chances?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I'm stuck in the gap of choosing my private all girls day school or boarding school. </p>

<p>I live in NYC, and go to one of the most well known all girls schools in the country.</p>

<p>My dad is all filipino, and comes from a big government family in the Phillipines. He went to Exeter, Harvard, and HBS. My mom is white and went to a ballet academy and then Barnard.</p>

<p>I'm considered white or asian american. I don't need financial aid (in fact, I'm probably pegged as an overpriviledged white girl).</p>

<p>At my school, I'm going into eighth grade. We don't have GPAs at my middle school but counting all my letter grades for the whole year I received straight A's in honors math, latin, spanish, human biology, art, drama, and music. I got a-'s in english, my most challenging course with a very hard grader and all's a's and one a- in history. </p>

<p>I've played piano and cello since I was five, and am first chair cellist in my orchestra at school. I've been a member of middle school dance company since I was in 6th grade and am also a member of the more selective ensemble. I'm considered one of the head dancers. I play tennis at least twice a week and show jump (on horses). I want to start crew, and am a certified US sailor.</p>

<p>I'm only an 8th grader, but I intern at my city council member's office at least once a week, and also intern at condenast. I'm extremely interested in law, government and internation relations. I'm planning to attend the Oxbridge Academic Program in oxford next summer.</p>

<p>I've traveled around Europe, Asia and South America since I was 2 (so I've seen most of the world), and I'm an only child, so I've been around adults my entire life and have been treated like one straight out of the womb. Conversing with adults is one of my specialties, so I'm not worried about the interview.</p>

<p>I have yet to take the SSATs but my ERB scores from this year were in the straight 99%iles.</p>

<p>What are my chances at St. Paul's, Exeter, Andover, Groton, Deerfield (IE a New England traditional school)?</p>

2

<p>Good. 10char</p>

3

<p>Better than good.</p>

4

<p>It sounds like you have an excellent chance. Were your ERBs at the 99% when compared to other independent schools? The ERBs I got for my son showed the score nationally normed, against select public schools and then against other independent schools. If yes, this is an indicator that you can score at the 99% SSAT. Be sure to apply to a number of schools that you like because admissions does class balancing. If you want to supply racial information (optional), I think you would be considered bi-racial. I hear that the music programs at Choate and Hotchkiss are outstanding. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Is there a difference between the ISEE test and ERB?</p>

6

<p>Technically, the ERB is the Educational Records Bureau that administers tests such as the ISEE. By convention, the CTP (Comprehensive Testing Program) which is administered by the ERB is known as the ERB, at least in the northeast. The CTP (aka ERB) is a test given to many independent school students, often on an annual basis. It is not the same test as the ISEE or the SSAT. However, I believe that the CTP verbal and math aptitude scores compared to other independent school students roughly correlate with ISEE and SSAT scores because the testers are similar and the tests are similar. The ERB report I received from my son't last school gave scores nationally normed, against competitive suburban public schools and against other independent schools. </p>

<p>Sorry for the lengthy explanation!</p>

7

<p>I'm 2007 @ Exeter right now, and I can say that from what you posted, you'd please Admissions, no doubt. They have a great fondness for legacy. I could comment on each detail you presented, but every aspect of it seems to point to good chances--really good chances. Normally I feel disgusted by these "chances" threads because they're so masochistic, but here, not so!</p>

<p>I'm bi/multiracial myself, there are lots of interestingly multibackground people here at Exeter. You won't be told you're white if you want to accept all of your racial / cultural heritage. :)</p>

<p>Shame I'm a senior, I'll never get to say hello!</p>

<p>now, your reception with students... that's different.</p>

8

<p>Assuming you're from Brearley, Spence, Nightingale, or Chapin, with those grades you have an excellent chance at any of those schools, as I'm sure your counselors will have told you. Have you considered staying in NYC? There's Brearley, Trinity, or Dalton and the NYC social scene.</p>

9

<p>qxcvz - What do you mean by reception from students? I'm very well received at my current school, and our grade is extremely clique-y.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your help, though. It's quite a great comfort as i've been feeling very overwhelmed. There's so much to do, and it feels like I have no time.</p>

10

<p>i'm completely seconding gj's post... if you're coming from any of those schools with those incredible grades, you've got an excellent chance at boarding schools (and being a legacy never hurts). BUT staying in nyc does have its perks.</p>

11

<p>Yes, staying in the city definitely does have great perks, and the school I go to has a higher ivy acceptance rate than any of the boarding schools. But it has a lower big three rate, and I've wanted to go to harvard since I was three (yes, cliche, I know, but I visit the campus ever year with my dad, and he tells me all his college stories and shows me every nook and crannie.) The whole boarding school experience really appeals and I also really want more courses, a better music program, more sports teams, and just an even more academic atmosphere (which people say doesn't exist. oh well.).</p>

12

<p>Now, don't get me wrong--I don't mean to appear prejudiced towards you from 2 or 3 internet posts, and I also acknowledge that people change over time, but I'm just saying that from what you have posted as far as credentials, some people at Exeter might be a little bit biased against you depending upon how you carry yourself. If you swagger in and wave your legacy flags and must-go-to-harvard flags people are going to find it obnoxious. You just don't want to get typecast from first impressions or find yourself trapped in some particular social niche. I'm NOT saying that exeter is clanny and agggressive towards people from priveleged-seeming backgrounds; the school would be hilariously self-loathing, were it the case.</p>

