Facing Rejection from Dream Schools- What to do Next Year?

Prep School Admissions
1

Hey. This is kind of an insecurity rant, but feel free to add any suggestions or your own stories! Ever since the results, I’ve been trying to cope with being rejected from Phillips Exeter Academy. It was the only school I applied to, and I was certain I would get in. Now that the results have arrived, it feels as if there’s no hope left.

I’m going to apply to more schools next year (Exeter, Choate, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Hotchkiss and Andover). But in the meantime, I have time to reflect. The only place I think I went wrong was my SSAT’s and grades, showing I was academically incompetent (89%tile and 3.75 GPA). But I’ve lived in 5 countries, play 2 instruments (cello and piano), speak 3 languages fluently, committed to 2 sports (swimming and snowboarding), attended the summer program and lead my student council. I was nervous for my interview but felt as if I represented maturity and diversity through my essays and recommendations. Surely that had to make up for my grades.

Honestly, all the people I expected to get in did not. Amazing people were rejected (not even waitlisted!), so I guess there are some things that can’t be controlled. All the activists, writers and artists were rejected from the school. Mainly mathematical/scientific students got accepted. What do you think?

One thing I could probably do to improve is volunteering in community service, I’d also like to start some political blog as I won’t get as many leadership opportunities being a freshman. Aiming for a 4.0 GPA and 99%tile is also a start. If I apply to more schools there’s a definite chance I’m going somewhere, but the only school I am familiar with is Exeter and Lawrenceville, so it may require research into what each school wants. Thinking about the future doesn’t make the rejection too much easier, but it’s better than moping around.

To those who got rejected: how did you feel and what are your plans for the future? To those who got accepted: what did you do well, what could be improved on (for you or me)? Does anyone know some uncontrollable factors (race, financial aid etc.) that may have influenced my chances?

Thanks for reading this rather random post. With a mask of anonymity, it feels better to publish things like this. Best of luck to anyone applying again or attending a school. Otherwise, feel free to message me and we can work on improving our applications for next year. <3

2

How about applying to some match schools, too? There isn’t one perfect prep school for anyone any more than there is one perfect college.

3

@christine Hagan your rant rings false. First you can’t possibly know that all of the activists, writers and artists were rejected. And that only math/science students were accepted. That is ridiculous. You have been reading too much CC and are making a political or some other point. The school is fully of activists of every stripe, writers and artists. Yes PEA has a strong math science bent but it is hardly what defines the student body. Perhaps some humility would enhance your application.

4

@Christine Hagan (not quite sure how to mention you) definitely applying to more schools is a plus point. You are not guaranteed admission at anywhere unless you are quintuple legacy and have donated trillions. For non-legacies, schools like Andover and Exeter are reaches.

I agree with @Center. It is frankly ridiculous to assume that everyone who liked the arts got rejected. Exeter is a well rounded school and chooses students from all categories and walks of life. I know you are facing tough times but don’t change who you are as a person to meet a school.

5

^^ This is an inappropriate response. Ignore such toxic judgement. There is intense competition at most schools, which means great students aren’t offered beds/desks. It’s important to reflect on fit… beyond prestige. Take some time to think about what a learning environment looks like that includes your ideals. Use that as a litmus for reading a school’s mission. I suspect you will find your people, you’ll find an institution that feeds you and needs you.

6

@jdewey who are you to say a response is inappropriate? OP is way off base making sweeping and unsubstantiated assertions. His/Her statements about her own qualifications and why she and others were or may have been rejected seem petulant. A little internal reflection on her/his part might go along way toward success in the future.

7

You cannot possibly have a concrete idea of why you were rejected. Your SSAT score is not ‘bad’, in fact there are students who get admitted with lower percentages. Did your grades help you; probably not. But they are not the sole reason for you rejection. I know you probably don’t want to hear this but there are other students like you. Students who are well traveled/bi or tri lingual, athletic, etc. With 4.0 GPAs and 99% SSATs. And yes they too have faced rejection. Frankly, no applicant (excluding rich legacies, fac-brats of an important faculty member, or parents willing to build the new art center),no matter their stats, is a shoe-in for ANY of the schools that you mentioned in your original post.
Third, one lesson for next year is to have a wider net. NOT a big net.

^ If your goal is to attend BS, that is not is not a wide net.

Continue with that thinking :slight_smile: … but remember not to put all hopes of your future on BS. There are many paths to success, BS is but only one of them.

Edit: Looking back I feel as though I was a bit harsh :wink: … I too was rejected from handful of BS I applied to last year and I understand the need to scrutinize your app and try to weed out the reason why you were rejected. The fact is that, unless you call and ask, you really don’t know the reason; simply because we have no idea what was going through the AO’s mind when they were reading your app.

8

OP just had some misconceptions about Exeter. You should know that the hallmark of a school like Exeter is it’s diversity, which means they accept many kinds of students including artists, activists and certainly writers. Now, your grades and scores were not exceptional and that could be a factor contributing to the admission outcome. But even if you got better stats and better everything else, there’s still no garantee that you’d get in. This is the nature of a highly selective and holistic admission process. (Look up holistic if you don’t know what it means). You are right in planning to apply more schools next year, but unless you have a great local school you’d rather attend, you also need to apply to a few less selective schools to increase your chances. Good luck!

9

“I was certain I would get in.” …“But I’ve lived in 5 countries, play 2 instruments (cello and piano), speak 3 languages fluently, committed to 2 sports (swimming and snowboarding), attended the summer program and lead my student council. I was nervous for my interview but felt as if I represented maturity and diversity through my essays and recommendations. Surely that had to make up for my grades.”

OP has lived in 5 countries, has the financial wherewithal to afford to play/learn cello, piano, swim and snowboard, and attend Exeter’s $8000 summer program and despite strong, but not stellar, grades and scores felt that they represented maturity and diversity through essays and recs. “Surely that had to make up for my grades”

This emanates from many of the young people on this forum who seem wholly in love with themselves and somewhat deluded about how very many of them there are out there. In fact most of these young people who have recently announced their acceptances could be replaced with any one of several other applicants and no one would bat an eye. OP seems to be in that same vein just on the other side of the coin–disappointed that the one school he/she applied to turned him/her down.

10

@Center Although what you said is true, OP is probably 14/15. It hurts to learn this way but he/she seems to understand that now there were probably more qualified people, but this was probably the first time they ever had to apply and face rejection. I don’t think calling him/her spoiled and entitled is helpful or beneficial to helping OP better the application and have better results next year.

11

And just a side note i think OP was referring to people they knew personally when making the art/science contrast… not every single person admitted

12

OP, think about everything you want at BS, from academics to activities to environment. My bet is that there are many where you would be a good fit and your odds of acceptance would be better. Your list, even expanded, suggests you may not know how many great options are out there - you have just focused on the names most people know. You are not alone in this mistake, btw. Because far fewer people go to BS, the BS that are the college equivalents of Haverford or Pomona or Bowdoin are under the radar of most people.

13

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
There is nothing productive left to say that has not already been said. Closing thread.