Just another voice to agree with others not to take test again. Truly it’s splitting hairs at that point and your (meaning student) time is so much better spent on other things.
Also I hope I can gently add some context to a new parent heading into the prep school world, as I look toward my own upcoming prep parent world exit with my last two daughters applying to colleges now –
There is so much toxicity and stress around the prep school application space that I think is unhelpful, especially for a 13 year old kid. No 13 year old benefits from being told essentially that their amazing 95%-ile score isn’t good enough. (especially when it totally is). It makes me a little sad for so many kids like your friend’s son who probably lived in that space of thinking they weren’t good enough. Or worse: that their particular year was the one unlucky “extra competitive” year (spoiler: I’ve been in the college and prep space now for 6 years and so far every year is that “one extra competitive year”).
I say this not at all to be dismissive, but because if you were my best friend and you asked me these questions, I would want you to know: it really is about so much more than grades and test scores and getting into the “tippy top” schools. I pinky promise you.
Yes, you need great grades and good scores to get into the highly competitive schools. But I think the biggest piece that is overlooked easily is: fit. Truly. When the school reads the kid’s essays, do they seem like someone the faculty wants to live with for four years? What are teacher recommendations saying about them? What are they like in the interviews? I think people tend to focus too much on being “impressive” rather than being “likable,” to their detriment, especially for a 13 year old kid. The goal, as we say in our house is: does the reader of your essays, or interviewer, say to themselves: “Wow – I would LOVE to sit down and have coffee with this person and hear more!”
Again, yes be a great student. Interested, engaged kids who are curious, etc – yes that all needs to be there. But that is either there and done by now or not, right? If a kid is authentic, relaxed and likable (and yes, prepared with some foundational interview strategies), then I truly believe we can trust the “impressive” to come through without forcing it or stressing out with narrative that a 98%-ile test is the goal to keep pursuing at all costs.
In my opinion, once solid (NOT “the highest ever possible”) grades/test scores are in place, the task becomes: find the compelling narrative of what your amazing kid brings to the table. In our house, we call this: know what you bring to the picnic. Know what is in your picnic basket. And then communicate that basket very clearly to schools who are inviting people to join their picnic for four years. They may not want or need your picnic basket. That’s OK. But they will know what it is because you’ve done the work of figuring out what your basket is about. The school that wants someone with your picnic basket (i.e. your profile) will absolutely be thrilled.
No one is admitting a kid because they got a 98.
No one is denying a kid because they got a 95.
To be clear, someone may have a 95 and get denied, but I am convinced: it was the picnic basket, not the test score. (which is hard to hear for some people – it’s easier to blame a “low” score or a “crazy year!”). But it’s the picnic basket. It was either unclear or not compelling OR it was actually very clear and compelling, but just not what the school is looking to have at their particular picnic. OR, they had too many people with similar picnic baskets so they picked a few of those baskets and your kid wasn’t one who got picked. (Note – This last scenario is a great reason for making sure your picnic basket is reflecting the unique wonderfulness inside each kid.).
I believe that schools are truly looking for kids they want to spend 4 years with, who they can picture being in their classrooms and their dorms, and – yes – who has cleared a threshold of grades/test scores. (and that threshold is definitely way lower than 98 – but as Sroo points out, there ARE scores that would suggest maybe retaking the test…95 is NOT one of them though).
My last thought here is: the difference in education between a “tippy top” super competitive boarding school and a (for lack of a better word) “second tier” boarding school is WAY smaller than most people think! When my first daughter decided to go to BS, we focussed only on the usual New England suspects. She was admitted almost everywhere (despite having WAY lower than 95%-ile scores btw) and attended her first choice highly competitive school and it was really NOT a fit. It was just a relentless grind that she felt didn’t seem like a good fit for a 14 year old who still wanted to reach out and try new things throughout her high school career (our bad for kind of dismissing the admissions sessions which clearly said that 4 hours of daily homework was pretty typical…turns out that was not an exaggeration. oopsies.). Anyway, she transferred to a “second tier” school and it was amazing – challenging, robust opportunities, so much support and community, etc. Best decision ever. She is now a freshman at her lifelong dream highly competitive university studying business, so leaving her big name boarding school 100% did NOT have any negative impact on her college admissions process. In fact, I’m pretty sure that her picnic basket was far more interesting because she had space to explore new things in high school. She got excellent grades at both schools – that’s just who she is as a student – so I don’t want to discount the threshold competency of being a solid academic kid. But once that’s in place…truly – the fit question is what’s at play.
Anyway – enough out of my novel here today!
happy new year and applying! J15 and M15 are exciting times!
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