(I’ve done one of these before, so much has changed in the last month, and I believe the last time I did this I gave a poor impression of me as a person, that I really want to do this again but with what I believe is a clearer view of me as a person, and as a student; and to receive advice accordingly)
Demographics
I am a United States citizen.
I was born in Queens, New York City, and I’ve lived in Connecticut for the last ten years.
I am a second generation immigrant - I’m an Asian male.
GPA and Test Scores
I scored 2370 on the SSAT (99th percentile)
In my seventh grade year, my overall GPA was 3.80.
Coursework
I take an Accelerated Geometry class at my local high school, in place of math.
Otherwise, I have a pretty standard 8th grade curriculum (though my Language Arts teacher also invited me to a reading Enrichment program as well due to my perfect 8th grade pre-assessment score)
Extracurriculars
Model Government - Though this is one of my only informal activities, it’s one that I’m extremely proud of. Since sixth grade, I’ve always been very passionate about government and politics, and I wanted to know what it was like to be in government. However, our school’s model UN and debate teams were defunct, and at the time, my parents didn’t have enough money to send me to formal debate & public speaking educations.
Yet this didn’t stop me from pursuing an activity I wanted to experience - I gathered friends who were equally passionate about the subject, online, and we set up what we called “model government”. It’s similar to Model U.N., except it models a full modern government and has a continuous history across sessions. At some points, this model government had over 120 participants, from many U.S. states (mostly Connecticut & California) and countries like Mexico, the UK, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, etc. I served as its president for two full terms.
I’m curious as to whether I should talk about this in my application though, due to its informality. One of my friends, who is also working on his applications this year (and is gunning for Harvard-Westlake and Hotchkiss) is telling me that its a bad idea because “It’s not a [formal] thing”, “I don’t have any awards in it”. I disagree, but now I think it warrants some consideration.
Piano - I’ve done piano for eight years, and I’ve performed very well in several local competitions. This April, my piano teacher and I are planning for me to perform at the Audrey Thayer piano competition, which is significantly more prestigious than my past competitions. I’m playing Piano Sonata by Edvard Grieg and Scherzo, Op. 15 by Reinhold Gliere (both rather advanced pieces, for my grade level). I also play piano in my school Jazz band.
Clarinet - I’ve played clarinet for four years, for my school band. Last winter, I was accepted into the Southern Connecticut Regional Band (CMEA), which is a band of ~90 students selected from over 44 towns and cities.
Baseball & Cross Country - I’ve done baseball for eight years, and my team won our league’s championship in both Spring 2021 and 2022. I currently play Intermediate 50/70. I also do cross country but I’m pretty mid at it, tbh.
Student Council & NJHS - I’m a member of my school’s NJHS, and its student council. I helped fundraise for the NJHS last year, and participated in other charitable activities on top of that.
Cost restraints/budget - No FA required.
Essays/LOR/Other: I think my essays are pretty strong given all that I’ve learned about boarding schools and the admissions process from CC. I think my LORs are also quite strong. Also, interview-wise, apparently I’m an “incredibly smooth talker”.
Schools:
Safety |
Likely | Kent School, The Hill School, The Taft School
Match | Loomis Chaffee, Choate
Reach | Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Deerfield, Lawrenceville
(The reason I listed Choate as a match is because I feel overwhelmingly that I’m a good fit for Choate, better than for any other school - which, if I’m able to successfully impress my good-fit-ness through interviews & essays, I feel will aid my chances very much).