Hi, I’m applying to a few private high schools and I’m a bit unsure. Chances please?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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Hi, I’m an applicant applying to four schools: Choate Rosemary Hall, St. Paul’s School, and both Phillips Academy as an eight grader. I’m slightly unsure about my possibilities but here are a few things about my application (also I REALLY don’t mean to brag about anything. I’m pretty stupid):

SSAT Percentiles:

99 percentile for math
99 percentile for verbal
86 percentile for reading
98 percentile overall
2313 total score (this was second attempt; first attempt was 2220, 90 percentile overall)

Sorta surprised lol but I did work pretty hard. I am no prodigy.

Extracurriculars:

I’ve been playing violin for 8 years. I have been in several orchestras (currently in an advanced, competitive symphony orchestra in my area). I’ve also helped other kids with violin playing (volunteering), and I’ve played violin in hospitals and other places for seniors. I currently take private lessons, and I practice 2 hours a day.

I also play piano as an additional instrument (been playing for 5-6 years). It’s more of a side instrument though.

I also ski in the winter (I take lessons every winter). I’m also a self taught swimmer, and I dabble in other sports in my leisure time. I’m not big on athletics (which puts me at a disadvantage) but skiing and swimming are my favorites.

I also like to draw objects and human characters. I’ve been pretty successful with my art in school (occasionally put on display). I especially love sketching (I suck at painting. It ends up looking like a pool of dirt on a canvas). I used to take art lessons but now I do it by myself.

Lastly, math is my strongest subject. I’ve won some achievements: 12th place national math kangaroo (yes I suck), Silver award for competition for middle schoolers worldwide, One of the best test scores in my school for AMC8 (me is very lucky).

Interviews:

I already took my interviews, and I know the Choate, and Exeter ones went on longer than intended. St. Paul’s and Andover were shorter, which make me nervous. I probably messed something up. I did smile (a lot), but there were moments where I was rambling (cuz I didn’t want there to be awkward silent moments). I did my research though, but I’m an awkward person. I am not sure if I made a good impression or not. The conversations were pretty casual, but there are still moments that make me want to cringe or places where I knew I could’ve improved in wording.

Teacher Reccomendations:

I have a pretty good relationship with my teachers, so I think I’ll do decent in that area. My parents told me the recommendations were really good so I trust them.

School Grades:

I think I’m decent with my school grades. My school grades me on a 1 - 4 scale but here are my averages:

Math: A+ (or a 4)
ELA: A or A- (3.75 ish)
Social Studies: A or A+ (3.9 ish)
Science: B+ (a 3; I hate CER’s)

Overall, I’m a bit insecure. I want to say I did pretty good on my interviews (my parents told me so), but I don’t want to be too sure. I’m also worried about my EC’s… and uh, practically everything lol. Halp.

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You are a great candidate! I also don’t like overconfident braggy people, but insecurity and selling yourself short isn’t the way to go either. You are great!

I don’t do chances, because I can’t, I am just a parent. That said you are only applying to schools with low admit rates. If you really want to go to boarding school it would be good to include schools where you are considerably above the average for admitted students. However if you have a good option at home, disregard this advice.

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Thank you very much! I’ve seen many other great candidates online so I’m a bit nervous, but I’ll just do the best I can do.

Also, I appreciate the advice! Fortunately, we have a good public Highschool in the area just in case I don’t get accepted into any of the schools.

Also, thank you for taking the time to read my very long post. Happy Holidays!

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I agree with cinnamon1212 that you are highly accomplished (so don’t be too hard on yourself) and that it’s difficult to predict outcomes when it comes to applying to highly selective prep schools.

My DD applied to Andover a couple of years ago and writing about her enjoyment of gardening (probably a humdrum topic to many but it was her passion at the time) actually helped to get her in (I think this because when I first met her Andover AO on admitted students day and mentioned where we’re from, their first response was “the gardener!”). It’s hard to predict what will resonate (or not).

Yes, do try your best but if for some reason it doesn’t work out this time, don’t take it too hard because you seem to have developed the traits for continued success (FYI - for family reasons, my DD ended up not accepting Andover’s offer and she’s doing fine now). Happy holidays!

3 Likes
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Thank you very much! Happy holidays to you and your DD!

P.S. Also I’m sorta new to College Confidential so I dunno how to edit a 2nd time. I just realized after checking that for Math Kangaroo, I actually scored 8th place nationally, and 5th place in my state, not 12th place.

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Ah yes, Math Kangaroo. I also took it and I’d say it gives a nice boost with the national ranking on your application (even though people in the math community would say it’s not as high quality of a contest as MathCounts or the AMC series).

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Closing as OP posted new thread