NCSSM Class of 2016- Future Applicants

Prep School Admissions
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<p>Hey guys - </p>

<p>Just discovered this forum. It’s full of great info! I’m working on my application now; applying for both online & residential with hopes on getting in to residential. I’m in CD 7. </p>

<p>My question is about applying to both schools. I’m afraid that applying to online reduces my chances of being accepted to residential, where I really want to go. I feel like the admissions people will say “Hey, this kid is willing to do online… let’s put him in the online course and let some other kid who only applied to residential take his spot on-campus.”</p>

<p>Do you guys think the admissions team will use this thought process, or do any of you know about this? Any thoughts are appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Also, while I’m at it, what do you guys think of my stats?</p>

<p>Freshman classes - All A’s:
Honors English I
Honors Biology
Honors Geometry
Honors Civics</p>

<p>Sophomore Classes - Semester 1 - All A’s:
AP World History
Honors Algebra II
God’s Plan of Redemption
Computer Arts</p>

<p>Sophomore Classes - Semester 2 - No grades yet but feeling good:
Honors Chemistry
Honors English II
AP World History</p>

<p>Awards:
• 3rd Place in Math Class (7th grade)
• 3rd Place in English Class (8th grade)
• Received Christian Character Award (7th grade)
• Inducted to Senior Beta Club (9th grade)
• Inducted to Jr Beta Club (7th grade)
• Over 4.0 GPA (9th grade)
• DUKE Tip Scholar (7th grade)
• 3rd place in Quiz Bowl at Jr Beta Convention (8th grade)
• Nominated to attend Washington Journalism and Media Conference
• Accepted into Google Glass Explorer Program (Beta Tester Program)
• Headmaster’s List - All A’s (8th and 9th grade)
• Honor Roll - All A’s and B’s (7th grade)</p>

<p>EC’s:
Community Service/Volunteer
• Church-related mission work
• Volunteering at food distribution sites
• Packing food to be sent to the needy
• Helping with multiple house cleanups in my community
• Volunteering to lead AV teams at church and school
• Volunteering to lead/edit/record school’s TV show
• Volunteering to live-stream school events
• Volunteering often to help teachers with computer problems
• Editing music for both Senior and Junior Beta club talent shows
• Volunteer to record, edit, and burn events to DVD such as church and school programs</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular
• Running a technology YouTube channel
• Running a personal tech blog
• Cashier and Laser Engraving Assistant at a local retail store
• Mountain Biking
• ATV Riding
• Gaming - Popular Gamer, Donator, and Helper to a Minecraft Server
• Youth Representative for Youth Committee at church
• Web Development
• Various Youth Events - Laser Tag; “Defy Gravity” Trampoline Park; Church Camps; etc.
• Electronics engineering and circuit design</p>

<p>Leadership
• Leading the AV team at church to run the computer and projector system
• Leading the AV team at school to run the sound board for assemblies
• Leader, Videographer, and Editor of my school’s TV show
• Secretary of the Jr Beta Club in 8th grade
• Head of Live-Stream operations for school events
• Tutor for my school’s “Writing Center” program</p>

<p>SAT December 7 Scores: M 610; CR 550; W 570; Essay 6
Taking the SAT again in January - I just bombed the essay because I spent too much time trying to decipher the topic and think of something to write.</p>

<p>And again, I’m in CD 7 (Sampson County). What do you guys think my odds are for getting into Residential? I’m applying to both Res. and Online.</p>

<p>(EDIT: Weird asterisks appearing in some bullets)</p>

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<p>Well, the application asks you whether you prefer residential or online. If you put residential, then they’ll compare your application to other applicants who picked residential as a first choice. If you don’t get into residential, then you are considered for online. I think that’s how the admissions person explained it at open house, so don’t worry about that.</p>

<p>You could probably improve on your SAT score a bit, but I’m not sure how that compares to the SAT average for your school, so maybe you’re good…?? Good luck in January, though! I’m taking a subject test. :(</p>

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<p>Thanks, @loltired. That clears things up a bit - I was actually considering dropping the online section because it might interfere.</p>

<p>Yeah, SAT definitely needs improvement. I think I’ll do much better in writing next time, and maybe reading too.</p>

<p>Thanks for the luck! What’s a subject test? (Haha, I should probably know better)</p>

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<p>EDIT TO OP:</p>

<p>I forgot to mention that I am in Science Olympiad (9th and 10th grade), I did MathCounts in 8th grade. There’s also one more thing I know I’m forgetting… I’ll repost if I think of it</p>

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<p>I don’t think the OP has posted in months, hahah. </p>

<p>Um, it’s basically a 1 hour, 50 question (for Math II, at least), test that’s also given by the college board and it’s on a specific subject as opposed to the SAT reasoning test which has the reading, writing, and math. A few colleges I think I want to apply to require them.</p>

<p>Which science olympiad events are you doing? This is my first year doing high school science olympiad and I have really random events and I have no idea what I’m doing lol</p>

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<p>@adambowker98
I dunno man…you seem pretty average compared to others. Just answer this question:
What makes you stand out?
This theoretically asks what you have other than:</p>

<p>Elementary and Middles School Awards and Leadership Positions
High School Participation and Leadership Positions
Active Extracurriculars (no extraordinary achievements)
High GPA (not top 10 rank), Honors/few AP Classes, and Average-High SAT (below 2300)
Egoistic (way too many sentences start with “I”) Essays</p>

