Chances of me getting into BS in grade 10

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

<p>Hello! </p>

<pre><code> I am currently in the 9th grade and will be applying for BS at the end of the year for the 10th grade. I am wondering what are my chances of getting accepted into such schools as applying starting from the second year will be slimmer as fewer applicants are accepted compared to the first year.

Currently, I am a member of the student council in my school. However, as I am a student council, I was given an opportunity to be part of a Organising Team for an international event that involved 350+ people. I have also been in the leadership board for 2 years already, gaining much experiences from the various activities I have attended as a leader.

Apart from my leadership, I have been playing badminton since I was 7 and am still continuing. However, even though I am in the school team that play for competitions, I am not one of the main players that play in major matches. But, my team has done well getting top 4 in the past few years. I am also pretty good at playing other ball games such as basketball, but I do not train for them for competitions, but for fun.

For my academics, I am in one of the top schools in my country, but I am not one of the top students in the school though, and my grades are not of an all A standard. Majority of my subjects that I take are all A except for Language Arts (combination of literature and english) and Chinese. Other than the main core subjects required, Additional and Elementary Mathematics, Bio, Chem, Phy, Social Studies, I also take an extra language, Malay, for the past 3 years, on top of my 2 main languages. I am quite involved in malay language as I participate in competitions and have won top 4 in such competitions.

I used to play the violin too, but I am not very good at it.

Looking at my grades and resume, I am not very confident of getting accepted into top BS in America. Can anyone advise me how I can better myself to have a higher chance of getting into such a school! Your help is greatly appreciated! Thanks! :D
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2

<p>What schools are you considering? The chance changes with each one.</p>

3

<p>I am considering schools such as Andover, Exeter, Deerfield and some other top BS. But these are the few that I really hope that I can get into especially Andover :)</p>

4

<p>Your stats look really good! I applied to both Exeter and Deefrield and I got into Deerfield as a new junior. As long as you study for the SSAT, your chances look good. I’d advise you to also apply to some less competitve schools as well-just in case!</p>

5

<p>**So WHY do you want to attend boarding school in the U.S.? **</p>

<p>You say you attend one of the top schools in you country, and it appears that your school has a rich breadth of academic and extracurricular offerings. But you are admittedly not one of the top performers at your present school, so you have not “maxxed out” on the opportunities there. </p>

<p>Andover, Exeter, Deerfield are insanely difficult to get admitted into-- especially Andover & Deerfield which reject 7-out-of-8 applicants. I assume you are an international applicant (i.e. not a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident). Will you be applying for financial aid? That could practically kill your chances as an int’l student applying to any top American boarding school, except for Andover-- but as I mentioned, Andover is already insanely difficult to get into.</p>

<p>I suggest that before you simply pull the names Andover, Exeter, Deerfield out of a hat, you first articulate:

  • WHY do you want to go to a boarding school?
  • Why does it have to be in the U.S.?
  • What academic & extracurricular offerings are important to you (e.g. badminton)?
  • What score did you get on the SSAT?
  • Are you prepared for the grueling marathon to fly back and forth from Southeast Asia to the eastern U.S.? (I assume you go to school in Malaysia or Indonesia, since you mention Malay language). Consider schools in California, too.</p>

<p>There are a lot of excellent boarding schools in the U.S. and elsewhere, besides Andover, Exeter, Deerfield. It is fine to apply to them as long as you are realistic about the actual odds of admission.</p>

6

<p>Actually, I have already sort of “maxxed out” the opportunities in my school especially since there is a number of restrictions that I can take on in the school. For example, I wont be able to take another language in the school, or take another extracurricular other than badminton, especially since badminton is a very competitive and strenuous sport that needs lots of commitments (the school will not allow most students to have more than 1 extracurricular). </p>

<p>I won’t actually be getting financial aid as my family has the means to pay the school fees. One of the reasons why I would like to attend BS in the US is because there are less restrictions to what I can do in school. Also, I will be able to try ut different extracurriculars during the different seasons, which is not possible here (that is why I have been playing badminton for so long) Moreover, I have relatives living in the US and all of them are US residents/ permanent. Also, currently, I have siblings studying in one of the top US university in California now and even though sometimes they are stress at times, during the breaks they really do get to enjoy their life unlike here where during the holidays, we are studying for examinations (it is a non-stop working life, where I even have to bring homework overseas during my vacation). Having siblings and relatives in the US, I am more inclined towards there as I have been to the US a couple of times and like the place, which includes Boston. I think the flights to and fro the US and back to SEA (I live in Singapore by the way) is not a major problem as I usually travel to the Western countries most of the time, and is sort of already used to the long flights that I have to take if I do get in. </p>

<p>I havent took the SSAT yet. But I will either be taking it at the end of the year or maybe the starting of this year as I will be going to the US to visit my relatives at the end of the year during the holidays. </p>

<p>And yes, I will also be applying to some schools in California just in case I wont be able to get into Andover. (at least I will be in the same state as my siblings)</p>

