I am planning to apply as an incoming sophomore for the fall of 2019 to boarding schools. Note: I am currently in 9th grade. Can anyone chance me on the following schools?
Deerfield, Choate, Lawrenceville, St. Paul’s, and maybe Peddie and Concord
My grades are fairly decent with straight A’s all throughout 7th and 8th grade, and probably have similar grades this year. I am an international (asia) applicant applying for FA.
Extracurriculars:
Cross Country: captain in eighth grade
Track and Field: one of the top teams in the 1600m relay at regionals
Student Government
MUN
Debate (varsity)
Environment Club: got the opportunity to go on a trip to Singapore for an event
International Club
Math Olympics
Tutoring
I have other extracurriculars, but I am afraid if I go in any deeper it’ll be too much info about myself on this forum XD.
I take the highest possible classes offered at my school in Math, Science, and Language. (those are the only classes where we’re split by level) there are no honor classes or APs available for freshmen, and my school does not rank. I have not yet taken the SSAT, but will be doing so in November and maybe December if I need it.
I presume that my teacher recs will be great, for my English and Math teacher like me enough I guess. Will be asking some of my coaches to write my personal recs.
Your scores look fine, as do your grades. However being an international and needing FA is not a good mix, especially from Asia. Most of the schools can find plenty of full pay from Asia. So I suggest to broaden your list beyond the schools listed above.
many people on this forum tend to tell me to “cast a wide net” or “broaden my range.” I’m assuming that if your end goal is to go to a boarding school, this is what you do. Since I already have brilliant options locally, its ok if I only apply to a small range, right? By that I mean unless I get into a top tier school, I’ll be staying here.
Please correct me if I’m wrong… @sgopal2
The reason people say that on this board is people often believe they will get into one school and if they don’t they can be disappointed on 3/10. They will feel better and have another option if they cast a wider net. There are some things which BS can offer that even the best local options cannot. You will see this as you visit the schools. My kid didn’t want to even look but at the first school quickly realized it was an entirely new category of school.
Teachers at “top tier” schools are not necessarily better than teachers at lower tier schools. “Tiers” have more to do with low acceptance rates, high endowments, bigger marketing budgets, etc…
But yeah, if you have a strong local option, you don’t need to worry about applying to more schools.
Most Nobel laureates, CEOs, Oscar winners, Senators, etc did NOT attend boarding schools (“top tier” or otherwise) or do their undergrad at Ivy League schools… No need to pretend that BS or Ivy admissions are crucial to success or happiness.
@tokyoxc , if you have an option you are happy with, you are fine. Indeed, there are kids who get into BS and decide to go to their local public school.
People on these boards want to be sure applicants have options on M10 (which you do), that they understand that it is not only the handful of schools everyone has heard of that are excellent, and that “fit” is really critical when it comes to bring admit teddy and happy. And that needing FA makes it harder. That is what you are hearing.
