Many of you have spent huge amounts of time with the prep school application process. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started? What advice would you give to students and parents who are starting the process for 2026? You don’t need to list everything (unless you want to), but were there any key surprises?
The cautionary statement I am about to write has not negatively impacted my family personally but is generally not understood by prospective boarding school students and parents:
College matriculation is enhanced by a “top” boarding school only if the student becomes a much more interesting and impressive person than he or she would have become at the LPS. If the student is basically the same as he or she would have been, even if super impressive, the chances of acceptance to the most prestigious universities are decreased, not enhanced, by attending a top boarding school.
12 Likes
-
The essays can’t save you if top-flight scores aren’t there.
-
If you need tuition dollars, make sure to review the Top 25 schools by endowment (column A) as well as the Top 25 schools overall (Column B), then conduct rigorous due diligence on all Column A schools that are NOT in Column B.
-
Always review the matriculation list of the most recent 2-3 years. Sure, a large percentage of the top students attending T20 schools are probably athletes or “Special Situations,” but it’s still a reasonable data point to review.
-
If you have a long enough list of potential schools, please begin the applications in order of personal preference. You may “run out of time.”
3 Likes
You might also want to reference the insights from a few similar threads:
1 Like
For us, one surprise was how focused the parent interviews were on trying to figure out whose idea this is - driven by the kid’s desires and ambition, or by the parents’. For us a non-issue (we’re fully supportive but reluctantly so, and would have been happier had our kid wanted to go to local private or public truth be known), but for families where this is an issue, it’s clearly an issue.
1 Like
Go to as many re-visit days as possible.
Our kid ended up choosing a school that had barely been on the radar after actually seeing it in person and meeting other students. Went from last to first on the list.
9 Likes
Hi! I’m currently a Senior at a top boarding school. Here are some things I wish I knew when I started the application process.
Interviews are incredibly important. In my case, the person who interviewed me had the most say in my candidacy throughout the admissions process. Research about the school and interview practice beforehand are incredibly useful. It’s also helpful to come with SPECIFIC questions about the school - show them that you are deeply sharp and interested.
Some schools offer tours adjacent to in-person interviews. At my school, tour guides are actually required to fill out a questionnaire about the prospective student they toured afterwards. Were they engaged? Polite? Outspoken? etc. Answers from these questionnaires are often weighed in the admissions process.
At my school, LOTS of kids have legacy status and/or come from top private/junior boarding schools that have prepared them their entire lives for this experience. I am not one of these kids. I had to compensate with strong grades, letters of rec, interview performance, extra currics, etc. to prove that I was ready for the rigorous environment of a boarding school experience.
Even though some schools are test optional, SSAT scores do matter and submitting strong scores does make a difference.
The admissions review process is pretty holistic - they want compassionate, well-rounded kids who are not only going to contribute to the classroom, but to the vibrant social communities that many of these schools have!
These are just things I have noticed from my own personal experience at my school - I can’t speak for everyone - but I hope this was helpful regardless!
8 Likes
my interview was with another person whose dad kept talking and talking and didn’t give me any chance to talk, but I was still interested and engaged at looking around and seeing how the school is. Will this be a problem?
Hm - I haven’t heard of schools offering group interviews - are you referring to an interview, or a tour?
Either way, I’m sure the interviewer/student tour guide was able to sense your engagement. As long as you were yourself, you have nothing to worry about!
I meant tour sorry.
Im quite introverted so i really didnt talk much but i truly loved all the schools and was really interested in them.
Hello! I just finished the application process, and there are several tips I wish I knew. Some of it might sound cliche, but I do think people should about this when applying to bs.
-
Try and get your SSATs and interviews done in the beginning of the application process. If you score was lower than expected, or you want to try for a higher score, you still have time to study and retake! This is my own opinion, but I found my interviewers more engaged in my earlier interviews (September, October…). Also my opinion, but I founded AOs to be more attentive and engaged in my morning interviews over my midday/night ones.
-Before interviews, you will usually get an email from the person interviewing you. I looked up some of my interviewers on the school’s website and it helped A LOT. I was able to learn more about them from their bios and found several topics to connect with them during my conversations. I also heavily recommend in-person interviews, whether it is on-campus or off-campus. It is a huge difference from online ones. -
If you do have the opportunity to attend in-person admission events, try connecting with other prospective applicants! I made several friends from these events, and one of them was a legacy. It helped me learn a lot more about the school and culture.
