I am excite to welcome @Kristin_White, author of the recently launched book Prep: The Parent’s Guide to Boarding Schools. Kristin will share some of the interesting topics in her new book, including: merit scholarships, sports recruiting, pros and cons of boarding school life, and trends in selective school admissions. She is available for questions on whatever you would like to discuss, so make sure to ask her your
About the Author
Kristin White has been an educational consultant working with boarding schools for nineteen years. She has visited almost one hundred schools and has worked with families from all over the world. Kristin is also the Director of High School Counseling at a K-8 school in Connecticut. She recently published Prep: The Parent’s Guide to Boarding Schools, which is the first book on this topic to be published in many years.
Comment below to ask Kristin your question.
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I have been in touch with a lacrosse coach that my son met at a camp. He is encouraging but hasn’t mentioned anything about grades. When do they ask for those? Or are grades less important for athletes?? He has been very encouraging so far.
Hi everyone,
I’d be happy to answer any questions or chat about boarding schools. I spent almost a year researching and talking to people at boarding schools and I learned a lot of new things!
If you are interested in buying the book, it is on Amazon, but it is also available in many libraries across the country. If you library doesn’t have a copy, they may buy one if you make a request.
Best,
Kristin
Hi Kristin,
I bought the book on Amazon and was surprised by some of the information, which was different from our experience applying to schools. For instance, you wrote that accepted applicants have until May 1 to respond to their March 10 offers. (This is on p. 20 of the Kindle version.) All of our responses were due on April 10–not May 1. You may want to clarify.
Another example, which is less straightforward, you wrote that schools will often have B teams or third teams so that every student who is interested can participate in a sport. Our experience was that for the most competitive teams at a particular school, you either need to be varsity level or find a new sport. This was what we found with swimming at Peddie and Mercersburg.
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Thanks for buying the book! I hope you found it helpful or interesting. I can explain about your two points:
As for the sports question, yes, my point was that boarding schools offer competitive, sometimes national level sports teams, (such as Peddie swimming) but they also offer a chance for everyone to play a sport. New athletes might be on JV track, JV softball, or a thirds soccer, or they may try rowing for the first time or mountain biking, etc. For many kids, boarding school is their first chance to play on a high school team and it is a great selling point for some families.
There are competitive sports teams, such as ice hockey, that do offer thirds teams, but you are correct that it’s not every sport that offers a thirds team or a path through JV. For a serious swimmer who doesn’t make varsity at a top program— I agree that is a disappointment and something to consider when evaluating schools and swim programs. For elite athletes, it is important to evaluate their training or club sport options at home, as well as the opportunity at boarding school. I included a chapter with information on some of the top athletic programs by sport.
About the reply date-- I do mention the April 10 reply date in many places throughout the book, but I see the page you pointed out which says May 1. There is a group of schools, primarily the lower cost schools, which have a later timeline. But yes, you are correct that most of the boarding schools do have the April 10 reply date. Although it’s also important to keep in mind that many schools are still accepting applications well into the summer, so there is no universal reply date.
I hope your son or daughter is enjoying boarding school!
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@GoldenWarrior, that’s great that your son has had some attention from the lacrosse coach. It can be meaningful and helpful in the admissions process. Yes, grades are still important and your son will go through the same application process as all applicants.
How important is the SSAT? I’m trying to decide if it is really worth it to spend a lot of time and money prepping for it when it seems like a lot of schools don’t require it.
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A post was split to a new thread: Being asked to leave a pre school
That’s a good question, but the answer depends on which schools are on your list, how your grades are, what your standardized testing usually looks like. So it’s hard for me to say! You are correct that many schools don’t require the SSAT/ISEE, so you could apply only these schools and not take the test. But most students do end up taking the SSAT/ISEE, to keep their options open and to have the chance of enhancing their profile by submitting a strong test score.