M10 2021 Stats/EC Thread

Prep School Admissions
1

M10 is only 2 weeks away!!! SO feel free to post your prep school decisions on this thread!

The official 2022 prep school stats/ec’s thread. Credit goes to @atria and @ChoatieMom for the format

**Note: this thread is FOR RESULTS ONLY! Any commentary (congratulations, commiseration, etc.) shall only be spoken about on other threads. (Namely the Official 2021 Freakout Thread)

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted:
Rejected:
Wait listed:
Likely Attending:

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT:
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted:
• Rank:
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews:
• Essays:
• Math Rec:
• English Rec:
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:
• Principal/Counselor Rec:
• Sports (if any):
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any):
• Hook:

Location/Person:
• State or Country:
• Current School Type:
• Ethnicity:
• Gender:
• Grade Applying For:
• Age:
• Financial Aid/Full Pay:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

(End)

General Comments:
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Please do NOT post your stats/ecs until you receive all of your decisions. Otherwise, the posts will be deleted without notice or comment.

2 Likes
6

**Note: this thread is FOR RESULTS ONLY! Any commentary (congratulations, commiseration, etc.) shall only be spoken about on other threads. (Namely the Official 2021 Freakout Thread)

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: Hill, Tabor, NMH, Mercersburg
Rejected: Andover, Exeter
Wait listed: Choate, Loomis, Lville, Kent, Hotchkiss
Likely Attending: Hill

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 79th %ile SSAT (2178)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.8/4.1
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats: high state test scores, varsity athlete

Subjective:
• Interviews: Most were amazing!
• Essays: They were pretty good but some errors
• Math Rec: Blind, but my teachers really liked me
• English Rec: Amazing
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Really good
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Knows me very well, likes me a lot
• Sports (if any): varsity track, dance
• Instruments (if any): piano
• Other ECs (if any): singing, nhd, peer tutoring, girl scouts, 50+ hrs community service, art
• Hook: Full Pay if that counts

Location/Person:
• State or Country: NY
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: European/Iranian Jew
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths: Interviews. These were really my strong points

Weaknesses: Soft test scores.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

I think i was accepted to schools where my academic profile matched their averages. WL at schools I could really contribute a lot to, just super competitive this year. Rejected at Andover and Exeter because truthfully, not sure it was the best fit.

(End)

General Comments:
CONGRATS EVERYONE! Even if you got rejected everywhere, you really didn’t because you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Please do NOT post your stats/ecs until you receive all of your decisions. Otherwise, the posts will be deleted without notice or comment.

1 Like
7

Accepted:PEA
Rejected:None
Wait listed:PA, Choate, Deerfield, Nobles
Likely Attending:PEA

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 95% gender adjusted
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4
• Rank:Na
• Other stats:Na

Subjective:
• Interviews: Great
• Essays:did our best
• Math Rec:probably good
• English Rec:probably great
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:great
• Principal/Counselor Rec:probably average
• Sports (if any): 2, competitive
• Instruments (if any):one, strong
• Other ECs (if any): none
• Hook:none

Location/Person:
• State or Country:MA
• Current School Type: public
• Ethnicity:asian
• Gender:f
• Grade Applying For:9
• Age:14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: fp

Strengths: my guess is interview. Really clicked

Weaknesses: nothing stands out
[/quote]

8

Accepted: Kent, Loomis
Rejected: Exeter, St.Paul’s, Hotchkiss
Waitlisted: Berkshire, Choate, Lawrenceville, Blair
Likely Attending: Kent

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: PSAT - 1130
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: Unweighted - 3.8
• Rank: 52/746
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: Really good interview at Kent, interviewer loved me although I was late. Nice at Loomis too but I was a bit nervous considering it was my first school. The rest of my interviews went well, I felt like I had meaningful conversations for all except my Lawrenceville interview. In summary I did well on most of them and they were probably my strongest point in my application.
• Essays: They told meaningful & very unique stories that I personally think helped schools to understand who I am but in terms of how well they were written, they were just okay but I think that the message I was trying to convey came across
• Math Rec: Basic but nice, nothing personal
• English Rec: Really good, he loves me
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Also really good, got it from my pastor that I’ve known for years
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Once again probably basic, but nice.
• Sports (if any): Soccer, Track & Tennis
• Instruments (if any): Viola
• Other ECs (if any): Class Officer, Community Service, Coding, Painting, a journalism club
• Hook: URM, VERY interesting life story, female interested in STEM, middle class (socioeconomic diversity??) AND first-gen American.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: TX
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: African American
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: INTERVIEWS & ESSAYS.

