<p>hi;;this is boardinggoaler...i'm gonna apply for Lawrenceville after takin the SSAT in november,,and just wondering if my background was enough:
High Honor Rolls since I moved to Seoul International School
Straight A's
Student Council Level Rep..
Prospective president of student council
Knowledge masters team
grade spelling bee second stage contestant
KAIAC music festival (choral)
Piano 7years experience
Violin 2 1/2
Choir 2 years experience
Jazz Band 1year experience (piano)
Usually;;;my grades for the SSAT aren't that bad..so far in diagnostics,,i've gotten about 2~3 wrong in math;;3~4 in reading;;3~6 in verba;;and my essay is considered slightly over mediocre, but no better..
as long as my ssat grades r ok;;is this enough to get me into Lawrenceville...choate..or any other boarding school? what are some options? thxxxx :)</p>
<p>Yup, you sound good. However, these schools are hard to get into and you realize that, but your SSATs sound like they will be fine - I got 8 wrong on Verbal and still got a 98%. If you want more info for my scores, I got 4 wrong in Reading and got a 96% and and 9 wrong in Math total (both sections) so 90% overall in that. And then I got a 97% overall. You sound fine.</p>
<p>Your music interests are good and so are your other extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>What's a second stage in a spelling bee? What grade was that in?</p>
<p>So you'd be an international student? </p>
<p>Also, I'm going to Choate Rosemary Hall next year and I'm thrilled to be going. It's a great school. :) I'm going to PM you!</p>
<p>are you applying to just two schools? you might want to apply to a few more, and maybe a safety or something.</p>
<p>hotchkiss is a great school.</p>
<p>you look pretty good.
but i dont think you should put "grade spelling bee second stage contestant".</p>
<p>Your information is very impressive. However, I have read that there are many applicants from Korea, and schools do not want to have too many international students from one country. This makes admissions very competitive for you. Are you working with an educational consultant? You should consider a number of other great but less competitive schools in addition to Lawrenceville and one or two other very competitive schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>thxx everyone:
h-o-p-e-f-u-l: i'm gonna apply for many more boarding schools: haha just that i prefer lawrenceville and choate;;;etcetc thxxx for ur advice~i'll definately try hotchkiss
itshelenmelon: haha yea,,,i thought so too haha
Burb Parent: that's what my parents been tellin me all year haha soo that's why ive been looking at lawrenceville;;heard there aren't as many asians..almost all my schools is takin ssat--it's drivin me nuts...</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice on studyin for the ssat? thxxx</p>
<p>well;;;am i considered an international student if i have an american green card and lived there for about 6 years??
and also;;haha forget about the spelling bee thing haha my mistake
annndddd umm...do u have adivce in gettin into choate? what exactly r they lookin for? thnxxx =)</p>
<p>Boardinggoaler - Can you can shed light on why American boarding school is so attractive to you and so many other Korean students?</p>
<p>Also, what is it about Lawrenceville and Choate that interests you? Perhaps it will help us suggest other schools if you tell us what appeals to you.</p>
<p>Boardinggoaler, I PMed you about Choate. :)</p>
<p>You stats look very good. It would be good if your SSATs were between the 85th and the 99th percentile, which, from your practice tests, it sounds like they will be.
Apply to Lawrenceville and Choate, if you like them. If you can, apply to six schools: two reaches, two matches, and two safeties. Choate is a reach for you, as it is for everyone. Lawrenceville is a lower reach, maybe a very high match, so if you want to apply to Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, and Choate, you can, along with three lower-tier schools. A few matches and safties to look into: Blair, Taft, Tabor, St. Mark's, Milton (more like a high match/low reach, but it's a really great school), St. George's, The Hill, Mercersburg, The Hun School of Princeton, Pennington, and Peddie. All excellent schools that might be good matches/safties for you.</p>
<p>You are currently in 8th grade, correct? </p>
<p>You should do a bit more research a pick a few [4 to 5 more] schools that have less competitive admissions [admission rate is 35 - 50%] that you could picture yourself [a happy yourself] attending. Might I suggest Mercersburg Academy? Having just gone through the process, I would say that having a Plan B and a Plan C is essential to your success in the boarding school admissions process. </p>
<p>Generally, my impression of the test was that the mathematics and critical reading sections do not require much preparation. However, the vocabulary and analogies section of the test does require preparation and a bit of memorization as well. Some books are specifically geared towards the vocabulary sections of standardized tests, ex. Word Smart by Princeton Review. You should prepare for the SSAT, but, do not make it the focus of your application. It is by no means the most important part of you application. </p>
<p>Prettyckitty has listed some very good schools that you should consider beside Lawrenceville. I would suggest that after visiting [if you decide to visit], you should pick a few from her list that you like best. If you cannot visit, simply research the schools, talk to former alumni through e-mail, and hang out on this website to talk with some of the accepted students and their parents. You can also try websites such as <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/</a> [there are a few other such websites]. Choosing the proper schools is very important. </p>
<p>Your stats are good. You've ECs indicate that you have a very strong interest in music. You will want to reinforce this by participating in additional music-related activities throughout this year. You may want to try out for the local youth symphony or philharmonic orchestra. Generally, your application should show that you are devoted a few specific passions.</p>
<p>As an international student, you will also want to emphasize why you want to attend boarding school, especially since you'll be thousands of miles away from home. </p>