7

<p>How many schools are you planning to apply to? I’m applying for 10th grade as well, so were basically on the same boat. As GMTplus7 mentioned, Andover and other top BS are insanely hard to get into. Keeping that in mind I am applying to five schools: Andover, Hotchkiss, Groton, Peddie, and Kent. It’s a good idea to mix some safeties in the mix. Please pm if you want to discuss this in more depth.</p>

8

<p>I plan to apply to maybe 4-5 schools? For now, I have these schools in mind: Andover, Thacher, Deerfield (not so sure because of the strict dress code), Exeter and maybe Milton or Groton. Where are you from?</p>

9

<p>synchro:</p>

<p>The schools you listed are top schools accepting some (not “most”) of the most competitive students. Even if you had all A+, perfect SSAT and outstanding EC, your admission is far from certain. Perhaps you could broaden your search and include lower-tier schools?</p>

10

<p>Do you have any schools to suggest? Cause I am an international student and I am not that familiar with the schools that are in the USA, other than those that my aunt had introduced to me which are the top schools in America.</p>

11

<p>I know this might sound a little stupid, but my parents wont actually allow me to go overseas and study, especially since I am in one of the top schools in my country which is highly competitive and hard to get in. Everyday is very stressful with much work and projects to be done. But I really hope to go abroad to study as I will get the chance to experience new things and be able to make friends internationally. Also, at least in American High Schools, there are more freedom in the classes that I would like to take, rather than the kind that I have here which has no flexibility</p>

12

<p>Well if you’re applying to Thacher, you better look at Cate as well, since they’re fairly close. Cate has a higher SAT, (arguably) better matriculation as of late, and a killer outdoor program (if that’s why you were looking at Thacher). I think it’s safe to say Cate has the better campus, based on Google Images. I mean come on, personal balconies, many with ocean views, on almost every dorm? I think hec yeah. I’m visiting both in a few months, but in my pre-visit research Cate actually seems a bit better IMHO (though I do really like Thacher).</p>

<p>Anyway, if you’re parents aren’t letting you go overseas, then how exactly are you going to get their consent to apply to these schools, if you don’t mind my asking? I’m pretty sure they all require parental consent.</p>

13

<p>Any schools to suggest - it really depends on your interests. Tabor, Mercersburg, Asheville, Episcopal, Stevenson, Berkshire, Suffield, Pomfret, Concord are all great schools with reasonable acceptance rates that could be looked at. If you don’t mind, you can also look at single sex schools like Emma and Westover if you’re a girl or Salisbury and Avon if you’re a boy. You can also do your own search using the directory on boarding school review!</p>

14

<p>@gh1290 yup I would be applying to both Thacher and Cate (just found out about Cate yesterday!) I am actually quite interested in their numerous outdoor programs because I love going to the outdoors and do things that challenge my limits! It gives me a sense of accomplishment! I will doing more research on Cate over the next few days! But if you have any other additional information about it, you can PM me or post it here!
It is not that they don’t allow me to go overseas! It is more to they don’t want me to go to a non-top American school cause it will be a waste of money to pay for the tuition for a school that is not as good, especially since I am in the top school here, where the tuition fees are a lot cheaper than America!</p>

<p>@strwbrry thanks for the schools! I will do a quick research on them and further broaden my list if any of them are worth going and applying to!</p>

15

<p>You will need your parents’ involvement to apply. All the schools’ applications have a Parent Statement that they will need to fill out.</p>

<p>It is more competitive to be admitted as an int’l applicant from a country that already had good representation at that school. If the school senses your parents are not supportive, the school will not admit you and dilute their yield rate. They will pick some other candidate from SG w supportive parents.</p>

16

<p>Yup! That’s why I can only apply to schools that are within their range! If not they won’t want me to apply cause its a waste of money! I have quite relaxed parents that encourage independent learning as long as its the best choice and doesn’t waste money :)</p>

17

<p>Therein lies your dilemma. The most selective and prestigious schools which are the only ones acceptable to your parents are the ones that are the least likely for an applicant to get into.</p>

18

<p>If one of the major goals of attending school a school overseas is to make int’l friends, then why not simply go to SAS?</p>

19

<p>I guess the chances may be slim. But I have to take the chances if I really want to get into any one of those schools! If I really don’t get into any for fall 2014, I guess I will apply again next year or apply for college after I finish high school in Singapore. </p>

<p>Making international friends is just one of the small reasons. The main few reasons is that the environment there is supposedly better and there’s more flexibility in the education system. And SAS isn’t of a better standard than the school that I am attending now. And the cost is high too which is not worth it</p>

20

<p>If the ‘flexibilty’ of the American school system is what u really want, then there are many, many other top-notch, prestigious, selective U.S. boarding schools that have more forgiving admit rates (in the 25-35% range) than Andover, Exeter, Deerfield (admit rate in the teens).</p>

<p>Consider Loomis Chaffee. Taiwanese designer Jason Wu went there. Or Concord Academy. Queen Rania of Jodon went there.</p>