Our oldest DS is likely applying to boarding schools this cycle for 9th grade admission. While both parents are 1st gen Ivy grads, we have had zero exposure to boarding schools and now live in a part of the country where it is virtually unheard of except for behavioral reasons.
DS began submitting inquiries last week to a few of the Ten Schools (and he may apply to up to half of them). He quickly received an invite (presumably automated) to ann upcoming Ten Schools Diversity Round Table tour stops from one of the schools. This was the first we heard of traveling admissions events, and while we don’t live particularly close to any of the stops, we could figure out how to make an overnight trip to 2-3 of the locations. The opportunity to meet with multiple of the schools at once and potentially even do an in-person interview closer to home is very valuable.
But I have to ask: are the DRT events genuinely meant for underrepresented minorities in the same sense that most D/DEI initiatives are? My son is most definitely not an URM, however he has been born and raised in a state that is not well represented at the highly competitive schools. We would try to make the trip for one of these but don’t want to take space from prospective applicants it is meant for if that does not include us. If that’s the case, we will try to make an on-campus visit to his top 1-2 then settle for virtual interviews at the rest.
Thanks for any guidance!
Consider asking the boarding prep school that invited your son the question that you asked in this thread.
Why are you and your son considering boarding school ?
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I have not heard of the DRT but from the Ten Schools site:
Founded in 2001, the Diversity Round Table (DRT) was established for admissions officers of color within the Ten Schools Admission Organization (TSAO). The primary role of DRT is to counsel, recruit and matriculate prospective students from a demographic range including, but not exclusively, racial, cultural, economic, and geographic.
The Diversity Round Table functions in the spirit of the TSAO, whose member schools strive “to cooperate, in their outreach to prospective students and their families.” Our mission is to:
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Enhance the educational experience of all students by creating a diverse school environment
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Implement strategies that create a diverse applicant pool.
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Counsel families and talent identification program administrators through the boarding school admission process.
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Act as an advisor to enrolled families once they arrive at our schools; over time, allow them to establish their own connections among our faculty over four years.
Because you say you are coming from an area where academic boarding schools are unknown, your son’s application might fit the “geographic” bucket.
We are in Arizona where, like you, no one in our sphere was familiar with boarding schools and, in fact, while our son attended Choate (2011-2015), he was the only student from AZ his last three years there (there was one young woman from AZ who graduated his freshman year). I feel strongly that geographic diversity was in his favor during his application cycle.
Because you received the invitation, I highly recommend you attend. When the TSAO conducted one of its annual road shows in Phoenix (not labeled as DRT then), we attended so our son could interview with two of the schools on his list which did not include Choate at the time. However, it was the Choate representative who spoke with him at length and encouraged him to apply and where he happily ended up. If we had not attended that session, he would not have applied. We learned a lot about those ten schools at that event as well as the application and admissions process, which we were totally unfamiliar with.
It costs nothing to attend but the payoff is high. Don’t miss it.
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First, Welcome! As you were invited and are from a poorly represented geographic area, you are part of the intended audience. It is very considerate of you to worry about taking space from someone else, but these events tend to be organized to have more than enough capacity. Their goal is to attract as many applicants as possible.
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What @gardenstategal said!
Our DC interviewed with Derek Johnson at St. Pauls. He has been there quite a number of years.
Reviewing the Ten Schools link, I would definitely recommend adding The Peddie School to your search.
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Agree with others, they are likely sending it to you for your zip code and geographic diversity, by design! If this is of interest to you, you have been in invited and can go:)
In universities (fyi) a huge push for attracting rural students - which is also confusing some white, wealthy (not saying you are!), rural parents being invited to things…
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