Weaknesses: basic EC’s, needing financial aid, satisfactory grades (mine weren’t crazy high)

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
acceptances - I think that through my interviews & essays the schools saw that I was motivated to do well in life & would make the best out of an education there
rejected - honestly my EC’S were basic, my grades aren’t crazy high + I was applying for financial aid
waitlisted - maybe not enough FA at the school and the points I brought up above ^^^

General Comments:
Congrats to everyone! Applying to boarding schools is no easy task and no matter what outcome you received today, you deserve a HUGE round of applause. If you are reading this in the future for a different application cycle good luck to you.

9

Accepted:Cushing
Rejected:Exeter,Andover,Taft,Loomis,Hotchkiss,Lville,
Wait listed:Middlesex,Choate,St Pauls, Deerfield
Likely Attending:Unknown

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT:Didn’t take
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted:93 8th grade average
• Rank:n/a
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews:Great !
• Essays: Pretty good
• Math Rec:Blind
• English Rec:Good
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:Stellar
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind
• Sports (if any):
• Instruments (if any): Violin, Cello,Viola
• Other ECs (if any): Dancer,Yearbook club,NEHS president,published author.Captain of dance team.
• Hook: Cello and Violin Player,Diversity,leadership skills,independent.

Location/Person:
• State or Country:NJ
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity:Black
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age:14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full Financial aid

Strengths:Personality,my independence,leadership.

Weaknesses: Maybe my grades,average recommendations

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted
Grades and recommendations mot being anymore than ordinary

10

Accepted:
Rejected: Exeter, Andover, Deerfield
Wait listed:
Likely Attending: LPS or late admission to local day school

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 2343 99%
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0
• Rank: Tied 1/50
• Other stats: Taking three high school level classes + already had three high school credits

Subjective:
• Interviews: Okay, they were maybe a bit flat
• Essays: I thought they were written really well, I put a lot of thought and effort into them. My best ones were about my heritage and also racism
• Math Rec: Okay, had the teacher before and they liked me but this year was difficult
• English Rec: Idk, didn’t have the teacher before but they leave a lot of positive comments on my assignments
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Probably good. I’ve known her for five years and I think she thought highly of me
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind. I don’t know them too well
• Sports (if any): Swimming for 7 years + Soccer for 5 (although I only mentioned soccer in interviews not on the application)
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): Lots of volunteering, girl scouts
• Hook: None (maybe geographical diversity?)

Location/Person:
• State or Country: OR
• Current School Type: Public/Charter (not really either kind of a mix?)
• Ethnicity: East Asian + White
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For:9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Full FA

Strengths: Really good academically

Weaknesses: Few extracurriculars, ORM, needed full FA

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
I think there were a lot of small reasons that added up for why I was rejected. The biggest one was probably no hook. I’m an ORM and I probably fit the normal asian stereotype (good at math, competitive). My interviews were a bit flat so the interviewers probably thought I was boring. I also needed full FA which probably put me down a tiny bit (other than at Andover although I don’t think Andover would have been a good fit). Although I kinda had geographical diversity there were multiple kids from my school that were a grade ahead of me who went to PA and PEA so maybe they didn’t want more kids from there? Also my essay subjects were probably bad/boring/overused. I also should have applied to more than three schools.

1 Like
11

Accepted: None
Rejected: Andover, Exeter
Wait listed: Milton
Likely Attending: One of the local day schools

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 2310 on the ssat
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: No idea, but I have A’s and A-'s plus one or two B’s depending on how you look at it.
• Rank: My school doesn’t rank.
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: Andover: REALLY good, as in amazing. 10/10. Exeter: Okay, could have gone better but definitely good. 7ish/10. Milton: Okay but not great. 6/10.
• Essays: Again, Andover was really good. The rest were okay.
• Math Rec: Blind, but I think it was good.
• English Rec: Again, blind, but I think it was good.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Blind, but I think it was really good, as I asked my advisor.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind, but really amazing. My head of school knows me as a really awesome kid.
• Sports (if any): Cross country
• Instruments (if any): Viola, guitar
• Other ECs (if any): Writing, theatre
• Hook: None really? Possibly viola, but I didn’t play it up enough.

