Hi all! I know it isn’t possible to tell for sure whether I’d be accepted to any of the schools I applied to, but I’d still appreciate some opinions. I’m a girl, and applying to Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, and Choate for tenth grade.
Country: Romania (I think I’d be the first person at any of the schools from here!)
Stats:
SSAT: 99% overall, 98% verbal, 94% math, 97% reading
ISEE: n/a
Ranking: my school doesn’t rank!
GPA: i go to an IB school, so it has a weird grading system, but I’ve had a perfect average for almost all of my semesters (other than one in which i got a 6/7 for art)
Classes:
(Note: Since I go to an IB school, I can’t take any advanced classes other than math. Also, for reference, MYP is a part of the IB.)
MYP Science, MYP English Lang. & Lit., MYP Math Extended, MYP French 4, MYP PE, MYP Romanian Lang. & Lit., MYP Humanities, and MYP Theater
EC’s:
Speech and Debate (2 years) - I’ve won two European championships
Coaching Middle School Debate (1 year) - I got invited to be an official coach by my school this year!
FTC Robotics (2 years, one on the national team and one on the school team) - I’ve been to the World Championships and got 3rd place, and got 1st place in Europe
Student Government (1 year) - my school is odd and doesn’t have actual positions, so I’m just a Grade 9 representative
Piano (5 years) - won national and local competitions
Swimming (2 years) - unfortunately, I don’t have any awards
Dance (1 year) - see above
Volunteering at a pediatric hospital (3 years) - I spent three hours there a week, and have also organized fundraisers
Extra:
I’ve been going to the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth for the past three years, and taken Forensics, Cryptology, and Electrical Engineering over the summer. They’re sort of like university courses, but condensed into three weeks. I’ve also taken two online courses through the same program, and am currently taking another one, AP Microeconomics. I received the High Honors award when testing in for the program.
I’ve taken two programming courses outside of school, out of my own interest.
I was selected by my school this year to represent it at a festival organized by the International School Theater Association.
I volunteered for a political campaign regarding the midterm election (in the US) in order to upkeep transgender protections - this lasted around two months. In Middle School, I founded a group that fought against child labor and received an award for it, and also organized a campaign to increase the amount of girls in STEM activities and clubs.
I organized a mental health awareness week at my school, and set up an online platform for students to have access to counseling services.
I’m currently in the process of setting up a GSA at my school.
Interviews + Essays + Recs:
All of my interviews went really well - they all were over forty-five minutes and I had the chance to have some really meaningful conversations! I’m very close with all of the teachers that wrote my recommendation letters, so I think they’re all at least decent. I tried to be as original as possible in my essays, and wrote from the heart. Hopefully, that makes them good enough!
Thanks y’all, sorry this was long!