So as stated in the title, I’m a 9th grader applying for 10th grade at Exeter, Andover, SPS, Groton, Deerfield, and Taft based out of the California Bay Area.
I have a weighted GPA of 4.39 - I got 1 A- in Spanish 2 and am taking Honors English, History, and Algebra - all of which I had an A in. As for last year, unfortunately I had to be absent for about a month in February due to health reasons. Because of this I fell behind, and finished Math with an 82%. This would normally be a B-, but my private middle school used a more rigorous grading scale so on my transcript it shows up as a C+. I also took AP Macroeconomics through JHU CTY over the summer and finished with a 94% A. Given how I have shown improvement in my grades and my only bad grade last year was math, would that significantly impact my chances?
As for extracurriculars, I do cross-country, debate, robotics, and helped revive our school newspaper after over 50 years and have gotten into journalism. I’m currently doing an internship at a non-profit that manages a website and servers for a large online game community and have gained experience with JavaScript. I’m also developing a website that creates a comprehensive list of all networks connected to the internet in the USA and categorizes them by type. I have a photography and art portfolio that I’ve attached to my applications, along with a speech I was selected to give at my middle-school graduation out of 41 students.
My interviews all went really well and lasted over an hour (despite all being virtual), and I got the chance to have some very in-depth discussions with the admissions officers. In my essays, I emphasized my cultural background as a Pakistani and how I’ve been exposed to different cultures and parts of the world (I was born in London before moving here). I also talked about how participating in cross-country despite never doing an organized team sport in the past impacted my mindset and worldview, allowing me to have a more positive attitude.
As for standardized testing, I took the ISEE as I’m familiar with the ERB format and all the schools accept it. I scored all 9’s in stanine score and scored in the 99th percentile in Reading Comprehension and Mathematics Achievement, 98th in Quantitative reasoning, and 96th in Verbal Reasoning.
However, I have a few questions:
I’m applying on financial aid and as a 10th grader, would that impact my chances significantly? From what I asked during my interviews and what I’ve researched, most schools don’t take much tenth graders.
In my Deerfield essay, I made one small typo by accidentally making a word plural when it was meant to be singular that my spellcheck didn’t catch. I’ve already submitted and just realized now, but that’s the only mistake. It’s a really good essay and I wouldn’t want to detriment it. Is it worth resubmitting or should I just hope they can look over it?