<p>I am in 8th Grade applying to 9th grade to Phillips Exeter Academy
I am a White Male
I speak Fluent English and Hebrew
Interview went excellent
Recs should be above average-excellent</p>
<p>Some of You might have seen a thread like this but i have changed it up a bit</p>
<p>Grades for 7th Grade-
Math-99
Social Studies-99
Science-92
English-98
Spanish-95
Tech-95</p>
<p>Grades for 8th Grade-
Math-95
Social Studies-97
Science-94
English-96
Spanish-95
Tech-95</p>
<p>Other-
Basketball for 5 Years JV
Guitar 3 Years
Horse-back riding 1 Year
Swimming 3 Years
Volunteer work 1 Year
Planning on Writing a book
Learning Russian</p>
<p>No clubs or EC's are offered at my school as stated on my application</p>
<p>Also what book should i use to prepare for the SSAT?
What is A hook?-Do i have one?
Is the math on the SSAT ridiculous (hard)?</p>
<p>Suggestions on how to do better?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Hey there, Exeterrr.</p>
<p>Sure, you have a hook - you speak Hebrew. A hook is something, often rare, that distinguishes you from other candidates. Sometimes race can be a hook if you’re Native American, for example. Other hooks include first generation college hopefuls, e.g. students whose parents did not graduate from an institution of higher learning.</p>
<p>In terms of SSAT math, no, it’s not difficult. However, because of the way the SSAT is scored, the math section percentile gets skewed. For example, in terms of raw score, I scored 770 out of 800 on the math section. Good score, right? In actuality, that only amounted to 79th percentile for a 10th grade male. On the flip side, I also scored 770 on writing, but that ended up landing me in the 98th percentile. Unfortunately (but fortunately for some) your percentile depends entirely upon how other test takers fare.</p>
<p>Question: what math would you plan to take next year? Geometry? Algebra II?</p>
<p>Hebrew? Thats awesome 
I think my hook would be that Im black and from Alabama but idk :O</p>
<p>Thanks-Is a hook something that boosts someones chances? (I hope)
If i go to Exeter, I think i will take both (Is that possible?)
If not, i will take Geometry because i have no other choice (I am in all of the accelerated classes that my school has to offer)</p>
<p>I think i will do well because i am in 8th grade and getting scores a bit higher than You on Barron’s SSAT and The Offical SSAT Book. (In all of the sections) Because i might be competing with 99th Percentiles, i am scared!</p>
<p>A hook is intangible or tangible things that boosts your admissions chances, such as knowing a uncommon language, sports superstar, under represented minority and such</p>
<p>Oooh, you beat my scores on all of the sections, even though I only gave you scores for two of the three. You must be a psychic, too - add that to your app!</p>
<p>@TomTheCat-Well, I meant to say that i was good at math and verbal but i am horrible at reading. Sorry if You were offended…You should know too that i have been studying for a while now.</p>
<p>Can You answer mY question?
Thanks</p>
<p>“planning on writing a book” : that is absolutely devoid of any purpose. I’m planning on “writing a book” too… 
and i kinda think it’s going to be a bestseller that gets me accepted into top schools etc.
It doesn’t matter whether or not there are no clubs or EC’s at your school. You go find them in town or make your own. I think that’s what you’ve done.</p>
<p>If your interview was “excellent” as you mentioned, then you really don’t have to worry. It means that they were fond of you and means that they’re likely to accept. If thy treated you like dirt and acted like snobs, they don’t really care about you because you’re nothing special… that’s what i think. you have an average chance. don’t get too excited. rather count yourself down so that you won’t feel too hurt if you DO get rejected. It’s a really competitive pool, that’s what I’m trying to say. </p>
<p>Don’t think I’m discouraging you. I just want you to be prepared for whatever. It’s safer to count yourself down in order to not be disappointed with yourself and all of that.</p>
<p>Hi Exeterrr. I think you have a great chance of getting into PEA. You have exceptional grades in most of your subjects, you have played basketball for 5 years and are on a JV team (which would add to you being committed to a sport/activity), you horseback ride (which not everyone does which makes you unique) and swim (which adds to your athletic abilities). You say that you are planning on writing a book and that shows that you love writing (and Exeter does say on their website that they look for a love of reading and writing in successful applicants). You are fluent in Hebrew and are learning Russian and they also look for someone who is studying a classical or modern language and you are an A/A+ math student and they look for candidates who have a strong mathematical ability. I would think that you being Jewish adds to your chances of getting into the school as schools today look for diversity. I’d say that you’re a strong candidate for Exeter. Hope to see you there in Fall 2011 :)</p>
<p>Also, a great SSAT prep book is: Cracking the SSAT and the ISEE 2009 edition. If the company (The Princeton Review) has made a more current version of the book then I’d suggest going for that edition instead of the 2009 one. I took the ISEE in 6th grade and I don’t remember the math section being especially hard (I’ll be taking it again in January), but I’d suppose that you might want to spend a bit extra time on it because sometimes they pop strange questions that are easy to solve, but hard to comprehend at first. The prep book will probably help you understand those questions, however. Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>I ratify and sanction with TheBookShark on the above comment</p>
<p>Thanks, hope to see You all there as well. I made a mistake but corrected it in another thread- I have played basketball for three Years and have Biked for four. With that in mind, what do You think that my chances would be now? The same? Worse?</p>
<p>that was unnecessary. better, obviously.</p>
<p>O.K thanks-I have always been told Quality meaning Years, not Quantity, so I thought that if I played Basketball for 3 Years instead of five, and biking for four, the chances would be worse. What Do You think?</p>