Miss Porter's School Application Overview

Admission to Porter's is selective. Applicants are accepted to grades nine through 12 on the basis of demonstrated intellectual curiosity, academic achievement, community involvement and extracurricular activity, and leadership. These are determined by school records, teacher recommendations, test results, personal essays, and an interview. Porter's also actively seeks to enroll students from a variety of backgrounds, whose unique perspectives and experiences enrich life at the school.

The Admission team has created an independent school admission timeline to help guide you through the application process. This step by step guide can be accessed on the Admission Timeline page.

If you are an international student please read the Information for International Students page for answers to frequently asked questions.

Application Checklist

List of 9 items.

Application Requirements

Below are descriptions of all of the items needed to complete your application. The application and all required supporting documents are to be submitted through SSAT’s Standard Application Online (SAO) by January 15.
Application for Admission
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Please complete and submit the Standard Application Online (SAO) with your parent(s) or guardian(s).
Graded Paper
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Please provide a copy of a graded essay or paper (with teacher comments) that you have written during the current academic year for either an English or History class. Please do not submit poems, short stories, or other creative pieces. You will be given the opportunity to upload a document when completing the SAO.
Teacher Recommendations (English & Math)
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Please request your current math and English teacher to complete and submit the SAO teacher recommendation forms to us by the January 15 application deadline.
School Recommendations and Transcript
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The school recommendation should be sent to your Principal, Head of School or Guidance Counselor with a request that it be completed and returned to the Admission Office by January 15. Your transcript should include your grades from the last two years as well as your most current grades for the present academic year. If you have attended more than one school in recent years, you may need to contact each school to obtain the appropriate transcripts.
Standardized Tests
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Miss Porter's School accepts only original standardized test scores submitted by the testing agency.

The Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) or the ISEE is required to complete an application for students entering grades 9 or 10. Students entering grade 11 may submit results from the SSATor the PSAT. If you are applying for grade 12, please send us your PSAT or SAT results. Information concerning your PSAT or SAT tests should be available at your school. We recommend registering early to take the standardized test in the fall. SSAT is offered one day a month at many locations. You may register for the SSAT online through http://www.ssat.org. We recommend that standardized testing becompleted by mid-January in order to have fulfilled all requirements by the January 15 deadline. Be sure to have your scores sent to Miss Porter's School (SSAT code - #5122). In lieu of the SSAT, Porter's will accept the ISEE Test. You may register for the ISEE online through http://www.erblearn.org. Be sure to have your scores sent to Miss Porter's School (ISEE code- #070210)

Additionally, if English is not the primary language you speak at home or school, we request that you take the TOEFL iBT (internet based test): Test of English as a Foreign Language (www.ets.org/toefl/). Be sure your official TOEFL scores are sent to Miss Porter’s School (TOEFL code- # 8606). For students applying for grade 9, we are looking for a minimum overall score 90 and for incoming 10th and 11th graders we are looking for a minimum overall score of 100.
Interview
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Please contact our Admission Office either by phone or by email to schedule a campus visit which will include your interview. If you are unable to visit campus, we will be happy to arrange a skype or phone interview.
Photo
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Please upload a .jpg of a recent headshot photo of yourself in the SAO application or email it to the Office of Admission at admission@missporters.org. This photo is optional but encouraged.
Financial Aid
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If applying for financial aid, you must indicate on the admission application that your family will be applying for need-based financial aid. Please visit www.porters.org/financialaid for eligibility requirements and application instructions. Financial aid applications are due by January 15.

The Application

Please proceed to the SAO (Standard Application Online) by clicking on the SAO link on this page.

We appreciate your efforts to complete all of the requirements for your application by the January 15 deadline. Admission decisions will be made available online on March 10 for all completed admission applications and their supporting documents received by January 15. Applications submitted after the January 15 deadline will be given consideration if space permits; however, financial aid is usually not available after March 10. We look forward to considering your application.

Online Application Checklist

To help make the application process as simple as possible the Admission Office assigns all candidates who apply for the upcoming admission year a user name to access their Porter’s account that allows online access to the candidate’s admission decision on March 10.