Reach High Scholars
Control your destiny.
www.reachhighscholars.org
Initiatives
-- Information on highly competitive colleges and financial aid
-- College visits
-- Summer Enrichment Programs
-- Raymond Roundtables
-- College Fairs
-- SAT Boot Camp
-- Contributions for summer programs and pre-college
expenses
-- Reach High Scholars Club run by students
“Mud on the Wall”
Why Attend a Highly Competitive College?
• Greater intellectual stimulation from professors who are leaders in
their field
• An energized group of fellow students, many of whom will become
future leaders
• Availability of more academic facilities (classrooms, libraries, labs,
etc.)
• More small, seminar-type classes
• Better job opportunities after graduation
• Better chance of acceptance in top graduate schools (business,
law, medicine)
• Better long-term support system among alumni and faculty
• More attractive financial aid opportunities
80 Highly Competitive Colleges
RHS Alumni Who Had Graduated or
Were Attending Before Class of ’11: 20
Recent Years
Class of ’07
Class of ’08
Class of ’09
Class of ’10
Class of ’11
Acceptances
3
2
2
1
21
Now Attending
1
1
1
1
6
“The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get”
The Serious Six:
Jake Leavitt
Samantha Harmon
Ami Neeper
Kristina Francoeur
Jesse Hardman
Jonathan Lemay
Brown
Dartmouth
Holy Cross
Skidmore
Skidmore
Skidmore
2011 Acceptances at Highly Competitive Colleges
% Accepted
SAT 25-75th Percentile
Brown
Dartmouth
Washington & Lee
Williams
Tufts
Wesleyan
Colgate
Holy Cross
Connecticut College
RPI
Skidmore
Grinnell
Smith
Hobart & Wm. Smith
Wheaton
8.7
9.7
17.0
17.1
21.8
24.0
29.0
33.0
33.2
38.0
41.8
44.3
45.5
56.0
59.0
1980-2295
1995-2325
1980-2220
1965-2295
2040-2250
1935-2250
1905-2160
1815-2055
1710-2010
1905-2175
1725-2025
1830-2110
1785-2100
1725-1965
1695-2025
UNH
72.0
1545-1860
Steps to Get Into a Highly Competitive
College
 Standardized tests
 Excellent grades in challenging (honors and AP)
courses
 Non-academic excellence (sports, art, performing
arts
 School leadership and contributions in the
community
 Summer academic enrichment programs
 Familiarization with colleges
 Interviews
RHS is not well known in some Admissions Offices
Mud on the Wall
SAT Tests
SAT I
SAT II
Three took it three times; two took it twice
Range of best scores: 1850-2300
Avg.: 2090 (out of 2400)
# taken: 21. Avg. # of tests per student: 3.5.
Avg. of all scores: 680 (out of 800)
Advanced Placement Tests
American History (Junior Year) 4 x “5” and 2 x “4”
Total for Two Years:
19 Tests. Avg. score 4.37
Summer Enrichment Programs
Phillips Exeter (6), St. Paul’s (2), Brown (1) and
Middlebury-Monterey (1)
Mud on the Wall (cont.)
College Visits
81 visits. Average of 13.5 per student
Admissions Office and Alumni Interviews
39 interviews (average of 6.5 per student)
College Applications
Total Applications:
Highly Competitive Colleges:
57 (average 9.5 per student)
39 applications
20 acceptances (3.3 per student)
12 wait lists (2 per student)
7 rejections
Next-Tier-competitive (i.e., good) colleges:18 applications
17 acceptances
1 wait list
Important Financial Aid Policies
 Need-Blind Admission vs. Need-Aware Admission
 Need-Based Financial Aid vs. Merit-Based Scholarships
 Grants, Loans and Student Jobs
 Treatment of Outside Scholarships
 FAFSA, CSS Profile and Tax Returns
Endowment per Student and Financial Aid
Endowment per
student ($000)
Williams
Grinnell
Dartmouth
Smith
Washington & Lee
Brown
Colgate
Holy Cross
Wesleyan
Tufts
Skidmore
Wheaton
Connecticut College
RPI
Hobart & Wm. Smith
UNH
719
714
501
478
458
259
216
185
171
128
106
95
93
84
72
20
Financial Aid
Need based | Need blind | Academic | Athletic
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Middle School Summer Programs
Phillips Exeter Academy –Access Exeter
After grades 7 or 8. Five weeks. Boarding or Day
Students. Significant Financial Aid.
Students take three courses in one of six thematic areas:
Project Exeter: A Greener Earth
The Land and the Sea
Problem-Solving: An Odyssey of the Mind
The Global Community
The Creative Arts
Exeter C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation
Middle School Summer Programs (cont.)
Phillips Andover Academy -- Lower School
Institute
After grade 8. Five weeks. Boarding or Day Students.
Significant Financial Aid.
Each student is in one of the following interdisciplinary
institutes:
Charting the Natural World: Marine Biology Meets Math
Express Yourself: A Study of Literature, Performance
and Film
Middle School Summer Programs (cont.)
Brown University -- SPARK-Science for Middle School
After grades 7 or 8. One or two week courses. Boarding Students.
Significant Financial Aid
Students Select One of the Following Courses:
From Brain to Sensation
So You Want to be a Scientist?
Where Rivers Meet the Sea: Ecology of Narragansett Bay
Hello from Mars
The Design of the Human Machine
The Laboratory Detective
Astrobiology: The Search for Life in the Universe
Understanding the Human Body: An Exploration of Anatomy
Designing Mobile Machines: Robot Rover Derby Jr.
Nanotechnology: The Small Wonder from Atom to Space
Raymond Roundtables
A summer enrichment program in Raymond for Middle School
students.
English Course and Math Course conducted by teachers from
Phillips Exeter Academy.
“Harkness Method” of teaching.
50 minute classes, three times per week for about four weeks.
About 12 students in each class and some take both courses.
Cost for each course: $150. Financial aid is available.
Reach High Scholars Program
Contributions Received or Committed to Date
Donors
Amount ($$)
Partridge Foundation
Individuals (five)
United Way
Sovereign Bank Foundation
Franklin Mutual Life
RHSAA
24,000
20,575
10,000
2,500
1,625
1,500
Total Contributions ($$)
60,200
Reach High Scholars Program
Grants Made or Committed to Date
Institutions
Amount ($$)
SEAD
PEA:
Raymond Roundtables 2011 5,550
Summer School Financial Aid:
2010
5,950
2011
9,000
PEA TOTAL:
34,000
Total Grants ($$)
54,500
20,500