SPS, Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Deerfield, Choate.

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>hello. i am a south korean who is living in Canada. I have lived in Canada for about 4 years and i want to go to any one of these schools for my freshman year</p>

<p>preference:</p>

<ol>
<li>tied sps and andover
2.deerfield
3.exeter, hotchkiss, choate, tied</li>
</ol>

<p>i finished grade 7, starting grade 8 in a month, and i am wondering if i have a shot at st. paul's as an international student. here are my accomplishments:</p>

<p>overall mark of 95.33% in grade 7 (placed first in school in grade 7 with pretty bad marks)</p>

<p>98% math 95% english 90% science 97% social studies 96% physical education 96% french</p>

<p>got honor roll of distinction got a book award for placing first in the school</p>

<p>got certificate of excellence for all subjects that they grade and also one in band (which they dont grade)</p>

<p>studying Algebra 2 (almost finished), will study trig/precalculus in grade 8 at able enrichment center and cty online distance learning (its a prob for cty but for sure in aec) </p>

<p>studying grade 11 math in kumon math (level k) and grade 10 english in kumon reading (level J) </p>

<p>finished basic trig and algebra 1 with 99% in aec </p>

<p>my strength is math and i am going to study calculus 1 and 2 honors if i get in st.paul's for freshman</p>

<p>got an award (top) for martial arts (kendo) while achieving blue belt, have a certificate that states that im an official black belt (1st dan)</p>

<p>will participate in jazz band and other clubs in grade 8 in school</p>

<p>i know for sure i am going to get better marks in grade 8 because i was playing video games (addicted to starcraft2) for 6 months, playing 3 hours minimum everyday. now i am not so i think i will get better grades.</p>

<p>I write fanfiction regularly with 150 views a day in average. people say that my stories are good and i am wondering if this counts for something.</p>

<p>do you think i can or cannot get in. please write a constructive post on why i cannot or can go. also i am applying for financial aid (which will mostly be denied even if i do get in because im applying as an international student). also i know i dont have perfect grades or good grades compared to geniuses but i cant stop hoping to go there.</p>

2

<p>You need to start with the financial piece of this question: have you talked to your parents about whether this is possible if you do not receive financial aid?</p>

3

<p>I talked to them about it today and they said that they could afford it without problems… I thought they didn’t have the income but my grandparents are rich (own a few buildings) and they’re willing to pay for me</p>

4

<p>you need to participate in more extracurriculars. there are thousands of kids with grades just like you who can’t make it into these schools because they have no “catch” and diversity. These schools look for diversity and a unique personality. You need to find some way to stand out or you’ll have a hard time making it in. Good essays, more sports, continue playing your instrument and do some out of school programs (helping disabled or poor), then you’ll have a good chance.</p>

5

<p>From my experience, learning sports and other things like that is pretty hard to start out with at around this time. A lot of others are doing the same sport, but they’ve been doing it for a lot longer time. Therefore, they’re much more experienced! I feel like you could start a sport, but only because it will help you in the future, not for the BS. I think they want you to have a passion for what you’ve been doing, and I think they will not believe you if you say that your passion is sports–if you’ve been doing it for a year or less.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, you should still try everything you can!!! Good luck to you!!! :)</p>

<p>PS: I pretty have the same problem: not doing ECs for a long enough amount of time. >.< Oh well. Perhaps I should make a chance-me post… :P</p>

6

<p>Yeah… Sports are my hobbies. For example, I play golf monthly in a near golf dome and I am planning to take lessons with my brother for fun. Math, on the other hand, is my passion. I like it cuz I’m pretty good at it. And my EC’s are hindering me a great deal cuz I can’t just make EC’s that I have been doing for many years out of nowhere. I’m planning to be really good in school in grade 8, meaning I won’t fool around or something like that.</p>

7

<p>Given that your strength is math, and you do seem really strong there, you may want to look at Exeter in more depth. Exeter placed 5 students on the 12-member USA team for the recent International Math Olympiad, quite an amazing accomplishment. And the team finished 2nd in the world, with an Exeter lower (10th grade) being the overall 2nd place student.</p>

8

<p>thank you mainer95 for your comment… It inspired me to like exeter more and to check the school’s website out…</p>

9

<p>Just got promoted to level k in reading which is grade 11. I would get awards for being 3 or more years ahead of my peers in both reading and math in the fall or winter</p>

10

<p>Should I put in all the accomplishments in the application or pick a few that are major and best describes me?</p>

<p>Also, do you think taking all the enrichment centers (cty, aec, kumon) increase my chance in admissions? Do they recognize and acknowledge Kumon program in the U.S?</p>

11

<p>How many people should I get to write my recs outside of school?</p>

12

<p>I decided to swap Exeter with lawrence ills even though they have a pretty good math department because I personally don’t like the way Exeter plots lessons and classes</p>

13

<p>

No. As a Korean myself, I can tell you. Everyone does this. My brother has finished precalculus as well. I think if you want to distinguish yourself by math, you need to participate in official competitions. Try Mandelbrot, or Kangaroo.</p>

14

<p>Jhortomply: thanks for the info but kangaroo competition is in march which will not help at all for the admission app. Also, do many kids learn pre calculus in 8th grade. That is really bad… That was my strength and I won’t stand out… Darn! How old is your brother? Younger older or same</p>

15

<p>

He is in 8th grade right now.</p>

16

<p>Whew… That’s good news… I am going to start stepping my game up. To finish both kumon and reading in a year, I will increase my workload to 10 from 5 pages. That means I’ll be finished second year of college math and the last year of high school english. I hope that taking calculus in grade 8 (which for sure I will finish this school year) is going to help me in the admissions. Btw, do many people study precalculus or calculus in grade 8? I’m sure not many do but please post if you are learning it or finished learning it so I can compare my chances with others</p>

17

<p>

Ah, good for you! I think that is not a good approach. Don’t really compare yourself to others though.</p>

18

<p>Thanks jhortmply for the advice</p>

19

<p>I know this sounds really weird, but I don’t think that taking Pre-Calc/Calc in 8th is going to help you… unless you are getting really good grades in the class. Also, the impression I got from BS was that you have to be open to other subjects as well… and ECs. Yes, passion for math is good, but… I just get a feeling that you have to even it out.</p>

<p>Lolz, I feel so bad because all of my responses have been pretty negative… sorry. I’m just sharing my opinions. :P</p>

20

<p>thanks!!! i really dont care if the opinions are negative because i want to be realistic…
that’s what i was thinking for the past few days… it says that people are supposed to be well rounded. my strength is english and math but i think i am doing pretty good in any other subject too considering that the lowest mark was 90%…</p>