2017 Official Prep School Stats/ECs

Prep School Admissions
21

Accepted: The Hill School
Rejected: Lawrenceville
Wait listed: N/A
Likely Attending: The Hill School

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 1400 PSAT (99% both subjects)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0 Unweighted 4.51 Weighted
• Rank: 3/174
• Other stats: N/A

Subjective:
• Interviews:
Lawrenceville: Even though I had a good interview they basically told me they had no spots for juniors. 7/10
The Hill School: I had a really great interviewer, he made me feel very comfortable. Definitely my best interview. 9/10
• Essays: Due to time constraints they essentially written within 1 or 2 days of deadline. Still probably 8/10
• Math Rec: Great teacher I had for a while, 8/10
• Science Rec: My best teacher this year so far, seemed very enthusiastic. 9/10
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: N/A
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Counselor does not know me very much. 7 or 6 /10
• Sports (if any): Soccer, got in contact with coaches.
• Instruments (if any): N/A
• Other ECs (if any): A Level Debate Team, Model UN, FBLA, Snowboarding, STEM Club, Youth Soccer Referee
• Hook: N/A

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Pennsylvania
• Current School Type: Suburban Public
• Ethnicity: Caucasian
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 11th
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: 2/3-3/5

Strengths: 99th percentile numbers across the board, very strong interviews, athletic potential.

Weaknesses: Essays due to time constraints, and being an 11th grade applicant.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
Lawrenceville: Not enough 11th grade spots.
The Hill School: Interviewer liked me, friends at Hill likely gave me good rep, athletic interest.

General Comments: If you are in 8th grade and are reading this, do not wait to apply. Go for 9th grade ASAP, as your chances of getting in DRASTICALLY increase. If I had applied 2 years ago I would have gotten in anywhere that I applied, which all my interviewers seemed to have made clear, but now it’s nigh impossible for any incoming junior, even if you are EXCEPTIONALLY qualified. Also, start the admissions process right away, because writing all your essays the night that the application is due because I didn’t consider the option of going to a BS is not fun.

22

Accepted: None
Rejected: Andover, Exeter, Choate
Wait listed: Middlesex, Hotchkiss
Likely Attending: Thy local public highschool

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: Overall Grade-Gender 89 percentile
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted:Unweighted: 4.2-4.8, Weighted: ??
• Rank: None
• Other stats: N/A

Subjective:

• Interviews:
Exeter: Was -very- nervous but very enthusiastic. Interviewer was stoic but proper and I respect him. Lasted around 40 minutes.Off-Campus. 7/10
Andover: Explained passions, feelings, thoughts, etc. Was not as nervous. Wonderful interviewer. Lasted over an hour. Off-Campus, 9/10
Middlesex: Very kind and sweet interviewer. Spoke honestly about thoughts and passions. Skype interview. 8/10

I could not get interviews with Choate and Hotchkiss due to timing issues.

• Essays:
Andover: I just couldn’t really write passionately with the prompts this year. I could not think of a way to incorporate my passions into my essays, like my love for art and reading. I was thoroughly disappointed with myself. They were good essays, sure, but did not go in-depth into my academic life, which I felt it should have. I hope that next year’s prompts will be easier for me to work with. 7/10
Exeter: I caught a typo or two in them after I sent them in. Wrote about my passion for the arts and my experiences with electronic addiction. Hoping to write more on my academic life/athletic life next year with the prompts. 8/10.
Middlesex: Wrote about some experiences in which I truly love. I really did enjoy writing essays for MX and did it quite passionately. 9/10.
Choate: Was my first school to write essays for, and therefore they were very cliche and not thorough enough. 6/10.
Hotchkiss: I wrote about my mom on one of them!! XD It was very nice. Loved writing essays for Hotchkiss. 9/10.

