I am a freshman at an extremely small high school (<90) and am considering going to a prep school to better my chances of getting into an elite college and for more class options. Before I begin seriously considering the option, however, I would like to know if it would actually hurt my options of getting into a prestigious college as I am in the second semester now and I would not be able to attend a school until my junior year.
For some background; I fear this would hurt rather than help as I am extremely involved in my school with various sports, clubs, and other extracurriculars. I also hold officer positions in multiple groups such as Student Council. I also fear that I would behind in some classes such as the school’s math department, making me look bad against my would-be classmates as at my school you aren’t allowed to take Algebra I until you are a freshman and aren’t allowed to double up on math classes.
Really, I just want to know if I am too late in considering a boarding school and should just take what I have, or if I should seriously consider attending a prep school. My problems with bad course selection can be fixed to a certain degree with online classes which I have been using for AP classes this year, but I also have personal reasons as to why I would like to attend one and just want to make sure I’m not hurting myself by attending as a junior most likely rather than starting as a freshman. Thanks, and sorry for dragging on so long.
(Sorry if this in the wrong section as well! I’m not very savvy with this site yet!)
If you are doing well in your small school, you would need to have pretty compelling reasons to attend boarding school that do not include “getting into an elite college” which will be no more likely from BS than your current school and perhaps worse from BS due to the very competitive student pools at most of them. It is not too late to consider BS, and you could repeat sophomore year (there are many repeats at BS for many reasons) as entering in junior year is tough but, again, you would need to have some very convincing reasons to attend.
I am not an expert by any means, but I certainly think you have a shot at applying. I don’t think you are too late to some schools (ones with deadlines of Jan 31st or rolling deadline). Make sure to book for the SSAT and get started on your applications (I recommend SAO) and interviews ASAP! Although this is going to take A LOT of effort in such a crunched amount of time, it is certainly possible. I advise not to load up on too many schools, after all you do have to do interviews. Make sure to make very wise decisions on the couple of schools your going to apply to! A good school to look at is Hun School of Princeton because they have very good college matriculation which you are looking for and are more relaxed when it come to SSAT scores (plus have rolling deadline!). I wish you the best of luck in this process and I’m sure all will work out!
For whatever it’s worth, I’d recommend re-considering your fundamental assumption. Applying to/attending BS as a means to an end (to better your chances of getting into an elite college) may not prove fruitful. If you want to go for the experience of living on your own pre-college, or for the educational or extracurricular opportunities, or for any of the other wide-variety of reasons that people choose a BS, go for it. But if it’s primarily a application padding activity, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. (By the way, this advice is applicable for all sorts of activities: join/pursue them because you are passionate about them, not because of how they might reflect in an application someday.)
I have to agree with @Eely_Hovercraft. OP stated that the reason to apply to BS was to get into elite colleges…or did I misread that. If I did, then ignore the rest of this post. If I did understand that correct, however, the goal of elite college may be better met where you are. Ivies (and other select schools) are looking for kids at the top of their class with a varied background. BS is not a means to an Ivy. Where you are now seems to be providing you the opportunity to be a good zivy candidate.
Getting into BS means you’ll be at school with many others that were at the top of their class…until BS. Someone now has to move down a few rungs…will that be you? If so, you definitely have lesser chance at Ivy schools.
I don’t think it’s too late to apply…but I’d like to make sure you understand that if your goal is for Ivy/elite college admissions, the move to BS may not be worth the switch.
This is just my humble opinion…you may see what others have to say…others have mentioned a similar opinion in numerous threads, though, so I would hedge that this will be a common thought amongst seasoned CC’ers.
Going to boarding school simply to get into a good college is not a good strategy. The college matriculation lists that you see at these boarding schools are somewhat misleading, as they are heavily weighted towards kids with hooks: donors, legacy, athletes, URMs, etc.
If you are not in one of these categories, then going to a boarding school will not help much unless you graduate at the top of the class. College admissions officers are trained to look at each applicant in context of their high school. So if your HS does not have a lot of resources, they will understand. Just make sure to make use of every available resources at your disposal. Take all of the AP classes that you can handle, take the most rigorous classes, etc. You will not be at a big disadvantage in college admissions.