<p>hey, I currently attend NJ monthly's best public and most competitive high school in New Jersey and am getting straight A's and one A- down the board in regular classes. I have an A in honors band and I have really good instrumental (trumpet) credentials. Something like 12 hours of extra curricular activities, I was in the state region band and many other selective ensembles, I play high-school lacrosse too, so about 28 hours a week of extra-curricular activities and I scored 73 percentile first time taking the SSAT with a bad math grade, then I scored 76th percentile with a phenomenal verbal and reading score, but an even worse math score after I had prepared so hard for math. I hope they take both scores into account, with the first math grade added to the second SSAT I could have scored in the 80's easily. I think the lacrosse and music is really going for me, especially music. I have great recommendations from my English and Math teachers, an even more detailed one from my church educational advisor and I sent in a well made DVD of various performances I have done. My interviews at both schools went very well, and my parents were praised of my quote on quote "thinking power and maturity" for both schools, Lawrenceville in particular. They said that I am definitely the type of person they are looking for, (they still haven't seen my SSAT or grades though). What are my chances? My application for both is good. So what are they at both Peddie School and Lawrenceville School. THANKS</p>
<p>a reply would be nice…</p>
<p>You seem impatient, cbondz69. You expected a response within 50 minutes. March 10th is an awfully long time away…</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be harsh, but you got to give it some time. I, for one, peruse these threads, but don’t comment.</p>
<p>Is it the water in Millburn? Chill.</p>
<p>What grade?</p>
<p>SSAT specifics could help</p>
<p>FA?</p>
<p>Your courses are for the most part regular, which does not help your application.</p>
<p>Nobody can give you a decent estimate of your chances but you have to know in your heart that Lawrenceville is a huge stretch. No? Peddie? Possibly. Good luck.</p>
<p>why is it that i don’t have a chance… they both seemed very enthusiastic about my music, I have a friend at peddie with personal connections to the guy who interviewed me, and who recommended me, i have great recommendations, my SSAT is above the average accepted at Peddie and a little below that of Lawrenceville, my grades are excellent this year, not so much last year but the year before I had the same types of grades, and I have my trumpet, which they exclusively said is what they’re looking for… not to mention my good interview and lacrosse</p>
<p>You’re not amazingly special. People on this site need to realize that even if you play music and have good grades and SSAT scores, it’s not that big of a deal. There are over 1000+ applicants for Peddie, at least, and a lot of them have stats like you. I had a good interview at a school–a great one that made the interviewer laugh, and I was waitlisted. Just saying, these chance me threads can really hurt more than they can help.</p>
<p>“People on this site need to realize that even if you play music and have good grades and SSAT scores, it’s not that big of a deal.”</p>
<p>Love your honesty. I think so many kids/parents aren’t realistic about how competitive the pools are for many schools, not just the super selective ones. I too find the Chance Me threads to be a futile exercise…I think that was my first post in this forum many months ago…</p>
<p>hah! your telling me, of all the 1000 kids that apply, not one is unqualified? nah, I’d put an estimate at about 40% are unqualified to border line… You’re also wrong when you say that all these kids are special. Just because you understand that private schools take only kids with special talents, doesn’t mean 100% of the applicants do, not to mention 100% of them certainly aren’t all special. What you mean by special, is the typical kid with extra-curriculars, sports, music etc. special? If you mistaken me for that, you are sincerely wrong. Try ranked 5th for 7th and 8th graders in Northern New Jersey by audition as a 7th grader, and ranked 2nd as an 8th grader. Lead of all my bands, numerous awards, and occasional lacrosse team co-captain. Thats not your average “special” kid with typical extra-curriculars, certainly not. I’m applying from a public school with better sports and music than Peddie (peddie has a mediocre band, i’ve heard them, and their lacrosse team is ranked lower than mine by a long shot on lax power.com). If there were such well-rounded, talented kids, you would expect far better extra-curricular ensembles/teams than a typical New Jersey high school. So no, just because you see a “3 years in chorus” or a “Yea, I played clarinet for a couple years” or a “played on my rec baseball team” doesn’t mean they are special, I have read this forum from the inside out and I’ve seen what people bring to the table. Much of which is your typical grade grubber that joins groups and teams to slap it on their resume. It would be absurd for you to deny that… Also, laughalittle you have such an immense presence on this forum, wouldn’t you think its slightly hypocritical what your saying?</p>
<p>What do you mean “I have an immense presence on this forum”? I’ve commented on one Chance Me post, because I was genuinely impressed with that user. The fact that you have to put Peddie down to make yourself seem better is inane. Peddie is a great school, you’d be lucky to be accepted, and I hope you realize that. Your personality does not fit the type of school Peddie aspires to come off as. Sure, a couple of Joe-Schmos off the street apply to Peddie, even if they aren’t qualified, but honestly, most students have good grades and SSAT scores. I know nationally ranked athletes here. I know kids who have performed their music on Broadway. Please don’t be telling me that Peddie is terrible, because honestly the kids here become something great. Most kids here are motivated to reach the stars, like me, and I plan on shooting high. Peddie IS a great school, so don’t put it down to reach higher. If you’re so upset with it, WHY APPLY? Thanks.</p>
<p>And by the way, YES. A lot of kids are like you. If you get accepted, good for you! But I don’t want an angry personality disturbing the zen of Peddie.</p>
