Phillips Academy- Chance me!

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Hey, all, I’m an eighth-grader applying for junior (ninth grade) year at Andover. Don’t worry, I’m applying to other schools too :slight_smile: Could anyone give me some insight on chances and some essay tips? Past experiences with the application help too. Thanks!

Grades/school:
-Straight A’s all my life (4.00 GPA)
-Currently in advanced placement classes (not super special advanced, though, just stuff like Geometry I)
-I’m generally top of my class (I say generally because we don’t have a rank)

SSAT: Waiting for October test results! I’ll update when I get them, but I’ll probably want to retake them haha. For the practice tests on TestInnovators, I usually get anywhere from 93 percentile to 99 percentile, depending on the test.

EC:
-Sports: I’m a figure skater! I’m pretty good, almost done with all my tests, and I would be done already if it weren’t for circumstances (whoops).
-Music: I’m a chorus soprano (decently good if you ask me). I’m also trying out for county chorus soon, but since that’s not decided yet, I’d advise you to not consider that when chancing me :slight_smile:
-I’m a Math Counts Mathlete
-I’m a Junior Board member for my skating club
-I volunteer 1.5 hours every week teaching Learn to Skate
-I’m running a club where I teach people how to skate for free (separate from what I do at my skating rink with Learn to Skate)
-I’m a Girl Scout Cadette, but I’m considering not putting this on my resume since it’s a pretty recent thing and I don’t do it seriously. I might if I get my silver award, but I’m not sure yet.
-NOTE: I know my EC list isn’t very decorated, but I train about 20 hours a week, and I have to drive two hours for four days a week to skate in Delaware. This takes up a lot of my time. I talked about this in my interview, and they really admired the sacrifices I made in a lot of other interests so I could pursue my passion for skating. They were very understanding!

Interview:
I had an awesome interview! It was on campus with an alum, who said that Andover was looking for students like me. He said I had great ideas and could tell, even without seeing my test scores or SSAT, that I was “a very intelligent girl”. We came in for a second block interview (three blocks total) but we were the last ones out of the pretty yellow house. It was over an hour, I believe. I also had really awesome conversations with Mrs. Mallick while my mom went for her part of the interview. Moreover, I got to talk with Mrs. Minahan as well, who grew up where I live! Later at the Diversity Round Table, I got to talk with Mrs. Carroll and it was really nice. She too, grew up where I live now, so it was a really funny coincidence. Overall I think the admissions team has a positive impression of me, so I hope it works out :slight_smile:

Additional information:
-Asian
-Female
-“International” applicant, but they said it doesn’t really matter since I grew up in America (5 years old to present)
-I’ll apply for FA, but honestly, if worse comes to worst my family can pay full tuition without breaking our piggy bank.

2

Now that I reread my post I want to clarify that I am in no way looking to brag or come off as arrogant. I just want to hear other people’s opinions so that I can have a more realistic view of what my goals should be. Thank you to anyone who comments!

3

Don’t apologize for yourself. There are a million threads like this. No one thinks you are bragging.

I’d say you have a solid shot but you are also in the most competitive applicant pool. No one here can say “you will definitely get in.” Are you applying to some other schools as well?

4

I agree with @one1ofeach . I will also add that you should read nothing into an interviewers comments. IME, particularly with boarding schools, comments like “We really like you” and “We thing you will be a great addition” are common and many who have received those comments prior have been rejected. In a similar vein, from your other thread, read nothing into a person remembering you. Note that, while I am sure is not the case with you, applicants (and their parents) are often remembered fornot-so-positive reasons.

5

Agree with the above. You look like a serious applicant (assuming the SSAT works out) for consideration but now it is the numbers game. As you probably know, they accept 16-18% of applicants. Let’s drop some of those applicants as a reach and MAYBE bump your odds to 25%-33%. Reality check is they will have 100s and 100s of straight A female students with a math interest/ability/focus. Andover is needs blind, so the FA won’t matter. You have to hope you fit the need of the incoming class. You can hope figure skating is a “thing” there (I do not know). If you are serious about pursuing Chorus, you might want to work that in to the application.

