<p>I'm a repeat applicant for the 10th grade at these schools. So far, all of my interviews have gone really well, with the exception of Andover's since I haven't done it yet. Essays and recommendations are strong. I scored an overall 90% on Jan SSAT. Grades are good too -- I have A's in all of my classes with the exception of science (low 80s) because I go to a rigorous math and science school. Also, I am of South Asian descent and NOT applying for financial aid. </p>
<p>GPA: 3.7 (unweighted), 4.5 (weighted)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: </p>
<p>-Indian Bollywood semi-classical dance - 10 years (I sent in a video of a couple of performances)
-Scholar's Bowl JV member
-Summer volunteering at science museum (120 hours)
-Piano (8 years): I have sent a piano performance to all of the school's music departments
-Violin (6 years)
-Clarinet (2 years)
-Math Team: I have won a couple of awards and I participated in the Harvard MIT math tournament last year.
-Heritage Panel
-School ambassador
-Peer Helper
-Science Fair: I did lung cancer research in a local university and won an award from the Society of in Vitro Biology</p>
<p>I'm retaking SSAT in February since my Reading score was pretty low. Overall, how are my chances at these schools?</p>
<p>Do you have any sports? GLADCHEMMS usually like applicants who participate in arts, athletics and have great grades. Otherwise your chances seem great. But don’t forget your an applicant of Indian descent. If I am not mistaken, admissions for Indians is tougher than most other applicant pools.</p>
<p>I don’t compete at a JV/Varsity level, but I did mention in interviews that I played badminton for fun. My school doesn’t offer sports since we are a specialized arts school (along with a math/science department).</p>
<p>Are you from an under represented state? that would help a lot. Though your ssat scores are above the schools averages, remember that all those schools could have 95 averages if they wanted to, but they prefer well rounded applicants. I know kids who get declined with 97s and kids who get accepted with 83s…just a note for applicants who see this post.</p>
<p>Alabama…as far as I know only 6 students at Exeter are from Alabama.</p>
<p>only 1 from Alabama at Deerfield so your shot is high there</p>
<p>I go to Exeter and it should be to your advantage that you go to a math and science school. Have any students from your school in the past gone to Exeter?</p>
<p>I know this is irrelevant to the post, but baseball25 mentioned something about under represented states and I don’t want to post a new thread just for my question. Would Rhode Island be considered an under represented state?</p>
<p>1 student did last year.</p>
<p>For Exeter, there is only 3 students from Rhode Island – this would be considered as an under represented state unlike Massachusetts (100+ students are from here).</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply, FutureExonian15.</p>
<p>Quick question: Is it worth retaking SSAT? I’m taking it tomorrow, but will it help any?</p>
<p>The SSAT, like the SAT, is an aptitude test so your scores are not likely to change very much from one test to another.</p>
<p>The ssat is the last thing they look at but i think it is required you take the ssat!</p>
<p>Rhode Island might technically be an under-represented state but it’s still New England. I really don’t think it would confer much, if any, advantage. I’d say schools are looking for 2 things when it comes to geographic diversity.</p>
<p>1–They like to be able to say they have students from “X” number of states. They only need one person from RI to be able to add the state to the tally.</p>
<p>2–They want genuine diversity of experience and outlook. Somebody from RI is not particularly different from someone from Massachusetts, in the way that someone from Alabama or South Dakota is.</p>
<p>The state you come from is just one small part of the equation anyway so don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks for the information.</p>