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Maryland, US
• Current School Type: private, all girls
• Ethnicity: Biracial, indian and white
• Gender: nonbinary
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: Probably my viola and unique perspective

Weaknesses: Essays and grades.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
A lot comes down to numbers, but honestly, there were just a lot of candidates better than me. I didn’t have major flaws but I wasn’t amazing.

12

[quote=“winworld123, post:1, topic:3504643”]
Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: Deerfield, Hill
Rejected:
Wait listed: Hotchkiss
Likely Attending: Hill

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 98% SSAT
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: All A’s and one B in 6th grade
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats: high scores on other standardized tests like ACT and PSAT

Subjective:
• Interviews: Hill and Deerfield were wonderful, Hotchkiss interviewer seemed pretty bored and disinterested
• Essays: All were great to excellent
• Math Rec: Probably great
• English Rec: Probably fine, teacher likes me but didn’t submit until I reminded her a third time on January 15 :-0
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Good
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Okay, I got suspended by the person who wrote my recommendation but it wasn’t too bad
• Sports (if any): Swimming, interest in crew and water polo
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): NJHS, volunteering
• Hook: Full pay,

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Charlotte NC
• Current School Type: Public 6-8
• Ethnicity: Caucasian
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: full pay

Strengths: well-rounded, good essays, good grades, nice interviews.

Weaknesses: Minimal ECs and little experience with this sort of thing

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

I was confident in Hill since it has a pretty high acceptance rate and I have a good connection, I had good test scores and was full pay. I’m a little surprised I made it into Deerfield, but was pretty sure I would get rejected or waitlisted at Hotchkiss since the interview was terrible (it was my last pick anyway)

13

Accepted: SJP, Cushing (no FA)
Rejected: Andover, Exeter
Wait listed: Groton, St Mark’s, Govs, Milton, Deerfield, MX, LA, Tabor, Brooks
Likely Attending: SJP unless there is action on WL, have just applied to a couple of rolling admission BS

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: SSAT 2307/97%
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: ? probably 3.75 ish?
• Rank: ?
• Other stats: mostly As (2 Bs in last year but all As for past 3 years other than those)

Subjective:
• Interviews: Most were very good, two were just OK (Brooks, MX), best was Govs
• Essays: Good I think?
• Math Rec: probably just Ok, teachers barely know me (only at school for 1 month remote)
• English Rec: probably just Ok, teachers barely know me (only at school for 1 month remote)
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Good
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Not sure – just started at new school mid term, all remote
• Sports (if any): Good, 3 sports
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): Lots of community service
• Hook: Sports, well rounded, community service. legacy

Location/Person:
• State or Country: MA
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Cauc
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: Strong student, good athlete, community service, legacy

Weaknesses: Switching schools (remote) during fall hurt recommendations since the teachers didn’t know me well,

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? legacy may have worked against me at most schools because schools assumed I wouldn’t accept because they thought I would choose siblings school. Siblings turned down two schools that really recruited them, so may have burned those bridges (unfortunately because I really like those schools). Recommendations because teachers don’t know me well. Need significant FA.

1 Like
14

Accepted: Milton, Middlesex, Choate, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Loomis, Exeter
Rejected:
Wait listed: Deerfield, Groton, Andover
Likely Attending: TBD

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: ???/93%
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.9
• Rank: Unavailable
• Other stats: Unavailable

Subjective:
• Interviews: Incredible interviews with everyone but Andover and Lawrenceville
• Essays: Put a lot of passion into writing, definitely got tired of some of the prompts though/
• Math Rec: Very Strong, great relationship
• English Rec: Very Strong, great relationship
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Very Strong, almost like family.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Weak, never met the guy.
• Sports (if any): Tennis for 7 years
• Instruments (if any):
• Other ECs (if any): Charity
• Hook: I run a charity that I created as my Make-a-Wish

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Washington State
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Korean
• Gender: M
• Grade Applying For: 10
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths: My guess is as good as yours.

