Not that we’ve seen - but every year there are schools that don’t fill, and students who are still looking for a spot after M10 will often reach out to hidden gem/less popular schools to try to scramble into a vacancy and apply at that point, so the deadline is not an absolute entity, just a deadline to be considered for the M10 admit cycle as I understand it.
Schools which are in a network will all have your details. I attended a couple of TSAO (Ten Schools Admission Organization) events, mostly for Exeter, Andover, Choate, and St. Paul’s. Since then, I’ve gotten emails, leaflets, mail, and inquiry packets from all 6 of the other schools, despite never inquiring.
In the SSAT website, I had initially had them added to our list of potential school but ultimately did not apply. Actually minus us adding to the potential list of schools, we did not communicate with them on anything at all but perhaps just adding them to my potential list of schools is what gave them access to our contact information.
Unlike our first cycle with our older child, we definitely made a much smaller list and applied to only 3 schools that were great fits… Still have doubts rather if we made the right choice… we will all find out on M10.
Yes! I feel like so often while applying I read about kids with insane stats and honestly just wanted to give up even now I’m still haunted by those posts and I’m honestly really worried, but I have to keep in mind and so should anyone reading this that this is the internet, and people lie on the internet!! P.S. 37 days left!!
The same thing admissions officers look for in any interview, whether that’s for middle school, high school, college, or a PHD. AOs will want to see genuine interest in their school, and get a sense of personality- your core values, morals, personal growth, interests, etc. Prep your kid for the interview the same way you would prep for ANY school interview- there are tons of online resources I used for this. Go through a list of the most common questions, including basic info like “what do you like to do outside of school”, “tell me about yourself”, “where are you from”, etc. Best of luck to your kid applying!
Yeah, the potential schools list on the SSAT website is probably the reason you got mail. It’s disingenuous- I dislike the idea of personal addresses being shared wo permission
For schools which accept late applications, just for a spot on a waitlist… It is most likely a ploy to lower the admissions rate overall. Cough cough Andover. It’s unfortunate- I wish schools didn’t care about superficial stats like admissions rate.
Yeah, I just try to stay away from them. Now that J15 has passed, there’s nothing any of us can do anymore to change our profiles… best to let it go and wait until the dreaded M10… 37 days left. The tension is killing me… I want to get it over with!
For Choate and Middlesex I had dry interviewers. I did my best to be engaging but overall the conversations were pretty average… 5-6/10. It’s a shame, because I really loved the Choate campus and I think the interview knocked down my chance considerably. It’s worth noting that I had an online interview for Choate- and they actually require it that way to even the playing field. I think everybody experienced some degree of distantness through the screen so it might not be as big of an issue as I think. But yeah, Middlesex was just bland, no getting around it. It was also the interview I was least prepared for.
Otherwise, for Exeter, Andover, St. Paul’s, and Groton, all of my interviewers were amazing, and I honestly have a hard time deciding which one was my favorite. I would say Groton was a little but worse than the other three, and after that, Exeter, although the difference between the four is so small that it’s almost pointless to rank them. I loved St. Paul’s and Andover especially! They were just so friendly and warm.
Andover/St. Pauls
Exeter
Groton
Choate
Middlesex
I think this is also an accurate rating of how much the interviewer liked me. So it goes both ways! What about you?
Actually, I just did some googling and couldn’t find any info… I think it’s true but I can’t remember exactly where I heard it, so take it with a grain of salt. If I find the source I’ll let you know. Sorry lol. I actually think it might be only some years- I found a post from last year about it but none from earlier.
YES! my hotchkiss interview was great but definitely not my best but I did try super hard to be engaging and fun. but also it was my first interview soo that was probably another reason why it wasn’t the very best.
next was my choate interview which was first scheduled for early December but then my interviewer literally never showed up😭 so i was legit just in the zoom panicking by myself for like 40 minutes before i decided to leave it and email them. the next day the interviewer emailed me saying sorry she missed it but it was okay bc we rescheduled it. the interviewer was a different lady and she was super fun n nice and we vibed super well.
my Blair interviewer was SUPER dry like SUPERRRR DRY. I feel like we js didn’t vibe well at all and i could tell it was rlly awkward. when i asked questions she said she didn’t know the answers but i think that was one of my worser ones.
my peddie one was AMAZING. I think that was my best interview and we really bonded. my interviewer and i were literally yapping about random stuff like wicked😭 but yeah that was really really awesome and she and i are still in contact a lot.
my Exeter interview was okay but it was really similar to Blair’s, not very good. she and i js didn’t vibe and that’s okayyyy it was js a bit awkward and she didnt rlly get any of my jokes, she just forced a little chuckle but it was okay.
my Andover interview was AWESOME! the guy was superr nice and funny and we vibed.
my Deerfield interview was again, amazing. it was really similar to peddies and she and I were yapping about random stuff like wicked and other movies and it really just felt like a regular convo. at the end she was like “omg i feel so energized now” and “i feel like u and i could’ve kept talking” and i know i shouldn’t read too much into it since they probably say that to a lot of people but either way, i think it was AMAZING.
St. Paul’s was also a lot like Blair’s and exeters-meh.
37 days left. The tension is killing me… I want to get it over with!