Hi, I am currently in 8th grade, attending a private international school in South Korea. I am applying for Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Andover, Exeter, Cate, Hill, (maybe) Episcopal, St mark, Thatcher.
I am Asian, I have lived in South Korea ever since I was born and I am applying for boarding schools in the school year 2022~2023 school year, for grade 9.
Grades:
*Our school does not have A, B, C type of grades, we have levels of 1~8, 1 being the lowest, 4 average, and 8 highest.
All my grades are in the 7 and 8 levels
Extra-Curricular’s:
Service
Club founder, Editorial of our school’s newspaper
Service Council (basically the head of student service-learning)
Student council member
Sports
Varsity swim team for 2 years
KAIAC 1st place award
School Record holder for 100m I.M
(got a reply from the Hill school’s head varsity swim coach, wants a zoom meeting after I schedule one with the admissions office)
Participates in cross country and tennis as well (intermediate level)
SSAT (not planning on taking it this year), TOEFL (preparing, taking the test at around December, scores would not be available for my application)
Interviews
I have not scheduled any, should I do that after I update my written application, “Candidate profile”? What questions should I prepare for?
Essays
I have not started yet, however, I am confident with this area.
Recommendations
Not received any yet. I have decent relationships with most of my teachers.
WHEN SHOULD I ASK FOR THEM? Would November be considered “too late”??
Personal Recommendation
Whom should I ask for?
PLEASE HELP ANSWER THE QUESTIONS above and PROVIDE SOME ADVICE
I would definitely apply to Deerfield - they have a strong swim team and also a strong water polo team. You should connect with their Admissions Office and also email their swim coach. You can find the swim roster on the school website. My kiddo has known 2 students from South Korea at the school.
You should also request an interview ASAP. There are recordings of virtual tours and a video on YouTube if you want to see what the school looks like.
Teacher recommendations should be requested by mid-November. Ask the teachers who know you best - maybe a counselor, your swim coach, or other advisor for a personal recommendation?
You’ll have a strong application. As others have said, I hope you can write the SSAT, but it’s not critical.
Academics, plus good interviews, plus varsity level swimming, will put you in a good position.
Because swimming is important to you, your application, and possibly your college destination, I might take Thacher and Cate off your list, although they are amazing schools.
I would really consider looking at Suffield, great swim program and coaching. It would be a nice Safety school for you, reduce your M10 uncertainty, and we know some very good students who are there because of swimming or basketball. Loomis is not a safety, but has an excellent swim program. NMH would be another school for you to look at.
Here are the 2020 NE Prep School swim results. Best of luck to you.
George has, a beautiful pool and is also home to a year round club team. Peddie is a swimming powerhouse and also hometo club team. If you are serious about swimming, make sure your schools can support that (year round if you think you may be on a path that would involve college recruiting.)
Thank you for reaching out, could you please explain some of your experiences with classes at Hill. Supposing you have compared some of the top 10 schools to the Hill school, do you think the education and athletic opportunities/ qualities are drastically different? And what are the college stats like as well?
Thanks for the insight, although swimming is a crucial part of my school life, I am not looking for college level swimming in the future. Therefore, what are some quality safety schools, acceptance rates 20% or above, that I should consider?
Honestly, depends on the sports. Some of our sports teams are REALLY good, while some aren’t as good. The academics here are actually really good. Classes are full of smart people that love learning, and the classes are fun and engaging. I will say you do get a lot of homework some days.
Why are you taking the SSAT? Kids who took the SSAT did better last year in admissions last year. The Korean application pool is very competitive and frankly numerous. You would be in a better position with test scores.
Do you not need the TOEFL for your application? Are you in an English only school? You need to check the schools you are applying to and see if it is required and then take it on time.
There are plenty (most even) of swimmers in all of these schools that have no plans to swim in college. Peddie and Mercersburg are unusual because you can swim all three seasons and compete in club USA Swimming meets in addition to inter scholastic meets during the winter. It’s a unique, and special, experience because the kids get to develop a very strong bond.
There are other schools on your list (Andover stands out) with very strong programs. The top swimmers will have some arrangement to swim club during the other seasons but it usually involves compromises on both sides. It’s also common for swimmers to join the water polo team during the fall.
