Brooks School Admissions Consulting for Asian American Families
Guidance for Asian American families weighing a small, residential New England boarding school on Lake Cochichewick.
Cardinal Education is an independent educational consulting company. We are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with any private or public school, including Brooks School.
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About the School
Brooks School: What Asian American Families Should Know
As of the 2021-22 school year, the most recent year with a published breakdown, Asian students made up roughly 12% of Brooks’ 351 students at the time, the second-largest identifiable group on campus after white students, who made up just under 71%. That figure predates the school’s current enrollment of 370, so the current share may have shifted, but it points to a meaningfully sized Asian community within a genuinely small school, one small enough that a 12% share still means real, visible presence rather than a token handful of students. Brooks has also built out a formal Asian Student Alliance (ASA), one of several identity-based affinity groups the school runs as part of its wider DEIB program.
Fast Facts
Location
1160 Great Pond Road, North Andover, MA 01845
Grades Served
9-12, all genders, boarding and day
Total Enrollment
370 students
Students of Color (U.S.)
30%
Asian Student Alliance (ASA)
A dedicated affinity group for students of Asian descent
Testing
SSAT or ISEE required
Application Deadline
January 15, 2027
Affinity Groups and Community
Beyond the Asian Student Alliance, Brooks runs a genuine slate of identity-based groups, including the Intercultural Student Association (ISA), which specifically supports international and intercultural students navigating life at a New England boarding school, and Students with Interracial Lives (Swirl), for students who hold multiple ethnicities or identities at once. For an Asian American or international Asian family, that ISA-plus-ASA combination matters: one group speaks to cultural identity, the other speaks directly to the practical experience of adjusting to boarding school life far from home.
Navigating a Two-Portal, Interview-Heavy Application
A pattern Cardinal Education’s consultants see often with families coming from academically intensive middle schools: an instinct to treat the SSAT or ISEE score as the entire application, when Brooks weighs the required interview, in person or virtual, just as heavily. For international applicants, especially those applying from mainland China, the additional required Vericant interview by December 1 adds a real early deadline that’s easy to miss if a family is focused only on test prep. Brooks also accepts applications through two different portals, Gateway to Prep Schools and the Standard Application Online (SAO), and confirming which one applies to your family early avoids a scramble in December.
Application Requirements at a Glance
To apply to Brooks School, you will need to submit the following:
English Proficiency
TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test for non-native English speakers
Mainland China Applicants
Vericant interview required by December 1, 2026
Personal & Parent Statements
Submitted through Gateway or SAO, depending on portal
Recommendations
Principal/Counselor, English teacher, and math teacher recommendations
Interview
Required for all applicants: 2-hour in-person visit or 1-hour virtual session
“My four years at Brooks School were among the most transformative of my life so far. I was challenged both academically and athletically, and through study hall and dorm life, I learned independence early on.”— A Brooks Alumnus
How Cardinal Education Assists Asian American Families
A pattern our consultants see often in interview prep with high-achieving families: strong SSAT or ISEE scores paired with an interview that reads as rehearsed rather than genuine. At a school like Brooks, where the interview is weighted as heavily as the test and where international applicants face an additional Vericant interview deadline, that gap can be the difference between a strong file and a truly competitive one.
Cardinal Education helps families prepare for both interviews, strengthen the personal and parent statements, and manage the Gateway/SAO portal decision early. For the full picture of Brooks’ admissions process, deadlines, and student life, see our Main Brooks School admissions guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is the Asian American population at Brooks School?
Does Brooks School have an Asian American student club?
Do mainland Chinese applicants need anything beyond the standard application?
Is the SSAT or ISEE required at Brooks?
What support exists for international students adjusting to boarding life?
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