You qualify, but do you fit? There will be no answer until M10, unfortunately. Sounds like (once everything is submitted) you simply have to wait it out.

This is not meant to be negative, you have done all you can and are well prepared. There is a school out there that would be happy to have you. Good luck with that school being Andover.

6

Thank you to everyone who replied! @one1ofeach yes, I am applying to other schools, most of which are very competitive (Exeter, Lawrenceville, etc) but I have magnet schools in my area I am also applying to as a backup. @skieurope thank you so much for your insight, we were particularly worried as well about the issues you mentioned, unfortunately, we just have to hope it goes positively. @PrepDad2018 yes, skating is somewhat of a “thing” there, instructional (beginner) skating is offered as a sport and there is a club as well. Thank you for the solid advice, I will keep it in mind. Again, thank you all!

7

Your application seemed really solid and i think you have a really good chance of getting in. I understand that you came to the US when you were five and if you don’t mind could you tell me what you did to prep for the verbal section of the test, i really need help with that part. i am not applying to andover but it seems like you would be a great student there. if you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

8

@sz1250250 hey there, thank you for commenting. I have to admit that verbal is probably my weakest area as well, but I think I still score pretty well so I’ll try my best to help you out here.

I use TestInnovators, but from your profile, it looks like you do as well, so I suppose I won’t need to go into that. What you’re doing already is very good; studying vocabulary and analogies will help a lot. I suggest that since you have a bit of time left before the SSAT, you should read some books! Seeing vocab in a sentence is the best way to understand the connotative meaning behind it as well as remember it. Sometimes remembering the word being used in context saves you, even if you don’t know the exact meaning of the word.

Good luck!

9

thank you for helping me and giving me your advice. It was really helpful. I wish you the best and good luck ( even though you don’t need it)!

10

@sz1250250 thank you! It was no problem. If you would like, I can tell you what I got on the TestInnovators tests and the actual SSAT so you can see how accurate your practice scores are. Good luck!

11

@peachysoo honestly you have been so helpful and i wouldn’t want to disturb you any more than i already have so, if you feel comfortable telling me the scores or if you have time to do so it would really help. Again, thank you.

12

@sz1250250 I just received word of my score! I got a 97 percentile with a score of 2289. Surprisingly I did best on verbal, with quantitative in a close second. It’s quite a surprise, haha, but I guess studying paid off since I spent most of my time on verbal review. My SSAT score was actually higher than anything I got on TestInnovators! Some of it might depend on the test, though, since each one is different. Good luck!

13

@peachysoo Congrats to all your hard work! Now you have a really good chance of getting in. Thank you for telling me that your actual SSAT score was higher than your mock test scores. If you don’t mind which test do you think was easier? Was it the mock test or actual test?

14

Will you continue with figure skating while you are at boarding school?

15

@sz1250250 No problem! Personally, I feel like it depended on which one of the practice tests I took. Overall, they were pretty on par. The actual test was moderately hard, though. However, the difficulty wasn’t to the point that I was panicking, there were just a couple of questions that were really hard for me. Don’t worry, though! The scores are adjusted based on difficulty, and you get fewer points off on hard questions, especially if other people don’t do well on them.

16

@CaliMex Yes, I plan to continue training and make full use of the rinks on campus. It’s super cool that all these boarding schools have wonderful skating rinks on right in the school! It saves a lot of driving.

17

Thank you! I can only imagine doing as well as you have although the schools i am applying to are a little less vigorous. You will do really well in your future school and you will definitely get in. Good Luck!

18

@sz1250250 thank you!

19

If you are nationally ranked or internationally competitive in skating, the schools will be thrilled to be able to claim you as their student and brag about your accomplishments. But if you aren’t that outstanding, and your training schedule means you won’t have any time for other school-based activities and sports, they might be less thrilled to have you join their communities. Your mileage may vary.

@Golfgr8 might have an interesting perspective since she has a daughter who was also a figure skater. (However, my understanding is that while schools admired the discipline and drive reflected in her skating, they were even more excited about her ability to contribute to other sports teams and to the school dance company.)

20

@CaliMex I did not consider that, thank you for saying so. I will try to talk to @Golfgr8. Thanks again!