<p>Terrible? You’re putting words in my mouth. I never said things like that. Theres a reason why I’m applying in the first place But truly, you came on to this forum disregarding how “special” I am, and discouraging my credentials. If you’re so great for getting into Peddie what are your credentials? Surely someone who is so dignified and noble about the exclusiveness of the school must have similar traits. You tell me that I should not put my “chance me” post here. Well clearly I want to be self-assured otherwise I would not do it. That certainly does not mean I want people like you, trolling on me and making a rhetoric out of how “unqualified” I am and how “typical” I am. You were in the same position I am applying for Peddie, probably a year ago. You aren’t some aficionado of admissions just because you got accepted. Peddie is a great school, a great environment and a great education but I doubt they pour all their opinions on the types of kids admitted into you. I have heard of kids accepted with 50th percentile to 95th percentile, no talent, to extravagant talent. The truth is, you most certainly cannot judge how they will decide my admission, nor can you really have a justified opinion. You probably are not on this forum to help me. So why are you here? You know I don’t want to hear the bad things about my application, nor do I want to be recognized as “ordinary” to such sophisticated students such as yourself. So tell me, are you here to make yourself seem as though you’ve been accepted into a more exclusive school or are you sincerely here to help me.</p>
<p>Who are you to judge the 1000 applicants. Do you know the demographics behind that? Are statistics of all applicants truly kept like that? If so, I would love to see them. You understand the average SSAT is 73rd percentile of accepted students. Therefore the 76th you nobly put down isn’t so bad is it? And yes, 393 posts is certainly something of a presence, considering I’m on fairly often and maintain a whoping 13. Please consider the facts, are you telling me I have “no chance” of getting in to make yourself seem much more qualified, or are you truly telling me that because I’m a below average applicant.</p>
<p>Personally, I think you should let it go cbondz. You are arguing with a person you don’t even know, over the internet about a topic that neither of you knows much about frankly. That said, what people say on this forum could be the utter opposite of what actually happens, so if your getting offended please just leave without trying to cause an argument. And laughalittle I don’t believe is trolling you, mate. You are trolling her if anything. Asking ignorant rhetorical questions that are intended to cause offense, saying you only came here to gain self-assurance, and exploding just because someone tried to steer you in the right direction saying that your post does not belong in this section. Honestly mate, if you can’t justify any reason or meaning for these impulsive comments, leave. Put up or shut up. And if you even for one second consider responding negatively towards me saying I’m so called ‘unqualified’ to talk to you in these mannerisms, take a look in the mirror. You have as much of a right to criticize someone as they do you. If you still think I’m ‘unqualified’ to question your ‘authority’, go take a glance at my thread lower down the prep school chances page. After that, if you still believe I am an idiot, you may go ahead and keep throwing your snide remarks to everyone in this forum. If you are posting on this forum, you obviously believe you have some kind of chance of getting in to any of these schools, otherwise, why would you be looking for self-reassurance? Maybe you should quit while your ahead and leave with the pride you have left, instead of trying to look for meaningless reassurance from people who are no more qualified than you and then feeling depressed afterwards and taking it out on others. It’s best for everyone.</p>
<p>And yes before you say anything else, I do support laughalittle in this argument. She has been kind to me on this forum and has twice as much dignity as you.</p>
<p>When did I say you are unqualified? When did I say that I’m too good to speak with unqualified people? Never. Please, rephrase what you are trying to say, its very contradictory and convoluted</p>
<p>I wont be responding to this any more, please. take some time to think why you really are on this forum.</p>
<p>got in. but thanks for the support.</p>
<p>Okay. Good job. </p>
<p>I remember this thread…I was not intending to be mean but you certainly provoked me. I try to be helpful on this website.</p>
<p>Did you get into Lawrenceville or Peddie or both??
I am just curious btw…</p>
<p>Can I just say something…</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations cbondz69 for getting into the schools you applied to!!
I’m sure you put a lot of thought and effort into your application.</p>
<p>However, I will put in a word to defend laughalittle. I believe she is only trying to defend her school from what initially made it seem as though you were putting it down. Also, if I may add, you posted this in a chance forum, which indicates you were sincerely looking for a chance. Too many people post on this forum expecting people to say they are over-qualified. If that is what you are looking for, you are in the wrong place. laughalittle only meant to say that there are in fact many applicants like you applying to these wonderful boarding schools. In fact, I know if you go on Andover and Exeter’s website, they give profiles of just a few of these talented individuals. Now I know it is Peddie and Lawrenceville you are talking about, but still she has a point. That is not to say, though, that you are not qualified. As you saw in the decisions, you were qualified and were accepted so congratulations. In another note, coming from someone who’s been through this BS application process twice and was recently accepted to several GLADCHEMMS schools as well as other highly acclaimed BS (including Lawrenceville and Peddie) I have to just tell you that going through this process allows you to mature immensely. Sure, in eight grade when I applied to just Andover and Exeter coming from one of the nation’s top ranked private schools I thought I knew everything and I was a shoo-in at these schools. What you don’t realize is that going through this process teaches you true humility and I’m glad for the experience it has given me. So please, cbondz69, please try not to get into something like this and I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by it but you have to consider that sometimes the people on CC are brutally honest. </p>
<p>And in defense of cbondz69, I don’t think he was quite prepared to hear that he isn’t “special” after all his amazing accomplishments. So guys, I’m not looking to get into an argument, just trying to state the facts and I know this is past but for anyone who is reading this and in a similar situation on another thread, hopefully you can learn from this.</p>