-
For parents, really just encourage and support your child through this process. It is tough preparing for interviews and your application, and some support goes a long way. I am thankful my parents were there to support me and it motivated me to keep on going.
I hope this was helpful and good luck on your application this fall!! This process helped me grow a lot as a person and learn more about myself as well.
1 Like
Deleted.
Stay positive! This experience s definitely tough, and there were times where I wanted to give up or felt like boarding school wasn’t for me. It’s been around a month since I submitted my last application and I can honestly say just applying to these schools has changed me as a person. Don’t be discouraged by some people on this forum who have done exemplary things because we ALL have our strengths, focus on yourself, and don’t give up because you’re afraid of rejection because that’s what shapes us! P.S. narrow down your list if you’re applying as a ninth grader! ( I applied to 14 and it was really tough). Keep pushing and regardless of the outcome you’re more than an amazing person AND applicant. If you don’t get in that’s fine the majority of kids at T10 AND T20 colleges went to public schools and the process of applying will DEFINITELY help for college apps, and if you do get in that’s AWESOME!!
- Get the SSAT out of the way early- I started prepping in the summer and took the earliest one available (October).
- Don’t delay in submitting the Candidate Profile because of ECs/Awards that haven’t come in yet. All schools have alternate ways of accepting material and it only hinders you in scheduling interviews.
- Do NOT procrastinate on essays. Trust me, they stack up fast. You think you’re writing only a couple, but all of a sudden you add it all together and it’s 25 pages that you have to write over winter break.
- Take a break. Assuming you followed step 3 and you have some time, spend a day or two without reading your essays. I found that reading them over with a fresh mind helped me find any inaccuracies, or realize that I’d simply been overreacting when I tried to scrap them earlier. (On a side note, write your essays in a google doc so that you can recover past versions.)
- Let your teachers know about recs in advance. They only open in October, but you should tell them you’re applying to private schools at the start of the year and inform them on what to expect.
- Do specific research on each school before the interview. You shouldn’t script your answers per se, but have something ready when they ask “why us?”
- Establish a relationship with your tour guide- you never know if they’re close with your interviewer or not! Be friendly, open, and willing to ask questions that demonstrate your interest. I also found that in general, when you’re more affable, they’ll return the favor and share more details with you about the school.
- Did you stutter in your interview? Do you have a B in Spanish? Did you have a typo in your essay? 85th percentile SSAT? The AOs understand that you’re a 13-14 year old kid and that you make mistakes. Try not to stress about it.
1 Like
Don’t rush to submit your materials (essays, ECs, etc.) until the final days. Have everything ready, but give it some time before hitting submit. You and your kids will keep learning in the process—about the schools, about themselves—and chances are, they’ll come up with better ways to present their application and reflect on what really matters to them.
1 Like
Depends on how you define “top-flight.” Plenty of kids at Andover with SSATs in the 80s for example. Not just athletes either. In fact I’d go even further to say that the essays are more important than the SSAT scores. Perhaps even “far” more important, once scores are above some threshold.
4 Likes
Agreed. If i have a 60 ssat overall (verbal brought it down) but i have all A/A- in a private day rigorous school that my schools have accepted students before/ are familiar with my school how much will this score hurt me?
Well, truly impossible to say. Your GPA will help, as will the fact that the school sends kids to BS.
A 60 is low-ish for these schools, and I think the specific breakdown of the individual scores will be looked at. It will also matter in comparison to the kids from your school who have been accepted in the past. Did those kids have similar SSATs? I might have recommended going TO where possible.
All of these bits of advice are great. They will probably help a few people next year. It’s especially helpful for people who are totally new to the boarding/prep school thing. I suspect that many don’t look seriously at boarding schools because they don’t know where to start.
If anyone else has wisdom to share while we wait for M10, please do!
Hey Guys! quick update: It is possible to get into top schools with a low ssat score + financial aid! I was accepted to Taft and Hill and waitlisted at SAS! Just put as much effort as possible into other areas and your ssat to an extent. (I DONT recommend doing this for anyone. Just providing hope! 
)
1 Like