Just FYI, I’m applying to L’ville as a boarding student, and Pingry’s decision letter will come February 3rd for me.
Will being from NJ really help me in Exeter/Andover? When I went there both schools had a massive ton of pins on their national and global maps (indicating where the student body is from)?
No. NJ is faaaaar from an underrepresented state.
No. No school is looking for more kids from NJ. I’ve never been to a BS that didn’t seem to have swarms of NJ kids.
I read that post. I think she probably meant it was neutral vs the hard go for NJ kids and lawrenceville.
Getting into either Andover or Exeter is difficult, and there is no special advantage to being from NJ. What I meant was that getting into Lawrenceville as a day student from NJ is probably harder than getting into Andover/Exeter as a boarder. I don’t have any facts to back this up, but just intuition.
Can anyone here answer my questions from my previous post with the two questions?
- How much of a difference does not having Harkness in Math and Science make at Andover?
- How much bearing does the parent interview have?
- Zero. And Andover does not have Harkness at all, although they do Harkness-type discussions in many classes.
- Depends upon the school, but in general, the school is accepting students, not parents. Of course, if the parent comes across as obnoxious in the interview, they will do the kid no favors.
Harkness is probably an impediment to STEM classes. Reason being is that these classes are better suited for lecture format. Harkness is better for courses like language and social sciences where debate and interaction is needed.
Parent interview is done to 1) make sure they are not crazed helicopter parents and 2) to see if the parents are okay with the boarding experience. It is rare that a parent interview will have a meaningful impact on admissions. Most of it is up to you.
@AKmath
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that because it isn’t labeled harkness there won’t be discussion. Once you are admitted you’ll get to speak to kids at revisit day and go to classes. Then you can decide for yourself.
My guess is the parent interview is important to screen out the overbearing/extra type a/red flag parents. If you don’t get in I highly doubt it’s because your dad asked a question.
I seem to recall that SAS used Harkness for Math?
@AKMath: I went back to my son’s freshman directory at Lawrenceville. There were a total of 17 kids with origins from the Indian subcontinent in his entering class (of 155). About an equal split between boys and girls. Most of them were local kids from NJ, only 5 were boarders. A couple were internationals. Some of these had special connections (Legacy, athlete, etc).
So for boarding boys, the number of slots is probably around 2-3 for the freshman class. Now the number of kids in each bucket changes from year to year. But this gives you a general idea of how many kids they are looking to take. I don’t know what the numbers are for the other schools, but I imagine they are similar.
Hope this puts things into context. Again I wish you the best of luck.
Just a quick question, does your GPA in Andover matter freshmen year or is it pass/fail like Exeter?
@one1ofeach
I don’t know. My dad asking the interviewer (who was the dean of admissions) whether I was ready for boarding school was really stupid. The conversation was really positive between him and my parents but after the question, my mother said his tone went completely downhill. My mom just casually asked what my chances were (for my sake), and he said I very most likely won’t get in as they have a 13% acceptance rate. It was weird because at first, he said things that made it seem like I’d already got in gushing about how great I was, but in the end, he made it seem like I’d already been rejected. What should I make of this? Do I still have a chance for Exeter as it’s my dream school?
BTW, does Exeter use your second marking period grades as well?
Same, I’m applying to LVILLE,
I come from a pretty middle-class town and am applying for financial aid as a ninth grade boarder.
I got a 1050 on my PSAT which was a 95 percentile score, I have all A’s and was enrolled in advanced classes. I play soccer, run track, and cross country. I also play the violin, student council secretary, and wrote in two start up magazines. The only big throw off in my application is probably my low SSAT score of around 2000 which was 38 percentile. I didn’t study for the SSAT because of how last minute my decision to take it was. I didn’t know I was going to even apply to a private school until November and decided that going to a private was a possibility up until December which gave me less than a month to SSAT prep and do my application.
I immediately fell in love with this school when I came here for an interview but am having some doubts after looking at how talented the pool is this year. Any advice or guidance will help!? 
@goaliegod
I hate to break it to you but your chances seem slim. Really low SSAT score and financial aid don’t make a strong case. But… You play many sports and if you got in touch with one or two of the coaches in your sports your chances would probably jump up to average. What state are you from?
@one1ofeach
I don’t know. My dad asking the interviewer (who was the dean of admissions) whether I was ready for boarding school was really stupid. The conversation was really positive between him and my parents but after the question, my mother said his tone went completely downhill. My mom just casually asked what my chances were (for my sake), and he said I very most likely won’t get in as they have a 13% acceptance rate. It was weird because at first, he said things that made it seem like I’d already got in gushing about how great I was, but in the end, he made it seem like I’d already been rejected. What should I make of this? Do I still have a chance for Exeter as it’s my dream school?
BTW, does Exeter use your second marking period grades as well?
How much does full-pay tuition matter? I’ve been reading around and many people seem to say it matters a ton, but I’m quite skeptical. How many people apply to Exeter/Andover/L’ville for financial aid anyway?
I wasn’t in the interview so I really don’t have a way to comment on it. Maybe your parents misinterpreted, maybe they said something else, maybe the interviewer realized he had been to positive and was trying to set realistic expectations.
A smart, motivated kid will do fine at any of the boarding schools you applied to. One vs the other will in no way make or break your highschool experience. I get that you think you know what your dream school is or how you’d love to learn but you’re 14, you will be fine regardless of dream school or no.
Im from NJ
@goaliegod
Yeah so assuming you met with the coaches (and they somewhat want you), your chances are average.
Is there anyone here who can answer my questions?