<p>At first I was confident that I have a pretty good chance to get into Andover/Exeter/Deerfield, but then I was intimidated by all the "What are my chances?" threads. Yesterday, I went to a Exeter Admissions booth (boarding school fair) and the director of admissions simply said I needed "mostly" A's, a "good" stadarized test score, teachers who like me, and some interest/hobbies. Don't a lot of people meet this criteria? Now I'm confused...</p>
<p>He probably didn't want you to get too discouraged, or feel like you needed to be the best at everything to get in.</p>
<p>EuNuxD, that is the profile of many, many, boarding schools</p>
<p>What he gave you is the basic criteria for being considered by the admissions committee -- not a formula for acceptance. The majority of applicants will meet the basic criteria. You should apply if you think you would thrive at Exeter. Don't worry about the competition because you have no control over that. You do have control over your interview and application -- so do a great job there! At the same time, if you really want to go to boarding school next year, you would be wise to select a balanced list of schools which includes schools that would place you in the top third of their admitted students. That way, you will probably have choices around March 10th. There are many great boarding schools with the top 10 - 30% of a class matriculating at top colleges. Good luck!</p>
<p>I have been curious also. If certain boarding schools are rejecting a majority of applicants, what is the general profile of these students? Does anyone know if most applicant pools are truly filled with top middle school students, or perhaps a lot of less stellar students apply to get away from home, etc.? The boarding schools never seem to post a profile of their accepted class--middle school GPA, test score medians, etc. Is anyone familiar with the average credentials of students applying to the more competitive schools?</p>
<p>You can find this information quite readily at boardingschool review which posts the SAT of the graduating class. Since you can calculate back from the SAT scores to the SSAT scores, it is pretty simple to figure out where you would sit with respect of the rest of the pack at a particular boarding school class sits. If for example the posted average SAT score is 1350 and your predicted SAT scores from the SSAT are 1000 it would not be useful to apply. For your information the acceptance rate at first tier schools is now around 20%. The AVERAGE SAT score at Exeter/Andover/St. Paul's is 1350+ i.e., around 1380-1400. That means the top 25% of the class is between 1480 and 1600. That is about the standard of HPY applicants and that is where you would want to be if you are an unhooked FA applicant at any of the first tier schools. On top of that you would need good grades, good recommendations and some focus in either art/music/language.</p>
<p>uhh, paleozoic, new SAT, new scores, different stats.</p>
<p>eunixd, don't worry about your grades too much, nor ssat scores. i go to exeter, and as long as they aren't abysmal, you should be fine.</p>
<p>what you need is some quality that sets you apart from other applicants. this might be easier for some than others, ie if you live in the dakotas, from an exotic country, etc. etc. perhaps a keen interest in multiple areas might to the trick [which sounds weak, but i guess exeter liked that about me]</p>
<p>anyways, just try to be yourself. the right school will find you. i think to be a successful exeter student, you have to love learning, love discussions, and love everything else.</p>
<p>i dunno, exeter seems to look for outstanding, curious, eager students who also have achievements in athletics and arts, so don't sweat the grades/scores as much. that might not apply to some other top schools, but it would certainly help.</p>
<p>Yes I know about the new Sat. The trick is finding out the statistical cut off points for the various schools. Roughly stated, since the bottom half of the ability pool is not there, the minimum admission at a decent prep should be one standard deviation above the national average say roughly 70th percentile. (about 1100 on the old Sat, about 1650 on the new scale). The average as I said before is about 1350 on the old scale which should translate to about 2025 on the New scale. The crucial factor for general admissibility is the middle 50 % ie from the 25th percentile to the 75th percentile. That typically was 1200-1450 on the old scale or 1800-2200 on the new scale. The range 1450-1600 old scale: 2200- 2400 new scale typically represents the top 25% of the class. This is where you would want to be if you are need financial aid and have no obvious hooks such as being a URM or first generation working class immigrant. If you do not need financial aid you probably can get in if you fall into the midrange which has quite a large spread. It has been my experience that the SSAT projection of predicted SAT is a bit conservative, the actuals are likely to be a bit higher so the repaorted SAT of the seniors is probably a bit higher than their SSAT-projected SATs. Nevertheless the reprted figure is close enough for present purposes and if I were shopping a school I would want to fall into the top quartile, of any school I seriously wanted to go to. Thus here's the drill: go to boardingschoolreview, find the average senior SAT score. ( If on the old score divide by two multiply by three i.e., 1200 old =1800 new). Look at your SSAT score, add a zero and bingo you know where you sit compared to their pool of four years ago which isn't likely to be all that different from the pool you are in. To set yourself from the pack, tell them you "love learning, love discussion and love everything else" The first tier american preps are perhaps the best schools in the world and admission is thus a crapshoot for everybody. Tell them why YOU want to be there.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the interesting and informative responses. I am now wondering how much of a difference it makes if an applicant applies for FA. I understand it is different for each school. But the "top tier" boarding schools all seem to have plenty of money and resources for FA, and seem to make a point of saying admissions and FA are completely separate. Yet on this thread, sometimes it seems people think it IS indeed easier to gain admission if you do not apply for FA. What do you all think the real truth is? If there is an advantage to not applying for FA, is it significant?</p>
<p>Your'e probably better off not having to have the need for aide. Yes schools may be need blind, but after you've been accepted, they'll have to see where the money goes. If you are a "cherished" type applicant (athlete, number1 oboe player, or maybe a URM), you may get more money, leaving less for the others who need aide. Also remember, just because a school has lots of money, it does.nt mean they use it jsut on FA. A good case in point, Groton has a large endowement on a per person basis, yet they specifically tell you on their web site, it will be more dificult to get in if you are applying for FA.</p>
<p>I already have a pretty strong gpa record, but I was wondering if it's too late to develope a "keen interest" in a hobby now.</p>