Female Chinese Student by nationality and race.
Living in China.
Currently in top public school in China.
Applying for G10 2022 fall. Waiting for the application portal to open up. Current goals are Andover, Groton, St.Paul’s and Exeter
Grade Rank: Number 53 in grade of 720 people (working on getting into top 20).
GPA: Do we have that(? well on tests my average is about 92%
Class Rank: 3/4 out of 40
Tests: No SSAT yet (going to take one soon); TOEFL 115 out of 120.
APs: Doing AP World History Modern and may add AP Physics 1
Awards: AMC 8 global 5% as a seventh grader without training; World Scholar’s Cup regional finals number six (team), science regional champion; attended IJSO (no results yet)
ECs: worked as a volunteer teaching English in a mountain village; triathlon; class basketball team; rhythmic gymnastics China national level 3
Applying for aid
Currently planning to apply to PA, Phillips Exeter, SPS, and Groton.
You are a very well rounded student and I believe you will be able to pass the first hurdle of academics with your scores and rank. However, during my experience applying I discovered schools enjoy if you have a specific passion as opposed to being super well rounded. They look for a well rounded class, not so much indivisible. Do you have a passion/talent you can elaborate to the schools? It will help a lot.
Also, what are you looking for in a school? The schools you listed are extremely selective and for an international student seeking aid it is very difficult. If you just have your eyes set on BS in USA, there are plenty of more intl aid giving and less selective schools.
Thx for the advice! I’ll be adding more schools so the ones I listed is the ones that I really love (my mum said I can take more APs if that will improve my chances)
Thx for your reply!
Yes I do have an interest: one thing I forgot to list is that I really love bio and have completed a fellowship research project at Tsinghua University, producing experimentation notes and stuff and a rec letter. And I’m also interested in history and I have full marks in every test this year (plus I’m taking AP World History Modern), so I do have passions.
As for the school part, well, I look at academics. And because of that precisely, I know the current me is not good enough and need improvements (and I’ll be adding more schools to my list). Thx a lot again!
Wow! Research at a university? That’s an impressive achievement not many other applicants will have done before! Congrats! Definitely will set you apart from the crowd. Since you are interested in bio and history, I would advise you to clearly state that in your interviews. Possibly give some personal factors into why you enjoy it, or any reason that it is interesting and why you enjoy it. I say you have a shot!
Ps. I learned that Exeter is a STEM type school, and they enjoy unique applicants who do unusual but giving experiences. Just some extra tips for you applying
I’d also point out that the schools on your list represent both ends of the extreme in terms of size in Andover and Groton. You may not care about that but for many it’s a very important distinction.
Regardless, you need to apply to many more schools as has been pointed out. Those with meaningfully higher acceptance rates.
Thank you so much! I’m planning to mention that, like, definitely (well it’s my biggest interest and most probably my only real interest). Thx for the tip! (in truth I didn’t even know how I got into the program perhaps it’s my passion, I mean I told the teacher my commitment to bio and the things that I studied on my own and stuff and then I got in
Thx! (wait I don’t know much about school sizes so if you have time can you please explain it to me [facepalm]. Yeah I’ll be on the look outs for more schools (since I still have a whole year. Thx anyway!
Spend some time on the respective school websites, Niche, and Boarding School Review. Check out the various stats…schools share all sorts of things about their student bodies e.g. size, breakdown by domestic/international, number of states represented, gender, all sorts of things. You can also see lists of clubs, sports, etc. and pour through course catalogs.
In terms of total enrollment, Andover is pushing 1200 kids, Groton is under 400. Individual class sizes will be more similar than not across different BS (Andover is 13, Groton 11). But at a larger school like PA you’re very unlikely to know everyone at the school or even in your grade whereas at Groton you almost assuredly will, at least in passing, by the time you graduate.
@xy_bellalm I don’t know much about this: (actually I know absolutely nothing), but are there any scholarships you could apply for in your country? Some people are able to apply for nearby scholarships that grant them the money to be FP, or need a significantly less amount of aid.
If you want to add another school to your list, Shadyside academy in Pittsburgh, PA is a really good school. Feel free to private message me if you want to learn more about that!
Thx for that! When I first considered which schools to apply to I just focused on academics, but now I see that other stuff are important as well. (Not that it matters that much because I have terrible people skills, but still, would be important
Thx for the tip!
I do not want to discourage you but I would assume that when you are applying and fit into the most competitive demographic group (asian female) getting aid is very hard, especially as an international student. You need to really really broaden your list.
