<p>My friend who wants to apply to 9th grade next year, he has studied a lot for the SSATs and expects to score within the 97-99%.
He has teachers that love him(Excellent recs-about 6+ of them).
He has a 4.0 GPA
ECs:
5 years of Cross-Country running as captain
He takes AP classes at a young age, very advanced math student.
He speaks French, Latin, Spanish, and Ancient Greek(A little weird but still)
`He is an excellent writer-one of the best I know.
He has volunteered at Multiple Animal shelters and soup kitchens.
He is a great speaker and would surely do well in an Interview.
He also has played tennis for quite a couple years and is one of the MVPs on his team.
FYI:
He is thinking of applying to: Andover/Exeter, and SPS.
Please reply what you think his chances are.</p>
<p>Your friend sounds pretty well rounded, but does he do any arts related extracurriculars? He’s got the academic, athletic, and community service activities covered, but I don’t see anything about arts. It might be good if he takes up an instrument or joins chorus or participates in a play between now and the time he applies. If he did, he’d be really well rounded, and that always looks good on applications.</p>
<p>The SSAT’s are pretty challenging, and not many people score that high (97-99 percentile). Just make sure he’s aware of that. If he doesn’t do as well as he hopes he can take them again, but I wouldn’t take them more than twice. SSAT scores aren’t as important as grades. If he does score high on the SSAT’s, that’s great! Another positive thing for the application.</p>
<p>Does he have a hook? A hook is something that sets you (your friend) apart from other applicants in the applicant pool. It’s what makes you (your friend) unique. A hook can include being really good at a sport, having a job (if he’s old enough), holding a fundraiser at home or at school, etc. Hooks can vary. An applicant does not need to have a hook, but it certainly helps. I’m telling you this now because your friend still has time to develop a hook (summer would be a great time to do this).</p>
<p>Other factors besides grades and extracurriculars come into play. The location of the applicant, race, and financial situation can have the potential to help or hurt an applicant’s chances for acceptance. An under represented location or race can help an applicant, and an over represented location or race can hurt an applicant. For example, a Caucasian from New England - over represented applicant groups. Hawaiian from Oregon - under represented applicant groups. Financial status can also play a role. Those who can pay the tuition in full and are qualified applicants have a greater chance of acceptance than those who need financial aid and are qualified applicants. Getting accepted with financial aid is still doable, it’s just a more competitive applicant pool.</p>
<p>Btw - it sounds like your friend hasn’t totally narrowed down the schools he is going to apply to yet, but it might help if he looked at a “safety” school (a nice school with a higher acceptance rate that he can fall back on if he is not accepted to the other schools) and some “hidden gems” (schools that aren’t necessarily HADES or part of the Ten Schools Organization but are still prestigious with competitive admissions) along with the ones he already likes. HADES (acronym for Hotchkiss, Andover, Deerfield, Exeter, St. Paul’s) and the TSO (Ten Schools Organization) schools have very competitive admissions, and your friend could still find schools he likes that have admissions that aren’t quite as competitive. Just a thought - he still has plenty of time to look at schools from HADES and the TSO to “hidden gems” to “safeties.”</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any more questions. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>forgot to mention,
Arts: Lead in his school play, member of the County Choir, and plays the Guitar.
Hooks: Member of CTY-John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, he got in there with High Honors(99%-Perfect Score), also his father went there.</p>
<p>@prepschoolwannab he has other choices- Millbrook School is his safety, he also will apply to Collegiate School, he is taking the SHSAT-for charter schools, he lives in Upstate NY, and is a white male, he will be relying on some financial aid, but not much, about 4,000-7,000 at most. He also will apply to Taft, Deerfield, and Choate </p>
<p>Great, sounds like he’s got the arts thing and the looking at multiple schools covered! Good luck!</p>
<p>Oh, and also - he is in an over represented area as far as him being Caucasian and from NY, but the fact that he needs only a little FA could help out a lot.</p>
<p>Is that really being overrepresented? Ugh… that lowers my chances for all future education.</p>
<p>It’s over represented but it doesn’t mean you still can’t get into good schools and colleges. It’s just more competitive is all.</p>
<p>ok thanks</p>
<p>Yup!</p>
<p>chnace me???</p>