How to Navigate Loomis Chaffee Admissions: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1. Consider Testing

If your family lives outside of the United States and your child has not attended school in English for more than 2 years, then they should plan on taking the TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English. For a school of Loomis Chaffee’s caliber, you want to come in with an English level comparable to those of top college applicants. Boarding Schools consider TOEFL, IELTS, and Duolingo English scores from the last two years.

Loomis Chaffee is test-optional, so you should decide early whether or not your child should take the SSAT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT, or ACT.

The best way to determine if your child should take a test is to take a practice test. Loomis Chaffee is one of the best boarding schools in the year, so your child should be aiming to achieve one of the highest scores of any child in their same grade who has taken the SSAt in the last few years. If your child is testing at 75% accuracy or higher, then it is likely worth studying for the exam. Even if your child is testing at the 99th percentile, they should wait to take the formal test until September of the application cycle. Boarding Schools consider the SSAT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT, and ACT scores from the September to January of their application cycle.

Step 2. Complete Inquiry Form

Next, complete the inquiry form for Loomis Chaffee School to show your interest. This form has required and optional questions, including literal information (mailing address, email address, etc.) and information about your child’s interests (Academic, Co-Curricular, and Athletic). It is great to include as much accurate information as you are able to help them tailor the process moving forward to your family. 

Step 3. Develop Profile

Loomis Chaffee wants a student body of passionate, driven, unique, resilient, skilled, and impactful students.  Passion can be identified clearly in essays and interviews, and it is not as impressive for a child to do something they do not care about or value just for the accolades. So, you and your child should focus on identifying leadership opportunities and deepening their impact in areas that your child has genuine interest in. If possible, your child should ideate . Our Capstone mentors are especially helpful at helping your child connect their interests with an idea for an actionable product, like a translation of a book, fundraising event, comic book with a message, short film, or board game. Your child should also find ways to engage with their school community, which will demonstrate what kind of community member they will be on campus.

It is best for your child to write up descriptions of each of their activities thoroughly early and continue to update those descriptions until Part 1 is due to make sure you do not forget to include any important information.

Step 4. Stay Connected with School

Get in touch with teachers and coaches from your child’s areas of passion. If possible, your child should be the one leading this process to demonstrate their independence and authentic interest. 

Whenever possible, schedule a school visit. It helps your child get a more accurate sense of the school and shows your level of interest and dedication to attending in the future. Sometimes, your child can arrange to meet with the teachers and/or coaches they have been emailing while on campus.

Step 5. Sign up for Interview

Sign up for an interview with the admissions office. We recommend attempting to sign up for your interview in September or October, to make sure you are able to get a slot that works for your schedule. Preference is not given to students who go in person, so you do not need to travel to the school for this interview. 

Step 6. Complete Application 

Create an account on Gateway or the Standard Application Online. On Gateway, you need to fill in and submit Part 1 of the application with literal information and activities descriptions before getting to the essay prompts. On SAO, you can fill in the Student Profile information and write essays at the same time. 

Make sure to organize the information so that the most important activities are listed first. We recommend ordering your Hobbies from Most to Least important. If you run out of space for activities, see which can be noted under the Multimedia Creations with Projects and Performances linked. Worst case scenario, take note of which achievements are missing from this section of the application so that you can make sure to mention them in future essays, interviews, and/or emails.

We recommend giving yourself and your child at least one month to draft and polish the personal essays for the application. Both you and your child should include specific examples as evidence of the points you wish to share with the admissions office. 

Step 7. Request Recommendations and Transcripts

At least one month before applications are due, your child should request a recommendation letter from their English teacher, Math teacher, and a school leader or guidance counselor. On Gateway and SAO, you will have the option to add a personal recommender (like a coach for a sport, a music instructor, or a mentor outside of school) and another teacher. These optional recommendation letters are just that, optional. These additional recommenders should have a deep understanding of your child and their capabilities. 

At Crimson, we help students compile information about themselves, such as the write up of their activities, for their teachers. We do this so that their recommenders can have a more comprehensive understanding of each student’s profile. 

Reminder: These recommendation letters are confidential and will not become available to you or your family at any time. You cannot draft, edit, or see any part of your recommendation letter.

Ask a school administrator for support in sending your child’s transcripts from the last 3 years to Loomis Chaffee through Gateway or SAO.

Step 8. Submit Application 

By January 7th, give teachers and school administrators a reminder to submit their letters of recommendation and your child’s transcript.

By January 15th, submit your section of the application, including the student profile, write up of activities, student essays, and parent essays. 

Step 9. Updates

If you have any big changes to your profile, like an award win, a publication, a new extracurricular, grade changes, etc., then send a brief email updating the school on this change.

Are you looking for U.S. boarding school application support? At Crimson, we understand the nuances of selective institutions like Loomis Chaffee and can help position your child for success. Book a free consultation call with one of our academic advisors today to learn how our personalized boarding school application support can maximize your child's chances of admission to their dream school.