Accepted: None so far.
Rejected: Andover, Taft, Hun & Cate
Waitlisted: None so far.
Likely Attending: Possibly Choate or Exeter – I have not gotten decisions from them yet.
Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 60th percentile
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0
• Rank: Not ranked.
• Other stats: I take all accelerated classes. For example, I am a freshman in Honors Chemistry and Spanish 3.
Subjective:
• Interviews: I typically ace interviews, and I felt a nice connection with all my interviewers except for Choate which was a bit weird.
• Essays: I ended up, against my originally moral, hiring an admissions coach. She said my essays were very good, and I ESPECIALLY think my Exeter essays rocked! Exeter is my top school, and the coach was an Exeter alum.
• Math Rec: Since I was attending a boarding school at the time of my application, my math teacher was also my dorm parent and we had a very strong connection. I cannot see him writing a horrible one, but he is also very honest, and I do have my flaws.
• English Rec: Very complicated. I have to assume this was either OUTSTANDING or horrible. (More below!)
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: For Exeter I used my former science teacher, and I think she did a wonderful one. (I especially like science)
• Principal/Counselor Rec: I think it was pretty good.
• Sports (if any): Crew.
• Instruments (if any): Vocal.
• Other ECs (if any): Drama, student council, business club, UNICEF, peer tutor, lots of community service. (The list goes on)
• Hook: I will touch upon this more in my summary below because my application is EXTREMELY circumstantial and unique. I think many will surely get a kick out of my story!
Location/Person:
• State or Country: Northeast
• Current School Type: Public HS
• Ethnicity: Caucasian
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 10th
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full financial aid.
Strengths: Ace interviews, solid essays, good grades.
Weaknesses: Recommendations might have been horrible (or amazing), terrible SSAT score (I think if anything, that was the killer).
Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
Buckle up and get ready for this story! (It is very long, but I will try to sum it up)
It started this past summer when I was on my second teen tour and a friend recommended Exeter to me. Upon my return home, I knew I was in love after a few quick google searches. I humbly called up the Exeter admissions office and said, “Hi, how do I go about applying for this upcoming school year?”
“You mean the one that starts in 5 days?” The admissions officer applied with a chuckle.
“That’s the one!” I applied with enthusiasm, ready to take on the world.
To my dismay, I would soon be told that this is not how it worked and that I would have to wait months to even apply for the NEXT year. At this point, I began to really educate myself about the world of New England and found a boarding school near me on Long Island which I would attend. At this point, I applied and interviewed directly with the headmaster and was admitted on the spot where we prematurely signed a contract in fear that we may lose the financial aid grant if not signed on the spot. (My mother is a cancer survivor and is unable to work and so her income is $0, (except child support) my grandfather covers the cost of my everyday needs and my private education. The grant this school gave us was for roughly $30,000. I went to this school with, admittedly, the wrong mindset. I viewed this school as simply an interlude to the ultimate goal – Phillips Exeter Academy, America’s #1 College Prep School. I was so excited to attend this boarding school because I thought that all boarding schools were very similar. When I got there, I immediately knew I was not going to like the run down buildings, sheer lack of competence from the staff and just straight up vibes from the place. Nevertheless, I am an optimistic person, and I dived in head first joining the crew team, the drama production, becoming a club president and officer in another, a peer tutor, along with a plethora of other things. (Not to mention some of the best grades in the school 
When I first started telling my father that I didn’t really like it there, the staff listened into my conversation and then used it against me in a future disciplinary hearing based off of nonsense. They didn’t like me because I was open to speaking my mind, add my comments whenever I saw appropriate, voice my opinions, take a stance, and most of all, trying to better myself by going to Exeter. They were out to get me. At this school, I met my English teacher, Taft alumni. She was forced multiple times to write reports about me which led to disciplinary hearings and is now not allowed to even talk to me by orders of the headmaster. Her and I both aspired to something greater and wanted to go (for her, return) to proper New England. The way she made it sound, she was desired to help me and thought that I belonged at (specifically) Taft or Exeter. When I went to my Taft interview and told the lady that I knew this English teacher, it turned out she was my English teacher’s coach for volleyball and that they STILL keep in touch and are very close. She took a selfie with me and sent it to my teacher stating, “Look who I found wandering around!” My English teacher responded with, “Oh my god! That’s [my name], he is such a great kid, he belongs at a school like Taft! [Current boarding school name] cannot provide him with what he needs to thrive!” That message, which I saw with my own eyes, carried TONS of weight in terms of the admissions officer, and I felt like I was being treated like royalty the entire time. The officer was even giving me all these little tips on how to get in and other things. She introduced me to kids on the admissions committee, other adults on it, the head of admissions, and many more people. From that moment on, I knew I had gotten into Taft. (Or so I thought) Later on, as I mentioned, I ended up withdrawing from that boarding school after the assistant head of school cursed out my mother, was telling kids to admit to things I did wrong (where I didn’t) or they would face suspension, pressuring staff members, and wrongfully accusing me of multiple major acts of misconduct. This was a very toxic place and kids were expelled on the daily, children were only there to be extorted for their parent’s money. If you were not rich, played basketball, or foreign, you held no value to them and they loved to just expel you and take your money. This very bad situation has now spiraled into a major lawsuit from my family as I can only believe that they did something after I left to detriment my chances of admission. I applied to 6 schools and had hooks into my top 2 choices. (Exeter & Andover) I understand that my SSAT score was bad, but there is no way that with all of these factors in mind, I didn’t even get waitlisted into one. There are SO many more details and people involved in the story that I can write an entire novel about it. I would write more, but I have minor carpel tunnel and my right hand is really giving me some trouble right now. I would be more than happy to give out more information or answer any questions upon request if you find the story interesting.
Also, CONGRATULATIONS to those who did get accepted to schools they applied to. I have literally prayed to go to Exeter and dreamt about it night after night for the past 6 months without skipping a day. Unfortunately, my dream could not come true for one reason or another. I don’t ask for pity, all I ask is that you take this amazing chance you have been given and enjoy every last minute of it! Do not take it for granted, as there are SO many more like me out there.
So why was I denied? Honestly, I don’t know, and the sad thing is I don’t think I ever will. There are just too many variables that could have made me, or broke me.
[NOTE: Had to cut characters]
Blind, though.