can i get in????????????/

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Is it possible for me to get in?</p>

<p>Exeter
Andover
Deerfield
Choate
Hotchkiss
St. Paul’s</p>

<p>-no financial aid
-Asian, new york
-applying for 10th grade
-older sister Yale alumna, she’s now a physician<br>
-father is physician
-3.98 GPA
-bombed the ssat, average is 70% (almost had a nervous breakdown)
-taking all honors level classes in current school<br>
-school honor roll
-current school is one of top 25 best NY public schools (don’t live in NYC but close to it)</p>

<p>Achievements:
-four gold awards from the New York State School Music association(have been play violin for 9 years)
-invitation into my county’s music educators association ( very hard )
-1st place in National History Day Contest in my region ( my school plus 5 other schools compete, nation wide contest)
-skipped grade in math and history taking 10 honors global and math
-on my high school varsity swim and fencing team
-acceptance into the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth summer program</p>

<p>school ec:
science olympiad
math club
school newspaper reporter
academic team
asain club</p>

<p>I really want to get into Exeter or Andover ( Exeter is my first choice b/c even though Andover is a better school, Exeter is more prestigious). Those are my dream schools. Can I get in? My interviews were amazing. I couldn’t visit the schools so I had off campus interviews. They were approx. 1 hr long and they kept saying OMG and impressive and you’re an excellent applicant. </p>

<p>One of my friends is at Exeter. She said you don’t have to be a genius, what there looking for is talent.( Violin) On the Exeter appl. there are 2 essay questions. I did # 3 and 5. Since Exeter’s motto is non silibi ( not for oneself) I wrote on my participation in the midnight run( Organization that meets at 6pm to prepare food and toiletries and clothes, and goes to NYC to help the homeless and comes back at 3am in morning). Second essay I wrote about family and how they shape me to help other people(connected to first essay). </p>

<p>Can I get in????</p>

2

<p>First of all I disagree that Andover is the better school or that Exeter is more prestigious. Both are on a level all their own.</p>

<p>Secondly, have you contacted the swim coach at any of these schools?<br>
Have you contacted the orchestra director? If not, do so asap. You can provide your swim times and you can provide tapes/videos of your violin performances.</p>

3

<p>eell - good luck to you! Although your test scores are lower then average for those schools, and being Asian will not make things easier, you have a lot going for you. </p>

<p>BTW - do you know that St. Paul's does not have a swim team?</p>

4

<p>most asians play violin...so they wouldnt consider it a "unique" talent.. unless you have some ranking in it.
and you have a lot of academics EC's which most asians also have. (im asian too so I know, it sucks.)
and most alumna are impressed, but might not know what they are talking about because they dont really interview every candidate.
I dont know about your chances (though they are not bad).. because someone else posted stats and they kinda resemble yours (asian too).</p>

5

<p>Msu, 70% SSAT... do you think AEDS would not hold it against the candidate?</p>

6

<p>it would definitiely be held against the candidate because they like to have their averages high, but I don't think it will completely shatter your chances.</p>

7

<p>True, I was talking to some one from Groton about it today and he said as much, but I would think that SSAT is a great equalizer..</p>

<p>By the way eell45, my D got 71% (9th grade) and essentially applied to the same schools, so I am rooting for you and her :)</p>

8

<p>To be honest, I don't think so. You're an overrepresented minority from an overrepresented state with maybe a minor sport and an overrepresented instrument. If they let in such candidates with a 70%, how could they maintain an average of 90 plus? There are legacies, athletes and URMs who get in with lower than average scores, not too may others I would think.</p>

<p>I would look at schools like Hill, Peddie, Brooks and maybe Governers.</p>

9

<p>agreed with suze...You are applying to the six most selective schools in the nation with 20 under average SSAT and no hooks at all being an ORM from the most competitive state...................</p>

<p>I would say you have a chance if your interview and essay shine, but stilll a slim one</p>

10

<p>do not follow "prestigious". Be sure you will be at least above the average in a school. no offence, 70% may be in the very bottom in those schools.</p>

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<p>ok ok ok ok</p>

<p>i know everyone says that i wont get in, but hey, im just tryin
you never know. my sister applied to Yale and she got in out of 20,000 applicant. it never hurts to try.</p>

12

<p>True, it doesn't hurt to try. It also doesn't hurt to apply to some safety schools given your record.</p>

13

<p>when your sister applied to Yale ? could be like 9 ~ 10 years ago? The admission is much more competitive now.</p>

