How can I get enrolled at Phillips Exeter Academy?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hello, I am currently studying in the 7th grade. Which in a couple of months I will be studying in 8th grade. I've been preparing for the SSAT, I have bought a book called ''Cracking the SSAT and ISEE 2010 Edition'' by the Princeton Review. I'm looking forward to get a score of 2400. I've been very serious about it, so could you guys give me some sources on how to get a score of 2400 in the SSAT. I want to also know if they will check my 7th grade report cards or not, because I've done bad this year. Due to the financial recession, I've missed some of my classes. Though, this year I got a lot of average scores and I've been really worried that they would see my 7th grade report cards. I'm looking forward to do my best in 8th grade by getting all A's and a couple of B's. So will top prep schools like Exeter check my 7th grade report cards or will they only check my 8th grade report cards? Currently my dad is jobless, since his income is 0. Will I also be able to get financial aid?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Remember the SSAT isn’t everything. Focus on your grades and ECs. </p>

<p>and to go to PEA… apply next time around.</p>

3

<p>Most likely they will check ur 7th grade report cards, unless if u w8 another year. Then they will only look at ur report cards from 8th and 9th grade. If you need a full ride FA u need to seriously improve your grades, no offence but that is the brutal truth. If you don’t have any remarkable EC’s that’ll be a problem too. If you are however admitted into the Academy and if you are rewarded FA you will get your entire education paid since Exeter has pledged to provide full FA for admitted students with a combined family income of 75000$ or less. Also they’ll probably not care that u missed classes due to the recession since you were around 12 at the time, so unless u have a really good explantion for that one it’ll be very hard getting accepted. Also don’t expect a 2400 score on the SSAT as you’ll probably be a bit disappointed, there are very few ppl who receives a perfect score every year and there’s no secret on how to do so. Also the SSAT is of secondary importance to ur EC’s and grades.</p>

4

<p>(1) Focus on school. Get good grades from now on, and try to develop good relationships with your teachers. If they respect you, that will be reflected in the recommendations they write for you. (And, yes, schools will see your 7th grade report card, and probably your 6th grade report card as well - but don’t be discouraged. If your grades are improving, that counts for a lot!)</p>

<p>(2) Don’t obsess about the SSAT. Study, yes, but keep in mind that your SSAT scores are but one small piece of your entire application. Good scores help, but they won’t guarantee you a place in school.</p>

<p>(3) Be honest. If family or financial circumstances have prevented you from doing as well as you could have this past year, explain that in your application.</p>

<p>(4) There is plenty of financial aid . . . but it is still, sadly, never enough for everyone who needs it. If your family has no income, you would certainly qualify . . . but that still doesn’t guarantee that the school you’re interested in will have enough funds for you. I don’t know where you are located, but if you are an international student, it’s my understanding that available funds are very limited . . . but that just makes it difficult, not impossible.</p>

<p>(5) I don’t know why you are focused on Exeter, but if there is one lesson I’ve learned from this forum, it is that you should broaden your focus. There are a lot of very good schools whose names are not as well known as Exeter. And, depending on who you are and what you are interested in, many of them might be a better school for you than Exeter. Go to [Boarding</a> School Review](<a href=“Boarding School Search Results”>Boarding School Search Results) and study the schools that are listed there. Look at them carefully, go to the school websites, and find out as much as you can about them. Then send emails and ask questions. You can email the admissions office, or send emails directly to specific teachers if you think they might be able to answer your questions about a specific department or subject. Make a list of about a dozen schools you think you might be interested in. If you are international, you might want to make your list even longer. You can apply to as many schools as you want - and the more you apply to, the better your chances. Most schools will waive their application fee if you explain to them that you cannot afford it, so you shouldn’t have to worry about the cost. Just make sure that you don’t apply to any school that you wouldn’t want to attend if accepted. No reason to waste your time or the school’s if you’re really not interested.</p>

<p>(6) Talk to your parents. You will need their help with this. At the very least, they will have to file paperwork documenting your family income and your need for financial aid. But this is a long and sometimes difficult process . . . you will want their support along the way.</p>

<p>Good luck!!!</p>

5

<p>My country is different from others. In our country, the schools are in break right now. Which means I’m going to 8th grade in about 20 days. Though, will they check my 8th grade report cards? Also, I’m an international student.</p>

6

<p>Do you live in Australia ? Or Southern Hemisphere ?</p>

7

<p>Yes ofc they’ll check the most recent ones, but they’ll request report cards from as far back in time as the 6th grade. And I’m gonna be frank with you, if u need full FA as an international students it’s gonna be very,very,very though most int’l sutdents who are admitted on FA have won several awrads, started businesses and done an enormous amount of charity work, also the SSAT will be almost impossbile for a non-native english speaker since there will be a verbal section with words that u have probably never heard (and I studied for three months using 2 different guides) so don’t expect a perfect score since it’s almost solely British,Americans, canadians, Australians etc. that can receive scores like that, A good score for an int’l is around 80-85%. </p>