Weaknesses: Again, my guess is as good as yours.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
I’ve achieved something notable, but more importantly I was real with my schools. I see a lot of people on this forum losing sleep over the most insignificant of AO questions. Be yourself, be authentic, and you’ll find places that want you as much as you want them.

2 Likes
15

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: Cambridge School of Weston
Rejected: None
Wait listed: NMH, Concord Academy
Likely Attending: Cambridge School of Weston

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: Did not take
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.5 ish
• Rank: unranked
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: All excellent
• Essays: Strong
• Math Rec: Blind, Probably good.
• English Rec: Blind, who knows? D and her English teacher don’t really click
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Blind, probably very good
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind, probably Excellent
• Sports (if any): basketball, but not this year
• Instruments (if any): none
• Other ECs (if any): dance team, but not this year, photography, fiction writing
• Hook: URM

Location/Person:
• State or Country: NH
• Current School Type: small private
• Ethnicity: Black
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: Well-rounded, very mature, can easily live away from home and that would have been obvious in interview and on recommendations, well-matched to the schools she applied to

Weaknesses: No special awards or accomplishments, needs a lot of FA, could not do her most important ECs during application year due to COVID.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? This is a hard year for applicants and I can only speculate, but she was very strategic in only applying to schools that were well-matched academically, learning style, and EC. This is probably why she did not receive any rejections. Possibly WL rather than accepted because there wasn’t enough of a hook (not a star player on a team, did not submit multimedia, no uncommon ECs), or there were more applicants with higher grades and more awards. Accepted at CSW because she is exceptionally well-matched to values of school (personal essay made that clear), and she is geographically diverse for a boarder at CSW. I don’t think anyone from our small town has ever gone there.

1 Like
16

Accepted: Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, L’ville
Rejected:
Wait listed: SPS
Likely Attending:

Stats:
• SSAT: 95%ile
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.9/4.3
• Rank: school doesn’t have it
• Other stats: taking mostly honors/ap classes, also take classes through CTD

Subjective:
• Interviews: all went very well
• Essays: I think they were good. I wrote mainly about studying abroad and how my grandpa has influenced me. Also wrote about volunteering and founding a local summer camp for one essay, and about my hometown for another.
Note - all of my recs were blind, so I am just speculating
• Math Rec: Probably my weakest recommendation because math is not my best subject, but my teacher is very nice and seemed to really like me
• English Rec: likely very strong. My English teacher loved me and was very excited when I told her I was applying to BS
• Extracurricular Rec: I had my swim coach write it. I am not an exceptional athlete but she has known me for years so it acted more as a character reference
• Personal Rec: I asked a teacher at my 8th grade school to write it and he knows me very well. He is also the one who initially encouraged me to apply to BS so I am confident that it was good.
• Counselor Rec: I think it was strong. He told me he’s written BS recs before. I am also taking the hardest 9th grade schedule at my school, so we had a lot of interaction while trying to figure that out. He advised me to take some easier classes, but ultimately I chose not to. When I ended up doing fairly well I think he was a little surprised, so I’m thinking (hoping!) that he said good things in my rec.
• Sports (if any): swimming for nine years and lacrosse for three. Not good enough at either for it to be a huge factor. Probably helped a little in that it made me more well rounded.
• Instruments (if any): none
• Other ECs (if any): debate, model un, student council, student newspaper editor, Chinese club organizer, photography (hobby), writing and publishing short stories online (hobby)
• Hook:

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Illinois
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 10th
• Age: 15
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths:
Well rounded. Good academics and a fairly wide range of ECs, that reflect my interests. Very good interviews, and decent writing ability. I also studied abroad in Shanghai for all of 8th grade, at a highly ranked Chinese/international school.

Weaknesses:
No major hook. Not great at sports or art. Don’t play any instruments. Did not submit multi-media. No awards from major competitions.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
I was honestly shocked that I got accepted anywhere. I was preparing for a lot of rejections/WLs, so this was unexpected.
I know that a main reason I got accepted to Hotchkiss and Andover was because of my interviews (this was implied by the AOs). I am very good at talking to adults, and both of those interviews went extremely well.
Exeter was a big shock - not my best interview, and although I think my Exeter essays were strong, I really wasn’t expecting much.
I think I got into Lawrenceville because of my essays, but honestly I don’t know why.
Ironically sps was by far my first choice. I thought my sps interview went okay, and that is the only school that I tried to show ‘demonstrated interest’ in. If I had to guess why sps was a WL it’s because of my essays. I made a comment in the “why sps?” essay about contributing to their swim team only to find out after submitting that they don’t have one. Looking back, my two sps essays were also the weakest of all the ones I wrote.

