Definitely true!
Sorry for the late reply. Iām trying to limit the amount of time I spend on this site to about 15-30 minutes a day, right after school.
For the swimming things and the other things and its individuality, I donāt really thing it as a individual thing because IMO without a team around me or an orchestra around me I could never reach the level I eventually did. But this is just IMO.
Iāll try to stop worrying about the math class and everything else, but itās a big thing for me. Going from an A to a D was a huge change and a shock. I hope you understand. Iām not sure what you mean by giving time to others, but I think you mean something like ācommunity serviceā or āhelping others out.ā Iāve been teaching other students violin, math, and swimming for the past year because I really love those activities. However, Iām not connected to any official organization, so I canāt get official hours, except through word of mouth from the people Iāve taught. Because of this, I havenāt mentioned it except in interviews.
Thank you!
Thank you for the kind comments.
I would love to believe that I would get into my top choices but I donāt really believe I can because of some circumstances. But thank you for it!
For the certified lifeguard thing, Iām too young for the Red Cross Lifeguard certificate, but I had been in a official Junior Lifeguard group when I was 10-12 but I had to quit because I left, but I competed in the National Junior Lifeguard competition if thats worth anything.
Thank you for the kind comment and thank you for your concern!
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I totally agree with you. Iāve seen other kids who had better applications than me who got waitlisted/rejected from the schools. Iām prepared to get rejected from these schools.
Thank you!
I donāt really have any ācommunity service hoursā like I mentioned before because Iām not part of any official group or anything to get those hours, but Iāve been teaching other students in my school for violin/math/swimming because I really enjoy these activities. Since I donāt have any official hours, I donāt think I have the right to mention these hours. I will mention these things during the interview and essays.
Thank you!
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Iām applying to boarding for everything except Commonwealth.
Iām reclassing as a 9th grader for ever school.
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When you reclass,you can ask for a new SSAT score based on your application to the 9th grade instead or in addition to. the 10th grade. You already have your SSAT score, an 87, as an applicant to the 10th grade, if you ask to be regraded as a 9th grade applicant, your score should rise above 90.
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Like I said before, I donāt have āofficialā community hours, but for the past year, Iāve done 1-3 hours a week teaching math/violin/swimming to other kids in my school and in my middle school. Iām worried about the changes because itās a huge shift in my life, going from an A to a D in just 2 months and transitioning from middle school to high school. Iām still young, so I donāt fully understand how to navigate life and how to keep going, if Iām going to be completely honest. Itās challenging to convey what type of person I am online since youāll never meet me IRL or truly know who I am. However, if you ask any of my friends or teachers (though they might be biased because Iām talking about myself), if you do meet me IRL, Iām always smiling and joking around, even if itās at my own expense.
Of course, I love math, swimming, and music. Out of all of them, I love music the mostāitās my main thing. I love math, but school math is a different story (itās more complicated than it needs to be; you can use a simpler formula, but you need to use a harder one). I also enjoy reading books. I go out with friends to cafes and hang out with them every once in a while when I need to chill and relax a bit. I donāt think Iām super crazy competitive at anything, and I participate in competitions for music, math, and swimming because I enjoy showcasing the progress Iāve made with all the hard work I put into the activities. (I donāt know if any of this makes sense, but if you need more information, just message me, and Iāll try to respond with what you want.
Thatās all I can put in with the time I have.
Thank you!
I understand. Make sure you highlight your teaching activities in your essays! They donāt have to be official for them to be important to you.
Absolutely. Please donāt misunderstand me. Your accomplishments are terrific and I am sure that they will impress to the prep schools. I really was just trying to say that the resume type stuff has already been accomplished. Your math grade is probably what it is at this point and fretting over it isnāt going to help. The awards/honors are great but donāt fall into the trap of believing that another award or prize is going to be a deciding factor. Right now the only things that are really in your control between now and the application deadlines are interviews, short answer questions, and essays. Make the most of them as ways to demonstrate why you would be a good fit in the specific school communities. That is does not have to be about community service just about who you are already within your various communities (school, teams, orchestra or chamber groups, church if that is something you do, neighborhood and so forth). Focus on what you care about and why.
