I recently applied and got rejected to Phillips Exeter. I applied for financial aid and am a 13 year old white female in the suburbs of D.C. I got a 99% on the Isee. My interviewer said he would write me the best recommendation he’s ever written anyone. I am very close with my English teacher and am sure she gave me a stellar recommendation as well. I am sure my math teachers recommendation could not have hurt me either. I have good extracurriculars: theater, basketball, volunteer work, and destination imagination. I am also a straight a student. How could I have done better and how can I improve my chance of admittance for next year?
Here’s my advice: don’t try to analyze your application and figure out what you did poorly. Interviewers are really nice to everybody, so don’t try to get your expectations too high. Honestly, the truth is that you need to have something that not everybody has. Not to be rude, but I’m sure that a lot of applicants had done basketball, theatre, etc. Try to diversify your EC’s and focus in one one or two really original activities. Write really original essays: something unlike they’ve ever read before (although that’s very difficult to do). Maybe apply to some other schools: there are a lot of schools that are just as good as Exeter. It’s simply just the fact that Exeter is well known. Maybe apply to schools with higher acceptance rates?
When do you turn 14?
@CaliMex - Is age a significant factor in admissions? I’m curious! 
@earthmonkey As long as you are within the proper age for the grade, then it really won’t affect admissions. I’m ~8 months older than most of my classmates, and I know kids who were admitted to top schools that are 6 month younger than most of their classmates
You’d have to move to North Dakota, get adopted and become legacy, become URM, or suddenly take up a sport and assume a position in that sport that Exeter needs. Kidding aside, its more than grades, standardized test scores and Rec Letters. Much you have no control over. Don’t lament about missed opportunities. You did nothing wrong. You’re stellar. Look for other amazing opportunities. Exeter isn’t the only fish in the pond!
I don’t think age is a factor, but maturity definitely is. Many kids are redshirted in kindergarten or repeat a grade when they get to boarding school, so the majority of 9th graders will be 15. There are often younger kids, too… but the admissions office will be extra careful that the younger kids are exceptionally mature. You may have much better luck next year! ( Though I’d cast a wider net.)
@CaliMex brings up a really great thought! I moved from London when I was six, where the education system is quite different. Consequentially, I repeated kindergarten when I moved to CO. That means that I’ll be 15 in a little over a month. I think I got into some of my schools because they saw that I was pretty mature and self-aware for an eighth (did I spell 8th right??) grader, and I think the fact that I’m soon going to be 15 helped to validate this.
Most of the 9th grade class are not repeat 9th graders, however.
True. But 13 year olds vary greatly in their degree of maturity. Some are 13 going on 16. Others are 13 going on 7. (I should know since there are sometimes half a dozen 13-year olds hanging out in my house.) Admissions Officers need to make sure that the 13 year olds they admit are mature enough to handle living away from home and managing their own time. If they have any doubts, they’ll wait to see if the kid re-applies the next year.
Also, how much time did you spend on your essays? Everything else can seem okay, but if your essays seemed rushed or a lot of errors, that can affect the schools’ decisions.
I think maturity is more of a factor for admissions than age. Both our daughters started at Exeter as 13 year olds. One was 12 when she interviewed/ was accepted. She will graduate at 16.