Hello, everybody. This is my first time ever typing here. I’m currently a 10th Grade student looking to apply to the three schools mentioned above for the Fall 2020 session for 11th Grade.
I am honestly typing this as I currently live abroad and I am not properly aware of the competition for these schools. I will be posting my stats below as I believe that you guys could be suitable judges. I am aware that all three of these schools are insanely difficult to get into.
Firstly, a little backstory about myself. I am an American national currently residing abroad in Pakistan, the last time I studied in a school in the US was back in Grade 4. My parents aren’t American nationals but have studied there for their undergraduate degrees.
Secondly, I’m applying to these schools as I want to shift back to the American curriculum especially as I’ll be aiming to pursue my collegiate education over there, and believe that its best to be familiar with the educational system over there. I am applying to the boarding schools as my family won’t be there and I’ll need to stay in boarding. I am also applying to the online school as an alternative, which would let me study here.
Thirdly, I would like to point out about my current educational system. I am currently studying the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) which is taking by schools following the British Curriculum internationally. It is administered by the University of Cambridge and is standardized for every country. It is a 2-year course which starts in Grade 9 and ends in Grade 10.
My current subjects are Maths (Extended), English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Informations and Communications Technology (ICT), Accounting, Economics and Environmental Management. They are set to be taken in the May/June 2020 session and my expected grades in my transcripts are A’s and A*'s. EM has been taken already in the Oct/Nov 2018 session and received a Grade “A”. I also am the first person in my school to take the “pre-med”, “pre-engineering” and “pre-commerce” groups simultaneously.
Andover and Stanford OHS also require my Grade 8 report which was: Maths (94%), English First Language (92%), Science (92%), Urdu Second Language (98%), ICT (97%), Mandarin First Language (99%) and Art/Design (96%).
For my extracurriculars, it is worth noting that I have no musical/athletic thing to show. Instead I have a few others which I hope can at least (partially) help me. These included:
- Co-founding and being President of my school's history club.
- Taking part in regional and national Model United Nations (MUN) events and winning "Honorable Mention" and "Special Mention" awards (no best delegate awards yet)
- Taking part in my regional Maths Genius of the Year Competition and winning first position (2019) and second position (2018)
- Taking part in my school's Student Government for the past 2 years and being the Student Counselor (for academic year 2019-2020) and being the Elected Prefect for Grade 9 (academic year 2018-2019)
I also have participated in 2 internships and 1 work-experience:
- A work experience at a hospital in England with the pediatric surgery department where I got to shadow and watch surgeons, specializing in studying about and viewing surgeries in the abdominal region (liver, kidney, gall bladder, etc.).
- An internship with my school on invigilation of the exams (I didn't have my exams in that session so I was free at that time).
- An internship in accounting and finance in a local business.
Furthermore, I am participating as a volunteer in a local orphanage as a tutor specializing in math and english for their Grade 2 students.
I have also participated in a few online courses with EdX, Coursera and Stanford Online Lagunita, currently with 19 course certificates, 1 achievement certificate, 1 statement of accomplishment, 2 statements of distinctions, 3 certificates of specialization and 1 certificate of advanced work. With topics including law, business, corporate management, physics, statistics, classical music, economics, finance and immunology.
I have, as an extra, also submitted files about a very strong hobby of mine, which is providing my interpretation and adding complications to mathematical equations which are generally considered to be simple. I find it interesting because the same equations which are universally considered to be simple can be written in such a way which could be considered to look fairly complicated.
As for standardized testing, I will be taking the ACT in the February 2020 session. Although Exeter and Andover’s deadline is before my ACT exam, both institutions are fine with their candidates sitting for the exam in February. I have been studying for it and have an expected composite score between 30-32.
I will be also applying for financial aid for Exeter and Andover (will require about ~50-60% to afford it), however, I wouldn’t be applying for financial aid for Stanford OHS. I am not a legacy student for any of the 3 institutions and none of my family have studied there.
I believe this is basically a rather detailed explanation. I added the details as there is a difference between my educational system and the educational system of the United States. I look forward to hearing back on some replies soon and honest opinions. Thank you for bearing with me in this rather long prompt.