Reply to New STA parent seeking advice, suggestions, or just plain "I wish I had known X" info

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'll jump on the bandwagon and ask a few questions as well. I'm getting ready to apply for the next school year. We're being encouraged by people who are involved with the school because of our DC's skill set: scholar/athlete. Our DC, who also fits into a minority category, has been very successful (gifted program placement) in the public school system and does not necessarily want to change things.  DC is also showing promise in two different sports at the travel level. DC is disciplined and goal oriented; he is also very social and popular with fellow students/friends. Though we cannot afford the tuition, it is not the cause for our anxiety about having him possibly attend the school.  We are concerned about the social dynamics. Right now he is confident, driven and sure of himself. I wonder if that will change at a place where he will be in the financially disadvantage group. We are professional and would be considered well read and well traveled, but we would not be at the financial level of most of the population there. Any advice would be helpful?[/quote]

I think during the shadow days (once while applying and again, optionally, after acceptance) many kids get a sense of whether they would like it and be comfortable or just feel like it wouldn't be a good fit (for example, single-sex or the fact that there is mandatory chapel).  So I think you can have some confidence that you will get some good feedback from your son himself (hopefully he'll go into the process with an open mind even if, understandably, he would prefer not to change from his current school).

I think that the new students who have the easiest time feeling at home are probably those who are very active in school activities, with sports coming to mind first (but also arts-based participatory activities like theatre).  Being part of a team seems to break down the social barriers very quickly.

The tougher transition can be academic.  It sounds like your son is very bright, so this may be a breeze, but sometimes there's enough of a different approach from the prior school that even students who did very well in gifted/talented programs can all of a sudden get faced with a less-than-stellar grade or more than one in their first exposure to St. Albans.  I don't know if there have been other families from your current school who have gone to St. Albans that you could talk to about how well the performance at the current school translated?  I would say that if he is a hard worker and wants to do well, he probably will do well, but there's also no question that it can be unsettling if you don't see the results you were used to seeing when you get to a new school.  (And, again, he may be a stellar enough student that he excels from Day 1 . . . this is just something to think about.)

Good luck.  He sounds like a great kid, and St. Albans is definitely a school worth at least checking out for him.[/quote]

I'm just amending this to note that the shadowing option is for the Upper School (high school) admissions process.  As far as I know (worth checking), there's a different process for the Lower School (grades 4-8) where they have a tour and an interview but don't do a shadow day as is the case for the high school admissions process.[/quote]

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