I’m in 8th grade applying for 9th. My current grades are all high A’s, and four are high school classes. They are:
-Geometry Honors
-Biology Honors
-Speech and Debate
-US History
-Cambridge English
-Global Perspectives
I participated in Duke TIP over the summer, and I’m also a Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar. MY extracurriculars are:
Student Council (I’ve been a grade representative and historian)
-CCD (for Catholicism, lots of community service)
-Girl Scouts (again, lots of community service)
-Advanced Art classes (as a class, but I’ve done competition work)
-Speech and Debate (as a class, but I’m on the competition team)
-Chorus (formerly, but I hope to restart if accepted)
-Violin (formerly, but I have two years of experience)
-Math club (I have been on the main competition team for 3 years out of 5)
I’m Indian and I live in Florida, if that helps my chances at all. My recs were all okay, except for my math rec, which was amazing. My essays were also pretty good. I am also a published poetry author, and my poetry has also been published in Young Writers of America.
Both of my interviews went well, especially the Exeter interview. The alum interviewing me hinted to my mother that I had a fair chance because of my Cooke scholarship, ECs, and status as a published author. She also asked me if my mother would be interested in a support group with other Exeter parents of boarding students, which I’m going to take as a good sign. My main hook was political interest.
SSAT scores:
97th verbal
-98th quant
-99th reading
-99th overall (score: 2349)
Do I have a fair chance?
I’ll go out on a limb and say 80% chance you’ll get into both, approaching 90% that you will get into at least one. From what I can tell (but I’m definitely no expert), these schools love to admit kids with outside validation. JKCF is a big deal, and it also means that you are low income and that you will have a leg up on college admissions (just look at where JKCF scholars wind up for college). I’m sure you’ll need financial aid, but if schools have to provide funds they want some credit for it and I think the JKCF Scholar designation does it. SSAT of 2349 is just icing on the cake, but I’m surprised that that score didn’t equate to 99s across the board. No big deal, as the overall is 99.
Congrats and I hope I’m right and I’m not getting your hopes up unjustifiably but I really think you’ll be fine. BTW, what safety schools are you applying to in Florida?
You sound like an amazing applicant! Strong academically, personally(? assuming that your interview and essays are good), and extracurricular-wise!
Are these the only two schools you are applying to though? Admissions at these A and E are really unpredictable, and even if you have an outstanding profile, you may still get waitlisted or rejected. As I saw somewhere before, “cast a wide-enough net so you aren’t disappointed on M10”!
I am applying for FA, but not full FA, since JCKF will be able to pick up whatever the schools wouldn’t pay. My safety schools in FL are Pine Crest and a couple of lesser known schools around central and south Florida.
I’m applying to local boarding and private schools as well, but I haven’t looked at any other M10 schools, and I assume it’s too late to apply to them anyhow.
You have such great stats, it would be a shame not to get in somewhere. But as everyone has said, Exeter & Andover aren’t a sure bet for anyone! You may want to consider Middlesex, St. Mark’s, Northfield Mount Herman or St. George’s. They all have application deadlines of 1/31 or 2/1.
^^good advice. Agree Jack Kent Cooke scholar is a draw. Good Luck. St George’s and Lawrenceville in my opinion are the two most beautiful campuses, though I have never seen Cate or Thatcher. My two went to Choate which is a great community of scholars with some innovative programs (Kohler Environmental Center) and a beautiful new Math Center and Science Research Program, if you’re into that. Cast a wide net and keep your fingers crossed.
I was just wondering, how do you know if your recommendations were good/amazing? As I recall it’s against the rules for applicants to see their reccomendations.
@Kiki56 They probably assumed according to their relationship with their teachers/mentors. Ex: If my math teacher often praised me in class or joked with me and I did well in his class, I’d be confident his rec for me was good.
It’s because of my relationships with the teachers. I have a strong relationship with my geometry teacher, and an friendly, but average relationship with my English teacher. My special interest recommender told me that he didn’t put too much into his rec, and the personal reccomender doesn’t know me too well academically.
Wow, almost flawless! I’d predict that you have a 40% chance. It might sound low to a person with accomplishments like that, but they’re always looking for something new every year. So that’s why I decreases the chances a little. But still, that is great. Much Luck!
Yes, New England boarding schools want a diverse group of students which includes a class of students outside of new england and better yet from each state. Some states are harder to get than others. Students from the west coast, midwest and south are in greater demand than Massachusetts students for PA.
@monica20 , do you have confirmation from JKCF that they will pay whatever the BS doesn’t give you? BS tuition is not their priority although they do say they’ll do it on a limited basis. Congrats on that, though!
@gardenstategal I don’t have an official confirmation, but my advisor and I have talked and we plan to accept whichever (if any) school offers the most FA, while JCKF will help pay funds.
@sunnyschool JKCF is a scholar foundation that helps low income students reach their goals with financial support and counseling.