<p>I feel pretty weird right now. I will not be attending any prep schools this upcoming year on account of I got rejected from three of the schools I applied to and wait listed at the other. I applied to four schools total. There isn't much hope for me on the waiting list because I applied for financial aid. </p>
<p>I'm very disappointed right now, because thanks to my dad who messed up my back up applications ON PURPOSE (he has some odd grudges against all schools I show interest in, I'm just not sure why) I will be attending a public high school near my home. </p>
<p>There isn't anything wrong with this school, I just am not fond of it. There are over 2500 kids at this particular school, and not all of them are very good students (there are a lot of bad quality people from low quality areas). I have gotten into the choice program at this school which was limited to only 50 students, I should feel honored. But I don't. All you needed to qualify for this position was a D average, and I am a A honors student. </p>
<p>I don't regret applying to any of the schools though. Not at all. And I will be applying again next year, and hopefully will have better luck. </p>
<p>Is there any advice anyone can offer me on how to do better as far as acceptances go, for next year? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I am not very experienced by any means…I just went through the application process though and got accepted at the schools I applied to (except for one, where I was waitlisted.) One thing I found through my process was that interviews seemed super important. Present yourself positively and really be yourself. Be super chatty and willing to talk about yourself, because that is what the interview is for! Also, showing interest in the school seems important…not that I really know anything (just like most people on CC…no one actually knows anything haha!) Extracurriculars=super important. That’s about everything I can say…hope everything works out okay at your school and I hope application process goes better next time.</p>
<p>livenlaugh, well I’m glad everything worked out with you. Congrats on being accepted at the schools you applyed to!
Actually my interviews with all the schools went very well. One of the officers I wast interviewing with told me I was exactly what the school was looking for, and that there was no doubt I would get into a good school. Unfortuantly it didn’t work out that way.</p>
<p>As far as extracurriculars I was: a member of the National Junior Honor Society, Editor of my school newspaper, on the track team, I took fencing lessons, a member of the environmental club, and a member of my schools student council. Was that not enough?</p>
<p>Your dad wrecked your applications on purpose? Wow, I’m sorry. I’ve heard of parental opposition but this is a little extreme. I got waitlisted at two schools last year and I reapplied again. I added Phillips Exeter to the list and I got accepted, so if there’s anything to learn, it’s that there’s always room to try again. unless you’re a senior but I doubt that.</p>
<p>Are there any day school options left?
If not, and you are for sure headed to the large public school, I’m thinking that it might make you feel better to investigate the EC opportunities at the school. You sound like a very strong student who will make the most of whatever environment you are in.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for you as well about what happened with your father. I know a little about this process as I have applied for two consecutive years and this year I was accepted to 3 schools. Most importantly, I back livenlaugh 100%. The interview is extremely important and I did not realize that until this year. Do not be nervous nor afraid to talk the truth even though it may seem boasting. Also, be sure to mention why you want to go to such and such school and how great it is. Focus on ECs and try to do well on the SSAt. That’s all I can pretty much say the rest is basically up to how much you really want to go to this school and if you want it more than anything, you will get in.</p>
<p>Yeah, sounds like you are a great student who just got unlucky. They may have had a lot of fencing, environmentalists apply this year…i dunno. Also, you probably already know this, but keep in mind (for college apps too!) that a few really strong, long term commitment, things your good at, extracurriculars, go a long way! But basically, sometimes it seems sort of random as to why these schools reject people/waitlist. If they weren’t needs blind schools that could have been one of the major set backs, who knows.</p>
<p>I actually asked/begged my parents to allow me to apply to the private day schools in my area. They told me and I quote “Where are you going to get that money from”, which is completely junk, because I know for a fact that we can afford these schools. Even then, they wouldn’t even let me apply. My dad told me I can go if I can pay for it myself, and since I am thirteen that really isn’t going to happen. </p>
<p>The SSAT wasn’t one of my strong points for the application process. I didn’t have a coach or anyone to prepare me for the test so I just sort of took it. The first time I scored a hideous 64%. I retook it and didn’t do much better getting a 76% (69% in math, 66% in verbal, and 90% in reading). For the upcoming year I plan on getting some classes on SSAT prep, because I think I need it, even if I need to pay for them myself. </p>
<p>Another low point for me was that fact that I had no help filling out the application and getting materials. I got all the materials myself, filled the forms out myself, and paid the application fee myself. Also the recommendation forms had to be re-done two times because my teachers couldn’t handle filling them out, since they had never seen them before. I had to write each of my teachers specific instructions on what to do with the recommendation forms, it was quite the challenge. Since I live in South Florida and my parents couldn’t afford to take time off work so I could see the school campuses, I did local interviews. I plan on going with my grandmother to see the schools this summer.</p>
