in addition, I’ll echo @marcellasne 's sentiments in that if any of you have any specific questions about the application process or my full list of applied boarding schools (I might not know outside that). I have applicant’s information on: Loomis, Hotchkiss, Choate, (PERSONAL LDS), Governor’s, Milton, and Middlesex. I also applied to Groton, which I have insight into as to being a student and applicant there. I got accepted to Deerfield and Andover, so I have information for both sides of the BS decisions process for those two. I currently attend Exeter, so I’ll have all information on that.
@marcellasne Deerfield is tied with Lawrenceville with being my top choice. I want to go SOO badly, but I heard Deerfield along with other HADES schools are notoriously difficult to get into. Ig my interview went pretty well, but after looking at admits stats I’m almost certain of rejection.
I also need full fin aid so that’s definitely going to hurt me.
I think i’m applying to Williston Northampton as a safety, but I don’t know if I should apply to mercersburg also(although it’s less of a safety). The Williston coaches were impressed with my Track times and I have had numerous teachers email me about interests etc.
@solarj HALfway through??? WOW. What schools are you applying to?
@Mercurrii I’m appling to Lville which is SAO and possibly Mercersburg. I though they required essays??
@ens2006 yeah, they do, but it’s less of a pain since it’s gonna be the same essay submission for both l’ville and Mercersburg anyways.
currently melting down cuz I have an 88 in algebra at my school. I’m scared that it will affect my chances. what do i do ahhhhh
@RedLioness Hey, so you said you have an applicant’s perspective on Choate, right? Do you have any tips on increasing my chance of acceptance there? It’s my top school and I’m pretty sure my chance isn’y very high, lol.
@Mercurrii thank GOD. The essay is like 250-500 words instead of the literally 12,000 word limit on the Deerfield essay. Their ‘Short answer essay’ is literally a 1500 word limit. i can’t.
I don’t really have any advice, just try to bring the grade up before the grading period ends, It should be fine if it hasn’t. I really don’t think a B, (a high one at that) will make or break your chances.
@ens2006 really? well crack. I havent looked at a n y gateway schools yet but that sounds like writing death for me hahah. for peddie I literally wrote like 3-4 sentences each. is that bad?
also, grades are due this Friday so im fricked
@TheHappinessFund right, do you want to move to PM so we can talk there? to advise you on what you can do, I might need some stats, which aren’t exactly things one discusses on the threads (that is, unless you’re comfortable with it).
@Mercurrii dude, chillax. no school is going to not accept you over a B+. as long as that isn’t an across-the-board thing (considering the schools you’re applying to), it’s not a big deal at all. just bring it up a little and you’re golden!
@RedLioness ahhhh okay. (don’t panic merc don’t panic). btw, wdym by “across the board” is it because the majority of the schools im applying to are TSAOs?
and how were your interviews? were they face to face or video?
I mean “across the board” in a sense that, hopefully, you don’t have 80s in all your subjects. Sounds like that’s not that case. And yes, I think it’s a tad iffy for such selective schools, and it would be on the safer side to be in the 90s in most of your subjects. But a singular 88 never hurt anyone.
My interviews were face-to-face, on-campus (although quite a few ended up during school breaks - would not recommend doing that to yourself). There was quite a range going… On the worse end of the spectrum, there were my Exeter, Middlesex, and Governor’s interviews.
While I can’t really speak to my Exeter interview, seeing as my interviewer said many kind things about me despite my takeaway of “I crashed and burned”, I know exactly what happened at Middlesex and Governor’s. Middlesex - the issue was that I a) didn’t have a particular passion for the school and b) I had just gone through 3 consecutive interviews, one of which was extremely stressful. I was completely unemotive and uninspired, and gave very stock answers. At Governor’s, when the interviewer asked about other schools, I mentioned some TSAO schools and my interviewer got the sense that I was applying to Governor’s as a safety.
On the other hand, I did really well with my Andover and Deerfield interviews. I guess at Andover, I had a lot of good questions and answers? Not really sure, all I know is that I did well.
I really connected with the interviewer at Deerfield. She was very much an easy to talk to person and treated me like I was already part of the community, and I just kind of rolled with it and enjoyed it.
Both interviews followed a standard questions from interviewer, questions from interviewee style, and didn’t really go overtime either. My parents sat in on Deerfield’s, though.
@RedLioness oh okay thanks! i do have a 95+ for all my other grades so I guess I’m saved for now?
ouch, I can’t make it to ANY on-campus ones, do those decrease my chances?
The consensus here is that this does NOT decrease your chance of admissions.
Typically, for an interview you need to be prepared to answer, with a story from your life:
How you are academically curious
A time you overcame adversity/how you are resilient
How you are kind/contribute to your community
Why you are interested in the school in particular
I read a thread last year about also just being a good person, not being a braggart, during your interview and I second that. I think one of the things that genuinely sets my son apart is that he is not braggadocios. He has played on nat championship teams for two sports and if you ask him he will talk all about the teams and his team mates and forget to mention that part. I was told at one school in particular that his humble nature was refreshing because many kids come into an interview with a list of accomplishments and spend the whole interview trying to weave those accomplishments into the conversation.
@ens2006
I’m applying to Exeter, Andover, St. Pauls, and a private school in Seattle. They’re my top choices!
@solarj good luck!
for everyone testing the october test day: are all of you ready? what are your weakest areas? and if you’ve done the ssat practice tests, how much did you get wrong, and what sections?
@Mercurrii i’m taking it this Saturday as a mock test but i’m not taking the real thing until December or January
@ens2006 yeah, this sat’s more of a prep test for me, hopefully I score high enough though!
struggling on analogieeeeesssss-