Finished all my applications (whew!)

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

<p>I finished all of my applications, so now I can chat...</p>

<p>I applied to 9 schools:
Reach:
St. Paul's (NH)
Exeter (NH)
St Andrew's (DE)</p>

<p>Good Chance:
Stevenson (CA)
Mercersburg (PA)
NMH (MA)</p>

<p>Safety:
Conserve (WI)
Westtown (PA)
Pomfret (CT)</p>

<p>I would be a legacy at Westtown.</p>

<p>I am a caucasian girl applying for the 9th grade.</p>

<p>My essays, recommendations and interviews should all be fine...</p>

<p>I currently attend a private day school, where I am ranked in the top 12% of my class. My current grades are:
Language Arts - A+
Honors Social Studies - A+
Religion - A
Literature - A
French 2 - A-
Earth Science - B+
Honors Algebra 2 - B+</p>

<p>This is pretty consistent with how my grades have been since 5th grade.</p>

<p>My overall on the SSATs was 83%.</p>

<p>I am constantly participating in extracurriculars, here's the list:</p>

<p>Sports<br>
Basketball - 5 years - starting shooting guard, District All-Stars Twice (This is why I love the winter)
Softball - 8 years - outfielder, League All Stars Once, League Champs Twice
Volleyball -3 years - No Awards
Bowling - 5 years - 1st place One Year
Track and Field -3 years -No Awards (This is not a full season sport)
Motorcycle Roadracing (USGPRU) -2 years - Race with both kids and adults (This is why I love the summer, I can't get enough.)</p>

<p>School<br>
Declamation - 2 years -No Awards
Spelling Bee - Grade Champ Five Years
Yearbook - 1 year - co-editor
Student Council Representative -2 years - Ran for president (lost by 1 vote)
Peer Counselor -1 year
Academic Bowl - 2 years - District Champs Once</p>

<p>Arts<br>
Dance(tap, jazz, ballet) - 8 years - Numerous Awards
Modeling -10 years - Mostly Bridal Shows; a few print ads when I was much younger.
County-wide Art Contest Winner - 5th grade -Diversity calendar
Several Arts and Crafts Fairs - Various Minor Awards
Published poem - 7th grade - National Anthology
Full Page Article on community service published in local newspaper - 8th grade</p>

<p>Community<br>
Girl Scout - 8 years - Over 60 merit badges (I missed a lot of meetings though, because of sports practice, so I hesitate to even mention this.)
Town Recreation Committee Member - 2 years - all the other members are adults
Community Service - Received a Governor's Award</p>

<p>Church<br>
Church Lector - 2 years
Living Stations of the Cross - 1 year - Played a Weeping Woman (very minor role)</p>

<p>So would you all agree with how I ranked my schools, (Reach, good chance and safety)? </p>

<p>I know from the other threads that most of the people here are going for HADES, but I really liked St. Andrew's best. I will be happy at any of the schools I applied to. There are lots of comments here about the HADES schools, but not so much about the others. In case I get multiple acceptance letters and have a choice, I'd love to hear experiences related to the other schools I applied to. Please share your thoughts! </p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>i think you’re a pretty decent candidate. You’re really well rounded
congrats on finishing your applications and good luck! nine is quite a doozy</p>

3

<p>Thanks hotchkissjin! </p>

<p>Nine was a challenge, but I’ve always known I wanted to go to prep school and wanted to make sure I’d get in. I wanted to apply to Peddie too, but my parents made me choose only 3 per category. Anyways, I just wrote my essays, had my parents look over them and fixed mistakes. I didn’t re-write a million times and some of the essays were similiar so I could re-use pieces from one for another to get them all done. I started the application process last summer and visited 7 of the 9 schools I applied to. We didn’t go on vacation for Christmas so that gave me a lot of time for the essays over my break.</p>

<p>Did you apply to any other schools or just hotchkiss? I hope this is not to rude, feel free not to answer if I am prying, but can you tell me which schools you were accepted/waitlisted/not accepted and relatively how your stats would compare to mine. Thanks!</p>

