<p>Hey, I'm going into 9th grade right now but will apply for 10th grade at these schools:</p>
<p>St. Paul's School
Andover
Exeter
Hotchkiss</p>
<p>GPA: 3.99, I got 2 A-'s from English in our quarter system with 7 classes in total in 7th and 8th grade. I know, horrendous.</p>
<p>Test Scores: I got 2370 on the actual SAT Reasoning Test in January of eighth grade, with an 800 in math and 790 in the other subjects. I know it doesn't count officially but I'll make a reference to it. Thus, it would be surprising if I didn't get a near-perfect or perfect score on the SSAT or ISEE.</p>
<p>APs: I should have taken an AP or two in eighth grade, but I didn't and will be taking six next year: Calc (BC), Macro & Microeconomics, US & Comparative Governments, Human Geo. All of them except Comp. Gov. and Calc BC will be taken in a class of one sort or another.</p>
<p>ECs (my primary weakness):
-- I qualified for regionals in MathCounts and am studying for the AMC 10, but when I take it the admissions will already have been decided.
-- I play trombone in the school band. Hopefully I can get first or second chair in high school but I'm not exceptional or talented or anything.
-- I am studying MV Diff. Calc and hopefully Int. MV Calc by the end of the summer through EPGY. I will start Lin. Algebra but I'm not sure this is an "EC"
-- I don't do any sports
-- I will start a club and run for VP (I should be able to win considering my popularity "among certain circles")</p>
<p>If you want to suggest any boarding schools for me, that would be extremely appreciated and now you get twenty cookies.</p>
<p>Andover? Exeter? Hotchkiss? You have no chance whatsoever. Where are my cookies!</p>
<p>You won’t get a correct answer in chances, because no one on here is an admissions officer. You could get accepted to all three, but you could also get denied at all three.
It’s much more than just academics, I think. Personality and your ability to communicate your thoughts during interviews are extremely important.
Get involved into different things, but you have to show passion for them.
They are looking for a well rounded student, so keep that in mind. There’s not really much I can help you with. Good luck!</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>@prepschoolchances – this is a serious inquiry</p>
<p>@keisha404 – the whole point of a chance thread is to speculate, so no one is looking for a definite yes or no. That is why we have our “safety,” “match,” and “reach” system as opposed to “yes” or “no” – that is, to give leeway for personality and ability to communicate thoughts. If you think that personality and the ability to communicate thoughts supercede academics, you’re dearly mistaken.</p>
<p>BTW I’m an Asian male from California in the 100,000-200,000 dollar income bracket</p>
<p>@tomatox1 I’m definitely not saying that those are more important than academics. There are student who make around a 60 percentile on their SSAT and don’t make all A’s, but they still get into some of the GLADCHEMMS. All I’m saying, is that academics aren’t the only thing admissions officers look at it, so you can’t just rely on that.
One of my friends, who is extremely brilliant, was waitlisted at every school he applied to. It definitely had nothing to do with his academics, because every year, he’s made above a 95% in each class. Keep in mind he’s taking classes about two grade levels above his. However, he didn’t have any extracurriculars on his application. I’ve also learned from the users on here that just academics won’t get you in.
Also, I just finished the whole application process last year, and I’m going to a boarding school this fall. I talked to a lot of admissions officers and alumnus, and they gave me a lot of insight on what they are looking for.</p>
<p>You need to think about this in the reverse. What part of the whole tomatox1 package MIGHT DISQUALIFY you from admission to a top boarding school? Not scores/grades, you’ve got that covered. But for most of the top 20 schools (perhaps Exeter is partially excluded), scores are only one criteria. Might your ec’s disqualify you? Might you get lousy recommendations? Might you turn off the interviewer? Might you appear to be just another nothing special smart kid, of which there are loads who apply? Know this, perfect grades/scores are not a ticket to admission to any of these schools. </p>
<p>If you’re as smart as you claim, you must have read through enough of this site to KNOW two important facts: no one quality guarantees admission to any great boarding school, and any kid or parent with half a brain should put their ego in check and include a range of schools, some easier to get into than others. You don’t want to be crying in your milk next Spring.</p>
<p>whenever someone else makes a chance thread, they get 5 to 10 thoughtful responses and recommendations, actual chances, etc. But when I make a chance thread, moral<em>**s flood in and hijack it without providing anything besides the obvious and anecdotes (I do have ECs, just no world-class ones). </em>. </p>
<p>I’m going to make another thread in a while and hopefully the responses will be more thoughtful.</p>
<p>Thin skin is also a problem.</p>
<p>An interview plays a critical part during the admission process. </p>
<p>It is probably the only chance that students can show AOs who they really are in front of them. You can really do well and score high there or you can really mess up. </p>
<p>I heard about some really high-scored candidates who got rejected everywhere. Then I came to believe that there must have been qualitative aspects of the candidates that AOs didn’t appreciate. They may be too boring and do nothing but work… they may be rude… There must have been reasons if every school said no despite strong numbers.</p>
<p>I would say you have a good chance. Just don’t appear as a supercilious ******* during your interviews</p>
<p>Are you kidding about the A- being horrendous?</p>
<p>We’re trying to give you thoughtful answers–they’re just not the answers you want to hear.</p>
<p>Being angry because people can’t tell you for sure if you will get in, won’t get you accepted. </p>
<p>Just so you know, you have great smarts and ecs, but honestly, personality comes across largely in the interview and app.</p>
<p>And if you think that personality doesn’t count, then “you’re dearly mistaken”. The schools don’t just want smart kids, they want kids who will actually accomplish things. Being just smart isn’t enough. You have to have the kind of personality to make people like you, to be driven, to help people. Personality matters.</p>
<p>You can take everyone’s ideas with a grain of salt, but I know that I did get into the only two schools I applied to- a top 5 and a top 20 school. I think that @keisha404 did just as well too, and so did many other people here. You don’t have to listen to our advice, but it obviously worked for us.</p>
<p>Being an Asian from California is probably the hardest challenge you are going to face.</p>
<p>Honestly, you sound like a little brat that isn’t challenged enough. You should skip freshman and sophomore years and enroll yourself in duel credit. OR skip freshmen and senior year and go study abroad. Do something amazing. An alternative solution without you having to skip freshman and sophomore years is skipping high school all together. Enroll at your local community college. If you demand to go though high school, then I suggest you cure cancer or you won’t get into the school of your choice. Work on your personality too.</p>
<p>He already has a job. Full-time ■■■■■.</p>