Hi everyone
I am Nikunj from India and I am applying to PA, PEA, Choate, Hotchkiss for admission in eleventh grade.
I wanted an opinion on what are my chances of getting accepted at them. I am also applying for FA and my parents are willing to pay 20k usd with some flexibility. I have submitted my application and I have tried my best to represent my passion of learning in my essays. I have 95.68 percent in my 10th grade half yearly exams and expect similar in my boards. I gave ACT in late October and scored 28 composite with 32 in Science, 28 in math, 26 in English and 25 in reading. I have had my interviews and I tried my best to give them an idea of myself as a person and explain it to them the reason of my weak extracurriculars. My current school does not have many extracurricular opportunities and no sports teams as such. I think the only weak part of my application is my ECs.
I would be glad have you kind opinion.
Hi Nikunj. Eleventh grade is notoriously hard at most US boarding schools. Your ACT scores don’t inspire confidence that you’ll be thriving academically. Have you taken the SSAT? Your FA needs do not help your case either, as financial aid for international students is hard to come by. Lastly, ECs don’t have to be done through a school. You can play an instrument, a sport, paint, fundraiser, volunteer, etc. on your own or through groups outside of school. The point is to be meaningfully engaged in non-academic activities. It may be too late now, but if you had asked earlier you would likely have been advised to expand your list of schools for a better admission chance. Good luck!
Hi @GoatMama
Thanks for you kind reply. Isn’t 28 good on ACT for someone who is just a month into tenth grade? I am also the captain of my school’s cricket team and I play Badminton at varsity level but both of those sports are not much recognised in the states. As for my other ECs, here is what I listed.
- I scored 80+ percentile in National Science Talent Search Examination and Unified International English Olympiad in grades 7,8,and 9.
- I scored distinction points in The Green Olympiad junior in grade 4 and 5.
- I received a certificate for voluntary work in an orphanage through a community service program named Le Bénévolat.
- In Gita fest 2018, our team won the first prize in Srimad Bhagvad Gita Quiz.
- I want to research on Quantum mechanics as I want to learn how does physics work at the atomic and the sub atomic level while correlating it with light. I got interested in this field when I was studying about light and, thought that light does not have mass but then too it posses energy. Besides that I also want to research on Photoelectric cells and
artificial photosynthesis. - I run an environment protection and waste management club named “Friends of Nature” in my school which I started in November 2018. We hold seminars for public and municipal workers explaining them ways to dispose waste correctly and follow the recycling process as well the hazards of not doing it correctly. We also try to promote manure use among farmers and preach organic methods of cultivation. We along with the trust of a temple planted 127 trees on the Parikrama Marg ( a road encircling Vrindavan) and we try to ensure that water is supplied to trees at least once a week in the dry season. Our group also collaborates with our local red cross branch to participate in food distribution to government schools.
- Every weekend I go to a nearby orphanage to spend time with the kids there, play some sports with them and help them with their studies. They really enjoy studying with me and I also enjoy teaching them because we all are just friends. I love to cook so I sometimes cook for them or get some Prasad (Sacred Food) for them from any of the temples. It is something I love doing and the smiles on their faces give a feeling of deep satisfaction.
- I love to write quotes, short stories(based on real events), poems and essays. I have a unique writing style which some people don’t like but it corresponds to my personality and thats what a piece of writing shows about its author. I like to write in a conversational style which I believe arouses the reader’s interest and the informal tone makes it more engaging whilst giving a personal touch to my pieces of writing.
Sounds great! Good job! I was just responding to what you said about not having ECs because your school didn’t offer much. As for ACT scores, I’m no expert but 28 seems pretty average for a 10th grader, which I assumed you were as you’re applying for 11th grade. For comparison, some kids in the US take the ACT/SAT in 7th or 8th grade through programs such as Duke TIP, and quite a few score in that range as middle-schoolers. Anyhow, best wishes for success! – BTW, I’ve been to Vrindavan twice and done a few parikrams, mostly around Govardhan. Sri Govinda ki jay!
Wow. Amazed to meet a fellow devotee. Please be sure to contact me when you come here next time. I live just opposite to ISKCON. Do you know about Bhaktivedanta Gurukula? I saw an article on prep scholar about ACT scores for sophomores. It was written that 27 is the above 75th percentile. What do you think about my ECs? Are they good enough?
