Hey all,
I’m an incoming 11th grade student studying at a private school in the Philippines, and I was wondering if it would still be worth it for me to apply to these boarding prep schools as a repeat junior.
For context, I had actually applied for some of these schools as a repeat 9th grader in the January of 2024 last year. I visited these schools in person in 2023, got to interact with some of the students and faculty, and got awestruck. I applied to 8 schools: Exeter, Andover, St. Paul, Groton, Choate, Lawrenceville, Milton, and Middlesex. However, I ultimately got rejected from all of them except Exeter and Choate where I got waitlisted; these two schools’ waitlists closed early, leading me to continue 10th grade in the Philippines. I was considering applying again as a 10th grader, though during the applications season late 2024 early 2025 I important had personal things to do and ultimately decided against it.
However, fairly recently, after an impactful experience, my interest in attending these schools has grown once again and I find myself wishing I had applied as a 10th grader. Given that admissions seasons have passed already, the only way I can attend these schools is through applying as a repeat 11th grader later this year.
That brings me to my dilemma however, as I have heard that 1) 11th grade admissions for many of these boarding schools are incredibly slim and generally don’t take many applicants, and 2) going in at junior year is not only too late to fit into the community, but also to maximize the benefits that going to these schools may bring to me. I have been told that it may simply be more beneficial to stay in my current school in the Philippines, applying to college directly from my high school rather than from a boarding prep school.
What do you think?
In my opinion, I would continue to move forward in the Philippines and graduate high school there. Begin your college research, continue to build relationships at your current school, concentrate on your interests, test scores and grades plus build a college list that aligns with your budget, fit and not just prestige.
You are going into junior year and this will be a lot of additional work. I would not use my time applying for boarding school and instead put that effort into finding a group of right fit colleges. You don’t mention if you are full pay or if you would require financial assistance and this also will play a big role and require research on your part too.
The other option is to find out what boarding schools are still accepting applications for the 25-26 school year - like US colleges there are so many amazing choices outside of the schools you named.
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How do you like the school where you are currently studying?
My inclination would be the same as suggested by @coffeeat3. I think that you should do as well as you can at your current high school.
At least in my experience highly ranked universities in the US have students who come from a very wide range of high schools. Highly ranked graduate programs in the US have students who come from a very wide range of undergraduate universities. There are risks and costs associated with changing high school half way through. Doing well where you are is IMHO more likely to produce very good results.
Junior year of high school is likely to be more work both because you are more likely to be taking advanced classes, and also because you are likely to be putting significant effort into considering which universities to apply for and getting ready to take the SAT or other standardized tests. I would focus on this effort.
Best wishes.
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I can think of s few situations where repeating 11th at a US BS could make sense. If you were an athlete in a sport where the college coaches might have a better shot at getting to see/know you, it could make sense. If you had a compelling reason to get an IBD and couldn’t do thst locally, it could make sense (but at a different set of schools.)
In all cases, it’d help enormously if you didn’t need FA.
You could probably do this – and should expand your list if it’s a goal – but you are going to need a good reason to convince someone to admit you.
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Sorry, I know this isn’t what you asked, but did Choate tell you the waitlist closed early? Because I also got waitlisted and they haven’t told me anything yet.
Thanks for all of your advice!
Replying to @DadTwoGirls , I quite like my school actually. It’s not an international school so I don’t have things like AP classes or college counselors, but it does have IBDP and I’m fairly happy with the opportunities it provides me.
Regarding that though, I guess I realized I haven’t really been making the most out of the opportunities I have and that I should invest in myself here rather than try to transfer for HS.
Anyway, thanks for the insights!
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I didn’t receive anything from Choate so I assume that either it closed early for everyone or I just never got off it.
Or they haven’t gone to the WL yet.