<p>I’m not saying any of these are worthless; they’re essential (other than the poop essay)! But we need some spice, or else the soup is as bland as everyone else’s.
The more you find that’s above the standard, the better your chances are. Remember that specialty is awarded as well.</p>

<p>Research Sources: Sister at NCSSM…and roughly 20 of her friends</p>

<p>If you’re wondering why I’m so confident…well, I’m quite the aggressive comedian in real life. And honestly, there’s a 100% chance of me getting in (all the above standards with 2370 SAT, epic essay answers, SAT Chemistry Subject Test and 2nd place in state for National Chemistry Olympiad during freshman year).</p>

<p>Mm…good night. I’ve got an AP HuGe test tomorrow! AND YES. It’s HuGe. You can’t write HuG because there is absolutely no reason for the e after G to be ignored while the u after H revels in glory. And HG is just too slow.</p>

<p>Oh, and I did Forestry and Mission Possible varsity.</p>

<p>Sorry for the fat post.</p>

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<p>HuGe.
Wow, I really like that. It’s clever. Good luck on the test, although you probably won’t need it. </p>

<p>Sigh, I guess my SAT is too average. Maybe I should retake for those 30 points. </p>

<p>We had a 2 hour delay today, and we have another one tomorrow so I’m going to rub it in your faces. Unless, of course, all of you have two hour delays as well.</p>

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<p>@loltired, no I mean my original post about the stats. haha.</p>

<p>That test sounds fun! (sarcasm intended) but maybe it won’t be too bad.</p>

<p>I’m doing Circuit design, Write-it-do-it, and a few others i can’t remember right now. I might’ve signed up for Designer Genes?</p>

<p>EDIT: WE HAD 2-HOUR DELAYS YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW ALSO HAHAHAHa lol</p>

<p>@Flaracos thanks for the feedback. i’ve taken every honors or AP class available. my school has very little to offer. i’m top 5 in my class, and I think 1780 is more than “Average-High,” and I don’t think 2300 is a fair average. Also just checked my original post, and I don’t seem egotistic at all… I just listed the awards/activities/etc like I’m supposed to. How can you really say the awards and achievements without sounding cocky? </p>

<p>edit: Oh, also, what ‘poop’ essay are you referring to…?</p>

<p>but you do seem really cocky, and are more egotistic than i was… i always think kids who boast like that don’t get in. if you think there’s a 100% chance of you getting in, and consider everything you do to be perfect, I imagine the admissions team will see your cockiness and not necessarily like it.</p>

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<p>I’m in CD 1, so close to CD 6. But does anybody know if CD 1 is competitive?</p>

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<p>Oh lol oops. Circuit design sounds really fun. I don’t know why I didn’t sign up for it. :frowning:
I had originally planned to do just write it, do it, but then 20 people signed up and there was a competition basically so I went with material science (don’t know what the heck’s going on) and entomology.</p>

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<p>@loltired yeah i love doing circuits and stuff. featured on instructables.com homepage several times and been on treehugger.com for it once :slight_smile: i was basically the only one to sign up (no one at my school like tech stuff, either circuits or computers, besides me) so I’ll definitely be going to the competition. ouch, good luck with material science and entomology :/</p>

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<p>@pastelblue At this point, you can’t really do anything about how competitive your district is… So don’t worry and hope for the best? By the way, in calculus, we’re using integrals to find volume and it sucks. :frowning: I think it’s the last thing we’re covering for AB so I know you’re in for a fun time ;)</p>

<p>@adambowker98 that’s really cool! Thanks and good luck to you as well :)</p>

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<p>@loltired thanks, it was awesome because it was unexpected :stuck_out_tongue: btw, whereabouts are you in NC?</p>

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<p>@loltired True, but I just noticed that I’m not competing with some of the students in my school who are applying. Our AP classes in my school are stretched throughout the year. We’re still in Related Rates of Change or something like that.</p>

<p>I just looked at my essays and now that Flaracos mentioned it, it looks like I have too many “I’s.”</p>

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<p>@pastelblue @loltired I feel like I have too many “I” sentences as well. But how you do write a self-reflection essay without using first-person pronouns?</p>

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<p>Yeah, we have an two AB classes that are stretched. I hated Related Rates… Word problems. Ew. I probably have too many “I’s” as well, oh well. I’m sure it’ll be fine.</p>

<p>I would be more specific but I feel like it would be really awkward if someone who goes to my school stumbled upon this so I’ll just say… CD 3. Although, if I lived 20 miles west, I’d probably be in CD 1?</p>

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<p>@adambowker98 I don’t even know… That’s a good point. At this point, I don’t even want to touch my essays anymore and just hope for the best.</p>

<p>@loltired Did you ever figure out what Calculus students will be taking on Discovery Day? I hate word problems too -__-</p>

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<p>There’s another section about word problems, optimization. Can’t remember if it comes before or after related rates, but that was a bit better, hahah. Oh, on discovery day, don’t we all just take the math test? The one that probably doesn’t have precalculus because not everyone has taken it?</p>

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<p>@pastelblue lol good plan. i would do that but i haven’t finished all 15 yet :(</p>

<p>@loltired haha, guessing somewhere near Greenville? you don’t have to answer if you don’t wanna. I’m in Sampson County, I don’t mind sharing because my username is the same for my email, twitter, and everything else so it’s easy to guess who I am (if you know me IRL)</p>