Thank you for replying!
If you take a look at my profile, would you say that my music talent is my hook? Is it good enough to be one?
Also, thank you for your advice. Unfortunately, it is quite late to add more schools. However, I would say that I am in the top 3-5% in my current schools (based on my grades and clubs that I am recruited in). Is that an ok percentage?
Wouldn’t you be competing in the top 3-5% of the people with the same interests instead of the applicant pool in general? e.g. if you were a soccer player you’d be competing in the top 3-5% of soccer applicants, not general applicants since they would want to fill their soccer teams? idk either I’m also an applicant and at least this is what I thought, may be wrong though. In my niche I am probably #1 or #2 in the nation in my grade, but Latin/Classics and Certamen is a pretty small niche and I wouldn’t be reapplying if I did not have classics this year which I did not have last year (awards come out after March 10 and in the summer in Classics world)
Well… There aren’t many people in my school applying for Private High School. Out of all of them, I am the only one with decent awards in music. In the whole state, I am third place (15 and under).
I’m not sure how big of a chance I have to get into these private high schools, as (like you said) the other applicants are probably very strong - I just don’t know their strengths.
Thank you! The big problem is that my verbal score is too low (like a 54 percentile). I’ve been working on it the past month, and have the test on Saturday, so I hope I improve!
Unfortunately musical talent is not considered to be a hook at the schools you listed above. It can be a hook at conservatories though. The major classes of hooks for boarding school are 1) Development 2) Legacy 3) Faculty Child 4) Athlete 5) URM.
Being top 3-5% of your class is great, that will surely get noticed. But you are in a competitive demographic, and you’ll be compared with others just like you. What is your backup plan? Will you go back to the local public school?
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Hello there: getting into Lawrenceville as a day student is more difficult than getting into Andover or Exeter. The stats for accepted students from nearby WWP/Princeton area are top notch. Typically you need some extraordinary hook: valedictorian of your middle school, recruited athlete, URM or development case. My son attended Lville and he attended the local public schools before boarding in 9th grade.
I know a lot of his friends who were day students. They were top students at the local feeders (Princeton Charter, Stuart, PASH, Chapin, etc). A couple were Caroline Bradley scholars or had similar high level awards.
Building off this, a friend of mine from WWP told me there were over 200 applicants from his grade in our year (c/o 2023). About 7 or 8 got in—that’s around Harvard or Stanford selectivity. It’s an insane crapshoot for public school students.
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Music most assuredly can be a hook (was for my child) at each of the four schools to which the OP is applying. However, a high level of performance and commitment on an orchestral instrument is much more impactful to admissions than on piano. My understanding is that pianists have to be really great and advanced (think Juilliard-prep students playing Rachmaninoff concertos, for example) for it to make a significant difference in admissions. But if the music directors think the OP is a great violinist who will really help their orchestras, her chances for admission are improved.
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Thank you to everyone who gave advice!!!
I submitted my applications to all schools accept for Andover (due February 1st). My SSAT results came out, and it was 94%! I’m satisfied!!
Wish me luck!
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Hello! I’m just wondering if you got accepted anywhere? Ofc you don’t have to share if you don’t want to, but I think that you’re a really strong applicant!
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