Hi I am a 9th grader applying for 10th grade in 3 selective boarding schools for next year. As we are approaching our deadlines for the schools you and your children dream of, Im asking you how your application process (Parents/Rec./Essays) went. I will start off with mine. Recently I had my last interview, which was in Lawrenceville. I loved the school. I finished my Choate application, and I have two more to go. Please write down your experiences throughout this year’s application process and also the interviews! Thanks
Hello,
I am a 10th grader, applying as both 11th grade and repeat 10th grade.
The only interview I [recently] had was with Andover. It went really great. The course of the interview was really smooth. I did not even notice that we were talking for around an hour. Overall, she was impressed, and told me that she will definitely recommend me. (Well, I always find interviews pretty much like a casual talk - no pressure at all)
The process is hassle-free, at least for me. Although I do everything in regard with my application, it seems just like a typical homework - relatively easy.
Best of luck to all of our future endeavours.
Student essays for my applications took a a significant amount of time. It took me about a month to finally get them done and revised. @StudAthl , are you only applying for Andover?
@hillchoatelville I applied to Groton as well, but they denied my request for an off-campus interview. I also applied to a boarding school in Asia, primarily for cultural and language learning.
I applied to Deerfield and St. Paul. Overall, my process went AMAZING! When I had my interview with Deerfield, it was off campus at a Ten Schools Admission Symposium and we went over time. She was also impressed by some of the achievements I’ve made and was also glad to hear that I was reapplying to Deerfield, after being waitlisted last year. I also feel my recommendation went well, just kind of nervous about my English recommendation because my teacher didn’t know me. However, I’m completely confident about my Math recommendation, in fact, my teacher showed me what she sent to the schools after she was done, and it was amazing what she said about. Also my interview with St. Paul–also off campus–went well too. A friend of mine (we’ll call him John) goes there and is a freshmen when my interviewer was also excited to find out that I knew John because he was very active in the community. And he even told me that they were excited to meet me and that it looks like my interview went well, he also told me he put in a good word for me. Finally, I believe the essay I wrote for St. Paul, about where I find the beauty in life, was stellar. I honestly think I did a superb jobs with this application. So overall I think I did a really good job, and if I don’t get into my schools, I probably well be completely devastated.
I have some concerns with my applications because I am in 9th grade. My high school has almost 260 freshmen, so my counselor doesn’t really know me. Also, this goes same with my English and Math teachers. We don’t really have chance to know each other personally. If I knew about applying to these schools last year, Im pretty sure my rec. wouldve been much better simply because my teachers at least knew me well personally.
However, my interview was great! I had my lawrenceville visit about a week ago and the campus was really big. Something I noticed about the interviewer’s questions were that she kept saying I would be in those courses next year she mentioned me. We talked about importance of diversity and benefits from being in Lville community… I think she liked me! (I hope!).
Thank you for sharing ur story!
@hilllchoatelville I know what you mean, I also have a class of 200 freshmen and although, I know my math teacher well (only because there were only 2 classes of freshmen for algebra II). I didn’t really know my counselor and I kind of new my English teacher only because he knows I like to read and we would talk about books. I just pray that my math recommendation and personal recommendation will show me in a really good light. I hope you get into your schools of choice.
YES I REALLY HOPE I DO. Thank you! I wish the same for you. It would be funny next year seeing each other at Deerfiled/Choate Day (if u go to deerfield and I get accepted to Choate) haha. This year is flying by really quickly… because of the amount of effort I put in for the application and my high school stuff (sports/academics). I hope this pays off on March 10th.
It would actually be funny, my friend she goes to Choate and she’s angry that I want to go to Deerfield. She’s also in 9th grade.
@StudAthl I got denied an off-campus interview for Groton as well! It was really annoying.
@ivydreamer01 probably all the interview schedules were filled? I don’t know…
We had a Skype interview at 5:30am. SculptorKid was sick and I asked for a reschedule. They never could make the reschedule, and later emailed us that a new skype interview will be arranged if they find it mutually beneficial. (Read: If they like her anyway). There has been no contact for the interview as of today.
SculptorKid says all interviews were mostly the same; They try to poke into her whole life, what she loves to do and experienced, as well as all current classes that she is taking. They comment how rare/unkque/amazing she is, then ask why she wants bs and why their school, followed by telling her how wonderful their school is. They are all friendly and nice. There is no way to tell if they really like her answers or are just friendly as they are supposed to. Most of them are 20~40 minutes, and all less than an hour long.
In fact, all parent interviews were more or less the same; They all say that my kid is wonderful, all their answers are answered by her so they would just answer my questions if I have any. Except a few who asked why I homeschooled her. I wanted to stay longer and bond but asking questions was a challenge for me. I wished if they could ask me some questions instead. if I still had a question, why would I have waited until the interview instead of asking my tour guide, sending them emails or asking at CC?
I agree Sculptor Dad, a lot of times you really don’t have questions, because you have done a ton of research onthe school. You can ask a pointed question, but not too pointed.
This is where I think preparation comes in handy, trying to dream up questions that are interesting and not obvious but not whacky or overly controversial.