Am I smart/talented enough?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

<p>Hi Everyone!</p>

<p>I recently decided to try to apply to boarding schools for fall 2012. I've never done this before, so is there anyone who could possibly help me? Is there a guide for this somewhere online? </p>

<p>I ordered the princeton review SSAT book and am waiting for it to arrive. has anyone taken the SSAT before? If you have, was it really difficult or was something really unexpected?</p>

<p>If it's not too much to ask, could you also evaluate my grades/extracurriculars? I wanted to apply to a prestigious boarding school (exeter, andover, choates, deerfield) to begin with, but I feel like I might not be smart or talented enough, especially due to the fact that my school is not the best.</p>

<p>-All 4 subjects Advanced/Gifted classes
-A's and 1 B each for 6th and 7th
-School Orchestra (violin)
-Leadership Club (7th)
-Student Council (7th)
-School Spelling Bee Runner-Up (7th)
-Participant in the Duke TIP program (Creative Writing)
-1 Year of Spanish (7th)
-Fluent Korean (It was my first language, I moved to the US around the age 6 or 7, so I now speak both English and Korean fluently)
-Piano
-Volunteer & help out at a church orchestra for younger kids
-Participate in church orchestra for teens
-Media Festival entries both years that went to state</p>

<p>In 8th Grade, I will:
-hopefully be in Student Council again
-take advanced/gifted Latin Language Arts (get credit for both courses in one class)
-advanced/gifted Math, Social Studies, Science
-be in orchestra (violin)
-hopefully get high A's
-volunteer more
-Take a 9th grade Biology class (25 people in the school were invited) in place of spanish
-start up an online business (if this matters at all-- lots of people [family, friends, acquaintances] have been asking me to start it up, I make handmade jewelry from polymer clay)</p>

<p>I love to read and write, and would like to expand my horizons further to try new possibilities that my current public school doesn't offer. I don't enjoy math, but I love it because it challenges me. I am a very independent person, but I love to work together (and equally) with peers that challenge me ( as I found at the duke TIP program I attended this summer).</p>

<p>I plan to study my eyeballs out for the SSAT.</p>

<p>Basically, I took all the opportunities for better education, etc. that my school offered.
I would need financial aid too. Should I aim high or just go for the boarding schools that have higher acceptance rates?</p>

<p>I hope someone will be able to answer some of these questions! </p>

<p>Thank you so so much in advance!</p>

2

<p>You are definitely smart and talented and by the looks of it a great leader as well. Make sure to mention what you plan to gain from boarding school in your apps/interview as it may be asked. As well, be ready to describe the things that you feel that you may be able to bring to a school’s environment other than being a good academic student.<br>
I can help with any questions about the HADES schools (those are all I applied to) but general BS questions are good too :slight_smile: PM me! Really…I’m just anxiously awaiting the day until I leave for Deerfield so I figure I might as well help out the next pool of applicants.
P.S…you’re a TiPster? I went this summer! What campus?</p>

3

<p>About the schools to apply to:</p>

<p>You should definitely apply to a mix. Apply to 1-3 schools you think are tough to get into, 2-3 you think you could get into, and 1-2 schools you think you can definitely get into. Even though the schools you select might be the less selective ones, make sure you’d be perfectly happy to go there if you are only accepted to those.</p>

<p>Really, all you can do now is maintain high grades. If you have a particular weakness, like vocabulary or critical reading, make that the section you practice most to ensure a higher score on the real SSAT. I feel that the Princeton Review’s practice SSAT is harder than the real one.</p>

<p>The application process is generally the same. Often times, there will be a subsection on their websites that reads “Application Process”. They there outline certain steps to complete the application, but all schools are pretty much the same.</p>

<p>Good luck with your applications!</p>