<p>Definitely. I meant to put Interview ahead of extracurricular btw. Interview/Essay show if you’re the kind of student they like at their school.</p>
<p>soontoboard, i got into andover and exeter, and both have contacted me alot with hockey… andover has 5 goalies at different ages, so i wont play till junior or senior year… exeter has 3 junior goalies, so by my sophmore year, i will be the only goalie in the school… so i get to start varsity in sophmore year at exeter, so i am bias… where are you going soontoboard?</p>
<p>Either Andover or Brooks, but I’m leaning heavily towards Andover.</p>
<p>well, from my PERSONAL experience, getting 98th percentile on SSATS, playing field hockey and lacrosse, been skiing for 10 years, being on student council, doing community service with Church, being elected as the president of the 8th grade, having good interviews, writing great essays, and getting A’s and B’s in a top-tier private school (par with these boarding schools) gets you WAITLISTED.</p>
<p>but thats just what happened to me…</p>
<p>and the SSATS are easy don’t stress about them</p>
<p>I agree. SSAT are super easy…</p>
<p>Pina Colada, unfortunately, schools such as Andover/Exeter see kids like you every year. You are likely the top five percent, overall (objective + subjective) in the country with such stats, but EVERYONE who applies to such schools has unspeakable stats. </p>
<p>For most acceptances, you usually see some hook. An unhooked, but super well rounded candidate (such as yourself) has an acceptance rate far lower than that of the school norm. I think in my admission letter Andover stated, somewhere, that they had around 75% of applicants academically admissible. Assuming the other 25% are automatic rejects, they still need a way to reject the other 60% (in my letter it said only 16.6% got in).</p>
<p>Here come things such as:
[ul]
[<em>]Legacy (this helps, unfortunately)
[</em>]Development case
[<em>]Full pay
[</em>]Geographic diversity
[<em>]Recruited athlete
[li]True passion[/li][</em>]Maxed out stats in numerous settings
[li]True leadership[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Of course, not everyone admitted has the above listed stats… But of the 16.6 many of these people have at least one of the so called “hooks”. For those who do not have such credentials and still got accepted, lady luck was their hook.</p>
<p>Development case?</p>
<p>^^ that’s subjective. Test difficulty differs with everyone; (Well, if you studied a lot for it, or your current school prepares you well, etc. then of course it’ll be easy to you)</p>
<p>You’re lucky you’re starting young and have a plan already! ( I sound really old, lol )
It is definately so much harder to get in when you’re applying for an older grade level.
&& don’t forget to add in one or two “safeties” ; they help, and you might end up going to one of them. There are other schools besides HADES btw, that might fit you better - don’t let the prestige influence you!</p>
<p>You guys are the best!!! before i started going on cc, i had this confident in me that i’ll get into bs but after reading all the posts, i’m starting to think i am no match with you guys. so many people on cc are above average and so well rounded that im sure if i applied next year, i wont stand a chance with all the smart people who’s applying.</p>
<p>You don’t need to be super smart to get into boarding school. They still want diversity & know that you can do your work & you’ll be a great addition to their school.
You still have the decision to apply to lesser known schools - they won’t be as selective, but still are great! :)</p>
<p>What’s great for you since you’re thinking about this so early is that you still have time to shape yourself into a good applicant. That doesn’t have to mean changing completely - all you really have to do is get it into your head that you really want to go to boarding school and will do what it takes to get there.</p>
<p>And yes, what you’re talking about is the CC effect. It totally freaked me out as well because, to be honest, I’m not a straight-A student and never really have been. What I am, however, is well-rounded, dedicated, and, at least in my opinion, personable. Andover seemed to like this and admitted me as a new upper for next year. Really, try not to be discouraged by any absolutely insane stats here - just try to remember that if you see any really incredible stats that they are either sugarcoated or that the owner of those stats is truly exceptional. If nothing else, let the stats encourage you to improve your own. They can act as a type of motivation if you want them to.</p>
<p>Honestly? These schools can fill their halls with straight-A students with perfect SSAT scores. They could also fill their halls with trust fund babies or future olympians. It’s the job of the admission departments to make sure that they get a nice even mix of all different kinds of kids who can all bring something unique to the school and make it a better place. There’s no formula. You can’t predict or change anything. The only things that are in your control are:</p>
<p>Grades: Try your hardest. Earn your teachers’ respect with effort. Some B’s are probably okay, A’s are better.<br>
SSATs: Again, try your hardest. Aim for 90 or better, although there are lots of success stories here on CC with low scores - it’s the only way to compare apples-to-apples.
Recommendations: I think the importance of this is often overlooked in the application process. Educators need to rely on their peers to learn about a kid that they don’t know from Adam. Make sure you let your teachers know how important it is to you. Thank your teachers for their extra effort.<br>
ECs: This one’s tricky. A lot of different activities may look well-rounded to some schools and unfocused to others. Does that school need someone with your particular skill? Some years they need to replace graduated seniors and hockey players don’t even need to fill out an application whereas an aspiring flute player may be competing with 9 other flute players that particular year. It’s a crap shoot from year to year. A call from a coach/instructor may help. Then again, it may not.<br>
Interview: This one is totally in your control. Be yourself, just a better version of yourself. Eye contact! Enthusiasm! Sell yourself! They want you to show them that you deserve a spot at their school and that you really, really want to go there. If they accept you, what are you willing to bring to the table? Toot your own horn. </p>
<p>Just do your best now and hopefully it will pay off. Best of luck!</p>
<p>That is a great way of putting it. Thanks, ISL, you got our message across well.</p>
<p>i feel weird now, my stats were no where near pinacoladas… i got into exeter and andover. i had 95 overall and few school clubs. im guessing my hockey was a big hook. hmm, thats interesting, i wonder why you got waitlisted… maybe my interview was really exceptional, i dont know.</p>
<p>Not trying to make all your other amazing stats seem unimportant, but Hockey is SUPER cutthroat. and Westchester is like 5 best in nation.</p>
<p>good idea, i think over this time period i’ll try my best to become an excellent person.</p>
<p>haha yup =)… how’d you know principalviola, did i tell you that?</p>
<p>Well I know you play for Westchester, it was in one of your threads, and I know how good it is…</p>
<p>When I read that I was like “Wow!”.</p>
<p>ScoontoBoard, you are absolutely wrong!</p>
<p>You quote “SSAT (Should get 91% or above overall)”</p>
<p>I was accepted to Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Groton, Middlesex, Governor’s, and Brooks</p>
<p>Waitlisted SPS</p>
<p>I first scored an 82% (M:63, V:89, R:83) and then an 86% (M:86, V:85, R:76)</p>
<p>The SSAT is absolutely ridiculous. A single question can potentially bring a section down 10%. Please don’t worry yourself over the SSAT!</p>
<p>So correct. Of course the higher the better but it does not have to be strikingly high! </p>
<p>Just do the best you can, there is no formula to get in…</p>
<p>benvolent, thats impressive but what were your grades and EC’s, they must of been terrific.</p>