General advice: If any future applicants are reading this, I wish you the best of luck!!! This may be cliché, but the best thing you can do in these applications is be yourself. The more honest you are, the more your personality will shine in your interviews and essays. You don’t need to have a hook, or be a spectacular athlete, or be brilliant at a particular subject to get in (but if you are, great!). If you’re an unhooked applicant it may be a bit more difficult, but it’s entirely possible. And listen to the CC parents, they have a lot of knowledge and advice that can help you. You’ve got this!

7 Likes
17

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: Andover, Choate, Exeter, Hotchkiss, L’ville, SPS
Rejected:
Wait listed:
Likely Attending: No idea…

Stats:
• SSAT: 99%ile
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0/4.4
• Rank: N/A
• Other stats: Taking Honors Algebra 2, Honors English. No other advanced classes.

Subjective:
• Interviews: All went very well. Best was my Exeter Interview. Had a couple of “bloopers” in my Hotchkiss Interview.
• Essays: Very good. I wrote a lot about my music and my family. I made sure to make a strong connection between what I value and what I did in the real world that reflected that value.
• Math Rec: My strongest recommendation. My teacher really likes me, and as she and I are the only people in the classroom during our classes, we have had plenty of time to talk and get to know eachother.
• English Rec: Strong, but not my best. She really likes me but has no experience or knowledge of the BS world. She submitted the rec about 30 mins after I sent her the request, so I’m not sure how detailed it was. But, you know, she is a English teacher, and a really good one at that!
• Personal Rec: Religious leader. I have known him for a very long time and he has loved watching me grow into my faith. Probably one of my strongest recs.
*Extracurricular rec: Youth Orchestra conductor. He really likes me. I am the principal cello, and I have been in the orchestra for many years, so he knows my level of playing and how much I enjoy playing in a group.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind. I sent her a “cheat sheet” to help her write the rec, and she actually researched the schools herself! She was very nice in her emails and I really appreciate the time she took (she is very busy around this time of year) to write the rec.
• Sports (if any): Basketball. I could probably make Varsity my Junior year, and would be a very important player on the JV team my first couple of years. However, as Hotchkiss’ basketball team is simply better than all the others, I’m not sure I would be able to get on the Hotchkiss Varsity team at all.
• Instruments (if any): Conservatory-level cellist. Won many competitions and chairs. Have played in Orch for many years, have had many leadership positions. Been to international music camps and done well. Can help schools on French Horn as well if needed.
• Other ECs (if any): Volunteer on winning congressional campaign. Co-coached my younger bro’s b-ball team. Help my Synagogue weekly by singing at services.
• Hook: None

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Midwest
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: White (Jewish)
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Do not need a lot of financial aid.

Strengths: Music, well-rounded, interviews, essays

Weaknesses: Haven’t participated in any academic competitions. Schools might interpret as being lazy because of the discrepancy between my test scores and my lack of academic awards.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
I was definitely not expecting to get in everywhere I applied. However, I think I was accepted because I had something to offer to all the schools. For example, Exeter wrote me a personalized note spotlighting my cello. However, Andover’s personalized note spotlighted the contributions I can make to a community. I had many different attributes that could appeal to different types of schools.

General Comments: My biggest piece of advice is this: BE HONEST. You want schools to accept you for who YOU are, not a manufactured version of yourself. If the schools don’t accept your best self, then you would not be happy there.

Thanks so much to everybody on CC who has helped me, and @Ameridad, get to this point. Best wishes to all!

10 Likes
18

**Note: this thread is FOR RESULTS ONLY! Any commentary (congratulations, commiseration, etc.) shall only be spoken about on other threads. (Namely the Official 2021 Freakout Thread)

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: Milton, Middlesex, Hun, Peddie, Webb
Rejected: Andover, Exeter, Lawrenceville
Wait listed: Hotchkiss, taft, kent, loomis, cate
Likely Attending: Milton or Middlesex

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 85th percentile SSAT, 110 TOEFL
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: n/a
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats: 2 or 3 years ahead in math, passed proficiency exams (Mandarin Chinese), graduated from a prestigious music program, lots of school subject awards.