<p>Also I am still looking for feedback on the different schools I am applying to, particularly those that are not in the New England, since there is less conversation about these on CC.</p>

4

<p>Look at the commentary here by admissionsrep <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/201014-new-forum-prep-school-admissions-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/201014-new-forum-prep-school-admissions-2.html&lt;/a&gt;. S/he works in admissions at Westtown. Do a search of hsmomstef. Her son applied to Conserve last year. I’ve visited Mercersburg for an event, and it is a lovely and well-equipped campus. </p>

<p>I like your selection of schools, although a few are very different from one another. I think you will have choices in March. Good luck, and congratulations on the completion of all the applications!</p>

5

<p>Linds819: I like your selection of schools. I have a question: Why Stevenson School? Did you go there for an interview and tour? I was interested in it too but didn’t persue it! Good Luck!!!</p>

6

<p>I shoulda went to Stevenson when I had the chance</p>

7

<p>Yeah, what’s up with Cali? No one posts anything on Cate, Stevenson, Thacher… etc. I kinda like the idea coming from cold NY!!! Is it too late!!!</p>

8

<p>haha no, it’s not prying at all. i applied to andover, exeter, deerfield, and hotchkiss for junior year</p>

9

<p>Thank you all for your feedback! Rather than answer each individual question, I am going to post my thoughts on each of the schools I am applying for. I am sure this will answer the questions posed so far, and I believe it will further the conversation. (Plus, I try not to miss an opportunity to work on my writing.)</p>

<p>I am hesitant to post this prior to March 10th. I am sure I’ve already identified myself by listing my passion for racing motorcycles. And well, I am who I am, I think what I think, I feel how I feel and any school who would hold that against me in deciding whether they want to admit me isn’t worth my time. So here goes…</p>

<p>Currently I would rank my choices, as such:

  1. St Andrews - definitely #1
  2. St Paul’s - could potentially be 2,3,4
  3. Westtown - could potentially be 2,3,4,5,6,7
  4. Exeter - could potentially be 2,3,4,5,6,7
  5. Stevenson - could potentially be 3,4,5,6,7
  6. Mercersburg - could potentially be 3,4,5,6,7
  7. NMH - could potentially be 4,5,6,7
  8. Conserve
  9. Pomfret </p>

