<p>Hey, I'm going into 9th grade right now but will apply for 10th grade for:</p>
<p>Groton
Lawrenceville
Andover
Choate
Hotchkiss
Exeter
Milton
Middlesex
St. Paul's</p>
<p>more or less, with my first choice being Exeter.</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 can't predict what I'll get in the 9th grade but since they are relatively easy (ie most rigorous possible at my school: regular english, regular PE, regular band, regular history, honors spanish 2, honors trig, honors bio) courses I should be able to get A's in them.</p>
<p>Test Scores: I got 2370 on the actual SAT Reasoning Test in January, with an 800 in math and 790 in CR and 780 in W. I know it doesn't count officially but I'll make a reference to it. 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")
-- I like volunteering (not doing it for resume padding) but I should be able to get only around 30 hrs in various sources by the time admissions rolls up</p>
<p>I applied for 10th this year and got into Hotchkiss, but I had a good range of schools(4) a few matches one reach and one safety. The schools you are applying to as you know, have very low admission rates so I’d suggest expanding your list to include some hidden gems. Your academics so far look great, but that definitely doesn’t guarantee admission. For your extracurriculars I would just tell you to explain your passion for them to your interviewer. Good luck!</p>
<p>Well, like I always say, check out the big three in the west (Thacher, Webb, Cate) before making your final list. They have all the academics and such that you would desire, and all three are popular with the best west coast colleges like Stanford, Pomona, CIT, USC, etc. Thacher and Webb are pretty unique in their own regards with a distinct “California” feel, while Cate has been described as an NE school dropped in in southern California. Otherwise, you look like a strong candidate for the best schools. I agree with COH on grabbing some safeties. I recommend Kent and Berkshire; very good academics with forgiving acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Agreed with ThisOneKid. If location is not an issue to you, consider Webb, Cate and Thacher. My son applied to all three and my feeling toward Webb is that the school seems to focus very much on academics. It is just my feeling and so totally subjective.</p>
<p>Thanks!! I’m looking for some schools that focus primarily on academics, wherein sports/ECs are important but only secondary. I would really appreciate the names of some safeties and low matches that are not wholly unprestigious so that I can be assured that I won’t be rejected to everything I apply to. ;_;</p>
<p>Look into The Hill School in addition to the California schools if location doesn’t matter</p>
<p>I wouldn’t consider any of those three safeties. Thacher is tied for 2nd most selective in the country (Groton’s first), and Cate is in the teens (Boardingschoolreview.com hasn’t updated it in like 4 years). Webb is in the low 20’s now I’d assume, but still very selective and with some seriously impressive matriculations.</p>
<p>Okay, if you’re a full pay kid, with that 10th grade 2370 SAT, you’re pretty damn well into many of the GLADCHEMMS + TCW.</p>
<p>I have a friend who goes to Exeter, and she absolutely loves it! I think someone mentioned this in the other thread, but I’ll say it again. Academics are important, but not everything. I spoke with an AO at another school during one of my interviews, and he said that they look for not only talented and bright, but also nice, enthusiastic, friendly individuals. </p>
<p>I’m not saying it’s necessarily negative, but being a stereotypical ORM (I hope that’s the right acronym…) may impact your application. At my Exeter interview, that’s what I came off as (from what I could tell), and not having any especially good achievements yet, I’m pretty sure it didn’t help my application. Now, your stats are decidedly better than mine, and definitely be yourself on your application, but I don’t think it would hurt to seem more well-rounded (do you play any sports?).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>If you don’t like sports and specifically team sports, you may want to reconsider some schools on your list which will require that you participate on a team all three seasons every year.</p>
<p>^ I agree, I know that sps has mandatory sports, other than that, I don’t know About other schools</p>
<p>I can play some sports and am fairly good at them (compared to the average student), but that’s more because of my height rather than because I practice a lot and have skill. I’m better than the average student but worse than the average junior varsity/varsity athlete.</p>
<p>Unless it’s matter of that you don’t like sports, you shouldn’t worry about that.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses guys! Would you guys say that Exeter is a high match for me??</p>
<p>Exeter’s one of those schools where it’s so competitive that nothing is for certain, kind of like the top 10 colleges. For example, I had a friend who graduated this year who was a fourth generation Harvard applicant, with a current sibling attending, had straight A’s with mostly AP’s through Junior and Senior year, and had a bunch of competition crushing stats to go with everything else. But, because Harvard’s Harvard and nothing is for certain, he was waitlisted. He got into Columbia, Vanderbilt, and Cornell(which he chose) however, so it was okay for him. He cast a broad net, and it paid off, though he was viewed as a match for Harvard. Exeter and Andover are like that. It is wise to view them as a reach no matter how good you think you are, so apply to several and GET SAFETIES.</p>
<p>ThisOneKid, you can’t really compare Harvard to Exeter, given the different ages of the applicants.</p>
<p>The point is when a school gets that competitive no one can be considered a match. For every talented applicant there are ten more just as good fighting for a single spot.</p>
<p>Hm… According to USNews, Exeter’s 12% acceptance rate is comparable to that of U Penn (see [Top</a> 100 - Lowest Acceptance Rates | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate]Top”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate)). I think that it’s safe to say that some people are high matches for U Penn and that there’s a big difference between U Penn and Harvard.</p>
<p>You’re killing me here. JUST UNDERSTAND THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES, AND BE PREPARED FOR THAT. Are you a good candidate? Yes. But there are three more for every spot. That’s why essays can be everything (and I can’t exactly judge your essays as a non-AO). So no, you are not a match. You would have to be a child prodigy like Jack Andraka or something. Exeter is a reach for everyone. It is not a college, you’re right. It is an elite prep-school, and 90% of the kids who attend are amazing but the school was still a reach for them.</p>