Accepted: Loomis, Thacher, SPS
Rejected: Hill
Wait listed: Exeter, Deerfield, Concord, Academy, Middlesex, St. Mark’s
Likely Attending: SPS/Loomis
Stats:
• SSAT/ISEE/TOEFL/PSAT: 71% SSAT (Sent to Hill and Exeter Only)
• GPA Unweighted/Weighted: Got All A’s throughout middle school career, but no GPA
• Rank: N/A
• Other stats: Science Award and Math Award at School (Highest YTD Average at end of school year)
Subjective:
• Interviews: Hill 8.5/10, Deerfield, 8/10, Exeter, 7/10, Loomis 8.8/10, Middlesex 5/10, St. Mark’s 8.5/10, Concord Academy 7.5/10, SPS 8/10, Masters 7.8/10, Thacher 8.2/10.
• Essays: During the summer, my access program wanted us to respond to some prompts used on the SAO, without us knowing that it was going to be used for the application. I feel like I was lucky in choosing topics that showcased aspects of myself and personality, but it would’ve be better if I could’ve planned out qualities that I wanted to show and make it seen through story.
• Math Rec: Known him for 2 years and he knew my sister. (Blind) 8.7/10
• English Rec: Know her for only this year, but I was her favorite student. (Blind) 9.5/10
• Personal/Extracurricular Rec:
• Principal/Counselor Rec: Probably pretty good, he was so excited for me throughout the process and was the largest advocate for me except for myself. 9/10
• Sports (if any): Basketball and Volleyball
• Instruments (if any): Piano
• Other ECs (if any): Student Ambassador, Chess, Community Service (Led Breast Cancer walk for my school)
• Hook: URM
Location/Person:
• State or Country: NJ
• Current School Type: Public Charter
• Ethnicity: African-American (Ghana)
• Gender: Male
• Grade Applying For: 9
• Age: 14
• Financial Aid/Full Pay: Needed 95%+ FA
Strengths: Being a URM. Being in a well-known access program. Well-rounded. Came off as intelligent and a person who was able to articulate themselves well in my interviews. Consistency in grades. Essays showed aspects of me that couldn’t be defined by a number, a stat, or an achievement. Solid recs.
Weaknesses: Interviewing with a mask on and needing full FA.
Why do you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted? I feel like I was accepted at SPS, Loomis, and Thacher because I fit well with the school and what they wanted. I was also a well rounded and community oriented applicant who came off as respectful and inquisitive during my interviews.
I feel like I was waitlisted at a majority of my schools because I needed full FA. Schools with a higher acceptance rate like Master’s probably weren’t able to fund me and there was nothing in my application that particularly stood out to the AO’s.
I feel like I was rejected at Hill because of my SSAT score.
For Future Applicants
Make sure to prepare for this entire application process.
Step 1 begins with your essays. List down important qualities you want the AO to know and use storytelling in order to bring color to those qualities you want the AO’s to know. Make sure you have a teacher or some adult read over your writing to make sure it is your best work.
Step 2 is preparing for interviews. I advise anyone to bring a piece of paper written down with some questions for the interview. I know you don’t want to travel 5 hours just to have a 10 min conversation with no substance. It also helps to have some talking points and prepare for the most generic question like “Why do you want to attend X school” and make sure it’s specific.
Step 3 is ECs. Make sure your ECs have some sort of depth and your not just overloading the list with 10 random things you love to do. AO’s are looking for someone who is going to be an active participant in their community and is going to help fill some role or be some kind of social glue. Use this to craft a list of, at most, 7 or 8 ECs.
And lastly do well in school and build relationships with your teachers. (I think this is a given)