Well said 9:58. A relevant conversation is what leads an admitted applicant to choose one school over another. Managing the yield.

Good luck to you and your son, 11:31. You certainly didn't owe us an explanation, but it was interesting and refreshing.

PP: It sounds like your son is PG and you have found an upper school that is a good fit for him, crossing fingers that you get good news. I don't know STA but I do know Prep and with those scores, he will 'outgrow' Prep and most other schools pretty quickly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

GP is second choice, first choice is Groton. DS did not apply to Gonzaga but what you say makes sense.

Not trying to be snarky, but genuinely curious: If first choice is Groton, why GP over StA (which always has struck me as more "Groton-like") for the local option?

OK, I'm the one with the kid that had the nerve to apply to Groton and thereby generate the ire of others... DS shadowed at STA and while it is a lovely and wonderful school, he simply did not get the feeling that it was for him. He shadowed at Prep and still didn't feel like he fit. But when he went thru the process at Groton he simply fell in love wtih the place, felt like he belonged and had a great experience. The admissions staff at Groton has absolutely bent over backwards to be accomodating, helpful and nice and they made him feel totally welcomed and were very encouraging. The process at both STA and Prep was very impersonal but given the volume of applications both of these schools receive, that is the nature of the process. There is simply not enough hours in the day for the Admissions staff as it is. So, when we asked DS, if it comes down to STA or Prep, which do you prefer - pick one to apply. He said Prep so that's why we applied at Prep and not STA.

FWIW, Groton is not the only boarding school we visited and we didn't start out looking for boarding schools. They found us through CTY. DS is an awardee for High Honors CTY (this means verbal and math exceed 600 on SAT in the 8th grade). Yes, there is academic recruitment for HS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

GP is second choice, first choice is Groton. DS did not apply to Gonzaga but what you say makes sense.

Not trying to be snarky, but genuinely curious: If first choice is Groton, why GP over StA (which always has struck me as more "Groton-like") for the local option?

can we stay on topic? thanks!

Seriously - 9:50, that's called projecting. There was nothing in PP's post that would lead a normal person to make such a huge assumption.

9:50, you are a freak and I hope I don't know you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

GP is second choice, first choice is Groton. DS did not apply to Gonzaga but what you say makes sense.

Groton? Oh, excuse me. Should he not receive his first choice, will he board at GP?

LOL! We are local so he would be day student at GP but of course would board at Groton.

I get the impression that the Groton application is an ego-booster rather than a sincere interest in a boarding school. Were your intentions to board at GP, I'd be more impressed with your interest in Groton.

Not the pp but I hope she doesn't care if you are impressed or not. Looking at a range of hs options makes sense. Some kids change their minds about schools over the course of 8th grade. They are 13/14 after all. Boarding at Groton, which is a boarding school, is a lot different than boarding at Prep, which is a day school with a few boarders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

GP is second choice, first choice is Groton. DS did not apply to Gonzaga but what you say makes sense.

Groton? Oh, excuse me. Should he not receive his first choice, will he board at GP?

LOL! We are local so he would be day student at GP but of course would board at Groton.

I get the impression that the Groton application is an ego-booster rather than a sincere interest in a boarding school. Were your intentions to board at GP, I'd be more impressed with your interest in Groton.

Our interest in Groton is quite sincere. You asked about the first choice and I told you. I really don't care if you are impressed or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

This has been true for many years. I originally thought it was a way to reward the truly committed. Then I thought it was a way to avoid FA bidding wars.

But the real reason has to do with the way the school's measure their Admissions Departments. The "Yield" or the actual attendance of those offered admissions is a big deal to them. So they are much more likely to offer admission to those with a high probability of attending then those who seem to be wavering between the two or those that seem to be leaning towards the other school.

I don't understand why high schools would care about the "yield" since this information is not public. Or is it?

Just because a measure isn't generally public doesn't mean its not important.

It's primarily an internal measure of the effectiveness of the school's Admissions Department. And since Admissions is such a critical process at these schools, they are very interested in how effective they are.

Admissions Departments are measured based on how many applications they get and what their "yeild" is (Enrolled students as a percentage of acceptances).

They also get a lot of feedback later on on how the class they assemble performs in a number of areas (academically, athletically, etc) and how many "disasters" they admit that could have been avoided.

These Admissions departments have tough jobs. Understanding what they are trying to achieve and how they are measured goes a long way to understanding how the process works.

Anonymous wrote:My son was accepted at both Gonzaga and GP. He is very happy at Prep. Your notion of "conventional wisdom" is not true.

But of course, your son is exceptional beyond convention, therefore HE was afforded a choice between schools. And Gonzaga probably regrets that now you can publicize that he chose Prep, instead.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

GP is second choice, first choice is Groton. DS did not apply to Gonzaga but what you say makes sense.

Groton? Oh, excuse me. Should he not receive his first choice, will he board at GP?

LOL! We are local so he would be day student at GP but of course would board at Groton.

I get the impression that the Groton application is an ego-booster rather than a sincere interest in a boarding school. Were your intentions to board at GP, I'd be more impressed with your interest in Groton.

My son was accepted at both Gonzaga and GP. He is very happy at Prep. Your notion of "conventional wisdom" is not true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accepted!! But will decline if also accepted by DS first choice so still waiting...

If your DS's first choice is Gonzaga, conventional wisdom from recent years indicates that he will not be admitted there, due to his interest in GP.

GP is second choice, first choice is Groton. DS did not apply to Gonzaga but what you say makes sense.

Groton? Oh, excuse me. Should he not receive his first choice, will he board at GP?

LOL! We are local so he would be day student at GP but of course would board at Groton.