Chance me for Phillips Exeter please!

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

I am currently a freshmen at a very lacking public school in a small town in North Carolina. I am going to be applying for Junior (11th) year and I am looking to see what my chances are. I will be applying for full financial aid (single parent makes below $20k a year, and I have a family of 6). If it matters, I am Caucasian/White and I am a male. I will be 15 when applying for 11th grade. I am looking for my current chances, and any advice on how I can boost my chances through my schedule, adding in EC’s, etc. Here are some of my stats:

GPA UW/W: 4.00, 5.25 (6 point scale)

Class Rank: 1st out of 373

Grades: All A’s

Extracurriculars:

Music: Band since 6th grade (trombone/euphonium), all-county and all-district band, top honors band in my school (only freshmen in the band), performances at churches, organizations, gigs, (all payed performances), and section leader in marching band, as well as first chair out of 15 students in my band.

Volunteering: Stop Hunger Now events, volunteering as part of Boy Scouts in various things, and volunteering at the local library. I am trying to get some more volunteer opportunities and hopefully I can add some more things to my volunteer list.

Sports: I played soccer and basketball in middle school and I swam one season in high school but I don’t have much here yet. I hope to play golf, tennis, and/or swim next year.

Clubs: Vice President of Math Team at school, President and Founder of Chess Club, A Team member and Captain of Quiz Bowl, President and Founder of Rubik’s Cube Club, and part of Student Government Association (President in 9th grade and 10th grade). I am looking to apply to Key Club and Chemistry Club for next year.

Misc.: I have participated in the AMC, various other math competitions such as Furman, Duke, etc. Also, I was a member of the North Carolina A2 ARML team which only takes 15 people from the whole state. I hope to be on the A1 team next year. I am also in Boy Scouts and earned my Life scout at 12, and my Eagle scout soon after. Also, I have no idea if this has any place an my list of extracurriculars, but I am pretty involved with Rubik’s cubes and I go to various competitions for it. I guess the main thing I do is teach others through the Rubik’s Cube Club I started.

Standardized Testing:

SAT/ACT: I have only had the chance to take the PSAT and the ACT Explore. I got a perfect score on the ACT Explore, and I got a 210 on the PSAT. I will take the SAT/ACT my upcoming year, though I am not sure if I should take the SSAT or not.

High School Schedule (Block Schedule, 2 Semesters, 4 Periods Each):

Before High School: Before high school, I took Algebra 1 (Math 1), Earth and Environmental Science, Medieval Studies, African-American Studies, and American History 1.

Freshmen Year + Freshmen Summer: I took Humanities English 1, Humanities World History, Honors Geometry (Math 2), Honors Marching Band, Honors Biology, Honors Algebra 2 (Math 3), AP Environmental Science, Advanced Honors Wind Ensemble, Honors Communication Skills and AP Psychology (extra period online).

Sophomore Year + Sophomore Summer: I will be taking, Intro to AP Stats, AP U.S. Gov and Politics, Chemistry Honors, Marching Band Honors, AP Music Theory (extra period online), AP Stats, Honors Pre-Calculus, Humanities English 2, Advanced Honors Wind Ensemble, and possibly AP Physics 1.

So, would my application look appealing to an admission officer at Exeter? I can get a great math/english recommendation and probably an amazing recommendation for extra curricular (music). I am not sure how either my essays or interview will end up, but I hope I can nail those. I feel pretty confident that I will be able to. I know I am lacking in certain areas, and hopefully I can work to solidify my lacking sections. So if there is something you see I should change or work on, please leave a reply. Also, ask any questions because I may have left out some parts.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

2

I think the main things that would stand out here is the Rubik’s cube club and trombone/euphonium (who’s ever heard of the euphonium if they’re not in band? :smiley: ). Most others look too similar to a lot of other applicants (math team, boy scouts, chess club, soccer, etc.)

3

Thanks for the reply! I am going to try out on both trombone and euphonium for all district and all state band, so hopefully I get a good chair in all district and I am able to make all state. Fingers crossed. And as far as Rubik’s cube club, we are growing and we are trying to take a trip to a competition this upcoming school year. Hopefully we all place well in the competition! Thanks again!

4

Dear god I bombed the SAT… I got a 1980…

5

Maybe you should take the ssat?

6

I probably would except I doubt I would be able to afford the registration fee and the process to get a waiver seems a bit troublesome as you have to ask Exeter. @MAandMEmom

7

I’m beginning to rethink Exeter… Since this post was first made, my stats have changed a fair bit.

Interview: Hard to say, but probably above average. We seemed to connect through music, though I could have answered some questions better, specifically what I could do for Exeter.

Recommendations: Math and English excellent, EC should be great, and history, if he finally remembers, should be excellent as well.

Standardized Testing: Got 1980 on the SAT. Essay was a 6. Definitely a low point of my application, and I don’t think I can change it at this point.

Grades/ECs: Nothing has changed here really since my original post. I have become more involved in the local political community, but nothing I can really add onto my application at this point.

Written Application: I filled out everything the best I could, not sure what else to put here.

Other: Am applying for full financial aid, am Caucasian, and am from North Carolina. Poor family, no legacy here. Will also be applying for 11th grade, not helpful either.

So… do I even have a chance at this point? Exeter and NCSSM are the only places I’m applying to, but Exeter is by dream school. I feel I messed up the application process, as in I could have done much better. Any advice?

8

You say “poor family”…you could write an essay about your experiences in said poor family for essay (because they say the AdComms like students who have “grit”

In general, I feel like your best shot is the essays

9

And your class rank, too

10

I’d say based on reading here that you might consider repeating sophomore year. Junior year is particularly difficult and likely Exeter would consider you more if your repeat.

11

I agree, apply for sophomore year. That is the year that takes the most applicants at most schools. In addition, in spite of your great success at an admittedly lacking public school, you may not be prepared for the rigor of BS and may well be served repeating. BTW, at many schools there are LOTS of 15 year old freshmen!

12

*may be well served!

13

I have honestly no idea if you would or would not qualify for Exeter but I honestly believe your stats look amazing. I am also applying to Exeter as a incoming Junior(11 grade) and I barely have any of the stats you have. I honestly think you shouldn’t worry. Just go for it and have fun while doing it don’t think so much on it and just spend time doing things you always do. I’ve read for so many people that they regret having focused on the application and stressing that they lost out on things the could have done. So best of luck and hope to see you next year!

14

I’m an Exeter student. You sound pretty damn qualified. Good luck. Stats better than mine were lol

15

It will be interesting to hear how you guys do on M10