English teacher and mother reviewed many of my essays.
(I was blinded for all of these recs)

• Math Rec: 10/10. teacher said he wrote a “glowing recommendation”. I also do well in his class.
• English Rec: 9/10-10/10. My English teacher did them as soon as I sent them. I yield good grades in her class as well.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: 7th grade social studies teacher did this one. 10/10.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Probably average. My counselor turned it in almost a month late for some schools. 6/10?
• Sports (if any): Group tennis classes; took private swimming lessons for 2 years before.
• Instruments (if any): Alto sax in Concert band for 4 years, Jazz band for 1 year, Pep band for 1 year. Private piano lessons for 5 years.
• Other ECs (if any): Peer-leadership group for 2 years, Art club for 1 year, Jazz band for 1 year, Chinese classes for a few years. Technical theater for 2 years. Science fair for 1 year. Mathcounts for 1 year. Self-taught artist/ drawing & painting for 2 years ( I took a few private art lessons).
• Hook: Unsure.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: USA, Ohio.
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 12-13 during the admission process
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Almost full FA

Strengths: Some essays, some interviews. Strong in the arts and academics if you don’t count my SSAT score.

Weaknesses: Needs a lot of FA, ORM. poor SSAT score. No awards or academic experience outside of EC’s. No hook.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? Basically my weaknesses: I need A Lot of money for FA. I’m an ORM. etc.

General Comments: Reapplying next year if nothing hinders.

23

Accepted: Hotchkiss, St.Paul’s, lawrenceville, andover, nmh, Cushing, brooks, Williston, Kent, tabor
Rejected: none
Wait listed: Exeter, Choate, St.Marks
Likely Attending: Andover unless Exeter takes me off the waitlist

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 99% overall but 97 verbal 93 quantitative 97 reading
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: I’m not sure but my grades in 8th grade w/ ESL were A/A+ And 9th w/o ESL were A-/A
• Rank: school does not rank
• Other stats: toefl 115

Subjective:
• Interviews: I feel like I am a strong interviewer; I tried to express my passion for learning regardless of my proficiency in the subject. I tried to show myself not only as an applicant but also as a person - for instance, I am a very crappy athelete as I never had the chance to play sports as a girl in public Korean middle school, but after I came to junior boarding school(will not specify), I tried various sports including soccer, hockey, and softball despite my not being good at it. My team was supportive and I was encouraged to step out of my comfort zone. I think just revealing your strength does not do much as many, many applicants who apply to these competitive schools excel in one thing or another. Eagerly show your weaknesses and also your efforts in how to overcome them. I also talked about my passion in biology, art, and music, and I joked about how I don’t have any study hall through out my weekly academic cycle.

• Essays: I think my St.Paul’s short answers were great, or it’s just me not being able to write a proper essay. Hotchkiss and lawrenceville essay(SAO) were OK but I didn’t spend to much time on it. I procrastinated on my most important essays ironically because I wanted to perfect them, which is probably why I got waitlisted in those. One of my Exeter essays were about how my love for learning the Chinese language had extended on getting to know the Chinese community and just people in general and the other one was about how I overcame bullying in a sophisticated sentence. I think my first essay was what waitlisted me because I sent the same one for choate and got waitlisted as well. My Andover essay was a ramble of self-deprecation; I talked about how I was a kid who liked playing sports who was discouraged to play sports as I grew up, but after coming to junior boarding school, I stepped out of my comfort zone and played hockey in a supportive environment.

• Math Rec: 10/10 apparently she said she wrote a spectacular one to my advisor, which I found interesting because I thought she hated me
• English Rec: 8/10 he is a nice person so he would have written a good one but not on a personal level
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: 10/10 my advisor is one of the people who love me the most. She knows me on a personal level despite spending time with me for only a year or so and embraces my peculiarities, to say.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: 8/10 I showed a lot of flaws in front of him, and also, this is his first year doing admissions after a former skilled one left. But he was my band director last year, and I tried to sub for every single thing he offered me in other bands despite him putting me in intermediate instead of advanced band last year.

Third teacher: 6/10 I chose my biology teacher, which I had no choice as I expressed my interest in biology. She is a first year teacher at our school. I think while she is very educated, she is not experienced enough as a teacher yet(early 20s), which makes her lectures rather boring. I did not pay attention in her class, and while I get decent grades, I don’t think she knows me that well.

