chances...

[mansae]

<p>hello! could you please tell me if i have a decent chance at these boarding schools?
Taft, Milton Academy, Deerfield, Groton, Cate, Lawrenceville, Harvard Westlake, Choate Rosemary, and Kent</p>

<p>I'm in 8th grade right now in a public middle school, but I went to Seoul Foreign School in South Korea for 6th and 7th grade. My ethnicity is Korean, but I was born in CA and raised there. I'm fluent in English, but I'm learning Korean and took 2 years of Spanish.
My grades are pretty good, though I think I can do better. in 6th grade I was really wobbly in the first tri, but later on I got to getting A's and a few B's. I got High Honors awards for 4 trimesters out of the 6 trimesters that I attended at SFS.
So far, at my new school, I have B's in Social Science and English and A's in Math and Science (all my classes are Honors except for Science). I also take Adv. Art and I have an A. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to raise my SS and Eng grades up to A's once I get used to this school.</p>

<p>My brother and sister both went to Taft, which is my number 1 choice. Does that improve my chances of getting into Taft at all?</p>

<p>As for ECs, unfortunately I never really participated a lot.. will that lower my chances a lot?
at my old school, I was in the Newspaper Club, but that's about it. Outside of school, I love to draw. (digitally on the computer with a tablet and sketching on paper. learning how to use different medias now) I also swim, I used to be on the local swim team.
I really want to do something with art when I grow up. Designing game stuff has always been a dream for me. However, my mom told me that if you grow up with an art profession, you'd be really poor because there are too many artists around and art isn't a good thing to pursue. Is that true?
If any of you have heard about the Reflections (Reflections</a>), if I win the contest then would it boost my chances? Pretty sure I can win in my school.</p>

<p>I took a practice SSAT the last week and I got horrible results. I'm a really terrible test-taker.
I have SSAT prep books (one of them being princeton review) that I'm going to study out of. Do you have any tips for me?</p>

<p>Thanks! sorry for the extremely long post and surplus of questions lol</p>

<p>edit: also, I've played the violin for 7-8 years and the piano for 5 years. I started guitar this summer and I love it. I was first chair in the SFS orch for 6th gr and 2nd chair for some time in the 7-8 gr orchestra</p>

[somnusc]

<p>your chances seem pretty decent except for you ECs…
u should really emphasize ur talent in arts and maybe send them a porfolio?
anyways u should highlight your strengths (such as violin and arts) , and your language advantages</p>

<p>plus ur siblings went to Taft so that helps too =)</p>

[jason4]

<p>if u speak korean and put it on ur resume- they might send in a korean speaker to see if ur fluent. ehh that could be a huge negative/positive but it might not happen</p>

[golfkid]

<p>well its hard to have b’s and get in but it can be done
play some sports too</p>

[Obviously]

<p>Korean and from CA? Ahhh! Good luck.
Yes, having brothers and sisters going to a school makes you a legacy. That will boost your chances for Taft. Yes, not participating a lot WILL hurt your chances. However, don’t try and sugarcoat your application by putting down clubs you weren’t in. That will hurt your chances most likely. Just be honest about it and say I haven’t had the time to participate with the big move from Korea or something. ;S It’s good that you love art, and if that’s what you want to do in life, go for it! My mom always says that she’d rather be doing something she loved and be dirt poor than be doing something she hated and being Bill Gates. Try and prepare an art portfolio with some of your best and submitting it along ith your application. Also, try and meet with the head of the art departments and ask them questions about their art program there. Showing interests in their departments always makes you look more interested in the school. I haven’t heard of Reflections, however, if it’s only schoolwide, I don’t think it’d be much of a big deal. However, if you do win, congrats, and put it down on your application anyway, it can never hurt. If you can, record yourself playing an instrument (the one you’re best at or want to pursue the most) and submit it. Talk to someone in the music department who teaches the instrument you want to play at ______ School. If Taft is your number one school, you’ll probably want to get an 85ish on the SSAT. It says 82%tile on BSR, however, I assume that’s inaccurate now because of the economic thing last year and more need for FA or whatever. Even if you don’t get 85 on the SSAT, don’t freak out. They’ll be people above 82, and people below it. Ace your interviews and really put that KABAM! in those essays. You have a chance, good luck! :)</p>