<p>I come from a small town in Idaho, I would love to go to boarding school particularly Andover. I am a very good student at a small catholic school and have great test scores. I have studied ballet since I was three and have danced the Nutcracker with a profeesional dance company. I have also been a girl scout for 8 years and have earned many leadership awards. Do I have any chance of getting into one of these elite schools or is my back ground going to be do much of a hurdle. I am currently in the 7th grade and would like to be ready to go for 9th. I am plannng on studying for the ssat this summer. I also have done a ton of community service.</p>
<p>If you are a ballet dancer than you must consider St. Paul’s School.</p>
<p>[St</a>. Paul’s School ~ Dance](<a href=“http://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=5929]St”>http://www.sps.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=5929)</p>
<p>I’m curious. Why do you think coming from a small catholic school in Idaho would be an admission hurdle. I agree that with a strong interest in Ballet and, presumably some interest in music, art, St. Paul’s would be the obvious
“first tier” school to explore. Because of the all boarding environment and relatively small size (500 vs about 1000 at Exeter and Andover) St. Paul’s is a particularly good place for boarding students who are far from home. How supportive are your parents about your dreams of boarding school? Since you are a bit far to visit, I suggest you write admissions at St Pauls and ask for a video called “mentors”. It was produced about five years ago and might be a bit faded VHS but if still available it will give you and your parents a feel for the place.</p>
<p>I get why you might call your location a hurdle, but I think being from Idaho gives you an advantage as opposed to being from somewhere in New England…</p>
<p>There is a young lady graduating from Thacher this year and heading to Dartmouth. Like you, she is from Idaho, very bright, motivated, and a really interesting, nice person to be around. She was (is) a singer, not a dancer. </p>
<p>Thacher’s size, about 240 kids, makes it a wonderful place to be if you’re traveling far from home. Small enough to be a family, big enough to have superb programs, including great dance, drama and singing opportunities. </p>
<p>Your residence would only help you with any boarding school’s admission. There are not a lot of applicants from Idaho and school’s appreciate the chance to have kids from all the States.</p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>A good friend of mine at Exeter is from Lewiston, Idaho, and he loves Exeter very much! Definitely agree with the posters above: being from a remote place will definitely help your chances of admission significantly, as schools are looking for “geographic diversity.” It sounds like you have a lot more than that to bring the schools, too. So send those applications!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the info, I am going to look into St.Pauls. My parents are supportive but do not know much about this boarding school. I have done all the research myself. I am sure I will have more questions</p>
<p>Definitely you have an advantage because you are from small town of Idaho.</p>
<p>Rather than ruining your summer doing ssat prep to enhance your chances of admission, why not simply explore the various New England first tier schools for “fit”–which is a lot more important in the schools’ value scheme than the ssat.* With respect to the SSAT simply do a practice test to see where you are sitting vis a vis every other applicant and as long as you’re in the top third you’re in the ballpark. A focussed interest in something and the ability to get the most of whatever the school is about is what they are looking for. Don’t sweat the finances, most of the schools have really good financial aid and are free if family income is less than $ 60,000.</p>
<p>Culturally and spiritually the Eastern schools group roughly into three families-- the “St. Grottlesex” schools --St. Paul’s, Groton, St. Marks, St. George’s and Middlesex. These are modelled after the great English Public schools and feel rather like Oxford colleges. The second are what I would call the Academies --Andover, Exeter, Milton, Deerfield which originated as feeder schools for Harvard. the third family are schools that are outside New England Lawrenceville, Peddie, Choate. Academically there is nothing to choose between these schools but they vary rather a lot in the percentage of day students, in size and in tone. Research them to see where you think you might be happiest and don’t worry too much about getting in. If you’re serious about applying you should select about five schools, figure out what would make you stand out among the other applicants, start talking to your present teachers to ensure they say wonderful things about you and complete the process by Christmas. That is not that far away. Good luck!</p>
<p>You sound like you would be a good candidate for any school. Instead of limiting yourself at this point in the process, I think you should broaden your search. A plane ride is a plane ride, right?</p>
<p>Use Boarding School Review to get a sense of what schools offer, realizing that some info is out of date. Request info packets from schools that seem promising. </p>
<p>Look at the packets and start to form an idea of what is important to you - are you impressed that the school has a hockey program? a lake? all boarding? large size? near a town? great landscape? near an airport?</p>
<p>What started our search, “better academics”, we realized we could find in many places. Thus it was other considerations that ultimately swayed us.</p>
<p>Besides St. Pauls, look at Mercersburg for a great Dance program.</p>
<p>Search old threads on this site for schools you are interested in, timelines for applying etc. There’s a lot of stuff on this site, once you know what you are looking for.</p>
<p>Agree with other posters - as long as you have top grades and strong SSAT’s being from a small town in Idaho will be a plus not a minus.</p>
<p>Also, take a look at Choate which has a strong arts/theater program. Also, Choate is in New England (Walingford, Connecticut).:)</p>
<p>Blair Academy is another school to research to see if it is a “fit” for you…beautiful campus and facilities, wonderful fine arts/theater/dance program and extremely nurturing, community, with stellar, challenging academics (and a gorgeous new girls dormitory…) Good luck!</p>
<p>Check the “admissions on the road” sections of the prep schools websites. There might be some planning visits to Idaho. Your locations gives you a big boost. Idaho is one of the few states that is considered a “hook” in admissions. Most of these schools don’t have even one student from Idaho.</p>
<p>check out HOTCHKISS!</p>
<p>Thank you for all of these uplifting messages!!! All of you really helped me, Thank you thank you!! I just have one more question: will schools take people who have relatives that went to that school over people that have no out side sources? I have a friend who’s dad went to school at Andover and they send her lots of information on the school and letters. Thank you!</p>
<p>Since the schools have an obvious commitment to its alumni, there is likely to be an advantage to having relatives who went there. That being said the major schools now all now have need blind admission so finances are not taken into consideration in assessing admission. Nobody on the board that I am aware of really knows how admission works. The only thing I know is that you can’t get in if you don’t apply and that if you research the schools well you should find at least five or six where you would be an obviously attractive candidate. You have no downside to applying apart from a small application fee, so do yourself a favour, research the schools, go visit a few if you can simply to get a feel for the place, write a statement why you want to go to a particular school–i.e., why you think you could get the most out of and contribute the most to a particular school, do a practice SSAT under timed conditions so you don’t hit the test cold turkey, and above all line up your current teachers and mentors to say wonderful things about you. Be sure your parents are fully on side – i.e., are prepared to let you go and spring for their share of the cost. As everybody else has told you, you have a reasonable chance of getting in so go for it!</p>
<p>Having relations that attend or attended a particular BS is a hook but by no means a guarantee. I believe that all the schools make a concerted effort to proffer an opportunity to those prospective students that have no connections whatsoever.</p>
<p>you sound like your coming from the same boat as me…
i’m from a really small town in texas,
i’ve been doing ballet for like, forever
and i have a ton of other extra curiculars as well as being at the top of my class.
i made it to prep school,
so can you :)</p>