Subjective:
• Interviews: All went very well, although Kent and Loomis could have been better.
• Essays: Strong. I wrote a lot about what I’m passionate about (mostly music and science) and I’ve been told that they are written very well.
• Math Rec: very strong. I made rapid progress in math over the last year and my teacher knows me pretty well.
• English Rec: very strong. Very nice teacher that knows me very well. I love her class!
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: History teacher. History is one of my favorite/strongest subjects, so I assume it was strong.
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Completely blind. My class counselor quit last minute, so I asked another counselor to write it for me. I don’t know what he wrote, but i guess he has nothing bad to say about me.
• Sports (if any): ballroom dance (6 years)
• Instruments (if any): piano (10 years), violin (6 years). I have performed at many prestigious venues and won numerous national and international competitions (sent media links)
• Other ECs (if any): Model UN, Mandarin Chinese EC, music theory/literature, choir, orchestra
• Hook: music?

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Eastern Europe (don’t want to specify the country)
• Current School Type: international/private
• Ethnicity: Eastern European, Jewish
• Gender: female
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths:
Interviews, essays, recs, music, ECs, dance?

Weaknesses:
No community service, average/low SSAT scores (depends on the school)

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
Accepted: Honestly, my most memorable/best interviews were with the schools I got an acceptance from!
Rejected: Very competitive admissions this year, so I had no hope for those three.
Waitlisted: Once again, the admissions are very competitive this year.

General Comments: CC is such a supportive community and it really helped me with M10 anxiety. To everyone on here, thank you and good luck!

If you’re reading this next year, remember that you miss 100 percent of the chances you don’t take. Go for it!

1 Like
19

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: Govs, Berkshire, St. Mark’s, Tabor
Rejected: Andover, Groton, Deerfield
Wait listed: Concord, Taft, Brooks, Milton, Middlesex, SPS, Exeter, NMH
Likely Attending: idk lmao

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 86% and 85%, submitted both to all (if superscore then its 92%)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: N/A
• Rank: nope N/A
• Other stats: Honors math and that’s it.

Subjective:
• Interviews: all went pretty well, except for Andover, MX, and SPS ig lol
• Essays: i cringe so hard when i read them now. not really strong and personal.
• Math Rec: cant be bad, maybe like 7/10? *BLIND
• English Rec: pretty sure its good. like 9/10? *BLIND
• Personal Rec: my former science teacher and he really likes me, I do pretty well in his classes.
• Counselor Rec: I haven’t even talked to them for an hour when they wrote and submitted my rec lol. *BLIND
• Special interest Rec: my piano teacher and she really likes me. submitted to about 10 schools in total?
• Other subject Rec: my french teacher. i had her for half a year last year, and she’s always really nice to me. *half blind?
• Other Rec (only for Deerfield): my CURRENT science teacher. i think she likes me, but idrk. funny lady, and I also crack at her jokes. *BLIND
• Sports (if any): Basketball, Swimming, Tennis, (very bad) Volleyball
• Instruments (if any): Piano, Clarinet, some percussion, Xylophone, Marimba and smth
• Other ECs (if any): Ocean Science Club, tons of service, tutoring, debate, mun, DEI student advisory council member, prefect, pretty sure there’s more but I don’t remember them rn… ill update if I can ig
• Hook: nothing lol

Location/Person:
• State or Country: MA
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Asian
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 13 (almost 14!!)
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths:
well rounded i guess? i do tons of stuff and all the AOs seemed pretty impressed about it. and I suppose I can contribute to sports, music, service, DEI, or whatever.

Weaknesses:
ORM. terrible ssat. blind recs. my teachers have ton of experience writing recs so I’m pretty sure it wasn’t terrible, but they can’t say a lot about me. lol I took the ssat twice and my results are terrible so that didn’t help.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
i applied to 15 schools in total, WLed at 8 (surprise surprise), and I think they’re just soft rejections. i could never get into the T10, so that was a huge reach and I expected nothing (and i also got nothing). i was surprised that schools I reached out a lot to (like NMH) and had a great interview with WLed me in the end. probably because I was too “normal” and there were other applicants who were more qualified than me. this year has been HARD for everyone, and the admit rates dropped like crazy. i wasn’t expecting the offers, but I did put all my effort for all the schools. Rejected bc I’m seriously not qualified for schools like Groton and Andover.

my advice would be to truly show these schools that it’s their loss if they don’t accept you. show them that you’re amazing (which you are, don’t ever doubt it!) and show your interest in their programs and stuff. I emailed like crazy after J15, and I connected with a lot of teachers. Best of luck to you!!!