<p>I'm just saying that to fit in broadly at Exeter, as most anywhere (although, and i'm being honest here, it might be different at someplace with a higher % of burberry... st.paul's, anyone? highest per capita endowment, hello. also, flood damage :D ) you would want to tone down the self-aggrandizement which SEEMS to be seeping from these posts here. Again, I think this is largely a function of these types of threads, which is why I resent them--for their cold, dehumanizing and calculating nature. Just me, I guess.</p>

<p>You'll always have time to develop narcissistic personality disorder(s) later in life--better to try and learn from others, a la harkness method. it's something i've learned the hard way far too often. some teachers value attitude as much as performance, you know... :P</p>

<p>I hope you aren't thinking about this in terms of quotas, because--as an eight h grader or a 12th--that's not what should be guiding these choices. Come to Exeter because you want to be here to drink draughts of learning (blah blah blah) not because you want to go somewhere which has a statistical correlation (show me the causation and i'll change that word choice) with a certain college matriculation pattern.</p>

<p>edit: your feelings of "not having enough time" and "being overwhelmed," at your stage in the K-12++ education game, make me wonder (Again!) whether you are missing out too much on being an eighth grader / teenager. I'm three years older than you, or something like that, so it sounds weird to be saying that... but it's been written on a bunch by mainstream media--those kids overloading themselves since whenever-time to get a head start on the rat race / grind / super-selective admissions. Don't let your long term goals eclipse your short term life too much or before you know it you'll be old and have nothing of true meaning to show for it, rosebud, etc etc etc. Whatever. 4 am does not wise advice give.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I don't mean to appear to have some sort of superiority complex, I just wanted a viewpoint from others in the most open way. And I'm definitely not one of those spoiled, pampered girls who lives in dior, chanel and prada and carries a little poodle around in burburry. Hell, I don't even like burberry. All the plaid gives me a headache.</p>

<p>I'd really just like a more rigorous school with even more opportunities than my current day school, where I feel like a third of the girls have only ever cared about if someone will be at a party or if that really is a split end they saw, and I love the girls, but it gets discouraging.</p>

<p>Ok, the rat race/grind/way too overwhelmed girls are apparent too; the ones who freak out over an a- or b+, and I'm not one of them. I'm overwhelmed by the whole admissions thing in general. It seems like there's a ton to do and there's so much to choose.</p>

<p>But, thanks.</p>

14

<p>cfmendez, I'm going to Exeter as an entering 9th grader this fall (I applied only to Exeter and Andover and got into both) and I'd say you have really great chances at all the schools you listed. (My ERB scores were the same as yours percentile wise, if that's any help.) </p>

<p>I'd say you're as good as in, so long as you have a unique original personality. They look for people who are different and look at things from a different angle. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

15

<p>Burb Parent Thanks for the clarification.</p>

<p>CFMENDEZ618, If you are good enough to get into Harvard, it probably will not make a big diff as to whether you stay where your'e at or transfer to a bs. From what you have to say, I would think you would be a very good candidate for any bs. The interview, and your application will probably be of great importance for you. Good Luck!</p>

16

<p>cfmendez, now you're sounding more like a human and less like some college-admissions robot! Sorry to be so abrasive (oops, bad "grindstone" pun there) I guess that's what these college essays will do to someone. Exeter is so much whatever you want to make it, and it sounds like you have the perfect attitude to really succeed here. Best luck, I hope you end up coming to Exeter for the class of '11! (assuming you choose it as your first pick. otherwise, wherever you wish to go the most).</p>

<p>though, I say this in all honestly, for someone of your intellectual integrity you might find the claims of extreme rigor to be a little bit overplayed. I prefer to think of it more as OPPORTUNITY for rigor, because it isn't consistent across the board--you can tame one subject while giving yourself breathing room somewhere else, etc etc. Then again, as college admissions officers would tell you, it's ever so important to take the most difficult courses you can, whenever you can... :P</p>

<p>oh, and generic response to thread: if you have any specific questions you feel people at bissell house (the admissions office) might be lying to you about or something like that, feel free to ask me. i'm honest, pretty much.</p>

17

<p>Actually I think you'd fit right in after you get used to the fact that at least 20% of the students will be as strong or stronger than you are and that everybody and his dog can play the piano and cello and read War and Peace in five languages before breakfast. As to Harvard. You don't go to SPS/Exeter because you want to go to Harvard. You go because it will give you the finest education you can find. Good luck.</p>

18

<p>you have a lovely application resume. but remember, many times the boarding school results are unpredictable. the fact that you live in new york city and not from say, idaho, will play a role, as well as the fact that you are of asian-white descent. your interviews will play a huge role.</p>

<p>you seem to have a good chance, but i dont know. i would be lying to say that you'll get rejected, but won't be telling the truth either if i insist that you'll get into all of your schools. i've read about people with terrific resumes that got straight-out rejected from the prep schools, and about completely mediocre kids (including their legacy, grades, etc) who got into the top boarding schools. and vice versa, of course. you ought to prepare yourself for the worst but at the same time, look forward with hope. good luck!!! :)</p>

19

<p>If I were living in NYC, I would just go to a day school. There's already a ton of great private schools there.</p>

20

<p>In at Exeter. Andover will waitlist you if you don't come tour though. Best of luck!</p>