<p>Hi, I'm a Sri Lankan living in Australia, hoping to apply to Exeter and Andover. I currently attend Sydney Grammar School if you may have heard of it. Anyway, I don't to make this a "chance me," so I'll cut to the chase:) I was just wondering if coming from an Australian background would be a bonus in anyway. Although it can't be compared to a country highly under represented e.g. a 3rd world nation in terms of adding diversity to a school, however I think it would be remiss to class it in the same category as that of the UK with considerably more applicants to these prep schools than that of Australia. So it would probably be fair to assume that hardly any Australians DO in fact attend any of these boarding schools, or at least not to my knowledge. The dux of our school got Yale law and another friend is awaiting replies from both Harvard and Yale, so even the notion of actual college application is somewhat irregular. To sum it up, I'm basically wondering if being from an although first world nation, yet still under represented in the the states would be a bonus? Forgive me if I sound dramatically misinformed. I'm just new here:)</p>
<p>Yeah it would be a small small hook. Only 1 or 2, if any, aussie kids get in PA or PEA a year. </p>
<p>How can your dux go straight to Yale law? i assume you mean Yale college.</p>
<p>Wow. Where did you get the statistics? Wondering if you’d know any because it would be nice to talk to one:) umm I’m not completely sure. As far as I know, in america you do a bsc or something for a couple of years? And then medicine, law etc is all post grad? Not completely sure. Just what I heard. He might be INTENDING to do law post grad? As far as I know he got interviewed by some alumni and was accepeted a couple months ago, while my other friend has to wait until april to find out if he got in:S ALSO I’ve looked through a few threads but haven’t go a definite answer to this question. Does only putting down one school help your chances for that school by showing your dedication to it? Or do schools not really care how many you apply to? I’ve heard its a common interview question to be asked where else you applied. Thoughts appreciated</p>
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<p>It is a question that is asked practically every time. Schools like to feel loved. I don’t think it matters how many schools you actually apply to since they wouldn’t know what other schools you applied to without asking you, anyway. You can choose to tell them or not tell them. </p>
<p>You can be honest if the answer doesn’t make it so blatant obvious that you’re only applying to their school as a back-up. You know what I mean?</p>
<p>@Sabbington, Brits don’t apply to prep school in the US. I’ve only seen one other person on this forum who is British-American who went to Andover. Hardly anybody from the UK applies to HADES, and if you look at the viewbooks of BS’s at the end it tells you where the student body comes from. Majority of the international students at these schools are Chinese, Korean etc… The maximum number of Brits I’ve seen is 2 at any boarding school and that was Deerfield. Being an Aussie as harlem mentioned is considered a small hook but from the threads and responses I’ve gotten they want people who are Hispanic, African-American etc… But as far as Australia goes, not many aussies go to BS in the states, If any, and that’s the same with British students. So, in some cases it’s a hook but grades, EC’s etc need to be considered before they consider diversity.</p>
<p>@Siberian Siren, thanks:) @PreppyDude123, it was just that I was watching an Andover video and it had the flags of all the new international students and I saw the British one. Just got me thinking, I haven’t heard of any Australians applying:S ALSO, I did a search for these “viewbooks” but came up with nothing? Any links to Andover’s would be highly appreciated:)</p>
<p>sabbington, it is a hook I believe. I had an experience of helping a student from Australia getting into Groton. I remember how excited the AO was after the interview, one of the things he said was the accent was cute. The student’s SSAT was below the average for Groton. Keep in mind you have to fly over for a on-campus interview if you really want to get in.</p>
<p>Sabbington, you get the viewbook and prospectus when you fill out the inquiry form on their website. I don’t think that Andover has or tells you where their students come from but Deerfield does. Being Australian is a hook though.</p>
<p>@FayMom, any chances for British students? Or are they already pretty dominant in Groton’s student body?</p>
<p>Dude, I think the other way around might be more, ie. kids here goes to UK for boarding schools. 
No, I haven’t heard of any.</p>
<p>I have the impression that UK compared with other countries outside Asia is not under-represented in BS, but that doesn’t mean your country of origin, combined with your ethnicity background and life story won’t put you in a unique position.</p>
<p>It does get complicated. Many Americans living overseas send their foreign-born and raised children back for BS, a student from HongKong could be white. Many international students may not have the lived in their passport country. Many Korean students were born and raised in China for example. So sometime it is hard to identify what is what. :)</p>
<p>i would say being aussie would be a big look the southern hemisphere is very underrepresented at NE BS. </p>
<p>THROW ANOTHER SNAG ON THA BARBIE MATE!!!</p>
<p>@FayMom I don’t think the ssat will be a problem, but just the fact that it’s andover/exeter probably will require a better standard. Just a bit nervous for the test on the 5th because stuff I’ve found online seems rather basic:S or too easy to be true. Anyway, I’ll find out soon:) I wouldn’t mind flying to the states for an interview, although honestly, I would probably be disappointed if I’d paid for the flight, went there and got rejectedxD But you’ll never know if you don’t try so I’ll have no regrets. You say you helped a student get into Groton? How exactly did you do that?:S Sorry, I’m not completely familiar with assistance or the advisory process for applying to these schools. Maybe you could help me out^^ @PreppyDude123 I requested a package from them WEEKS ago but nothing yet. From andover that is. Exeter was pretty quick, but thanks for the heads up. I see where you’re coming from, mate. I guess everyone here is just looking for a bit of reassurance that we’ve got a small chance:) And I think you probably do from what I’ve seen you write. In the end it sounds alot like “cultural diversity” is only really a small thing, but we all want to feel like we have that edge.
@deerhotch, thanks for the faith:P Everyone loves the stereotypical Australian!:D</p>
<p>Sabbington, Really? For me Andover’s packet came extremely quick, like 3 days after I filled out the form on their website. I’ve actually heard that Andover is better for the arts and Exeter for the sciences and such, but the thing that attracts me more to Exeter is the use of Harkness is more dominant, even though I’d consider myself more an artsy person as opposed to a mathy person lol. So I’m a bit torn between A/E but I guess it depends… Exeter’s endowment is by far the biggest, and there fees are less and I’m presuming they’re the ones who offer more FA. So, Exeter seems like a better contender. Anyway, first time I’ve seen a true blue Aussie on here! Nobody else from the commonwealth (maybe canadians) are on here. We’re meant to be cousins you know. Brits vs. Aussies!</p>
<p>mm Could be the fact that I’m in Australia:S maybe I should call them up. What are your views on Harkness in conjunction with maths? How can it work effectively, because it obviously does, suggested by their maths/science reputation. Yep, cousin:P</p>
<p>Personally I think Harkness is more in effect with the Humanities where subjects are a bit more discussion-based as opposed to logic and technique based. I can see it working with science, Math… I’m a little bit unsure, but I haven’t been to the campus or seen it in effect yet, so at the moment I’m not really in a position to judge. I mean, it could work - I can imagine the teacher posing a question related to the topic and the students spend the lesson discussing possible answers - but I guess it seems to be more dominant with humanity based subjects. Exeter is by far the best with Math and Science so really I think the school could definitely make it work.</p>