. </p>

<p>It would help us if you could let us know something of your daughter’s interests.</p>

5

<p>Your daughter is the one who will be attending one of these schools. Ideally, she should be the one doing this research, with your guidance and approval. </p>

<p>I suggest that you show her this list of schools that you have found, let her get online and check them out, and ask her to rank them in order of her preference. There, you will have your list of schools. I would also encourage her to investigate if there are any other schools out there that she would like to add to this list. That way she is not simply a passenger in this journey, but rather takes ownership of her education. In turn, you as the parent can exercise veto power if she chooses a school that you feel is completely inappropriate for her or for your family.</p>

<p>The more enthusiastic she feels about the schools she is applying to, the easier her adjustment process will be and, most likely, the better she will do academically.</p>

<p>One thing that you should know about American boarding schools is that the admissions offices generally prefer to hear from the child rather than from the parents except when it comes to matters of tuition payment. Your daughter will maximize her chances of acceptance if she demonstrates that SHE genuinely wants to attend the school, not that she’s being pushed into it by her parents. She should be the one making the phone calls, asking questions, and arranging her own interviews if at all possible. If admissions committees feel that the parent is driving the entire process, they’ll wonder whether the student will be able to survive once the parent isn’t supervising them 24/7.</p>

6

<p>I disagree about the student needing to be the one to get initial information from the schools and set up interviews. First of all, most of the initial information gathering is done electronically through the schools’ websites, so it doesn’t really matter. And as for setting up the interviews, I think admissions offices understand that it’s the parents who are having to juggle their schedules to take their kids to tours and interviews, so it’s just a lot easier for the parents to hear the available times and dates and pick one. But I totally agree that once on campus for an interview and tour, the kid then needs to assume a proactive role and demonstrate interest.</p>

7

<p>Yan269
Tell us a little about your daughter- what is she interested in? What is she looking for in a school?</p>