• Sports (if any): soccer, hockey, softball 2 years in school’s jv team. Terrible
• Instruments (if any): Drums(2 years in school; a year in intermediate band and this year in advanced and jazz band) piano(9 years but barely remember anything) flute(similar with piano)
• Other ECs (if any): Science internship - my dad is a professor at a university in Korea, so I got to meet several people and did internships for their experiments. I was co-authored in one of the researches. I’m not sure if it helped though. Also I did a lot of club activities including coding club, math club, tinker club, robotics club, etc. Not an active member though. I take art as a main course as a member of advanced studio art for elected 9th graders despite having no interest in 2d art.
• Hook: Nope

Location/Person:
• State or Country: MA
• Current School Type: junior boarding school
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 16(repeated a year)
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths:
interviews, being myself at all times, decent grades, and well rounded in academics and arts

Weaknesses:
Bad Essays(rushed through), bad quantitative, made A LOT of mistakes during Exeter’s application process(sent several thank you notes thinking that they didn’t receive it because they didn’t reply, sent the wrong PDF file for my essay, sent it late, also crappy, sent my resume extracurricular activities too late) taking ESL as an international student during 8th grade. Also, I had a few Cs from math and science in my public school in 7th grade, which was included in the transcript; trust me, it’s much more competitive there than here

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
I am actually not sure. Our school is through 9th grade so all of my friends are applying out; yesterday, I have seen many of my friends who I thought were qualified for the schools much more than I were but did not get into any of their top choices. I think being myself was definitely one, and also showing my desire to learn and hone myself to be better was another. I was the one interested in studying abroad, and I was the one who tried my butt hard to become the ideal applicant. I’ve seen many of my friends who are just extremely ready from countless acceptances due to all those conselings and cram schools and contest preparations that packaged their strengths. I was none of that. I think my realistic accomplishments that are clearly from my own effort was what made myself as an applicant desirable for the schools.

I think I was waitlisted due to all the weaknesses i have listed.

General Comments: while it is sad I didn’t get into Exeter, a school I have been indulging myself in for more than 4 years, I did get into its rival school, which means I am up for a revenge and am going to be working my butt hard to tell Exeter how it made a mistake not allowing me in! Hahaha

24

Accepted: Tabor Academy
Rejected: Loomis, Andover, Hotchkiss
Wait listed: Suffield Academy
Likely Attending: Tabor! (Although my brother graduated from Suffield)

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 12% TOEFL 69
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.56
• Rank: My school did not rank student
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: Went pretty good via Skype! I got to talk with Mr McCain from Tabor Academy and he is a very nice guy.
• Essays: I spent a lot of time think about myself
• Math Rec: 10/10 My teacher promised to do the best recommendation because he never wrote recommendation for the American school before.
• English Rec: 8/10 My English is Thai but she has American nationality and she really likes me.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:-
• Principal/Counsellor Rec: I guess he would write for me pretty good!
• Sports (if any): Swimming, cross-country, track and field
• Instruments (if any): Piano, Violin, Guitar and Saxophone
• Other ECs (if any): Probably leadership position, I joined international just 2 years ago and I volunteered to be leader for my color in the second term. Literally, there are few new students who are really brave to accomplish the job such giving speech at the assembly, getting people names for doing sports and much more.
• Hook: I also have one legacy but that didn’t help me at all…

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Thailand
• Current School Type: Private
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full pay

Strengths: My learning attitude and my leadership position

Weaknesses: SSAT (GPA?)

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

Tabor: I have a very good interview and having supportive recommendations!

Andover: I didn’t complete the application because I knew I could get in because this year they want only a few Asian also I have to compete with my friends which all of them were very smart.

Loomis Chaffee: Interview late(?)

Hotchkiss: They want few international student for this and I guess my SSAT suck so bad

Suffield Academy: SSAT!!! TT

25

Accepted: Wayland Williston Cranbrook Loomis LPS
Rejected:
Wait listed: Taft Choate
Likely Attending: Not sure, maybe LPS

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 82/84 (1st time) 73/74 (2nd time)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.9 / 4.0 UW
• Rank: NA
• Other stats: NA

Subjective:
• Interviews: Good and friendly for all schools. Nothing special for anyone of them. Flew couple thousand miles to all schools for interview from Middle East so they can talk to her and see her personally. And also for us to gauge and judge the school environment.
• Essays: Good, did herself without major help.
• Math Rec: Blind
• English Rec: Blind
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Blind
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind
• Sports (if any): Soccer, Cross Country & Volleyball
• Instruments (if any): Clarinet
• Other ECs (if any): Choir, NJHS, STUCO, Drama
• Hook: None

Location/Person:
• State or Country: One of the Middle East country
• Current School Type: Private School
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Some FP Some with Partial FA

Strengths: Already living in a diverse community and can survive the cultural changes.
Weaknesses: SSAT score

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
Waitlisted because of SSAT not strong enough. Not strong hook.

