Upon review of my application so far and the people I’ve seen who’ve gotten to top prep schools such as Lawrenceville, Loomis, Exeter, Deerfield, etc, I’m really doubting my chances. I run Cross Country with decent times(close if not in top 10 for our county meets). I ran Track last season at my school which wasn’t a very good program. My range for Track is pretty varied from 100m to 3200m. I am running club track this year, but I can’t put it on my applications since I won’t have competed by the time i submit them. I feel confident that after my Track season I can make it onto Varsity as a freshman at one of these schools, but I can’t exactly prove it. I only do two EC’s (NJHS and FBLA) because there is barely any clubs at my rural public school. I have straight As and am in honors classes. As for awards, virtually none are give at my school and we don’t have the opportunity to compete in competitions like most public schools. I was in the Duke TIP 7th grade talent research program and ranked in the 92nd percentile overall for the SAT with a 96th percentile score in ELA. I have also recieved a perfect score on the Florida Standardized Assesment for ELA. I’m studying hard for my SSAT in January. Getting into these schools is my only chance of pursuing my dreams and creating a future for myself and it would mean the world to me, but I feel discouraged in my chances of acceptance. Any advice?
Forgot to add that I’m VP of Student Council.
Any and all advice you think could be any bit helpful would be greatly appreciated! (:
Will you be needing financial aid? That can also affect your chances.
I think you have taken advantage of what is available to you. That’s great. You have some great highlights for an 8th grader.
My advice would be, don’t make the mistake of applying only to the name schools. Look deeper and find a school that fits. Apply to schools with varying acceptance and ones you would be thrilled to attend. At all schools, you will be competing against top students. You can get a great education at many schools.
I think coming from FL will help you a lot. At NE boarding schools there are cery few kids from the South.
Looks good on my end. If you have not interviewed, practice with an adult to get comfortable speaking about yourself. You have the grades, ECs, and (likely) SSATs to be a serious applicant. These top schools admit less than 20% of applicants so you need to figure out your fit to the new class. If you have not interviewed, develop that selling point that makes you unique.
But overall, try and relax. I’d say you will be in the “consideration” pile. You look similar to my son’s resume and he was accepted to one of these schools. And waitlisted at another…you never know.
What is your aid need?
Far future advice…when M10 arrives stay off CC the night before. Some students will receive UPS or FedEx notifications a package is on the way if they have accounts, others will not. We were CERTAIN we were looking at rejections because we did not get a FedEx notification (we have an account). Then on M10 his school came out a good hour later than most of the others…again, DOUBLE certain that meant a No. And it was not! So much wasted worry.
Consider applying to schools that really value cross country and where being from Florida might add to the geographic diversity. Thacher has a very strong cross country program. Have you checked it out?
I did my interviews at a TSAO reception. I did Loomis, Choate, Hkiss, Lville, Deerfield, and Andover. They seemed to go fairly well, the Loomis guy said I would be a great fit for the school and the Deerfield interview went really well. As for my aid need… full FA. That’s another reason I’m worried, less than average compared to most applicants and I need a TON of FA. As for other schools, I have looked at ALL 150 boarding schools in the US. I settled w 8/10 of the TSAO schools because I need so much aid, but I’m also applying to Peddie, Williston Northampton, NMH, and possibly others.
CaliMex- I have looked at Thacher. I guess I can’t exactly be picky in my situation, but I decided not to apply because I didn’t really like the school. Also because I’m pretty much only applying to schools on the East Coast for convenience and cost. Thank you for the suggestion!
Thank you to everyone that replied. Honestly this advice was really helpful. I’m on CC almost every waking moment looking through threads and I’m going back in forth between being confident and thinking I can get into TSAO schools and deciding I’ll recieve 14 rejection letters from every school.
You are “good enough”. The million dollar question is if you are a good fit. The schools have “buckets” they need to fill, so there is always some serendipity involved in whether you are the person who is going to fill those needs. If the school needs an oboe player yet you play the trombone, there’s nothing you can do about it. (That’s overly simplistic, but you get it.)
FL is not as well represented at most BS as MA or NY, for example, so that could help. Many students needing full FA are excellent students, otoh, so that is not going to play so much in your favor.
Everyone here is going to tell you to cast a wide net if your heart is set on going to BS. There are a lot of excellent BS that are not household names (which the ones on your list are.) Adding a couple of those to your list could help your chances.
@Golfgr8 can probably speak as to whether FL is over or under represented at New England boarding schools.
@gardenstategal I’ve been doing a lot of research on schools. I i’ll definitely be adding some different schools and although I want to go to BS with a passion, I don;t want to apply to schools where if I got in I wouldn’t want to go to.
I’m also applying to Suffield Academy
@ens2006 Aid will be a minor complication BUT many of the schools on your list offer assistance to roughly 50% of the class, though they are not needs blind. So it is a factor but not a dead end. It really is about the fit as others have mentioned but you simply cannot predict it. My own son went 1-1-1 but it could have easily been 3-0 or 0-3 with the same application pending the particular needs of the new class.
We requested what seemed like a ridiculous amount for a “decent” family income, but there was NO WAY we can pay 55K a year. It all worked out.
And stop obsessing on CC, you are in a good position as is. And PLENTY of 99th percentile/class presidents/wealthy families are going to be rejected. I swear once you are “in the ballpark” for consideration, it is totally out of your hands/a mystery.
Thanks. I’m applying to 14 schools so fingers crossed.
I totally agree with @gardenstategal.
Have you looked at Taft? Great at giving financial aid, and you can definitely talk to the track coach to help you out.