If you are reading this message, thank you for clicking on the title. I really appreciate your help! Below is some description concerning me, please be honest with me as to whether I really stand a chance.
Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 98th percentile overall, 70th percentile quantitative, 99th percentile verbal, 99th percentile reading
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 85% (it’s complicated…)
• Rank: ?
• Other stats: None that I can think of
Subjective:
• Interviews: I think so?
• Essays: Very good (according to people who have proofread them)
• Math Rec: Very good (blind)
• English Rec: Excellent (blind)
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: ?
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Good?
• Sports (if any): Cross country, swimming
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): Debate, Student Council President, School play, Environment Club, Cooking Club, Painting, French tutor for community service, writing/journalism
• Hook:
Location/Person:
• State or Country: Canada
• Current School Type: Private
• Ethnicity: South Asian/islander
• Gender: female
• Grade Applying For: 11 (repeat)
• Age: 16
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Financial Aid
I would say you stand a chance. I think they will like the ssat score, but it may be that high because you are in 11th grade. Your grades might be a downfall, but you have a lot of extracurriculars to back it up. I would honestly say you have a 60% chance of getting in based on standards that I’ve heard, but it depends on your interview and what they saw in you and are looking for.
I say 50/50. The positives are that you look like a strong student and an interesting, well-rounded person. The negative is that you are applying for 11, need FA, and don’t have a “wow” to overcome the first 2. There are typically not many spots for 11, and that makes it tough.
It doesn’t seem chance threads can offer much more than opinions on where to improve an application or to give some general sense of being in the running or seeming like a long shot. “Being in the running” is really the most you could hope for regarding schools like Andover, and that starts the chances at somewhere around the general acceptance rate. From there, without hooks, needing FA and applying for 11th grade would seem to further lower the chances. Nobody will “probably get in” to Andover and absent strong hooks, it sure seems to me that the best one could hope for is 13%.
Disclaimer: I (like others) have no actual clue what the chances are.
@Altras I agree. Frankly, I feel kind of alone in this application process because no one close to really understand the weight of this application. So, your honesty and advice is really comforting, because I feel like I don’t need anything to be sugarcoated right now. :-bd
I think it really depends on your interview. You have so so grades ( actually very ow for Philips), you need FA ( international and you are applying for a later grade. Also, the SSAT overall score seems really high considering that low quant grade. I think your chances are a little below the 1/10, 12%. Don’t let it stop you. But do realize that most candidates are going in for a later grade are going to be very strong candidates and have some EC’s which are strong as well. Do you have a really strong subject or interest? Also, if your personality is strong and shines in an interview that will help immensely. Many of the parents I have spoken to whose kids are entering in later years, the kids have a hook (often sports). They need the BS experience to fatten up their academics and the schools need them to round out the team. I’m sure that there are other reasons as well. But it is competitive given fewer spots.
I don’t do chances, since I am not an AO and have no visibility to either the application or the wants/needs of the school. Nor does anyone else here. But I would like to take a minute to clear up a few things:
AOs will view your grades withing the context of the school. They are also very familiar with grading standards in other countries. Typically Canadian high schools do not have the grade inflation which is rampant at many US HSs where A’s are given out like candy. The grades are actually quite good for Canada.
An issue for some schools, not for Andover.
Nobody should ever say that. At best, an unhooked applicant’s chances equal the acceptance rate. Take with a huge grain of salt any user who puts your odds higher.
Now a couple of points as a reality check:
Both of these will negatively impact your application.
Finally, unless the OP has a strong fall-back option in Canada, I hope Andover is not the only application.