What do schools look for in an applicant?

AnonMomof2
Mon, 16 Aug 2021 15:36:49 +0000

My daughter had been planning to apply as a Senior this past year. I had no idea about repeating a grade and at first we were hesitant. She emailed her list and was told by 3 top schools that you can apply as a senior, and by a 4th top one that you cannot. Of the 3 that said you can apply, 2 admitted that they hadn’t accepted any seniors (only post grads- whose numbers are often combined with seniors). So she decided to apply as a repeat Junior. She applied to 3 top schools. Excellent grades, PSAT, ACT and SAT scores, some but not a lot of volunteer activity, no real leadership roles, not a recruited athlete, but a pre-professional level dancer. The school that accepted her has the best dance program of the three she applied to so I assume that is why she was accepted there but not the other two. That said, I would recommend finding out if your passions, whatever they may be, fit in at the schools you apply to. Her school accepted 19 or so Juniors and about 50 sophomores. See if you can find the number of acceptances by grade for the schools you are interested in to help with the repeat question. Good luck.