20

Accepted: Commonwealth
Rejected: Nobles
Wait listed: Milton, Middlesex, CSW, CA
Likely Attending: Commonwealth

Stats:
• SSAT: 94%
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0
• Rank: n/a
• Other stats: high state test scores

Subjective:
• Interviews: Milton 10/10, Commonwealth 9.5/10, Middlesex 6/10, CSW 8/10, CA 4.5/10 Nobles 0/10
• Essays: I tried to make them as deep as possible, but I spent way too much time worrying about grammar and such so there might have been a jumbled and uneasy flow of ideas.
• Math Rec: By my favorite teacher; only concern is that this was done while only attending distance learning, teacher did not know me too well
• English Rec: Teacher is very nice but I think the rec must have been pretty basic
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Terrible, does not know me at all
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Must have been very basic
• Sports (if any): Swimming, fencing
• Instruments (if any): Guitar
• Other ECs (if any): Math Team, Community Service, Coding, Garden Club, Newspaper Club, writing competitions
• Hook: Maybe good writing and consistent top scores in math contests?

Location/Person:
• State or Country: MA
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FA

Strengths: Good essays, lots to talk about at interview, well rounded in school, has plenty of new things I want to try

Weaknesses: FA; family did not want to pay a lot and requested high financial aid grants (over 70%) from all schools, and not enough awards, slightly anti-social

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? I think I was accepted at Commonwealth because of my writing and math awards, also due to my love for trying new things, and I really connected with the interviewer. Nobles rejected due to TERRIBLE interview; awful, awful. Interviewer was constantly coughing and we sat in silence for quite some time whole they muted themselves to go get a drink of water. Waitlisted probably due to heavy FA and not enough EC’s.

(End)

1 Like
21

Format (copy & paste all thing below):
Accepted: None (cri)
Rejected: Hotchkiss, The Hills, Exeter
Wait listed: Andover, Deerfield, Choate, Lawrenceville, Peddie, Blair
Likely Attending: Deerfield or Andover (if accepted)

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 95%
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 4.0 GPA
• Rank: N/A (Middle School)
• Other stats: State Test Scores/John Hopkins Test Scores

Subjective:
• Interviews: Deerfield and Andover were great! I am still in touch with my interviewers. The rest of the schools were okay.
• Essays: I wrote an essay about overcoming a childhood fear of failure.
• Math Rec: My Honors Geometry Teacher wrote my recommendation; however, since it’s virtual learning, I’m not sure if it’s good or not (blind).
• English Rec: Blind
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: My Robotics Team Coach
• Principal/Counselor Rec: The Counselor and I have a … rocky … relationship. (Blind)
• Sports (if any): Tennis for 4+ years
• Instruments (if any): Oboe, Plays in a National Youth Orchestra program
• Other ECs (if any): Robotics, Student Council (Treasurer), Yearbook Club, Steam Club (Captain, Head Programmer), Coding Club, Art Club, I volunteer every Monday at the library, John Hopkins CTY Program
• Hook: I won several state math competitions? I tried to focus on my leadership positions, so they wouldn’t think I was meek

Location/Person:
• State or Country: NJ
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: Burmese (Southeast Asian)
• Gender: F
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Lots of FA

Strengths: Good essay, High SSAT Score, Won a lot of competitions, Leadership Positions, And a lot of Community Service

Weaknesses: FA, FA, FA. I had some weak interviews as well :frowning:

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? I think I was rejected from Hotchkiss because they could tell I did not have a good experience during the interview. I stumbled on a lot of questions. I felt as though the interviewer wasn’t listening at times. It was REALLY awkward. I also stumbled a lot. I wondered that since I have a negative relationship with my school’s counselor, it might have affected the rest of my application. I think I got waitlisted mainly because of FA.

