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Welcome to our blog - a resource of top tips and strategies for ambitious students and families!
Recommendations are crucial when applying to US boarding schools. They provide valuable insights into who you are as a student and a person. A strong recommendation can showcase your strengths and potential, while a weak one can raise concerns. Choose recommenders who know you well and can speak to your academic abilities and character to ensure a strong recommendation. Schools typically require recommendations from your current-year English Teacher, Math Teacher, and School Counselor. Some schools may allow or require additional recommendations, such as one from an area of interest or a personal recommendation. A personal recommendation from someone who knows you well is better than a general one from someone with power or prestige.
When selecting the right boarding school for your child, it's important to do your research. For many families, the process typically begins with the school's website. Most boarding school websites show happy students engaged in classes and activities. They feature impressive buildings and unique programs. Most have a small faculty-to-student ratio and offer impressive pathways to the top US universities. Families often come to us excited about what boarding schools provide and need clarification about how to tell them apart, making it challenging for them to come up with a school list or define their top choices once they’ve applied. Here are a few things we recommend considering in your search for the right fit.
While academic performance is undoubtedly important, other factors can also play a significant role in your application. Two of the most important aspects that admissions officers seek are leadership and school involvement.
You have written a compelling personal statement, passed any aptitude tests or written assessments with flying colours, and reached the infamous Oxbridge interview stage. Congratulations, but how are you going to ace your life’s most important thirty minutes to date, and what should you do when you are presented with seemingly irrelevant questions in an Oxbridge interview? As cliché and obvious as it may sound, Oxbridge are looking for someone with the academic potential and being the best, if not at least one of the best, in their chosen course. Therefore, any apparently unrelated questions that you could have been asked in the interview are in fact, subject specific.
Whichever university you apply to, there is always the practical need for university budgeting besides admissions planning. Read on to find out how you should kickstart university planning in ways that would allow you to enjoy the best of both worlds.
Are you noticing any signs of stress or anxiety in your child as they prepare for their upcoming US boarding school interview? It's understandable for them to feel a bit nervous, but there are things you can do to help ease their concerns. Encourage them to practice their interview skills with you or a trusted friend or family member. Remind them to stay calm and confident and to be themselves during the interview. Reassure them that their hard work and achievements have already gotten them this far and that the interview is another step in the process. With support and guidance, your child can approach their interview with a positive attitude and a sense of preparedness.
What makes the next generation of policy experts, business leaders, and economists future-ready and capable of addressing imminent global challenges, ranging from climate change to refugee crises in today’s digital age? Take a look at some of the newly emerging programmes offered by and exclusive to the G5 London universities!
When it comes to choosing the right university – even when the options are down to the London G5 universities – the decision is undoubtedly a daunting one. You might see this prospect applicable only to the competitive and fortunate few who managed to receive offers from the London G5; in truth, knowing their respective scholarly expertise and strategic approach to education matters as early as the stage of admissions preparation.
US Boarding School Visit - Part III: Student Interview
Keep in mind that boarding schools are communities and that the admissions office is tasked with building a diverse community. They are looking for a variety of students with different interests, strengths and personalities.
While an application will capture a student's awards, achievements and interests, there is nothing like an in-person interview for an admissions officer to get to know a student and get a feel for how they will fit into a particular school’s community.
Like the college process, each part of the boarding school process in intended to tell the admissions committee about the applicant. Unlike the university process where not all schools require interviews, interviews are a required part of the boarding school application. As you are aware there are several qualified Asian students for each available spot at US boarding schools, so once a student has been deemed academically suitable for a school, the interview becomes one of the most important parts of the application process and a key way for students to distinguish themselves.
A good interview is a two-way conversation rather than a memorized response to certain typical questions. For teens, talking about themselves with an adult can be difficult and stressful. Actually talking about yourself in a concise, eloquent manner takes practice. Students can come across as rehearsed and disingenuous, causing an admissions officer to not have full confidence in a particular student. Most interviews last no more than 30 minutes, which is not nearly enough time for students to share everything about themselves and a great deal of time if a student tells everything they have to tell about themselves in the first few minutes of the interview.
Initially, students tend to think that it is quite easy to talk about themselves and their accomplishments and do not prepare adequately for the student interview. While you have had months to prepare the other components of the application such as your essays and short answers, you may find it difficult to prepare, make corrections to, or revise your interview. Students should take their interview seriously and prepare for it like the other components of the application.
When preparing our students for interviews, we do not practice interview questions, but rather we want our students to understand the interview mindset. You should think about your accomplishments, the challenges you faced, and what you learned from them. Make sure that you have 3-4 main topics that you intend to cover in the interview. Also, most boarding school admissions officers want to know why you want to go to boarding school, so you should prepare a meaningful response.
Keep in mind that admissions officers are evaluating your impact on the school community. They are thinking to himself or herself, “How would this student behave if I were coaching them?” “Would I want to have this student at my dining table for family style dinner?” “How would this student contribute in the classroom, outside of the classroom?” “Does he or she seem to have an academic passion and desire to try new things?” “How will he or she work and live with others?”
Sometimes interviews go just as planned and students are able to cover all that they want to; other times, like true conversations, students may get talking in depth on a topic that they are interested in or a shared interest with an admissions officer is uncovered and before they know it find that they are engrossed in a conversation and the interview time is up.
As the session starts to wrap up, most interviewers will ask the student if they have any questions. This is a great opportunity for you to learn more about the school and further delve into which school may be the right fit.
Most families visit many schools in a span of a week or so. You think you will remember the details of each school, but as time passes the particulars tend of fade. To help with this, we are sharing with you ARCH's My Boarding School Tracker that we provide to our counseling students to record their research as well as to track their visits. Feel free to use this to keep your personal boarding school journey relevant and organized.
What is referred to commonly as the parent interview is not really an interview. It is not meant to be evaluative. Having accompanied parents on hundreds of “parent interviews”, nearly 100% of the time, the admissions officer will start the parent conversation with a statement that goes something like: “This is not an interview, the purpose of our time together is so that you can ask questions.” One very seasoned admissions officer defined the parent meeting quite well. She said, “The parent meeting is an opportunity for parents to tell me something about their child that I can not gain from reading his/her application.”
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