Chance, please?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Well...I'm nothing special, honestly.</p>

<p>Umm...I'm an 8th grader applying for 9th grade at Choate, Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, SPS, Hotchkiss
Chinese American (I know...)</p>

<p>CLASSES:
Advanced Math (Algebra II)
Advanced Language Arts
<strong>My school only offers those two subjects as advanced courses</strong>
Full-Year Spanish (You have the opportunity to choose to take it if your grades are good)
Science
Social Studies</p>

<p>I've been getting an A in all of these classes for the past two years so my GPA is a 4.0...we don't weighted/unweighted...whatever it is. (I believe I received two pesky B's in the 6th grade however). I'm quite sure my school doesn't rank, either.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>Band since 5th grade....so this would be 3.5 years. I'm in the highest band out of four, decided by an audition...As well as second chair flutist. Our band was excellent last year, we got a perfect score in the contest at district, and one point away from perfect at state. I spend a lot of time in band each week.</p>

<p>Piano since I was seven, but it's sort of been on and off so I'll just put down 4 years. There's really nothing special, my teacher doesn't participate in contests or outside performances...Just two recitals per year at her house. However, at a solo and ensemble contest in which I individually participated in I got a rating of I =).</p>

<p>Art class...I believe art is one of my strengths, honestly. Here are all the artworks I put in a "portfolio" to send to each school.
<a href="http://i18.tinypic.com/4hit2c2.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://i18.tinypic.com/4hit2c2.jpg&lt;/a>
I take an art class by a chinese teacher. She's told me that I'm about her second best student, behind a seventeen year old. </p>

<p>Then I take tennis and chinese (calligraphy) classes. These two I haven't been doing very long but I enjoy them a lot, and I like trying new things.</p>

<p>SSATS:</p>

<p>Umm...I think I forgot what my scores were (I'm taking it again in January), but I'm pretty sure it's:</p>

<p>Math: 97%
Verbal: 97%
Reading: 97%
Overall: 98%</p>

<p>My essay was pretty good...except my last body paragraph was kind of stupid, now that I look back. So I guess that wouldn't make it so good after all. </p>

<p>RANDOM ACHIEVEMENTS:</p>

<p>Umm...my standardized test scores at my school allowed me to take the SAT's to try and qualify for math and verbal classes at a nearby, and excellent (top 100) highschool, in which I did. I did the entire year of verbal but only one semester of math...because honestly it wasn't as good of a class as I would've liked for spending a 30 minute car ride to get to the school and another 30 minutes to get back.</p>

<p>I was third in my school spelling bee in the 7th grade (we haven't done one this year)...which is pretty suprising because I cannot spell words in my head. I'm a visual person!</p>

<p>I went to the state science fair last year and received a gold rating.</p>

<p>I also qualified for a scholarship from my school to go to a band camp at the University of Illinois...it was really fun!</p>

<p>I can't remember any other achievements really. Heh...</p>

<p>TEACHER RECS:</p>

<p>I know my English and Social Studies (as an extra) recs were excellent (they told me), I'm not sure about Math or my band director's though.</p>

<p>INTERVIEWS:</p>

<p>Choate - Very, very good.
Andover - Ughh not so good. It was my first interview so I didn't know what to expect.
Exeter - Good
Hotchkiss - Pretty good I think...It was really casual, and my interviewer was funny
SPS - Okay
Deerfield - Really quite good, I made her laugh a lot.</p>

2

<p>Are you interested in pursuing band at BS? If so, I would highly recommend that you contact the band leader at each school. Send them tapes, videos, ask your band teacher to call them, etc. I can't overemphasize enough the importance of a hook to differentiate yourself from the thousands of other applicants.</p>

3

<p>I agree with what Loophole said. If you think you're nothing special, chances are, they won't either. But if you look at your accomplishments and see what makes you different, you can help the schools think that, too. If you do this, then I think you have quite good chances at getting into at least one or two, because you have a good variety of ECs as well as excellent grades. As people always say, if your heart is set on boarding school, you may want to add a safety. Why are you taking your SSATs again? You have excellent scores. What state do you live in? (Location can affect your chances).</p>

4

<p>Alright, but what could I possibly say to the band leaders? I don't really have any questions unless you suggest I should just ask questions like, "how is the band program at your school?"</p>

<p>I do have a CD of the time we received a perfect score at contest though. Do you think I should burn it and send a copy to each school?</p>

5

<p>@ Prettyckitty</p>

<p>I live in Illinois, right around Chicago.</p>

<p>And I'm not interested in a safety because I figure I go to an excellent boarding school or none at all.</p>

<p>Oh and I'm taking the SSAT's again because my parents are asian and want me to "perfect it" somehow. Sure...</p>

6

<p>Illinois is good; it's not super-underrepresented, but it's not like Massacusetts or California. :)</p>

<p>I understand about the "excellent or not at all". I feel similarly, though I have some matches. If that's how you feel about it, then that's what you should do.</p>

<p>I think it's kind of silly to try to improve scores that are near-perfect, but I'm not your parents. I suppose they know best for you. Good luck on Saturday, then. :)</p>

7

<p>Call or email the band director and tell him that you are applying to his school. Tell him that you are interested in joining the band. Tell
him some of your qualifications.</p>

<p>Here is a quick list of questions that you could ask the band director:</p>

<ol>
<li> How can I become a member of the band?</li>
<li> Could I send you a tape and resume?</li>
<li> How often does the band practice?</li>
<li> What events does the band perform in?</li>
</ol>

8

<p>dont mean to intrude, but this is for a report:</p>

<p>why do you want to go to these schools (specifically Exeter), what's does it have that a local public school doesnt have?</p>

9

<p>Oh thanks so much @ Loophole. Does it matter that I call before the admissions deadline? Or would it still be helpful if I contacted the band director after I send in my application?</p>

<p>@ Vicky_sky...It has a lot more resources, better classes and sports that I can try my hand at, and everyone wants to better themselves by learning. Honestly, some of the students at my current public school make me want to bash my head into a wall.</p>

10

<p>Vicky_sky -- for your report, go here: <a href="http://www.schools.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.schools.com/&lt;/a> and look for the link to "The Truth About Boarding School" and "Boarding Schools in the News." Good luck with your report!</p>