Chances for me?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

I might have posted mine in the wrong discussion so I am putting mine here. Hope this is the right one!

Good evening,
I am sure all of you might have grown tired of looking at these posts and replying, but please help a fellow student here
So I’ll try to give you as much as information as possible, since the application process had just begun. I am currently 12, applying for 9th grade and wish to attend maybe exeter, andover, groton, etc. My SSAT score just came out, they were as follows:

91% overall
98% math
97% reading
(and yes very sadly) 50% verbal

I speak Chinese as well as english because I grew up in China and came here around 2 years ago so please excuse my grammar.

My grades for 7th grade were: 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, final average was a little more than 97%

8th grade just started for me so I don’t have the averages yet. I am working hard to get my teachers to like me so the can write me good recommendations.

So now here is my EC :3
I do swimming, I am on a USA Swim team. I have shoeboxes of medals and ribbons, but again, most of you probably have as well.
I also play piano as well as keyboard in my band. I am the group leader for the keyboard section.
I am part of NJHS (National Junior Honor Society) not that unique but oh well
I do arts, and my art won a city completion in New York City in 5th grade

Awards:
I have awards, ranging from as small as student of the month (it is such cute name) to UFT award in math and principle honor rolls.

I am well aware of many people who are wayyyyyyyyjyyyyyy better than me. Please leave any suggestions as well if you can ! My interview will be coming up soon. Thank you so much for taking your time to read this and perhaps helping me!

Cheers x

2

Your percentiles for the ssat are great and now that you know that verbal was your weak point, you can work on that. I would recommend taking the ssat one or two more times because then you can try and get better at verbal. I don’t know if your resume is impressive enough to to get in to Exeter, but you should certainly try for Groton,etc. I also think that Kent, Hotchkiss, and Berkshire school are all great options as well if you ever would want to look into either of those. Good luck!

3

Thanks so much, Cababe97! I will take those recommendations into mind. I cannot retake the SSAt again because I received an fee waiver already. My family is pretty low on the income part, so I don’t think I can take it again. But thank you so much for the suggestion. Cheers x

4

I just want to also mention I joined the John Hopkins Talent Search this year so yeah.

5

Hi! So you know, I’m a junior at Andover (the best but I suppose I’m biased). But I did apply to a number of other boarding schools and received many acceptance letters, so I might be of some help.
So you mentioned you joined the John Hopkins Talent Search this year, therefore I’m assuming you participated in the Center for Talented Youth program where you take a class at a site. (Sorry if you took the online classes I only recently discovered that exists). This and programs similar can be of HUGE advantage to your applications. I suggest also doing Center for Talented Development in the summer. Both CTY and CTD are great programs and for some CTD classes you’re eligible for credits.
Sorry I got off of track. The point is you’re going, or will have gone, to these incredible programs that can be best decribed as a crash course in boarding school. If you bring these camps and programs up in your interview, it shows that you will not be completely lost in the responsibility te boarding school environment gives you.
You have amazing SSAT scores, and though the verbal percentile could definitely be a bit higher this will most likely not be what makes or breaks you.
You also dismissed a few of your accomplishments with addons such as that isn’t that unique or everyone else is doing the same thing as well. I’m here to tell you that that needs to stop early. You must be sure to express all your strengths and not doubt their importance when in the face of others strengths. The fight to boarding school is a struggle, so you must use every advantage you have. Highlight your accomplishments in arts and your extra curriculars (especially swimming as that is impressive)
Last thing to remember, for the interview: speak intelligently and ask real and well thought out questions. This makes you more memorable and makes it seem like you have a strong interest for this school.
I think you should shoot for as high as the schools go. There is no harm in applying to many schools (I applied to thirteen and got scholarships to nine) so I definitely suggest putting Andover (wooo), Exeter, St. Paul’s, Cate, Thacher, Taft, Hotchkiss, Deerfield, and schools like those on your list.

6

Thank you so much for the advice, medwards1! I really appreciate it and will take what you gave said into account :slight_smile:

7

If swimming is a sport you want to continue to pursue in boarding school, check out: http://www.nepssa.org. You can compare your times with the results from meets from last season to see how competitive you are. You can also see the relative strength of the teams to help you put together your list of target schools. For schools out of New England, you can usually find meet results on the school team websites or you can look on meet mobile. From what I understand Groton doesn’t have a swim team, so maybe that school falls off your list. If you are indeed interested in a school swim team and feel you can meaningfully contribute early in your career, reach out to the coach at each school to express your interest and introduce yourself. Good luck!!!

8

hi jinghe2, (my old handle was grotones). Specifically with regard to Groton even though Groton doesn’t have a swim team, you will still be able to join a club team. There are quite a few Groton students that swim as a club team. Groton does have excellent swimming facilities! :slight_smile:

9

Thanks grotongurl and applenot fur for your advice!

10

Trying to find the most encouraging words for my 7th grade daughter applying for 2nd form. The stats are so intimidating - and so many applicants for few places. She earns all A’s, several academic awards, athlete & performing artist, Duke TIP & CTY (online), community service, SSAT’s - higher math than verbal.

11

If you’re 12 right now and you’re applying for 9th grade for 2017-2018, chances are the boarding schools will encourage you to apply to repeat 9th grade next year. I’ve read a lot about boarding schools, and they typically do that. But once again, i read that on the internet, so I guess it’s not that reliable. But other than that, you R.E.M. to have a pretty good resume. Good luck!