My chances for top prep schools?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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Yes, it’s another what are my chances thread. Oh well!

Canadian, applying for ninth year. Chinese heritage, if that makes a difference.

Testing/Grades
SSAT: expected 2370-2400. Haven’t got a score back yet.
SAT: did practice tests around 2100 to 2300. might do a real one if I feel like it.
Grades are ok-ish: everything were hovering around 85, except my art mark, 76.
This year so far, nearly everything has been 95+, though.


Music
Played tenor trombone for 4 years. 1st trombone (not principal though) of a very prestigious grade 11/12 band. Also in lots of other smaller regional bands.

Athletics
2nd place in volleyball provincials. I’m not sure if my vertical matters or not, but my vertical reach is about 10’1. normal height around 5’11, arm extended 7’0. I don’t play basketball though :confused:

Broad jump/ standing long jump: 2.92m, running long jump 4.21, triple jump 9.15.

my track sucks. dont ask.


Math/CS

23/25 AMC 8 G7
102/150 AMC 10B G7 :/
Attended MathPath 2014.

Fluent in Python, capable of using MongoDB as a tool. Won bronze medal in grade 7 at a regional science fair for an original basketball prediction model. (highest honor among grade 7's and 8's, competed with grades 9-12 :/)

Graphic Design

Proficient in Photoshop Elements 13. Can do both abstract designs and marketing items. (note: i’m still really bad at IRL art)


Other stuff

Good orator. Glib speaker. Plenty of leadership.

Dabbled in philosophy. Came up with a refutation of Anselm's Ontological argument. still poring over it to make sure i didn't make any mistakes. might submit to a small journal if my brother (minor in philosophy) approves of it. nothing to show for it now. we'll see.

Interested in: CS, aerospace engineering, statistics, philosophy, astrophysics, music performance, and athletics, in that order.

Avid reader. big vocabulary. often called mature.

I know I'll have at least 2 teachers (math, english) who can provide good recommendations this year, and 1 (math) from last year.

After writing this all down, it seems i have the “well-rounded” student vibe - which is a little bit unnerving, since I recall reading that schools arent looking for well-rounded people. oh well.

Thanks! If you’re currently at Exeter/andover/choate/any other decent prep school, please leave a comment on your thoughts! :smiley:

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Aww. No responses yet? Anyone who can give some input? :frowning:

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which schools?

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exeter, andover, choate? maybe deerfield.

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Unfortunately, I wouldn’t put Choate in the same class as those others. I know of a student last year (recruited strongly as a PG for football) who ended up at a community college after graduation even though he was being highly recruited by colleges before going to Choate. Given your academics this year and SSATs, I think you have a decent chance at the other 3 and Exeter may be the best fit.

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^^^Huh? You think one student who’s college choice is not appealing to you indicates an issue with Choate? Students and their families make college decisions based on any number of factors. What are you implying?

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He certainly didn’t expect he’d end up in a community college after spending a PG year at Choate for football, that’s for sure. The school let him down and it probably wasn’t a good fit to beginning with academically but why let that get in the way of getting a prized football player. So I’m not implying anything. I’m saying that Choate’s academic reputation isn’t in the same league as the others mentioned and outcomes like this don’t help the school or the student-athlete.

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*While of course people are free to have negative opinions about a school, what we do keep an eye on is people that come here just to bash another school and for seemingly no other purpose. They don’t even have to particularly have a reason for feeling as they do about a school, but the more allegations they make that cannot be substantiated, the shorter leash they are on. Otherwise repeated flame throwing about a school becomes a form of spam, and that will not be tolerated.

I will also add in this case that basing anything on one anecdote is…well, I think everyone knows what that is. If reputations were based on that, I can make Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, and several other very highly ranked schools seem like awful places, as I also could every Ivy. There are disappointments and washouts that blame the school for their failures everyplace. Occasionally the school could have done things better certainly, but most of the time it is the student that brought the consequences and the blown opportunity on themselves.*

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thanks for the responses everyone!

but uh… if you’re taking the time to respond to this thread… could we keep it on track? lets refrain from talking about colleges and choate and such for now.

so albo22 says choate is not in the same category as exeter, andover, deerfield, etc. but i always thought the top 3 were exeter andover and choate - deerfield being tier 1.5 and the whole lot of them (groton, middlesex, etc) just a smidge below them. could someone explain to me why choate isn’t up there, beyond anecdotal evidence?

which part of my application should i focus on the most? IMO, i should be focusing a bit more on either music or athletics, but im not sure which. input would be appreciated.

also, how much is CS a thing at prep schools? i know that you can take AP courses at all of them, but how far does it go beyond that? should I emphasize CS a bit more?

thanks!

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Every school you list is “top tier,” whatever that means. Groton and Middlesex are not second tier schools and there is no such thing as tier 1.5. Instead of focusing on meaningless rankings, find schools where you will be an attractive candidate and then focus on submitting the best application you can, one in which your voice comes out strong and clear and you make a good case for why you will be an excellent addition to that particular school’s community. “Ask not what the school can do for you…”

You can research each school’s curriculum via their websites to determine how far they go in each area.

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@taperecorder22 --I think your stats look fantastic for all the schools that you are interested in! I will share with you one thing that a few “Top Tier” admission officers told us last year when our son was applying to BS.

When we asked, “What characteristic are you looking for most in a candidate?”, their answers were “Humility.” I am not stating this to diminish your credentials, nor are you the first “Chances” post that I have wanted to respond to in this fashion. This is just something to think about going into your interviews, especially when you are obviously quite intelligent AND quite rhetorically gifted. :slight_smile:

Best of luck to you!!!

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@fallenchemist – Aptly put.