Sending my sister off to Andover or Exeter

[Anonymous]

You're a college student and you personally have the money to pay for your sister to go to boarding school???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

She doesn't really care about school to be honest. Smart and a good student, but not really caring about the future ahead in high school.

You haven't answered how old your sister is and how old you are. You are assuming that your sister will get into these schools which doesn't sound likely if her grades aren't that great. Personally, I think you sound like you want your sister to be as stressed as you. If she isn't interested in school and goes away..what makes you so certain that she is going to want to be a serious student or just party? Again assuming she even gets in!

OP did say the sister is in elementary school so it's probably waaaaaayyyy too early to be trying to prep her for high school.

[Anonymous]

This may be fan fiction, but I think OP is the oldest and probably the one who spent the most time in the "Old Country" before emigrating.

Younger sister was born in the US or came over so early as to be completely American.

OP has some concerns about how American the younger sibling is, and how the little one lacks the immigrant drive that got the older one to Princeton and wants to stack the deck a little.

[Anonymous]

OP, please understand that you are fighting for the Ivy spot from Andover/Exeter just as you are (and maybe moreso!) in public. The difference is that those schools have effectively already "screened" students so that the entire pool is made up of high-performing students--kind if like your public school was entirely filled with students who were in the top 10% of your class and you then had to be in the top 20% of that group. It's not an easier road.

The best thing you can do for your sister now is to continue to encourage her interest in school and academics and encourage her to seek out enrichment activities that she enjoys (sports, music, languages, etc.). Those matter for both boarding school and college admissions. Work hard yourself so that you are potentially in a financial position to help once you graduate.

Then, once she is in middle school, you can start to talk about whether she might like to go to boarding school. If she's in elementary now I assume she is not more than ten--so it's far too early to be thinking about whether she wants to go to boarding school or what her grades for admission might look like. Her thoughts will be very different when she is 13 or 14, and by that point her academic path may be much clearer so the decision may be moot.

I agree that it's sweet (and important!) that you're looking out for her--but you also need to let her make her own path.

[Anonymous]

How. Old. Is. Your. Sister?

[Anonymous]

sparky wrote:I'm wondering how I can prepare my elementary school sister to Andover or Exeter. I was always stressed out due to the competition in a magnet high school, and I hope my sister has a better secondary school experience. I did get into Princeton, however, but I don't think fighting for the spot in a public school isn't worth it vs going to a private school where 20% of the population go to an Ivy. I want help send her off to the Lower School and then the Upper school if possible. I talked to my parents and they seem to be positive about the idea, as the district they are moving to next year isn't the best. How should I help my sister go about this?

You and your sister are not the same.
You might not have the same stressors, not the same goals, not the same work ethic, not the same level of competitiveness. Let her earn her way in to whatever elite program (magnet, private, boarding) she can and choose herself.
I assume your parents are paying the $60k/year to attend?

As for "How to prepare an ES child to apply for boarding school?" It's the typical stuff like excel at 1 or 2 ECs, strong transcript, close to a couple teachers who write good recs, good transcript, articulate what she wants in the future/why that school, etc.

[Anonymous]

Play hockey.

[Anonymous]

I meant, Play hockey very well.

[Anonymous]

Andover has a lower school
https://www.andover.edu/learning/academic-curriculum

[Anonymous]

sparky wrote:My parents prefer public school at this point however, as they saw me get into Ivies from them. However, they also saw me get stressed out due to the environment there, and might send my sister to a private school when she reaches middle school soon. Since I'm going off to college, my parents are seriously talking about it.

I hate to say this but tbh, with parents like these, I think there's no way your sister doesn't end up stressed out. I wager that it's the parents, not the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

She doesn't really care about school to be honest. Smart and a good student, but not really caring about the future ahead in high school.

You haven't answered how old your sister is and how old you are. You are assuming that your sister will get into these schools which doesn't sound likely if her grades aren't that great. Personally, I think you sound like you want your sister to be as stressed as you. If she isn't interested in school and goes away..what makes you so certain that she is going to want to be a serious student or just party? Again assuming she even gets in!

Boarding schools have high academic stress and social stress. much more of both than a Blair or TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an alum, I am a little distraught that Princeton has lowered its admissions standards (particularly its writing expectations).

I'm concerned too. the lack of common sense here is disturbing. She has the rest of her life to try "living in NYC." Heck, between age 18-30 I had lived in 3 countries and 4 major US cities. What a futile thing to worry about.

[Anonymous]

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an alum, I am a little distraught that Princeton has lowered its admissions standards (particularly its writing expectations).

Then I guess Princeton, Dartmouth, Duke, Vanderbilt, WashU, Williams, and Columbia all must have significantly lowered their admission standards. There's no way I could have gotten into any of them! (I got into all of them).

Pls go study for your exams. No one here cares about how many colleges you applied to or considered. Streets smarts are what get you ahead in life, work on that.

[Anonymous]

Is this representative of an ESOL first gen Ivy admit and her thought process on things?

If so, I will be very specific with my alum donations going fw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:My parents prefer public school at this point however, as they saw me get into Ivies from them. However, they also saw me get stressed out due to the environment there, and might send my sister to a private school when she reaches middle school soon. Since I'm going off to college, my parents are seriously talking about it.

I hate to say this but tbh, with parents like these, I think there's no way your sister doesn't end up stressed out. I wager that it's the parents, not the school.

My parents are really rough I'll admit. They went crazy when I told them I wanted to go to CU over Pton. I succumbed eventually, but I have no regrets.