General Comments:
Show yourself who you really are in the application and the interview. Honored and humbled by the results.
“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no. if you don’t step forward, you will always be in the same spot.”

26

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27

Accepted: Choate
Rejected: -
Wait listed: Andover
Likely Attending: Choate

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 94th Percentile
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: -
• Rank: -
• Other stats: Straight A’s every year.

Subjective:
• Interviews: Both interviews were on campus.
Choate: Went very well! My interviewer was very friendly and impressed. I talked a lot about my passions and extracurricular activities and mentioned specific programs offered at Choate that attracted me.
Andover: It was okay. My alumnus interviewer was a little lukewarm. I talked about my family, passions, and academic ambitions. I did not think I was as prepared for this interview as I did not know as much about Andover.
• Essays:
Choate: Some things I talked about were being wait listed last year, self-improvement and goals, my thoughts for the future, and model UN. I definitely put more effort into Choate’s essays.
Andover: Some things I talked about were my love for reading, volunteer work, and model UN. My essays were pretty short but well thought out and written so I’m not sure if that counted against me.
• Math Rec: Blind. Haven’t known my math teacher long but he seems to like me so I’m sure the rec was good.
• English Rec: Blind. Haven’t known my english teacher long but she seems to like me so I’m sure the rec was good.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Blind. I had my piano teacher of 7 years write it and we really have a connection so I’m sure he said many great things. In addition to that, for Andover, I had one of my favorite past teacher that I have a really great connection with write a personal rec that I’m sure was great.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind. I have talked to my guidance counselor only once just to discuss the schools I was applying to so I really have no idea but I’m sure it wasn’t bad.
• Sports (if any): Competitive Swim Team (7 years)
• Instruments (if any): Piano (10 years), Alto Saxophone (5 years)
• Other ECs (if any): Concert Band, Pep Band, Pit Band, Jazz Band, Model UN; Hobbies mentioned: reading, art
• Hook: High level of piano; I received full marks each of 5 years I participated in a piano adjudication.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: USA, New England area
• Current School Type: Public High School
• Ethnicity: Mixed (White/Asian)
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Partial FA

Strengths:
My passion for piano and music as well as the high academic goals I have set for myself. I challenged myself a lot this year with the difficult courses I chose to take and my Choate interviewer actually commented on that.

Weaknesses:
SSAT? Not submitting as much information on my piano experience to Andover? I kind of rushed some of the essays, especially the ones for Andover.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
Choate: My current piano teacher teaches music theory at Choate and he talked with my interviewer (after my interview). I managed to set up a day to audition with the head of instrumental music at Choate for piano and he was very impressed with me (he then talked with my interviewer). I also made a really great connection with my interviewer and had a pretty lengthy conversation with her. This was actually my second round applying to Choate (I was wait listed last year), though this time I also tried for Andover. I think that the way I improved (last year’s SSAT was 84th percentile) and challenged myself for my second application really helped me get accepted, which my interviewer also commented on.
Andover: I made the mistake of not submitting a recording of me playing piano (also made the same mistake for Choate but I guess it didn’t really matter for them) or setting up an audition and I think that really counted against me because then they did not really know how well I played. I also didn’t really know as much about Andover as I did Choate so I didn’t really have any sort of special connection/attraction to the school.

General Comments:
I think that the whole application process is a very valuable experience and will help prepare you for when college time rolls around. I am very thankful and excited to be attending Choate in the fall! For anyone disappointed in their results, don’t give up! I was very disappointed when I was wait listed last year, but I tried again and was met with success. Be yourself and show your personality, especially in the interview, don’t be afraid to take risks (just go for it!), and show that you work hard and like to succeed.