<p>I know the schools are very different, and I like different things about each. I list potential rankings for each because the weight of each of the strengths varies with in me. I’m only somewhat indecisive, I know what I want - I just don’t necessarily know what I want more. (:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>St Andrews is the school I’ve dreamt about going to since I was in 3rd or 4th grade. And as I researched and visited other schools, this feeling has only strengthened. The location is about 1/2 way between each of my parent’s homes, so it’d be convenient for both of them to still be involved in my life. Plus as a native Delawarean and knowing its’ value, I’d love to stay here for a bit longer. My love for the first state aside, St Andrews is an excellent school which appears to have a close-knit student body and lots of opportunities (academically, athletically and extra-curricularly.) There seems to be emphases on community, honor and service to others. Perhaps it was my wanting to believe it was there, (since I watched Dead Poets Society to prepare for my visit), but I think there’s an underlying ‘Seize the Day’ type attitude present on campus. I liked that it is mandatory for all students to be involved in a sport. There also seemed to be an overall sense of curiosity and want for more among the students in the class I visited. My mom tells me I should also mention that admission is need-blind and they give grants for 100% of demonstrated need, since that was important to her.</p></li>
<li><p>SPS comes with all the prestige of being a HADES school, with more of a small-town feel than the others. I felt welcome when I visited the campus. The campus is very nice and 100% of the students are boarding. The classes are small and they have good facilities. There are lots of options as far as extra-curriculars, school year abroad and independent study.</p></li>
<li><p>Westtown is very familiar for me. My dad’s house is literally walking distance from campus. I’ve swum in Westtown Lake several times and even had my first kiss by the tennis courts. As I mentioned previously, I would be a legacy there. I would’ve applied there anyways, because of my love for the campus and the school’s reputation, but as a bonus it also fit well into my safety category, since they have high acceptance rates.</p></li>
<li><p>Exeter is the definition of prestige when it comes to boarding schools in the US. I first heard of Exeter when watching the movie A Beautiful Mind, Charles said to John Nash something to the effect of, “Are you the rich kid that didn’t get into Andover or Exeter?” This cued the most memorable line in the movie for me, “Despite my privileged upbringing I am quite well-balanced. I’ve got a chip on both shoulders.” I’ll stop now with the display of having watched far too many movies, and finally proceed with my reason for applying to Exeter. The facilities are great; the class offerings are great; the extra-curriculars are plentiful; they are a founding member of the School Year Abroad program; the emphasis on straight harkness-style classes is perfect for someone of my verbosity and my parents liked the financial aid numbers.</p></li>
<li><p>Stevenson - the one you’ve all been waiting for… I did not get to visit this campus, obviously I will before I make a decision if I don’t get into SAS. I know real estate’s a sore subject right now, but I still have to use the mantra of “location, location, location.” But it’s not just that it’s located near Big Sur, but that the school makes use of the natural environment. They have a whole outdoor program. I like what they have to say about curriculum and also about the recognition that students are people first and foremost and not just academic machines. I also got the feeling that it is a real laid-back and down-to-earth place.</p></li>
<li><p>Mercersburg - this would be semi-close to home for me. Their students matriculate at good schools, they offer a high number of AP classes and are members in SYA. They offer lots of EC’s and as they say in their own mission statement, they have a focus on a “global perspective,” which is something that’s important to me.</p></li>
<li><p>NMH - I liked the feel of this campus/students. There seemed to be a lot of diversity and it was a comfortable environment. They also offer unique study abroad options.</p></li>
<li><p>Conserve is the other school I didn’t visit in person. I hope I do get to visit there, because it sounds like their campus is amazing. Without a doubt it’s huge and offers tons of green space. I like that it’s 100% boarding, has a lot of international students, casual dress and highly educated faculty. I think my rating will go up once I visit and that’s why I applied. But I kept it low on the list because I felt like their emphasis was very lopsided to the sciences, and I’m more of the social studies/verbal type person when it comes to the classroom.</p></li>
<li><p>Pomfret is one of my safety schools. I really connected with my interviewer there and thought I had a great chance of getting into a good school. There seemed to be a lot of school spirit when I went. The classes are small; they offer a lot of AP and art classes as well as an independent study option for seniors.</p></li>
</ol>

10

<p>good luck Linds. You obviously put a lot of work into finding a good combination of schools to apply to, maybe you’ll have lots of acceptances on March 10. I’m worried now!</p>

11

<p>Hey kentschoolie!</p>

<p>Thanks so much for really reading all of what I wrote and providing feedback!!</p>

<p>Where all are you applying to? Anywhere other than Kent? Good Luck to you too wherever you apply!</p>

<p>I am really nervous. I’ve been reading here a bit, (something I actively chose not to do while completing my applications,) and this board causes me concern. There are so many great applicants: with better SSATs, hooks, etc… Now I am starting to have a twinge of doubt: should I have applied to less schools to focus more on each individual one, should I have studied for and retaken the SSATs, should I have taken more time with my essays, should I have tailored my list of ECs so that it focused more on my ECs that fit the school’s needs better, have I shown the adcoms I am the type of student that will thrive there, etc… I know at this point, that this is me just letting my thoughts run pointlessly in a negative direction, but up until this “wait,” I just knew I was going to apply and get in at a great school and didn’t really consider the possibility of getting rejected 9 times.</p>

<p>Previously my only doubt came when 2 or 3 of my interviewers mentioned the danger of my motorcycling hobby. I explained to them that I trained a good deal, that the track is closed course, (ie safer environment than public roads,) and that we wear a lot of gear; however, I still felt that perhaps they thought I was too much of a risk-taker. </p>

<p>As I type this I realize another potential area for doubt. Of my other sports, the only one I’m likely to be talented enough to play on the boarding school level is basketball. I really hope my strong level of commitment to service and involvement, is enough to offset these areas which could potentially be perceived as weaknesses in my ECs.</p>