(End)

22

(I only applied to Lawrenceville as a day student)
Accepted: None
Rejected: None
Wait listed: Lawrenceville
Likely Attending: Current school

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: (I took the ISEE) R: 91 V: 96 Math: 93 Quant: 95
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: All A’s, a few A pluses
• Rank: N/A
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: I totally froze up in my interview, and it was painfully awkward. It was supposed to last 45 minutes, but it only lasted for 30. In my opinion, it was really weak.
• Essays: Decent, I talked about living abroad for a few years and how that affected me.
• Math Rec: Blind, but the teacher really likes me, so I think it was pretty good.
• English Rec: Blind, I’m a good student, so it was probably good.
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: N/A
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Blind, hopefully good.
• Sports (if any): Golf-My school doesn’t offer it in 8th grade, but I’m in a league outside of school.
• Instruments (if any): N/A
• Other ECs (if any): MathCounts- Made it onto the official team grade and won 5th place team in chapter round
Science Olympiad- Won 2nd and 3rd place in regionals competition
I like art, but I haven’t competed in it, I also play DnD.
• Hook: I lived abroad in Asia, so that can bring a fresh perspective to the school.
Musical- I’ve been in the school musical for 2 years, got decent roles

Location/Person:
• State or Country: New Jersey
• Current School Type: Private
• Ethnicity: South Asian-American
• Gender: Female
• Grade Applying For: 9th
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths: Maybe essays, grades.

Weaknesses: Interview, not too many ECs.

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?

I had good grades and a well-rounded ISEE score, but I really didn’t express myself much in my interview. I think that my recommendations and essays were pretty good, but the weak interview probably got me waitlisted.

(End)

23

SweetBoy1

Accepted: Exeter, Choate, Hotchkiss, Groton, Loomis Chafee, Kent, George,
Rejected:
Wait listed: Andover, Thacher, Lawrenceville
Likely Attending: TBD

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 98% SSAT; some schools also required earlier ISEE 9,9,9,7
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.9 rigorous public gifted, well known to AOs
• Rank: none
• Other stats: CTY high honors, other high scores

Subjective:
• Interviews: Varied. Two seemed really uninterested in kid. Others were positive and friendly.
• Essays: Well-written, polished but filled with emotion and humor

• Math Rec: Blind, but teacher experienced with recommendations, likes him

• English Rec: Blind, but teacher experienced with recommendations , doesn’t seem to like him

• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: Various arts teachers, blind
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Never met her due to covid, probably talked more about program’s rigor
• Sports (if any): none, 6 years of dance
• Instruments (if any): none
• Other ECs (if any): creative volunteer work, NJHS, lots of literary magazine submissions, 2 completed graphic novels; history of hard work I.e. lots of CTY, emotion filled portfolio

• Hook: Prestigious Award

Location/Person:
• State or Country: CA
• Current School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 13
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP via prestigious award

Strengths: Strong artist, creative writer, wildly creative in many formats, comfortable with himself

Weaknesses: discusses Snyder cut too much, discusses politics too much, litters floor with painful legos, messy, somewhat disorganized

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? I think he was able to portray himself accurately and he was seen for who he is.

24

Accepted: Loomis Chaffee, Middlesex, Episcopal, Westminster
Rejected: Exeter, Andover, Hotchkiss
Wait listed: Milton, Lawrenceville, Choate
Likely Attending: Middlesex, unless i get off lville waitlist

Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: didn’t take
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: 3.4/3.5
• Rank: idk but probably top 50
• Other stats:

Subjective:
• Interviews: I was late for middlesex and milton interview and when i emailed my middlesex interviewer i put the wrong name, but most of them were good
• Essays: I edited my essays to near perfection, i think they were really good
• Math Rec: blind, but had a good grade in math that term
• English Rec: blind, my english teacher doesn’t like me lol
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec: blind
• Principal/Counselor Rec: blind
• Sports (if any): Swimming 7+years
• Instruments (if any): Cello 4+ years
• Other ECs (if any): 6TH grade class president, community service club president, school literature competition team, art team, drama team, tenor lead in choir, orchestra.
• Hook: ECs/ awards

Location/Person:
• State or Country: Nigeria
• Current School Type: Private
• Ethnicity: African
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: FP

Strengths: Extracurriculars and essays

Weaknesses: gpa

Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted?
Probably because of my gpa but I guess I’ll never know

1 Like