<p>So obviously there are some things I could have done differently, but I didn’t have an opportunity to at the time.</p>
<p>My son was a successful FA applicant last year – applied to 9 schools, accepted at 7 and waitlisted at 2. I have a few suggestions:</p>
<p>Now that you know the process, do what you can to make it go smoothly next year. Now you know to include specific info when asking for teacher recs, study for the ssat, etc.</p>
<p>Make the most of your pubic school’s opportunities – large schools with a mixed group of people just make it that much easier to do well. Teachers love to have students who are interested and work hard. </p>
<p>Get involved in more than just school organizations, look at community organizations as well, depending on your interests. Boarding schools like kids who step outside the normal school community and take a risk. It shows motivation and interest.</p>
<p>Finally – apply for a wide range of schools. If you are an FA applicant, this is particularly important. And don’t just focus on school located close to you – the further you are from a school, the greater the chance that you look different from all the other local applicants.</p>
<p>This is not very important, but the Princeton Review has a great SSAT book! I used it, and having never heard of the test before I was worried about my score, but I got a 96% overall! And I didn’t even study very much. So just do the stuff in the book and learn some vocab. It’ll probably boost your score a lot. Sorry about the not great situation, hope it gets better next year.</p>
<p>Transition, you should explain to your parents the serious truth about affording private school education: If the school seriously wants you to attend, they WILL find a way for you to afford it. There has rarely been a time when an accepted student could not attend because the financial aid he/she was given was not sufficient.</p>
<p>Also, your entire application looks very strong, minus the SSAT score. Bump that above 95% and you will definitely be opening acceptance letters next year. To study, you have to seriously dedicate yourself memorizing vocab words. I want to point out that the SSATs are basically tiny SAT’s. When I was studying for the SAT’s last year for CTY, I probably went through thousands of new vocab words, which not only made it easy for me to grab a 99% verbal on the SSAT’s and a 720 Reading on the SATs, it has made class, reading, and writing so much easier and fun. The feeling you get when you’ve made so much improvement on your mastery of English language all of a sudden is amazing. Your reading score is already really strong, so naturally with experience, and verbal practice, that should be very high next year. SSAT and SAT math is the easiest math in the world. You simply have to go through and get really comfortable with Algebra and Geometry (A tiny bit of Algebra II would help as well). Sitting down and doing practice questions, and asking online or your parents for help with questions you don’t know will gradually improve your scores. I spent two years focusing on SAT/SSAT math even though I was already learning beyond it because you have to be at a very comfortable level to do well. (No hesitations when attacking a question, never skipping a question, solving questions quickly). Take time to pull apart the hardest questions you come across and see how you can apply it to others. So do this like I did everyday for a while, which should be no problem as I assume you aren’t too busy with school work. I actually did take math courses which helped, but what the teacher did so well was not teaching us new information, but teaching us how to study. (He would compile the hardest questions he had found into packets which the class would do for homework, usually scoring below 50%, and spend class teaching the hardest questions, and homework the next week would be corrections for that packet and another one, and the process repeated). I knew my hard work had paid off when I received a 99% in SSAT math and 780 in SAT math.</p>
<p>Understand too that you should not expect too much success applying to just 4 schools. You have to apply to many more schools, all from a variety of different tiers. There is a great deal of luck in the application process, so there is definitely power in numbers. As for the application fees, you can void them if you are applying for financial aid. All you have to do is make a call to the school.</p>
<p>By all means try again, and I truly wish you the best of luck next year. But don’t let BS, or lack of, define your life. You are a great student and your scores on the SSAT are very good! Keep your chin up, opportunities will come to you if you continue this way, BS or not. There is more than one way to get ahead.</p>
<p>OverGrip: Oh wow, thank you for the marvoulous SSAT tips. I will have to remember them, and use them. And I had no idea that since I was applying for FA I didn’t need to pay the application fees. That makes things so much easier. I will be applying to more schools next year. I’m thinking around 6-8 to up the chances a bit.Thank you for your help. </p>
<p>Livenlaugh: Yes, I did go through the entire Princeton Review SSAT book, and it just didn’t work for me. I think a coach or teacher would help my case in this situation. </p>
<p>Sadie2: Thank you for the encouragment. I agree with you on BS or not, there are still ways to get ahead, and I will keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Transition,
Princeton Review tutoring is excellent. My dad is involved with the company so like three years ago I got tutoring for free and my scores were like 95% and I really understood the test but this year since I live abroad I could not do the tutoring and my scores dropped to 80%. BTW, the tutoring was for ISEE not SSAT and I took the SSAT this year but same thing right? I definitely reccomend it.</p>