what’s up guys; I’m an 8th grader, attending an international school in Korea (English is the primary language of instruction).
(could’ve started with hello sharks lmao)
SSAT: 99% Math, 97% Verbal, 94% Reading
I do the Model UN Club, as well as being the captain of the A team in our quizbowl club. I’m also a top 7 skier nationally, and got selected for the U14 national team (ik deerfield, milton and saint paul’s have ski teams), and am in the school soccer team (not that great at the sport though). I love public speaking but couldn’t fit Debate into my schedule.
Excel at Maths and Humanities (History and Geography). Okay at writing (no awards or anything), still everything was an A+ except for Art. Play the violin, ABRSM Grade 5 and I speak French (DELF A2). I think my personal essay was probably a 4 out of the 6 scale that Phillips (Andover) uses, just pretty solid. I haven’t done any interviews yet, but I’m pretty confident with talking in general. I’m gonna talk with the ski coaches as well for Deerfield Milton and Saint Paul’s.
Did a British Math Olympiad and the Intl. History Olympiad, came 6th in Recent History, around 30th or 50th in Overall. Pretty humbling for me as I’m usually the best or 2nd to my friend (he’s really good with American stuff, something that’s basically my weakness). I got honor roll twice on AMC8, distinguished honor roll once, and got into AIME for AMC10. Best in year x1 and best in school x1 for the UKMT JMC. I haven’t gotten my Olympiad scores back yet.
I have pretty good relations with my teachers:
English teacher has seen my potential from Day 1, always has tried to push me :)))
Maths teacher; went to Mongolia with her and 2 teams (we came 2nd overall, I came 2nd individually) of 4 each. I sort of carried my team, even though I broke down after failing to solve a question on my team, even though I spent basically the entire time period on it.
I also created a club that I am president of that helps the 6th and 7th graders prepare for tests like the CEMC Gauss, UKMT JMC and the FOBISIA Maths competition.
Humanities teacher; unfortunately, my old Humanities teacher that I had for 6th and 7th grade left, and I don’t think my current one knows me that well.
I’m Head Boy and lead my group in a social leadership project (we cook food for the homeless and distribute it to them). I should probably mention that I’m an Asian boy (so 100% a ORM) and I don’t have American citizenship. I 100% dominate discussions in my class of about 15 students, so I’m hoping to use Harkness as a way to talk with students that can know more than I do.
Looks like you have a great chance… if focusing on math do look at Exeter, b/c they have an amazing math teacher there that sends kids to math olympiad summer training every year, and I think make the team on a regular basis. Do look at their problem sets to give you a better idea of how they do math there. They use their own curriculum… easy to find online. I think the highest math anyone can test into is 33? (I’m not remembering that correctly… look at their curriculum guide as well as past posts here on CC).
I think BS have many kids who qualify for the AIME applying in 9th, so you won’t be alone in that. And you MUST look at your past SSAT test date. Exeter is VERY STRICT when it comes to the date taken… DS learned that the hard way. You may have to take it again, so be prepared for that. and I’ve heard from Exeter admissions officers that they read the writing portion of the SSAT very closely, so spend time practicing that. It’s incredibly important for them because, they feel, it’s the only writing they see that is truly the applicant. And you also might want to look at how many internationally accepted applicants these schools take. I know Choate only takes 8-10 from Korea each year, and they get a TON of applications from there… just something to be aware of. Many of these schools do take the time to come to Korea so make it a point to go and meet them face to face.
Also, if you’re going to use sports as part of your application, try to have some video available if you can so the coaches have an idea of what you bring to the table. If you don’t have any now, you will have time to get some together before the applications are due Jan. 15.
Good luck to you! I’m sure you will get in everywhere.
Try to get the coaches to want you. There are so many brilliant kids just like you that apply to these schools every year. If you can get recruited and the coaches like you, it could raise your chances of getting in significantly.
Thank you for the well wishes! I know one of my close friends (we went to Chicago for quizbowl together) has committed to Choate (she’s a year older). I’m just confused by what you mean by schools coming to Korea? Do you mean admissions officers come to Korea? If you could clarify that would be much appreciated
Yep! I’ve already contacted the Deerfield coach and will contact the SPS and Milton coaches. The current NEPSAC (the New England Ski League) champion goes to Northfield Mt.Hermon. I’m saying this because he came 1st and swept the four events in our national winter games about three or four years ago. Not claiming to be as good as he is, I’m only about top 7, top 5 when I’m lucky (I did podium a couple of times though), but I think I could definitely crack Deerfield and Milton’s A team. Not sure about SPS though, as their school is definitely the school to beat in terms of overall ski team rankings.
Yes, the AOs visit Korea. If you look on the school’s websites for admission events, they sometimes list their international visits. Probably not until July/August. You can also send a friendly email to the AO office to see if/when they will be traveling to Korea. I would think the biggies do (Exeter Andover Choate) not sure about the rest… good luck!
Definitely reach out and ask them directly. They may not have their schedules fully up-to-date yet. We live in an Asian country as well and many, many schools come here every fall to recruit and interview. My daughter was able to interview with two of her schools in person last fall because they were visiting a city close by for a roadshow/showcase of US boarding schools. Their visits were not on their calendars at this point in the year (and even when we visited schools in June in person, only one of them knew they would be traveling to our area and the other didn’t have travel set yet).
Sort of unrelated question, but should I say that I was on my school’s select soccer team in the athletic inquiry form? I wasn’t very good and I don’t think the coach will have anything in particular to say about me but do you think that would still help or not at all?
It doesn’t sound like you should fill out an athletic recruit form. But you should certain put it on your application and on the pre-interview questionnaire.
Agree with @gardenstategal. DS plays many sports but only for fun. He did not fill out a recruitment form but talked about it in his essays and interviews. If you are going to fill out an athletic recruitment form, you should have something to back it up like video of games, stats, etc. At least that is my understanding.
I know this thread was from a long time ago, but do you think there is anything else I can do to improve my application? For example, I’m considering dropping Model UN to focus on creating a school math club to help some kids improve their scores for a test that’s similar to AMC8 but british (it’s the UKMT JMC, I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it), and my father is also pushing me to create a video about myself?
Not just a video, but a portfolio website with all your various accomplishments as a way for schools to get a better idea of who you are as a whole person, not just academics. ‘what will you bring to the school’ is how you should look at it. Just my 2¢.