Hi, I’m applying as a day student for Lawrenceville, Pennington, and Hun. I know this is kinda late but please give me any advice. I’m in 9th grade applying for 10th grade.
99% SSAT (math 99, reading 99, verbal, 94)
Middle school grades were all A and A+
Freshman year, all A+ (taking mostly honors, including Pre-Calc Honors, and then AP World History)
Decent recommendations, great one for math
Strengths I emphasized: independence, resourceful, reliable, motivated
Passion: Idk yet but I want to start an Etsy shop just for experience. Mainly interested in medicine, law, business, and STEM … so a bit of everything
Sports: Soccer for 5 years…nothing extraordinary, but plays on school and club team. Has 1 year of track. Also did dance (jazz and hiphop) for 5 years but not continuing.
Essays are not finished yet but seem okay… I’m a bit stuck on how to write about challenges without sounding generic and boring. Any advice?
The problem is I don’t have any ECs. I did Girl Scouts for 5 or so years but quit this year so I guess I can’t put that. I joined a tutoring club but haven’t had chance to do anything yet either.
Any tips? Interview advice? I have interviews in a couple weeks. Will my lack of awards and extracurriculars drag me down?
Your Application is sort of similar to mine except yours seems better then mine i also dont have any EC’s either and everyone told me my chances were slim but i am taking the ssat on January 30. Are you also taking it?
I’m just a parent of a prospective applicant to various boarding schools for next year, but I wanted to tell you how very impressive you are academically. Your grades are exceptional, made even more impressive by your list of advanced classes. Your SSAT is suburb, obviously. Congratulations on your fantastic academic achievements!
In any interview for anything, it pays to be likeable. If you seem like a nice person with empathy, you’ll have a better chance for success. For these particular interviews, I think it probably helps to be a female interested in STEM, so maybe you’d want to emphasize that part of your plan.
I would guess you have a great chance for Pennington and Hun, and certainly a shot at Lawrenceville, depending on the applicant pool. But again, I’m just a parent engaged in the first go-round with the boarding school application experience, so I’m just making an educated guess based on what I’ve read. Regardless, you have a bright future ahead of you. Good luck!
No I’m not retaking it… I’d probably get a worse score. I didn’t expect 99% because my practice tests were around 90-95% and a lot harder than the real one. Good luck though.
I think you’ll be fine at Pennington and Hun. Both are probably sportier than you are and both would probably be excited to have a high stats student.
My kid had stellar SSAT and grades but didn’t get into L’ville. In retrospect, it would have been an awful fit for him and I think they saw that. (I was too wet behind the ears to understand their culture and his personality at the time.) So that one is a toss up. It’s harder to get in there as day student, btw.
Depending on where you live, you might also want to look at Peddie and George. (Many NJ families don’t realize how close George is, and I think they provide transportation from certain areas.) Or maybe you already did and narrowed it down…