Hi guys, I’m 14 years old and am from Colorado. I am applying to Choate, Andover, Taft, Hotchkiss, Northfield Mount Hermon, Milton, and Middlesex. I tend to be a worrier and just wanted to ask some more experienced people their opinions on my chances of getting into these schools. Here’s my credentials:
SSAT score: I just took the test last month and scored 92% overall, with 95% in verbal, 91% in reading, and 77% in math, with a 2208 as my scaled score. I am upset about my math score and am retaking the test in about a month to get a better score in that section.
Extracurriculars: I am in MathCounts, Math Club, Reading Club, and am part of a volunteer science data collection group in my grade. I also have played piano for about four years but have gotten very good very quickly, so I am hoping to send in my multimedia links. As far as community service goes, I started my own program at my school where leftover food is donated from the cafeteria. I also have done community service work in Jamaica, and regularly peer tutor.
GRADES: I have all ranges of A’s and a B+, but the B will definitely be gone by the end of the quarter. I am also hoping to work myself and get more of my grades from the A- range.
So far, I’ve interviewed with Taft, Choate, and Andover, and all three went super well. The Choate man especially said a lot about how I would be a “perfect fit” and how I was one of his “favorite interviews”. I’m not very good at interpreting people, so do all of the interviewers say that? I just wanna know if that is being legit or if that’s commonly said to applicants… In my essays I am focusing a lot on my love of learning, independence, my growing up in another country, and community service. Do you think that these are good topics to touch on, or should I take another approach? Also, I have a few questions with essay formatting. For short answer essays, do you guys divide them up into paragraphs, or do you choose to leave them as one? And with the larger essays, should I be formatting them as five-paragraph essays with the intro and three body, or should I just use my own discretion? Also, do schools care more about your scaled SSAT score or your percentile scores? And if they care more about your percentile scores, do they examine each section individually, or prefer to look at your overall percentile?
Thanks so much for helping me out guys. My family has no history whatsoever of boarding schools so I am constantly in new territory. Thanks again! 