Chance Me for Prep School 24 fall (Freaking Out..)

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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Demographics 2023-08-19T16:00:00Z
1.I am an international student from a very competitive country.
2. AOs probably don’t see a lot of applicants from my city, which makes me quite nervous.
3.Attends the top middle school in my city. (It’s a public school.)
4.Currently in 9th grade and applying for 9th grade.
5.Not applying for financial aid.

From what I have heard, competition is really intense for students in my country when it comes to boarding school admissions as there are simply few seats for so many applicants. I do not have a counselor for the application process so I’m basically working on my own.
Unfortunately, I am extremely anxious because I’m not sure AT ALL if I’m a match for the schools on my list or I’m just being overconfident.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Approximate GPA: Somewhere around the 5%~10% percentile in my grade?
At my school we don’t really use the term “GPA” but we do have precise rankings so I’m not sure if I’m getting it right. It’s also a very competitive school but I guess most BS are unfamiliar with my school so I’m considering suggesting my teacher to talk about it on the recommendation letter.

  • TOEFL: 102 (I’m going to retake it this September and ideally I would apply with a score of 110+ but who knows)

  • SSAT: I registered for the tests in November, December and January. Please suppose I got a 95%~98% because I’m studying very hard for it. :dotted_line_face:

Coursework
(I doubt this makes a difference but I take…)
Math (equivalent to Algebra 2), English, Chinese, Physics, Chemistry, Politics, History, and PE
For 7th and 8th Grade but not for 9th Grade: Geography, Biology, Music, Art, Psychology, and Computer Science

Awards

  • Taught myself Latin and got a perfect score in the National Latin Exam (Beginner Level however :melting_face:)
  • Joined the school biology club and earned 2 National Biology Awards, 1 citywide Biology Award, 1 school-wide Biology Award
    *Second Prize for a writing contest in my city, Third Prize for a national writing contest (But both are NOT English writing contests.)
  • Third Prize for a Speech Contest in my city
  • I got a bunch of awards from my school (mostly because it just hosts A LOT of contests). I’m not sure if I should mention these when applying but…some of them include:
  1. First Place in the English Team Dubbing Contest (Yes, we have that LOL)
  2. Award for History Poster Contest
    3.2 Award for a safety awareness contests
    4.2 Awards for English Reading Contests
  3. Award for something similar to an honor roll
    …
    I’m planning on taking the AMC10 and a sports meet is coming up in my school this September.

Extracurriculars
The problem is I participate in a lot of activities but show little dedication. And I also don’t have any major achievements.
Community Service:
– Weekly Voluntary Cleanup Services at my school, Guiding patients at a local hospital
(hmm I should really put more effort into this…)
Leadership:
– Works for the Student Council(Student Assistant)
– Participated in a summer webinar at Miss Porter’s Changemaker’s Institute(Should I continue this in the fall? I would REALLY love to but the fall program would be a bit costly and I my schedule is pretty much full this fall.)
Sports: I play ping pong but high schools don’t really care about ping pong, I also do track
and field as a hobby.
Music: I play the piano(5yrs) and the french horn(beginner level). I do plan on continuing learning to play the French Horn in high school as resources are limited at my hometown. I’m also partnering with a friend where we are going to compose modern music and publish them online.
Art: I’m planning on uploading a portfolio of mine and somehow express my passion for biology/nature through my works.
Dance: I used to dance for six consecutive years, but I do traditional Chinese dance.
Others: Monthly speeches/presentations in my class, 2 publications on my school magazine, cheerleading for the school soccer match. Also I have a social media account where I post book reviews/recommendations.

Applying to…

  • Safety: My safety school would be my local high school which is already a very good school. So I’m not applying for any(Gosh am I a risk-taker!)
  • Match: (Not sure if I really match with them but…)
    Loomis Chaffee :heart:
    Miss Porter’s School :heart:
    Thacher (No Latin courses however)
    Northfield Mount Hermon
    Suffield(No Latin courses also, but their biology studies seem to be pretty advanced)
    St. Andrews, DE
    Emma Willard
    Mercersburg
  • Reach(Not expecting acceptances AT ALL but…it’s worth a try)
    Groton
    Deerfield
    St.Paul’s
    Middlesex

This is a really long thread…Thank you so much for reading all the way here! I would appreciate your responses and feel free to give me any suggestions(bc I probably need some lol)! Hopefully this thread is easy to understand and not containing too many grammar/spelling mistakes. :frowning:

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I’ve been told that my writing sounds incisive and straightforward…so hopefully I’m not being mean or offensive here…In reality I’m a meek little girl…haha(laughs out of embarrassment)(runs away)…

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You have a good list, and you look like a strong applicant. It’s hard to say how good your chances are because it’s hard to know how competitive the pool is from China. At many schools, even ones that are generally “easier” to get into, there are certain groups of applicants that are very competitive.

With that said, your focus on Latin may help you stand out. Make sure that you are signed up with these schools so you know if they have local events you can attend. My guess is that you will have options on M10.

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The Hill School has a very strong Classics dept so you may want to look at it and see if you would like to add to your list if you want to continue your Latin studies.

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Loomis is heavy in the writing department, so make sure your SSAT essay is top-notch. That will make or break your application, especially being from another country. As far as you not being focused, write about that in your essays. Make it an asset. Talk about all the things you do and why you love them, then say something like: I do so much because I have so many interests and I love to learn. It is my hope that by attending (name of school) that I am able to find my true passion… etc. etc.
Just my 2¢, but schools want kids who will participate fully. So show in your essays that you will participate in all aspects of school life. Good luck and keep us posted!

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Since you have Miss Porters and Emma Williard on your list, have you considered Westover (60% admit rate)?

Dana Hall (40% admit rate?) has Latin and Greek.

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Hotchkiss also has a strong classics program, and offers a special Classics Diploma to students who complete 4 years of Latin and 2 years of Greek.

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Thank you! I checked it out and decided to add Hotchkiss to my list. The curriculum is really appealing. I might as well add Governor’s to balance the reach and match school proportion. Or maybe Hill/Westover as suggested. :wink:

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Well…I felt more like going to a school with a higher percentage of boarding students. Thank you for your advice though!

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Thank you! This is very informative and I will pay extra attention to the writing and essays.

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If writing additional essays is not a problem, I’d suggest adding Andover, Exeter, and Choate. All extremely competitive, but you have the academic credentials, your extracurriculars are decent enough, and they all have extensive places for international applicants. All in all, nothing to lose by adding those three

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