28

Accepted: Choate, Deerfield, Hill
Rejected:None
Wait listed: Exeter and Lville
Likely Attending:or choate or deerfield.

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT: 90% Psat: 1310
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: ?
• Rank: ?
• Other stats: IB Program.

Subjective:
• Interviews: Choates was really strange actually. The alumni seemed kind of confused with the process and barley asked any questions. Lasted 30 minutes max 6/10
Deerfield was amazing. He was super nice to me and I was able to mention everything I needed to in order to bring the best side of me out. 9/10.
Lville was the best one by far, and the interviewer basically told me I would be accepted at first. However a few days before M10 I received a “courtesy” email stating that basically there are no slots for 11th grade girls and that they are willing to offer me a spot as a 10 grade repeat.
Exeter: pretty average, short because the interviwer seemed to be in a rush 7/10
the hill: amazing, the interviewer really seemed to like me. 10/10
• Essays:
Honestly writing is my strong suit so I do believe that my essays were pretty good. I dedicated a lot of time on the exeter prompts.
• Math Rec: My math teacher has been my advisor since grade 6, so 10/10
• English Rec: He hates me and basically almost refused to make recs so 2/10 maybe even worse.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:I asked some teachers to do this for me for the schools I really wanted to apply to and go to (Ie, Lville , choate and Deerfield) they were probably 10/10
• Principal/Counselor Rec:probably pretty good, by principal knows me well and the counselor seems to like me. 8/10/
• Sports (if any): Volleyball
• Instruments (if any): None
• Other ECs (if any): model UN, GIN club (environmental sustainability), Stuco, NHS, 30 hours of community service… honestly not much.
• Hook: International student - first language is english - great academics

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Brazil
• Current School Type: IB international
• Ethnicity: Latino / Caucasian
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 11
• Age: 16
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths: academics, essays mostly and interviews for sure.

Weaknesses: lack of extra curriculars… my transcrips and records are not that impresive

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

for Lville, which was my top choice, definetly because of lack of space in 11th grade. I heard not many people were even watlisted. As for exeter, I believe my lack of a hook and extracurriculars played a part in that.
General Comments:

29

Accepted: Exeter
Rejected: None
Wait listed: None
Likely Attending: Exeter!

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: (SSAT) 85th percentile overall, V 88, Q 62 (yikes), R 91, Total Score : 2193
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: n/a
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: 9/10 I had a really great interview. It was very casual, I tried not to be formal and just have a conversation. I avoided cheesy answers and really just tried to show who I was. They can definitely sense when you’re hyping yourself up so I tried to just be chill.
• Essays: 9/10 English is my strong suit so I really tried to shine during these. The prompts I picked were, “Write about your biggest passion,” and “Write a story that begins with the line ‘they couldn’t stop laughing’”. I was afraid to write a fiction piece about one of them but it’s my favorite thing to do so I figured that I was showing who I was even if I wasn’t talking about myself.
• Math Rec: I never got to see these, but math (as you can tell from my test scores) is not my strong suit and I have struggled being placed in an advanced class this year. However, my teacher is kind and thoughtful so I’m sure she made it honest and well written.
• English Rec: My English teacher and I have a wonderful connection - he’s by far my favorite teacher and the best one I’ve ever had. I got to see parts of them and they were glowing. It made me blush! I was so happy with what he wrote.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: I chose my teacher of three years during middle school (I’m entering as a sophomore) who also happens to be our closest family friend. I’ve grown up around her, traveled to four different countries around her, and become best friends with her children. She’s both a teacher and a second mom so I’m sure that this one was good - it didn’t hurt that the graduated from Yale with an English degree, so she’s very eloquent.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Once again, I did not get to see this, but my guidance counselor (who taught me for a year in eighth grade) really did some digging for this one. She had multiple conversation with me and investigated all my extra curricular activities to really do it justice.
• Sports (if any): Volleyball
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): I write for the school newspaper, am an avid canoe/camper (I go for a month-ish every year in the Canadian wilderness for high-intensity camping/canoeing).
• Hook: I’m a dual citizen (Ecuador) and fluent in Spanish and I skipped a grade in French. My canoeing was the other biggest part of me.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Delaware, USA
• Current School Type: Private Day
• Ethnicity: Latina/White
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: Sophomore
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Financial Aid (they are offering to pay about 85% of tuition!)