<p>My final advice would be to make sure that over the next year you develop an interesting range of extracurriculars. Participate in the activities that you love; follow your interests. I am sure that over the summer, you will do something interesting. A good boarding school will open up a lot of opportunities for you. But remember: the best opportunity is the one you create.</p>
<p>Sorry, this post was written up quite hastily. PM me if you wish. I am willing to offer what meager advice I have. :D</p>
<p>To Creative1--About korean students and american boarding schools: it all has to do with Korea's culture. i'm not an expert myself,,being a middle school student,,,but as far as I and my friends go,,the korean culture drives students to do their best at academics no matter what. here in korea,,kids go to institutions until 2 AM just to prelearn everything for the next year (including languages) so they maintain their high grades. A B is considered a failure and a disgrace in most high class societies. Thus,,this pressure to do well at the best of the best leads to another point: for some reason or other,,korea considers America "heaven"- this whole American dream concept because even still, south korea struggles with its prejudices and class differences,,,everyone wants a fair chance at everything. So,,,put these together,,and the korean students strive for the best in the American "heaven" or the top boarding schools. For some reason,,ppl don't lyke to consider public schools, even though so are great,,lyke walnut hiills,, and think they are a "class lower."</p>
<p>The only reason why i need to go to boarding is cuz both my parents work and they can't leave korea...my education history doesn't lead to a very successful korean education (i'll struggle lyke heck) ,,,and my parents think it unsafe to attend public school alone or wid a different family. suits me~</p>
<p>Prettyckitty: Thxx so much for your info!! I'll make sure i consider them and i'm gonna do some research on them right now!!</p>
<p>ChaosTheory: Wow, thanks for your advice~it's nice to hear such a detailed account from a person who just went through the process~ I understand that my goals are high, but i always consider that i can maintain my goals and improve myself...my grade for a diagnostic will come out on monday,,so i'm gonna set my goals from it...i did do som basketball in sixth grade,,,but sports aren't really my thing,,,i'm better at the academic stuff (ex knowledge masters in arts and current evetns),,,and student council,, etc. haha and MUSIC~i LOVE MUSIC!~ but i'll try to join some sports teams in my school just for the sake of it,,,and our school is so meager that they don't have any clubs for EC and stuff,,,,music,,sports,,,academics...it/haha</p>
<p>BTW I PMed u Chaos Theory!! =)</p>
<p>Oh BTW if this helps any at all with my application:
Awards:
6th grade: High Honor Roll all 4 quarters
The George Frideric Handel Award (1 person chosen for each quarter from each grade) = choir
the Phythagoras Award =math
Knowledge Masters Team award</p>
<p>7th Grade:
High Honor Roll =4 quarters
The Sir Issac Newton Award = Science
The William Shakespeare = Language Arts
Knowledge Masters Award
Terry Fox Award= Good citizenship and roll model and leadership
and this isn't an award,,but i'm the only kid in a long time to get more than 2 schoolwide awards haha</p>
<p>do my korean school awards count? cuzz i got a lot of science and creative lit stuff in korean school- cuz the school terms are different, i attended the first semester of korean school in 6th grade and then started 6th grade in my int. school///but the admins can't even read korean lol//</p>
<p>I read in another post that one the reasons you are so interested in Lawrenceville is that your mother travels to J&J with headquarters close to Lawrenceville. In that case, you might consider Peddie, Blair, Mercersburg, and Hill. There are 2 well-regarded Quaker schools in nearby Pennsylvania --- Westtown and George. I don't know much about them, but you can look into them. You might investigate The Hun School of Princeton. However, you should know that their boarding population is not that large, so I don't know how much fun it would be to board there. Of these schools, Hun, Peddie and Lawrenceville are the closest to J&J headquarters. Blair is around one to one and a half hours from the Princeton area. It might be closer to New Brunswick, where J&J is headquartered. My son goes to Blair, and it is a great school. They are 10% international with Korea the largest international group.</p>
<p>thx Burb Parent!! bbut im seriously struggling,,,i don't think i have enough ECs and other criteria to meet the boarding's needs....and also,,,,how do the schools confirm ur community serive work? lol my friend just said to make it up,,,but of course i wont >< and also,,,ARE GREEN CARD HOLDERS ABROAD CONSIDERED INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS?? if no one answers,,,i'll have to make a whole entire thread for it haha jkjk</p>
<p>boardinggoaler -- You should start a thread on the green card. My guess is that you would still be considered an international because of where you live. But that is only a guess.</p>
<p>It is a pity that you have a very competitive situation. You should apply to a few of your dream schools. I also think that you should review other school possibilities and select the schools to which you will apply carefully. In some ways, this is more work than selecting which of the most selective schools you like best. You might consider hiring an educational consultant to help you select carefully. There is an educational consultant who responded to the gal from Vietnam, and she suggested that it would be good to look at boarding schools outside of New England.</p>
<p>it's just,,i heard from all sorts of ppl to "talk about my dreams and passions" but i seriously can't think of anything strong enough,,,i mean,,as from my history,,i AM VERY passionate about music,,,so that's one,,,then i'm very passionate about helping ppl that are unprivileged,,lyke my dream is to become a lawyer,,i have quite a few experiences with the mistreatment of unprivileged (esp poverty stricken) ppl,,and i;m thinking about even expanding a story i wrote for english class into a book: it isn;t a memoir, it's actually a fictional narrative,,but it's based on my experiences,,,is that alright? any other ideas? i've never been on community service or anything,,,,,</p>
<p>YES YOU ARE CONSIDERED INTERNATIONAL!!!!! haha i answered your question:) cause im international too:):):)</p>