<p>Well my conclusion is I’m by no means telling you not too apply but really, u have the odds against u;Full FA, not amazing grades, no mentioned EC’s or awards. This is to be very honest not a formula for success if u want to apply to Exeter. I’m not saying this to be mean but this is just reality as it is today. Also this year Exeter stated, in print that itlooks more favorably on full pay students (No FA). And as most int’l students apply as fullpay students since FA is very hard to get by this will be another determinating since this is the pool of applicants that u’ll belong too. It’s important to know that these students also have amazing stats high SSAT, High TOEFL, amazing grades, good EC’s charity work etc. (And of course full pay) Also many int’l students are attending International english speaking schools or American schools in foreign countries so they are often as compitable in english as in their native tongue.</p>

<p>Again I’m not telling u not too apply but I feel like I have to present realtiy this is ofc unless ur an American citizen or legel resident living abroad otherwise this’ll be very hard for u.</p>

<p>the process described above is based on my own experience as an int’l student applyin’ for the fall of 2010. I applied as FP (full pay) and with Very good grades, fantastic TOEFl, good SSAT and very good EC’s. I got into my 1st choice (Deerfield Academy) but I was rejected by Exeter so I’m by no means bitter. It’s important to know that the policy for int’l students FA is the same for all of the top boarding schools ,meaning it’s very hard to get by.</p>

8

<p>Not to be a meanie here, you would need some effective extracurricular and honors in order to qualify this risk.</p>

9

<p>I’d say if you get decent ECs and scores—it’s all about luck. But the fact is, no one got aid as an int’l student on CC this year and there were four or five who got full FA in Chinese history. </p>

<p>Do your very best and prepare for the worst. It’s very likely that you’re gonna be rejected/waitlisted by all the schools you applied to no matter what. Maybe you can find out more about US colleges. </p>

<p>Exeter is not the only good school in the US. It’s easier if you need partial aid at a “tier2/3” school. </p>

<p>Welcome! Int’l FA applicants of 2011! (assign, gonnastop, and TheGeek)</p>

10

<p>Me! I got aid as intl this year, and so did some other people on this forum. But yeah, I can tell you that it’s extremely difficult, though not impossible (I got waitlisted/rejected by most schools I applied to). So my advice is, TheGeek, you should expand your list instead of focus on Exeter. It’s funny to me that the reputation of Exeter/Andover so outshines other schools that when you ask intl kids, many apply to only Exeter and/or Andover. Of course over 90% of them are rejected. Even in the “best scenario” that you described (2400 SSAT, straight As with a couple of Bs, need lots of financial aid), there’s still over 90% of chance that you’ll be rejected. Many intl kids I asked got straight A+ and close to perfect SSAT so that’s hardly impressive (ask any Chinese applicant here, lol)</p>

11

<p>Haha you’re right! They did some crazy test prep(cost an arm and a leg) and got good socres. But I’d say…they don’t reflect the test takers’ real English skills. </p>

<p>Minding telling me which school gave you aid and how much?(you can PM)
Thanks and congrats!!! Gosh I feel hopeful now…</p>

12

<p>Don’t worry bout your grades so much if u can get straight a’s next year. A good ssat can make u lok favorable. I got in when I had straight bs and two cs from last year but had straight as nd one c this year.</p>

13

<p>To DeerfieldSwede and boardingschool or whoever familiar with FA: I’m new here. I’d like to ask a question about FA. Can applicants request FA in full or in certain amounts when they apply for certain schools? Then, what are the school sides’ responses? Do the boarding schools give applicants with conditional acceptance such as half of the amount applicants requested or accepts without FA?</p>

14

<p>Well I didn’t apply for FA simply because, I don’t need it however after readin’ a ton of viewbooks I’m quite familiar with the process. You need to provide documents stating ur family’s financial conditions. I think it can include such things as: income from employment, income from stocks bonds etc., home equity, how many houses that u own etc. I think u use somethin’ called the SSS form. The school will then calculate ur projected needs and if they feel that u would make a good student and should be awarded FA they will grant it to you. If they decide that u need full FA they will award it to u (again if they feel u should attend) some schools like exeter provides a free education for families earning less than a certain amount of income (Exeter’s 75000$). If they are accepted of course.</p>

