<p>@Blehjoints:</p>
<p>That is definitely a good idea. Often schools will ask if you would like to send something in to the school, like a CD of your violin playing, or like you, a portfolio of your artwork. Include it.</p>
<p>@blehjoints: I know I am!</p>
<p>@rizzledrizzle-I don’t believe that I had a hook for Choate. I think what really matters is showing that you are willing to work hard, and being grateful for the education from said school. I think Admissions will realize that immediately.</p>
<p>Another thing that can be the difference between an acceptance, waitlist, or rejection come March 10th is whether or not the admissions officers think that the school is a right fit for you. Of course, you can’t control their thoughts on how well you would adapt to BS but you can put the most effort into picking a list of schools that you could picture yourself attending and presenting all you have to offer the school through interviews, essays, SSAT, keeping up your grades, and working hard in ECs. Just my random advice :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the encouraging advice guys. It’s valuable information for all us!</p>
<p>@AlexMac and @rizzledrizzle - will sending in supplements decrease your chances if the schools don’t think that it is particularly good? also, is there a place on the app to include it? or do we have to mail them copies / links to your portfolio? sorry for having so many questions! :D</p>
<p>I’m applying still, but I think I can answer that question from what I’ve heard from CC. </p>
<p>To answer your first question, yes. I think that if you send below average photos/music performances, it could hurt your chances. If you could have someone professional (say your photography teacher or music teacher), critique it, and they say it’s good–go for it. Even try to ask them what you could improve. </p>
<p>And there isn’t a place on the app where you can do that. From what I’ve heard you just send it in along in the envelope with the rest of your app materials. Not sure if my words are 100% true… But I think I’m close.</p>
<p>If you use the gateway to prep schools website…there is a place where you can put links to things like a portfolio or like I did, an editorial that I wrote that got published. But if it is not accessible through a link, then mail it.</p>
<p>This is just an example from Groton:</p>
<p>If you would like to provide a url to an existing website with multimedia content, you may do so below. Examples of multimedia content that students have
provided in the past are: links to newspaper articles, YouTube videos, music files, or a personal website they have created. Be sure to provide a description of
the link in the space provided. NOTE: If you have more than one link you may add them to the “Additional Information” section on page 1G.</p>
<p>Link to Multimedia</p>
<p>Also, you can provide hardcopy things in the Additional Information section.</p>
<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 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. Should I aim high or just go for the boarding schools that have a higher acceptance rate?</p>
<p>I hope someone will be able to answer some of these questions!</p>
<p>GlassyNerd - CC is sort of your online “guide.” While there are not always specific how-tos, the tips you find on here can be EXTREMELY helpful for your application. Just look around a lot, ask questions, and you will find the answers. </p>
<p>As for your chances, you seem to be very academically gifted, and leadership seems to be sort of your thing. You do have a chance of being accepted to HADES (Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, Exeter and St Pauls) type schools, however I would recommend having some safeties/matches. Good match schools would be schools like Loomis Chaffee, Blair, St. Marks, etc because they have great academics and higher acceptance rates. Good luck!</p>
<p>@GlassyNerd-Look for schools that you think you will love! I think it doesn’t matter at all if it is “prestigious” (which is debatable anyway) or not. My middle school wasn’t the best (in fact, it was one of the worst), but Admissions knows that not everyone has the access to various opportunities. I think in earlier posts, someone said it is about the fit, and it is about using your opportunities!</p>
<p>About the SSAT-it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just to see whether you are academically prepared. When I took it, I thought it was relatively easy, but I think I was lucky. Study for the SSAT, but remember that it is NOT the only factor to getting in. I think a lot of first-time applicants are scared off about the SSATs, due to the percentile (I was scared too!) Just relax. If you have any questions, shoot off a PM!</p>
<p>@deerbri , @alexmac and @rizzledrizzle - thanks guys! and i don’t have a photography teacher, as i teach myself photography, and i’m not in the art concentration at my school. so maybe i’ll just ask a couple of my friends! :)</p>
<p>@blehjoints, I think you should ask people who are good at it. For example, show them in a photography forum and see what they think of it. Ask for advice as well!!! :)</p>
<p>Agreed with topsecret. Your friends could be biased or have a different opinion compared to someone who has actually worked with lots of photos and knows what’s best.</p>
<p>Bump… Question to September boarders: how would you and your family stay in touch? Just simple call and text, or would you Skype/Facetime/Facebook etc.?</p>
<p>I am applying for retake 9th grade after getting rejected last year … But I am only 13 so I guess I was too young when I started my applications I was still 12 last year …</p>
<p>Skype is like my savior! I will definitely be using it to not only stay in touch with family, but also friends that will be going to my local HS. I’ll use FB as well but it’s going to be hard not to post annoying boarding school updates every three seconds :D</p>
<p>Is Malaysian a minority?</p>
<p>If I go to boarding school I would use Skype too deerbri…if I knew how to use it lol.</p>