Strengths: Bilingual, easygoing, interested in many different EC’s and I had good interviews and essays.

Weaknesses: My test scores were pretty well below average Exeter acceptance scores

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
I was honestly so surprised… As you can see, my test scores were pretty well. I think my special interest in the Humanities and my knack for languages influenced the decision greatly, as well as my volleyball and canoe experience. The canoeing thing sounds pretty weird but it’s hard to describe in so few words.

General Comments: Don’t think SSAT scores are everything. Clearly, mine were pretty bad but with an outgoing personality, multilingualism, and strong EC’s I somehow managed it. Surprise of a lifetime! I’m SO excited…

30

Accepted: Kent
Rejected: none
Wait listed: none
Likely Attending: Kent (applied to only Kent, legacy)

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 97th percentile, 2250/2400
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0 UW
• Rank: school does not rank. Top 10 of about 100 in grade, certainly.
• Other stats: n/a

Subjective:
• Interviews: in-person, during AO trip to FL. 20 minutes with parent and child and AO, 30 without parent. I think it went well.
• Essays: DD wrote about life as military brat, about transition from 8 years of British school to American school.
• Math Rec: Pretty good, I assume. Math not her strongest subject but teacher was very invested in process and complimentary of DD as student and person.
• English Rec: Stellar. Teacher sent a copy to us and I was floored. She mentioned many things DD does as part of school life, reliance admin and teachers have in her to help out around school, stuff I had no idea about! (we also emailed both recommenders a CV of daughter’s ECs and school achievements beforehand).
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Very good, I am sure.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Same.
• Sports (if any): School dance team for 4 years, ballet for many years.
• Instruments (if any): none
• Other ECs (if any): Academic team anchor (went to nationals for first time last year, qualified again this year), NJHS vice-president, Lewis Leader (school tutor), regional science fair.
• Hook: mature, kind, reliable kid. Military family. Legacy hook: mom attended school.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: FL, US
• Current School Type: public K-8
• Ethnicity: white
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: active in ECs and strong academically all-around. Excellent scores. Talented writer.

Weaknesses: quiet in new settings. I was very worried about interview (she was so nervous she teared up during start of interview), but they must have talked about SOMETHING for 30 mins. LOL

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? Combination of skills/personality traits that will be asset to school community.

General Comments: Applied only to Kent as that is only school DD wanted to attend. Would have done local collegiate prep charter otherwise.

31

Accepted: None
Rejected:
Wait listed: Choate, Andover, Exeter, SPS, Gronton, Deerfield
Likely Attending: ?

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 2370, 99% SSAT
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: A+ throughout
• Rank: N/A
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: went well
• Essays: should be good
• Math Rec: 10/10
• English Rec: 9/10
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: should be very good
• Principal/Counselor Rec: 8-9/10
• Sports (if any): Dance?
• Instruments (if any): 8 year violin and piano, 3 year trumpet
• Other ECs (if any): community service,
• Hook: Mathcount individual top10 in state. Team Top 3. And many other awards.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: CT
• Current School Type: large public
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: female
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: SSAT, school performance,

Weaknesses: sport and FA

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

Day Student, FA and weak sport.

General Comments:

Note: Please DO NOT post your stats/ecs until you receive ALL of your decisions…

32

Forgot one EC - second place in state for VFW Patriot’s Pen essay contest.

33

Accepted: Loomis, Governor’s
Rejected: Andover, Exter and L’ville
Wait listed: Choate and Deerfield
Attending: Loomis class of 2020!

