Hello! I’m apply for boarding schools and I was wonder if what my chances are. I go to a private school that doesn’t offer any advanced classes.
Personal Information
Applying to 9th grade
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: African American
STATS
ISEE : Around 8 stanine
SSAT: 85th percentile
GPA: 4.0
Extracurriculars
Korean: Intermediate level korean. I teach kids beginner korean in my county for free.
Piano: I’ve played for 5 year and I am at Intermediate level.
Science Blog: I have a S.T.E.A.M. blog that has 1,000+ views.
Club Med: I’ve virtually shadowed medical professionals for 30 hours.
Kookies for Kids: I have made my own volunteer group with 4 other people. We sell cookies and have raised $500+ for St.Judes Children’s Research Hospital.
Student Government: I have been school Secretary, Vice President, and President.
I am also apart of the National Junior Honor Society but we haven’t done much.
I have been Student of the Year twice and I have received highest honors every year for five years.
I still have some time before applying is there anything I could do to improve?
What do you think is good/bad about my statistics?
You seem qualified. However, all the schools you mentioned are very competitive to get into. I advise that if you want to go to boarding school, you apply to some higher admit schools.
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I think each of the trio of schools you mentioned has a Jan. 15 application deadline.
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Yeah, I would start applying this upcoming fall.
You have an interesting profile but you should expand your list to more schools with higher admits. And if you need FA, even more.
On the ISEE, do you mean 8-8-8-8 across the board. And if you aren’t applying until next year, are these middle level tests?
No, I was taking the 7th and 8th grade at the same time so I was allowed to take the Upper Level test. It wasn’t convenient for my family to push me to high school a year early. Thanks for the input!
I see a VERY strong chance for you. Let me tell you why, so that you incorporate those points into your essay and interview.
You are a clear leader material. Your student government involvements for 3 years in a row on different capacities speak volumes about you, whether you realize it or not. People don’t select someone again if they think he/she did a bad job, whether for a nation or a school. Also it shows your continued commitment to serve the student body. The fact that you were chosen as the student of the year twice objectively nails the judgment. Peers love you.
People on the CC tend to get wrong on three points all the time: (1) over-emphasizing test scores; (2) under-emphasizing character; and (3) over-emphasizing competitions, awards, titles, rankings, accolades, all kinds of showy metrics on “beating” others (National, State, International, what not).
But you don’t go to these schools to beat others. Competition is an unfortunate byproduct, never the main goal of education. Even for the most competitive schools, after you pass the test that you can do the work, the question immediately boils down to your character, which is basically leadership. Why? Well, whom would YOU want to be with for 4 years? Just as a Math Olympiad is a rare thing, so is a Character Olympiad. Since there is no competition as such, it only takes more discerning eyes, for which the AOs are trained experts. Trust me, they will see you loud and clear. For one, your teachers will not let their “Student of the 2 years” go unnoticed in their recomms.
Your grades and scores are more than enough even for the very best schools, as long as you don’t use them as your main feature. When the math kids were doing their AMCs, when the hoops kids were playing their hoops, you were serving your student body. You don’t get into these uber-competitive schools just by not having weaknesses; you get in only by having a screaming virtue. You have it. Choate would welcome you with open arms. Who wouldn’t?
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Thanks! This helps a lot. Hope you have a good week!