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sider the broad experience of boarding school. They
understood the realities of admissions and were
impressed with the thorough evaluation of their
daughter’s candidacy.
“The most important thing to know as a parent is
whether it’s the right place for
your child, the right fit,” the
alumnus says. “I am definitely
very surprised by the current
demand for independent schools.
The numbers related to accep-
tance are mind-boggling.”
Ventre at Andover refers to the
rise in the number of families
interested in independent schools
for their children as a “flight to
quality.” Access to superior re-
sources, diverse student bodies,
and growing pools of financial
aid money have only increased
since the recession of 2008
– along with parental anxiety.
Parents, he says, are looking for
any opportunity to give their
children a head start. Because
of that phenomenon, Ventre says
his admissions team is seeing
more specialists, which can both
help and hinder an applicant’s
chances of admission.
“We may have a pool of kids
who have been to three physics
summer camps – they are focused on this one thing,”
he says. “We need some of them, but we can’t have a
school of kids all focused on the same thing. We need
joiners and bridge-builders. That’s common in all of
our schools.”
The search for students who will bring fresh perspec-
tive to a campus is the mission of every independent
school admissions director. Jane Reynolds, dean of
admission and financial aid at Hotchkiss School, talks
about the change in the makeup of a traditional board-
ing school student body. Four or five decades ago, says
Reynolds, the typical boarding school student was being
educated alongside a more homogenous group of peers.
That less diverse peer group provided a similarity to
the experience that doesn’t exist in most independent
schools today. Reynolds also understands the commit-
ment that goes into the application process these days,
both from the student and his or her parents, creating
the perfect environment for disappointment with any-
thing other than good news.
“With the sophisticated levels of diversity we bring to
these schools – domestic, international, religious, socio-
to alumni for questions in an attempt to demystify the
process.
When she returned to tour the School with her daugh-
ter, Ayesha Brantley-Gosine ’96 brought with her fond
memories of her time at St. Paul’s, but she had almost no
recollection of the competitive-
ness of the admissions process.
Brantley-Gosine was surprised
to discover the requirement of
parent essays as part of the ap-
plication for her child. She also
shares that, while her friends
considered her daughter’s ac-
ceptance a formality, Brantley-
Gosine understood that the
odds were not in her favor.
“I would tell other alumni par-
ents that it is not guaranteed,”
says Brantley-Gosine, whose
daughter, Kammy Gosine ’18,
is now a Third Former at SPS.
“Alumni need to prepare them-
selves and their children for the
difficulty of coming into a place
where there is a legacy and
establishing an independent
identity. Many people think it
is comforting for your child to
be in a place where everyone
knows you, but it might be a
source of stress. Don’t assume
your school is the best fit for
your child.”
When John Greene ’85 first came with his son through
the admission process at St. Paul’s, the family was told
that the eighth-grader, who was young for his grade, could
benefit from another year at home. While others expected
the younger Greene to be admitted that year, the family
heeded the advice of Bohan and the SPS admission team
and the boy waited a year, applying successfully as a
repeat freshman.
“I wasn’t expecting that, but that extra year for
him to grow and mature proved to be good advice,”
says Greene. “I appreciated that honesty.”
Another alumni parent, who preferred
to remain anonymous, had a similar
experience with his daughter, who was
wait-listed as an eighth-grader
and admitted a year later as a
repeat Third Former. Despite
the odds of acceptance to
St. Paul’s, the alumnus and
his wife, also an SPS graduate,
hoped their daughter would con-
“Many people think
it is comforting for
your child to be in a
place where everyone
knows you, but it
might be a source of
stress. Don’t assume
your school is the
best fit for your child.”
Ayesha Brantley-Gosine ’96
