i’m super new to this honestly have no idea what i’m doing but hey everyone is doing this so imma just attempt to get some replies too haha
i’m applying to hotchkiss choate and lawrenceville for fall 2017 grade 9 as an international student and financial aid (hopefully?)
idk how the american system works but
i’ve got a gpa of 3.37 (upon 4) mainly because i screwed up english literature and chinese (higher level)
my average for other subjects (besides literature and chinese…) is 79% and i’m in the number 1 school in my country. i’m not sure whether 79% is great in the US but my school average is around 75% overall
i’ve been in school government every year since elementary school except one year.
national athlete in fencing
played badminton in school for 2 years
did dance for 8 years till grade 5
did taekwondo for 4 years
can play the piano, violin, drum and recorder haha
participate in small plays every year (theater)
do voluntary work every year
i haven’t taken my ssat as it was fully booked… i’ll only be able to take the january one and i’ll be submitting my applications without knowing my score… 
Study a lot for the SSAT!!! Especially since it’ll be your first time/only time before the applications are submitted. Also…don’t fret too much during the test-- I lost valuable time during mine by looking at the clock and worrying about a multitude of things. Your EC’s look nice but that grade of 79 might negatively effect your profile-- then again you go to a really good school in China so I can’t say too much on that. Have you scheduled/ completed any interviews yet?
@HhopefulFforSsuccess2021 thank you for the tip 
i’m super stressed out by the vocabulary section … :’(
for my school, getting scores in the 85-90s range is practically impossible…
i’ve scheduled my interviews but have not completed any as i started my application really late.
I used vocabulary.com and quizlet for my vocabulary studies. Just search up SSAT words on google and you’ll find a lot of lists. Also study roots. Which country do you live in( I’m assuming China, since you study Chinese)? Have you started your essay’s yet? I’ll tell you the truth here-- being a international student, with FA gives you a pretty small chance of getting in ( and if you’re Asian, like me, that puts you at another disadvantage since you’d be in the over represented minority). But your EC’s look fantastic, I can tell you that. Write good essays, have nice interviews and a great SSAT scores and you should be fine.
And good recommendations…
@HhopefulFforSsuccess2021 thank you!!!
haha i’m not from china, but asian!!! haha i’ve finished most of my essays and i’m pretty confident in them. not the very very best but i don’t want to get other people to write my essays for me and get in due to other people’s efforts :<
i figured that too. i really need the FA though, because my 2 siblings are going to attend college too and it’d be really hard for my parents
nonetheless, thank you for the support !!!
Sure! It’s not a bad thing to apply for FA (I’m doing it too), it’s just that it’ll give you a disadvantage. You should let your parents/teachers read your essays and let them give you feedback-- I finished one of my Exeter essays and handed it to my mom and ended up having to revise almost everything >.<. Good luck on your studies/ SSAT/ Essays/ everything else! pm me if you ever need to chat/have a question ( I might be able to answer).
sigh :< haha i got my brother to check my grammar thankfully it wasn’t TOO bad heh… thank you!!! same to you
oops i forgot tag hehe @HhopefulFforSsuccess2021
hi sorry i’m back again…
what do you think my chances are if i do not take financial aid? SSAT score possibly in the 80s range…
Your chances will be better without FA, and scores in the 80’s should be fine for the schools you’re applying for since their average SSAT scores are in the 80’s.
@HhopefulFforSsuccess2021 great thanks again!