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 28% overall ( it’s a really bad score, I know)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: n/a
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats: n/a

Subjective:
• Interviews: My interview at Loomis was the best one. We talked for an hour about about graphic novels.
My interviewer at Governor’s answered all my question about moving school systems. We talked for an hour and a half!
My interviewer at Andover was really interested in my background and my experience in Africa.
The Exeter interview was via Skype and I would say it went well, it was not the best.
The interviewers at the other schools seemed unimpressed. In my all of my interviews, I told them the reason I am applying to boarding schools is so I can try new things and I want to explore my passions.
• Essays: I talked about child marriage and my experience in Africa
• Math Rec: 5/10. My math teacher could not write a good rec. because her first language is not English
• English Rec:10/10 Excellent!
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: 10/10 Wonderful!
• Principal/Counselor Rec: 9/10 nothing to say
• Sports (if any): Tennis and track.
• Instruments (if any): n/a but I want to learn an instrument
• Other ECs (if any): I go to villages and give stationary and clothes.
• Hook: My hook was my experience in Africa and my background

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Ghana
• Current School Type: French private school
• Ethnicity: Mixed
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 10th
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full pay

Strengths: Most of my interviews were really good. My essay was really good as well

Weaknesses: My SSAT score!

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? My SSAT played a big role in the admissions process. Loomis seemed particularly interested in me because of my writing (that school is known for its’ amazing writing courses).

General Comments: If writing is one of your passions, I really encourage you to apply to Loomis. They have great writing courses and I must note that the study abroad program seems particularly interesting. Even though my SSAT score was terrible, most of the schools understood that I was coming from a totally different school system and I had much more to offer.

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Your SSAT scores still better than me!!

35

@ppm5544 What was your SSAT score?

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Please ONLY post your stats/ec’s here… any other conversation can be done via PM or in another thread…

37

Accepted: Andover, Groton, Milton
Rejected:
Wait listed: Hotchkiss, Cate, Exeter
Likely Attending: Andover

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 99%
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0
• Rank:
• Other stats: 1350 (94th percentile ) in the New SAT in 8th grade year.

Subjective:
• Interviews: Excellent, especially Andover, Groton and Exeter. Interviews lasted from 1 hour to 1 hoour and a half and it was very natural. Made interviewer laugh a few times.
• Essays: I’d say very good/excellent. I didn’t get anybody to proof read them, but I did check on spelling/grammar/flow multiple times (I even recorded myself reading them and then listened to the recording to see if anything sounded weird). Before the M10, one Milton admissions officer even sent me an email saying she loved my essays (and my applicantion as a whole).
• Math Rec: Should be excellent
• English Rec: Should be excellent
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Should be excellent/outstanding
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Should be excellent/outstanding
• Sports (if any): Soccer (Varsity), Basketball and Volleyball (JV)
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): Model UN (Secretary), NJHS (President), Global Issues Network, Steering Committee, Knowledge Bowl, poetry
• Hook: International Student, independent learner (I even have a small youtube channel for advanced topics in Math and science that was cited in my Groton admissions letter), take online courses in college level physics/calculus, received a scholarship to attend Oxford University’s Summer Course (only 25 out of 1,000 applicants),I have published poems.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Brazil
• Current School Type: Private (International School)
• Ethnicity: Latino
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 10th
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full financial aid (including trips, books and all other fees)

Strengths: I’d say I am a pretty well-rounded applicant – I have many different interests. My background was probably one of my strengths together with my writing and my Youtube videos. Even though I’d say SSATs helped, the interviews were very important as well.

Weaknesses: Definitely financial aid. I had very positive experiences with all schools. My Exeter interviewer, for example, wrote amazing notes about me and gave all the highest possible recommendations. Same with Cate, I have a friend there who frequently talked to an AO there and he said “they loved me” and that “it looked positive for me”. Still, I was waitisted at both schools. Maybe at Exeter financial aid wasn’t such a big deal, but at Cate, which is a much smaller school, it definitely was.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

As I said before, I pretty much do everything, from community service to sports and debate. Also, I have an interesting background and story. For waitlists, the main reason is financial aid.

General Comments:

As an advice, I’d say start early. I started looking at schools in July, and completed my candidate profile very early too. I took the October SSAT in case my score wasn’t good and I needed to retake it – which fortunately I didn’t, because I had been studying for almost two months. Also, I scheduled all interviews and requested recommendations in late October/ Early November. Even though some interviews took a long time to happen (Groton interview Feb. 14th because it was a Skype interview, so they reviewed my entire application to see if they wanted to interview me or not), I did not experience the risk of not having slots available. Also, be in contact with AOs and try to check your checklists at least once a week, because sometimes there are problems with materials you send and you don’t even know (it happened to me).