14

<p>eell45 -- I cannot comment on your chances because I simply don't know. I imagine that it will be a stretch, but it doesn't hurt to try.<br>
What you might ask yourself is what attracted you to boarding school in the first place. If it was just the idea of going for the academics at the most competitive schools then that is one approach. Another approach is to consider the opportunities available to you within a boarding community. This is a very different experience from a top public high school. You have the opportunity to live with classmates who will probably become your lifelong friends. You will have supportive faculty there to be your mentors, coaches and friends. You have a new sense of independence and the excitement of being part of a close community. Anyway, there are many advantages beyond prestige. There are many boarding schools that offer a wonderful boarding community and great academics beyond the usual suspects.</p>

15

<p>AliJ -
I know you've been concerned regarding your daughter's scores and her chances, and it seems you've done some following up with schools on this topic >> "I was talking to some one from Groton about it today"</p>

<p>So, what have they told you, what did you glean?</p>

16

<p>Even back then, was your sister's SAT in the 70%?</p>

17

<p>Why is everybody only talking about my SSAT score? There are other parts of the application that reflect me. If every student who received the same score of a 99%, then no one would be unique. If all the school cared about was the score, why bother with an application, why not just go and take a test. As I stated earlier, I had a friend who is attending Exeter. She applied to all the schools that I am applying to and she got into ALL of them. She stated that these schools look for talent and personality. What’s why there is an application. Suze, you said that the violin is an over represented instrument, that might be true, but does that mean every kid who plays the violin wins 4 gold medals from the New York State School Music Association 4 years in a row? Just because I live in New York, does that mean I am the same as every other kid in New York? If swimming is a minor sport, why would the schools bother to build an Olympic sized swimming pool. My school just got one built and it cost $25,000,000. The reason that I am applying to these schools is because I want to become a physician so that I can help other people. You and all the other applicants know that we live in a competitive society and I believe that by attending a boarding school I can fulfill my dream.
Why do applicants apply to these particular schools? Because of there college matriculation statistics. If these schools had bad stats., would anybody apply? Ummmmmmm.........NO. Therefore, having a sister who attended Yale is beneficial because if I attend boarding school and apply to Yale, I have an extremely high chance of getting in due to the fact that she is an alumna, which allows me to contribute to their Yale matriculation list. And no, she didn’t get a 70%, she got a full score.</p>

18

<p>"having a sister who attended Yale is beneficial because if I attend boarding school and apply to Yale, I have an extremely high chance of getting in due to the fact that she is an alumna, which allows me to contribute to their Yale matriculation list"</p>

<p>no..first, yale doesnt count siblings as legacy, only parents and grandparents count as legacy...and no...having a sibling boost ur chance but not by much, you dont have an extremely high chance of getting into yale.....</p>

<p>sorry, "does that mean every kid who plays the violin wins 4 gold medals from the New York State School Music Association 4 years in a row? "
we have a violin player who plays in carnegie hall every other week, we also have a nationally ranked violin player, dont think you are the best</p>

<p>"If swimming is a minor sport, why would the schools bother to build an Olympic sized swimming pool. My school just got one built and it cost $25,000,000. " Again, are you nationally ranked? swimming is a minor sport in BS, we dont recruit many for swimming, the major sports we recruit for is football and hockey, and lax........</p>

<p>and you have no hooks...you are exactly the type of people I always talk about, thinking yourself deserving to be at a top BS, as i always said, attending a top BS is a privledge, not a right...and with a 70% you should at least know your chance is slim...a 99percentile doesnt means you get in...as my dorm fac said..we have more 99percentile applicant than the places we offer, but it sure puts u in the running....a 70percentile as an ORM is not a good thing just to put it out there</p>

<p>"Why do applicants apply to these particular schools? Because of there college matriculation statistics."
No, if you wanna boost your chance at a top ivy, go to the worst public school and shine there.......</p>

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<p>eell45, i dont think ur stats are bad at all. btw i do fencing too! ^_^ and yes, i do agree w/ you. ive played piano and violin since i was 5, but ive never won any awards. why dont u try retaking the ssat and see how u do then?
i think its very noble of u to want to become a physician- but ikinda disagree w/ u on the whole college matriculation thing. im applying just to take advantage of all those lovely opportunities described in the shiny viewbooks, not to get into harvard :) (tho that would be nice)
just apply- u never know what might happen. also, because ur applying for 10th grade, there WILL be spots available for you. (ie unlike 11th grade hahaha)</p>

20

<p>"dont think you are the best"</p>

<p>heyhey just her opinon there. :) idk we need to be more encouraging to eell45.</p>