Chance Me for the Following Schools!

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Hi guys,

Just to let you guys know, i’m currently attending an American International School in Asia, I don’t know if that will affect my chances.

Currently I am thinking about applying for Groton(reapplying, last time wait listed in 8th grade), St. Pauls, Andover/Exeter, Choate, Deerfield and/or Concord.

Grade: 9
Applying for: You guys gotta help me on this one, I’m not sure if I should reapply for 9 or if I should apply for 10.

Classes: AP World History, Hon. English, Hon. Adv. Geo, Physics, Honors Mandarin, Orchestra, PE, Robotic/Mechanical Engineering

Grades: Not sure yet, will update later, hopefully its around A-, A except AP world might be B- to B

SSAT Mock Test: 2179, V:650, R: 750, M: 790, hopefully will verbal and reading up 100-200 points by the time I actually take it

Ecs: Violin: 7 years - High School String Orchestra

    Viola: 2 years - High Schools String Orchestra

    Piano: 9 years - Self Study

    Badminton: (best ec) 7 years - formerly ranked #1 in US in doubles, formerly top 5 singles, ranked top 30 throughout 6 
    years of playing, represented US in Canada, won Mauritian Nationals (Island in Africa). Consistently winning regional 
    and local tournaments for the past 6 years. Hoping if one of these schools admits me that I can switch to squash??? 
    Will lead my school to compete in a tournament for Asian American Schools, (1st singles), Top Varsity Player.

    Cross Country: 2 years, Middle School and JV team

    Community Service: Multiple service clubs, including Myanmar and Cambodia Service clubs, teaching English and 
    Science as well as building homes and shelters for families in developing areas. Raising funds for these developing 
    countries.

FA: Will require about half FA to full, depending on how much the school will give (will this hurt my chances).

Anything else you guys would like to know, please let me know!

If you read through this, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, and hopefully you guys have some good feedback!

2

Apply to several schools. Consider letting Groton, for example, know that you would be agreeable to being placed in either 9th or 10th grade based upon their assessment.

3

Your SSAT score will be very important. You may want to apply to schools outside of the Northeast. Unfortunately your badminton, while interesting, doesn’t really help you.

4

@Publisher is it possible to do that for all the schools? Letting them decide to put me in 9 or 10?

5

@Publisher If i do what you suggested me to do, do I continue to apply for repeat, and then let them know that I would be open to getting into 10 if the opportunity presents itself?

6

Probably, but I would not recommend this for any but the most selective schools such as Groton, Exeter, Andover & St. Paul’s as it could be viewed as a lack of confidence.

7

@Publisher Those are the only schools I am applying to, as I will only attend boarding school if it is the top, would it really hurt my chances?

8

I do not think that it would hurt your chances at the schools that I listed; in fact, it could increase your chance of admission to those schools.

P.S. @badminton4life: You may have misread my post #5 above.

9

What are you looking for in a school? A great education? Or prestige? Schools want to know you did your homework, understand what makes them special and different from their peer schools, and know why their school is the best fit for you. The schools you listed are all very different in terms of size and culture. It is hard to deduce what you are looking for other than prestige. That’s not enough to persuade an AO.

10

@CaliMex its not so much the prestige its just that I want a good high school experience at a good school learning independence and many other life skills you get from going to these schools

11

In that case, you should both broaden your search and think about what you are looking for. There are very few kids – if any, who would “fit in” equally at all of the schools you mention. Do some soul searching, narrow down what you’re looking for (you can get a great education at most boarding schools), and find your best fit. Do you prefer a small environment where you are encouraged to wear many hats and absolute beginners are encouraged to try new sports and activities, or a larger school where kids tend to specialize and every sport and art is pursued at the highest level? Do you prefer a place where everyone knows your name or a school where you can choose to be anonymous from time to time and can continue to meet new people through your senior year? Do you prefer a more formal or a more casual environment? Or a mix of both? Are there special programs that interest you? Are you into marine biology? Astronomy? Animals? Think about it… and report back!

12

I probably prefer a smaller school, but larger schools are ok for me as well. I am still not sure what I really want. @CaliMex

13

AOs might pick up on that uncertainty. They want to know that you’ve done your homework and know why their school is the very best fit for you. Tell us more about what you’d like to explore, the kind of environments where you’ve thrived in the past, and we can help you figure this out.

14

i would recommend reapplying for ninth honestly, just my personal opinion
also, there is a slight chance of fa decreasing your chances of making it to the schools, as they can only award so much fa per year, the schools you mentioned are pretty generous in terms of fa, but even so, it is limited :confused:

15

Hello! I applied to similar schools last year, but I currently attend Peddie School (which I highly recommend). I suggest looking into “safeties” and other amazing schools that aren’t as prestigious. To increase your chances, I highly recommend applying for the 9th grade. It is not uncommon for students to repeat grades. The biggest reason why I think 9th grade would be the better is to get FA which I also needed (To be straightforward, FA will definitely hurt your chances. This is what all the AO’s and Deans told me). I applied for the 10th grade. This is how I learned that each class is designated a certain budget for financial aid. If you apply for the class of 2022, most of the FA funds will already by assigned. Your SSAT doesn’t seem to have any major flaws, and the badminton ranking is super impressive. Good Luck and let me know if you have any other questions! :slight_smile:

16

@SportyStudent21 what kind of schools would you consider as safeties that I would likely fit in?