<p>I love to write and to have great conversations, so I really don’t believe my essays/interviews are too much to worry about, but it’s such a great unknown - how I compare against others.</p>

<p>I am going to stop now, because all of this originally started because I wanted to say that I empathize with you, when you said “I’m worried now!”</p>

12

<p>Linds, you are truly a great candidate!!! Your EC’s and Awards are certainly above average. In fact they are HADES quality. Hey… Don’t be worried at all Linds. You are in at every school on that list except for SPS and Exeter. (You still have a solid chance at them though) But do not fret. You are easily into those others. St. Andrew may be a reach, but you will get in. You seem very motivated and knowedgable. It is very impressive. Keep up the good work!!</p>

<p>Best of luck</p>

13

<p>Thanks Benevolent!</p>

<p>Your post really made me feel much better! I appreciate your input! You really seem to have a knack for making people feel good!</p>

14

<p>Linds,
Honestly, when I read your writing, I can’t help but like you. Although, I didn’t read through your long list of EC’s, I read your concerns post as well as your why I want to go to this school post, and you seem like a 99 percentile writer. I hope there are plenty of kids like you at the schools I’m applying to. Good luck!!</p>

15

<p>Hey thanks istoleyournose! That was quite the compliment!</p>

<p>So I was telling my twin sister about the things you all said and she wanted me
to ask you, what you thought of her… I don’t know why since we are so similar on paper… </p>

<p>She’s only even applying to 3 schools, and has 1 app she’s just finishing up now. So I’ll list her credentials in the same format I listed mine:</p>

<p>Honors Social Studies - A+
Honors Algebra 2 – A
Language Arts - A
Religion - A
French 2 - A-
Honors Earth Science – A-
Literature – B</p>

<p>Her overall on the SSATs was 76%. </p>

<p>Sports
Basketball - 5 years - starting small forward, District All-Stars Twice
Softball - 8 years – 3rd base, League All Stars Twice, League Champs Twice
Volleyball -5 years – co-captain, League All-Stars Twice<br>
Bowling - 5 years
Track and Field - 3 years - She won in the long jump and 800m</p>

<p>School
Yearbook - 1 year - photographer
Student Council Treasurer – 1 year
Academic Bowl - 2 years - District Champs Once
Mathletes – 3 years</p>

<p>Arts
Dance(tap, jazz, ballet) - 8 years - Numerous Awards
Modeling -10 years - Mostly Bridal Shows; a few print ads
Several Arts and Crafts Fairs - Various Minor Awards
Learning to play Clarinet</p>

<p>Community
Girl Scout - 8 years
Community Service - no awards though</p>

<p>Church
Church Lector - 2 years
Living Stations of the Cross - 1 year
Choir – 3 years</p>

<p>She’s applying to:

  1. St Andrews School (DE)
  2. Middlesex
  3. Westtown (we’d be legacies there)</p>

<p>My mom thinks it would be good for us to go to different schools, but we both have St. Andrews as our #1 choice, so it would be interesting if we both got in. Does anyone know whether having a twin (an almost identical candidate) hurts/helps our chances?</p>

16

<p>Isn’t saying you’d be a legacy a bit conceited…?</p>

17

<p>ProdigyMochi, I think the OP means legacies as in having someone in the family that went there. Not like, we’re going to be super famous there or whatever.
I think?</p>

18

<p>Lol. By legacy, I meant that our Dad is an alumus of Westtown.</p>

19

<p>Just wanted to update this, so that if someone reads this next year, they’ll know the outcome and maybe it can help someone…</p>

<p>Accepted: SPS, Mercersburg, Exeter, Westtown, NMH, Stevenson
Waitlisted: St Andrews and Pomfret</p>

<p>I’ve already sent letters to Exeter, NMH, Stevenson and Pomfret indicating I will not be attending. I am staying on St Andrews waitlist, with hope they’ll re-consider. In the meantime though, I’m deciding between Mercersburg, SPS and Westtown.</p>