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Accepted: Hun, Masters, Stony Brook
Rejected: None
Wait listed: None
Likely Attending: I don’t have a clue

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 45% SSAT (I got a 16% on verbal) 74% PSAT
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.56 unweighted/ 3.8 weighted and 3.95 unweighted/4.03 weighted
• Rank: N/A
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: Went well, all said I would be a good fit at the interview
• Essays: Good
• Math Rec: School didn’t give one
• English Rec: School didn’t give one
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: School didn’t give one
• Principal/Counselor Rec: I’m guessing good
• Sports (if any): Varsity soccer
• Instruments (if any): None
• Other ECs (if any): Model UN
• Hook: Won chess competitions, program games, many merritt awards 99th percentiile on 6-8th grade state testing, many gifted programs

Location/Person:
• State or Country: NJ
• Current School Type: Private Boarding School
• Ethnicity: Middle Eastern/ Caucasian (I don’t know, I’m Turkish so it fits in both)
• Gender: Girl
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full pay

Strengths: writing, math, good athlete, good interview

Weaknesses: SSAT, first term grades, 8th grade grades

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? I honestly have no idea since I scored very low. Hun also said there were extremely limited spots. I had low SSAT scores. I think it was my other achievements.

General Comments: Don’t stress too much on SSAT. Keep your head up

39

Accepted: none
Rejected: Roxbury Latin, Nobles
Wait listed: Milton, Groton
Likely Attending: none

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 75% SSAT (I got a 94% on quantitative and 91 on math and 54 reading and 63 verbal)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: n/a
• Rank: N/A
• Other stats: n/a

Subjective:
• Interviews: Ok, i was a bit nervous 7/10
• Essays: Good/average 7/10
• Math Rec: 10/10, one of the best students
• English Rec: 8/10, very good student, participate well and teache said I was a strong reader and writer
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:ok I guess, blind 8/10
• Principal/Counselor Rec: ok, blind 7/10
• Sports (if any): BADMINTON previously ranked number 1
• Instruments (if any): Piano, Violin
• Other ECs (if any): programmer
• Hook:

Location/Person:
• State or Country: MA
• Current School Type: Public Charter
• Ethnicity: Chinese
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 8
• Age: 12 (at the time of application)
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full pay

Strengths: math, good badminton player, pretty decent grades and ecs

Weaknesses: SSAT, english specifically for school and SSAT

Notes:

If you see a weakness, try as HARD AS YOU CAN to work on it. My english made my application bad and I would have definitely worked harder on it. SSAT’s don’t matter that much, but it has to be within the range.

40

Accepted: Exeter, Choate
Rejected: none
Wait listed: Andover
Likely Attending: Exeter

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 91% SSAT(Q 97, R 84, V 83)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: Homeschooled, does not rank
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats: 1480 on the new SAT

Subjective:
• Interviews: Went okay. Exeter was more than an hour with an alumni, Choate/Andover was about 40 mins. I did a good job explaining my motivations and aspirations to the interviewers.
• Essays: Mediocre. Did not like the topics, but wrote them to the best of my ability nonetheless.
• Math Rec: Written by parent. Was very plain and honest.
• English Rec: Same as above
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: A producer at a broadcasting station that I interned for was kind enough to write me this recommendation.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Written by parent. Was very plain and honest.
• Sports (if any): Soccer, Wrestling, Track & Field, Taekwondo
• Instruments (if any): Piano, Drums
• Other ECs (if any): Intern at broadcasting station, STEM at local high school, Volunteering, Math club, MENSA member, Photography, Music Theory, etc.
• Hook: Athlete

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Illinois
• Current School Type: Home
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full FA

Strengths: “Impact” Athlete, many interests.

Weaknesses: International Applicant, full FA, homeschooled, ORM, no proven academic success, unprepared for SSAT, bad interviews due to my very introverted nature.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

Beats me. I am still in shock about my acceptances.

General Comments:

Cannot be thankful enough. I express my utmost gratitude to all that has been involved in the application process.