So when you wrote this earlier in the fall, your description of why you want to go to boarding school was pretty compelling:
But I strongly believe that you canāt say things like several other posts that you wrote in other threads. Below, it sounds like your main interest in boarding schools is their prestige or ranking, but based on my experience with several of the schools on your list, the admissions offices want to know how you will fit the culture of their particular school. They will not find the reason ābecause I want to go to a top boarding schoolā to be a compelling reason to admit you. Nor will they admit you merely because you are a top student from a top public school with a great list of honors and awards <āthis resume will help (it certainly wonāt hurt), but you should use the interviews and essays to highlight the stuff that is not obvious from the transcript, awards, and portfolios. I would worry less about impressing the schools (you are already impressive) and more about showing them why they will enjoy having you there and why being at a boarding school is actually a better fit for you than a ātop public school,ā and that is where the stuff about having moved around a lot and wanting to find a community and meaningful relationships might be useful in helping them understand what you desire from a school and why.
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I canāt write a whole response to this right now because limiting time on the site but if its fine with you can I message or I can put on this thread on why I want to go to each specific school I chose, because like I have many different reasons for each school Iām applying to. For example my reason to apply to Andover and Exeter are different. The main reason Iām applying to Andover is because they allow students to leave on Saturdays to go to the YO Iām currently in along with other reasons (having a friends there, level of classes, being with people like me who enjoy the same activities I do). For Exeter its along the same lines but Iām applying to Exeter because I really enjoyed the campus and I really enjoyed meeting other students during the campus (everyone was friendly unlike some other places I visited and every faculty I met were also friendly. Along with this I was able to hear and see the orchestra and it was amazing, etc)
Thanks!
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But see, itās not about whose application is ābetterā. Itās about fit. For both the boarding school and for you. Like I was trying to explain, there are more qualified applicants than there are available spots. You are very qualified to attend boarding school! But so are many others. So focus on what you can control (interviews, essays, etc) and try to let the rest go. The chips will fall where they will on March 10th. Good luck!
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Alright thank you! Iāll try to keep your advice in my head.
Question for SSAT Score,
I have a current 87 percentile (80 Verbal, 87 Quantitative, and 89 Reading), and I donāt think its astounding compared to other peoples application, so should I redo the SSAT and study a bit more to reach a 90+ or is a 87 percentile good enough (I am a asian male that needs a decent amount of FA from the schools).
i doubt it will make a difference. focus on making your essays special instead of studying to retake.
Are you sure? When I contacted my schools last year they all said they wanted to see a 90+ SSAT score, and since Iām reclassing as a 9th grader (Iām a current 9th grader) so I would think they would want a 90+ SSAT.
I would advise you not to retake. 86th percentile is an excellent score. The schools know there is very little difference between a score in the 86th percentile and one, say, in the 92nd.
Once you hit a certain threshold, a few more points makes no difference.
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I really doubt that to be honest, considering an Andover AO personally said they donāt care much as long as the score is 75+
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I donāt know, because I contacted Miltons Admission Team last year on what I can improve in my application and they said this in the email āWe are looking at students who have As and score in the 90% on SSAT. As well as being well rounded in their extracurricular involvements.ā Because of this email I am not sure, but when I do take the SSAT I saw that last year I had a 1 point increase but I went up 3 percentiles so i donāt know what thats about.
And especially with the upped interest in BS this year, it became more competitive so I want to make sure a 87 percentile would be ok.
And the Dean of Admission at Hotchkiss told me that he realizes there is little difference between kids scoring in the 75th percentile, and kids scoring in the 85th.
If you are anxious about your score, my advice would be to apply to a few schools where your chance of admission is highly likely. Apply to reaches as well, but this way you will hopefully have less pressure/anxiety.