<p>Due to the recession last year and this year students not applyin’ for FA has a greater chance of being accepted (Exeter even stated this in print). However in the past a separate admissions commitee and a separate FA commitee made the decisions independent of each other. Sometimes this can lead to that FA applicants will be accpted to the school but denied FA, because there may not be enough funds availeble etc. They may also decide to award u less than u think that u need because there may not be enough money avalieble or because, well this may sound cruel but they don’t want u THAT much. However they may also award u more. I think the conditional acceptence mostly evolves around ur academic or athletic performence . However since I have no experience with FA u ust take this with a grain of salt since this is what I’ve concluded from reading viewbooks, this forum & school websites.</p>

15

<p>I prefer to not say the school’s name now, due to personal reason. I’ll wait to see if I hear from any of the schools that waitlisted me, because there are some that I really like :D</p>

<p>But I can confirm that I did get good FA, and I believe that most of the top schools give FA to a few intl this year. There are so few of them, and most are not on CC, that’s why you’ve never heard. I personally know a handful of friends who got in with significant FA but they don’t like to post on CC. Also, we all know that the financial situation in US was not so good this year, there’s chance that it’ll improve next year.</p>

<p>That’s the bright side, and definitely there’s a lot to hope for. On the down side, of course, it’s competitive. Not to brag about myself, but the profile TheGeek described isn’t good enough, you need a lot more than that for top schools. Ask any European kid, they’ll show you their nearly perfect TOEFL score. Ask any Chinese/Korean/Indian kid, they’ll name tons of friends who got around 2400 SSAT. I would say that amazing scores and straight As are just the minimum requirement, you need to get beyond that. Some of the hooks that my friends had include: being a sport recruit, having major legacy, winning international prizes, etc. </p>

<p>If you talk about lower tier, much less well-known schools, well, it’s possible to get accepted with less impressive profile. But still you need to be quite well-rounded. Just saying, so TheGeek would stop being obsessed with grades :stuck_out_tongue: No matter how good you are, your grades can never be good enough, there’s always someone with better numbers.</p>

<p>I’m talking from my experience, as an intl student who applied for FA and got accepted (also rejected/waitlisted at many schools). Many people here would oppose me, saying that 80% SSAT is good enough or it’s ok to have Cs or Ds in your grade report. But they either are US students or not apply to FA. </p>

<p>@Platini: Can applicants request FA in full or in certain amounts when they apply for certain schools? —> You need to fill in the PFS form (same form, submitted to all schools). The form asks about your family annual income and expenses, from which you can decide how much FA you need. </p>

<p>Then, what are the school sides’ responses? Do the boarding schools give applicants with conditional acceptance such as half of the amount applicants requested or accepts without FA? —> Yes, many school would accept you without enough FA, many put you on FA waitlist, many reject you simply because they can’t provide enough FA. It depends on each school’s policy (and whim :smiley: )</p>

16

<p>Will they also check report cards from 6th grade if I apply for 10th grade? Also my ECs are Basketball, Soccer, Table Tennis, Tennis, Swimming. I played the Baritone for 2 years, also played the piano for 1 year. I am planning to do guitar lessons soon, also maybe clarinet lessons. </p>

<p>In my country, there is nothing like honors awards, charity work, etc. That is only done in high school(which is strange).</p>

17

<p>Yes the School report clearly says that your report cards from 6th grade will be required if they are available. I couldn’t send them since in Sweden u don’t get any grades until the 8th grade. But if u try to hide ur past grades from the schools they may suspect somethin’s wrong. For ur EC’s u seriously need to cut down. Quality is largely favored over quantity if ur not competing seriously in every single one of them I would recommend cutting down to the one or MAYBE two that ur best at. Same with instruments quality over quantity. My recommendation is that u focus on either the piano or the Baritone (which is more unique) and don’t do more quantity it won’t help you. With honors and charity work it’s the same in Sweden (my country) but u need to engag in for example the student council or a political party, for example this summer I’ll campaign for the current right-wing government in Sweden. U need to show that u r a leader and that u r a social person. if u r a complete introvert without friends who study all day ur chances of admission will be eriously decreased. And the schools may ask about ur social life.</p>

18

<p>I’m talking about non-legacy (and probably un-athletic) int’l kids who need FA. It’s definitely harder. </p>

<p>Boardingschool, do you have any hooks?</p>

19

<p>Do improving grades help? Also, I think am going to also try for SPS,Deerfield, Lawrenceville, etc. I don’t know why but I don’t like Andover, lol. Due to the recession I’ve only 3rd and 4th term report cards from 7th grade at my school which I rank 23/28 in third term and the scores are coming for final term. I am aiming forward to get a good GPA next year.</p>

20

<p>You have to understand these schools r amazingly selective. Think about it this way. One applicant had straight a all the time nd has two or three exeptional ecs who isn’t internaniql. Another applicant had poor grades poor ranking bit did slightly better nd has a long list of ecs who needs fa. Who would u choose? These schools have no need to feel pity there is a reason they r the “best” sorry if I came off as harsh</p>