Hi! I’m an eighth grader applying to Taft, Hotchkiss, and Peddie (among safety schools) and want to know if I have a good chance of acceptance. My SSAT score is 92% overall (about 2250). I have had straight A/A+ for as long as I have had grades at my private middle school. I have won various minor Latin, Math, and Visual Arts awards (I won’t be specific for confidentiality). I have played classical piano, skied, and done community service forever. In the summer I have gone on community service trips, and have hiked some of the highest mountains in the Appalachians while I was at my international summer camp. I have done tennis and soccer recreationally. My SSAT essay, interviews, and applications went fairly well. I won’t apply for financial aid. Do I have a chance at these schools? I’d appreciate any response (I am so anxious from this process I might explode!)
I also won an award for Track and participated in global Model UN in NYC last year (if that helps!).
You have a long way to go, so maybe you should take a break from CC a while and enjoy the holidays. (Returning to this site in early March might help, assuming you aren’t still using it to gather info about which schools to apply to.) Of the factors you list, everything looks quite strong. But you don’t say anything about ethnicity or where you live. Consider that if lots of kids from your local private school who all have similar backgrounds are all applying to the same boarding schools, you will essentially be competing directly against those kids and all the other kids from private K-8 schools in your area. My point being, is that schools want diversity and so you may fall into an even more competitive pool. In your application essays you should really focus on what makes you special and how you can “grow” the schools you are applying to. Good luck!
Thanks! I really appreciate it. Enjoy the Holidays!