Thanks a lot for the wishes.
I’m not sure that’s in the cards - a former ISKCON devotee here - but thanks! Yes, I know the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula but haven’t been to Vrindavan since the 1990s. The test preferred by the boarding schools you’re applying to is the SSAT. I don’t know if many submit ACT in lieu of it, so not sure what the median ACT of admitted students would be. The median SSAT for Choate and Hotchkiss is in the upper 80th percentile, PA and PEA in the lower 90th percentile. I hope this helps.
@GoatMama According to my research for average ACT scores I found that the average ACT score is
PEA: 31 (source: their website)
PAA: 30-34 (source: pdf on their website)
Choate: 29-34 (source: pdf on their website)
Hotchkiss: 30-33 (source: pdf on their website)
Disclaimer: All of the ACT scores mentioned above refers to the students who graduated from the respective institutions, NOT the ones who applied.
@GoatMama Nice! I had asked PA and PEA for their preferred test for eleventh grade applicants and they told ACT/SAT, P-SAT, SSAT in order preference. Also, I tried a mock SSAT and it didn’t seemed like anything challenging, any seventh grader from India can easily land in the high nineties. Not kidding but it seemed that easy. So, I thought why spend 3x on an easier test and $450 seemed a bit too steep compared to $150 for ACT. Another thing I mentioned in my essay as well as my maths teacher wrote in his LOR is that I took an accelerated course in which I expect to reach the AP calculus BC level for Derivatives and limits and AP Calculus AB level for integrals. I am also writing a book on nuclear disarmament. Would these make a difference?
I was wondering about vegetarian and vegan food at these school. Is it readily available? I wanted discuss something with you on pm. Is there any way to pm you on college confidential. ?BTW- Any particular for not being a devotee anymore?
Thank You
Another consideration that I had was would it be a good idea to let them know that would be looking to explore on-campus and off-campus work opportunities (in my second year when I get my OPT) to fund my education in addition to what my parents can pay? Would that negatively effect my application?
@MKB2004 thanks for the scores. I was glad that your are also applying for admission to PA and PEA in 11th grade.
@GoatMama It would be very helpful to know that they into consideration that in India everything is way less expensive that the US. 14k usd a year would seem very less compared to income in the states but here it places us in the upper middle class.
What is the source of this? These seem quite low for top boarding schools that accept kids with very high SSATs.
@Nikunj27 (1) you’ll have no problem with vegetarian food. There are plenty of options. (2) you will be able to PM when you have 15 posts. (3) I personally haven’t heard of paid jobs on campus at the schools to which you’re applying, and I don’t think you will have time for off-campus jobs. Boarding schools expect you to contribute to their community, not spend considerable amounts of time off campus earning money. You can have a part-time job when you’re in college. (4) People are aware of the difference in earnings between US and countries like India. However, boarding schools have less FA available for international students than for domestic. All I’m saying is that an international student with FA needs applying for 11th grade is an extremely competitive pool. You are literally competing for single-digit seats. That’s all.
For an 11th grader, have you considered United World College?
@gardenstategal I had considered UWC Singapore but their application fees itself is 600usd and they don’t offer any form or financial aid to internationals.
Are you sure about that? They claim to give FA to more than 70% of their students. Maybe if you choose another location?
@gardenstategal every UWC gives FA to their own country’s residents. UWC Singapore to only Singapore residents. UWC USA to only US residents.
That’s right. You apply through your home country’s committee and then you get assigned to one of the 18 campuses around the world. Most country committees are able to subsidize much of the cost. (There’s also an alternative path for FP students.)
You may have missed the deadline to apply for next year, but many students attend for what would have been their senior year plus one PG year.
If you are from India, this is where you would apply: https://www.in.uwc.org/how-to-apply/information-for-candidates
But you might still end up attending a UWC in the US, Canada, Wales, Italy, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Singapore, etc. There are 18 schools!
Well, how is your result of application toward these great boarding schools? It seems like SSAT is easy to you. However, as an international student and a SSAT test taker, I don’t think the verbal part of SSAT is easy for every Indian 7th grader.
Besides, UWCs give almost every international students FA but not domestic applicant. Take UWCChangshu China as an example, we don’t have FA from it (but almost every international students gain FA from the national committee).