Earlier this year (I’m in 8th grade) I visited Hotchkiss and had a good interview, not great but good. I skipped seventh grade, so I’m a year younger than most 8th graders, and that comes as a concern to all boarding schools that I’ve visited. They proposed that I wait another year and do a repeat year, i begrudgingly agreed and I’m going to my local high school. Cortez, Colorado, a population of 8,500, most farmers whose only goal is to keep their ranch in the family. Expectations aren’t high, but when your parents are from the East Coast, they are for you. My dad went to Hotchkiss in '89/90 and I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps, just a bit cliche, I know, but it’s my dream, all I want. I’ve read and obsessed about applying and the school for the past 6 months, coming across some facts I didn’t know. I read that you have to have a story in which you overcame a challenge. Mine’s not remarkable, but its the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. My mom’s second marriage, my stepfather was abusive to my mother and it ended with a gun, and her barely escaping with her life. She lives 8 hours away now and I see her once a month, hardest part of the whole thing. Not something to cry about compared to other, but still hard to look back on. On the other hand, my grades are about a 3.9/3.8 average GPA this year. Not great but I didn’t really try until the second semester, when I knew where I wanted to go. I took the SSATs and I wasn’t 100% focused so I ended up with a 90 something percent in math and an 86% in reading/writing. I plan on retaking it and giving my all. I’m a swimmer, pretty good, I’d probably be in JV with my times from last year, but I’ve been out with a shoulder injury for 6 months. I plan to dive back in in a few weeks. With my scores and achievements I do not think that I’ll be accepted to one of m dream high schools…any help on this? What can I do to have a good chance at acceptance?
You have a good chance and the folks at Hotchkiss gave you sound advice.
Both are great schools which will give you more than enough support to help you succeed, but so far from home at age 12/13–you’d have to be a slam-dunk candidate at that age to get in. As a repeat, you’ll be age appropriate. Don’t overthink your “challenge story.” There’s no scorecard on suffering. It’s less about the harrowing specifics of your story other than showing that you can persevere when times are tough and you have the grit to get through. You don’t have to be a lost boy (girl) of the Sudan, and there are plenty of great kids who haven’t had the challenges that you’ve had.
As you probably know, Taft doesn’t have a swim team, so it’s probably not that likely to help you there. You should also have a conversation with the Hotchkiss swim coaches to help you project (if that’s appropriate) your current swim times. A 4-year JV swimmer isn’t that helpful in admission. A swimmer that projects to improve to be a varsity swimmer, especially if it’s in events they need, could be a much bigger help.
Thank you so much! About the Taft thing, I know they don’t have a swim team so I don’t know what I’ll do there, but I’ve been experimenting with track and some other sports (even though I’m sooo horrible). What I meant by having JV times, was that I would start as JV and then work up to varsity. Again, thank you, you’re advice is so helpful to me 
I’ll be applying to Hotchkiss also in my freshmen year and I also do swimming! I don’t really have a challenging story but I hope we both get in! Good luck!
your dad went to hotchkiss too, so you have a better chance than most applicants, but you should still work hard for it.