Will Attending a Boarding School Increase My Chances of US College Admission?
Parents and students are often willing to go to great lengths to gain admission to America’s top Ivy League and Ivy-tier universities. Strategies can include hiring a private tutor, finding/creating interesting extracurricular opportunities, or seeking out the most competitive (and expensive) boarding schools in America.
So, is it actually worth the money to attend a prestigious boarding school in the USA?
It is undeniable that top US boarding schools send a large number of students to Ivy League and Ivy-tier universities. From 2018 to 2020, for example, Philips Exeter Academy admitted 23 students to Harvard, which is a higher number than your average American high school. This is partly due to the fact that elite US boarding schools often have robust, well-funded college admissions and advising services that can help students craft the perfect college application.
Elite boarding schools also have a wide variety of advanced courses from the AP or IB curriculum that can help a college application stand out. Often, students will refer to AP and IB online tutors for assistance with these courses.
It is important to keep in mind that the most prestigious US boarding schools are also incredibly difficult to gain admission to in the first place. They usually require near perfect SSAT or ISEE scores and many applicants are mentored by private tutors in the admissions process. Students at prestigious boarding schools may already be some of the top students in the world. If you are lucky enough to be admitted to a top boarding school, then it may be difficult to stand out among all of the other stellar students around you.
Finally, attendance at a prestigious boarding school is not nearly enough to gain admission to a top US university. America’s top schools require solid SAT or ACT scores, meaningful college essays, extracurricular involvement, and a good GPA. Top universities see tens of thousands of applicants each year and setting yourself apart, especially if you attend an elite boarding school, is a challenging task. This is especially true when you consider the fact that many students are being mentored throughout their college admissions process by SAT tutors, ACT tutors, AP tutors, and IB tutors. Many students will choose to seek help from an English tutor for IB courses in Hong Kong.
In sum, elite US boarding schools can definitely help students in the college admission process by offering their students resources that are sparse at other high schools. However, elite boarding schools are not an automatic ticket into the Ivy League. A lot more work awaits for the most ambitious students. Do not fret if you are not attending an elite US boarding school, as there are still many ways to maximise your chances of getting into the best American universities. To achieve the best scores in assessments, whether it be SSAT, ISEE, SAT or ACT, you may consider hiring private tutors in Hong Kong to support your studying. These tutors cover a range of courses. For example, you may hire an IB Maths tutor in Hong Kong. If you are based overseas, you can also consider, for example, services from IB online tutors to help you in achieving your ideal scores.