(UPDATED) Chance me! Choate, Concord, etc.

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Hey guys! I made a chance me thread a few months ago, when i first joined CC, but I want to see if responses change with the new information I have. Here it goes!

Just a note: I’m an ABC kid, if anyone knows if that increases my chances, please let me know.

Schools I’m applying to:
-Choate (!)

-Concord

-Emma Willard
-Cate

-Exeter

-Lawrenceville

-Peddie
-Culver Academies

-Putney
<if anyone="" has="" any="" input="" on="" which="" of="" these="" schools="" are="" good="" matches,="" reaches,="" etc,="" please="" tell="" me!="" i="" will="" not="" be="" adding="" more="" to="" the="" list,="" as="" was="" assigned="" by="" a="" better="" chance="">

Biographical Info:
Ethnicity: Latinx/Hispanic, Asian (URM? ORM? who knows, I’m a mixed kid.)
Family Status: Parents divorced, mother has full custody.
Location: California (Over-represented, I know.)
Current School Type: Public
Gender: Female (tbh I look like a guy tho)
Grade Applying For: 9th (Boarding)
Age: 13
Financial Aid/Full Pay: Need majority finaid, at least 80% (Father is unwilling to pay for school, this might count as an extenuating circumstance?)

Stats:
SSAT: 2178 (86%, will not be retaking.)
Grades: 4.0, one B in a quarter but it won’t show up on my transcript

ECs:

-Intern: At city hall, under a Supervisor in my district, 0.25 year (Supervisor did not run again, left after the midterms)
-Peer Mediation: 3 Years, leadership group
-Student Council: 4th grade class rep, 5th grade student body pres, 8th grade class rep.
-School GSA
-DnD Club
-Volunteer: Residential home, 1 year
-School Library Volunteer

Arts:
-Piano (common, i know.)
8 years, level 4 ABRSM
-Trombone
3 years, formerly in school band, now self-study
-Art: I have an art portfolio! It’s not amazing, but it has been submitted.

Sports: (not many)
-(formerly) Swimming, on junior swim team
-Crew

Awards: (also, not many at all)
-Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest, School district wide essay contest, 1st place

Essays: I did the ABC app essays, not the best, not the worst. Honestly, it’s hard to tell.

Interviews (Not done yet, I’m working on it!)
-Choate:
I think this was my best one. We laughed about current events, pretty casual, AO said he saw my eyes light up when I brought up my passion for politics. Gave him a thank you note with calligraphy on it, he said it was pretty. 9/10
-Exeter:
Went okay. I seemed a bit nervous at the beginning, apologized too much. We laughed a little, he said my handwriting was good. 7/10
-Concord:
Lasted an hour, AO was very friendly. I seemed interested and engaged. She saw my binder and asked to look at my notes, said my handwriting was good. 8/10

That’s about it! I will add info as needed in the comments below. I appreciate all advice/feedback, don’t be afraid to be blunt with me!

2

You have a good mix. You will likely get into several, hopefully several with the financial aid you need. Looks like some reaches and some matches. Since the list was made for you, would you be happy at all those schools? Putney and Exeter seem like opposite schools for example.

I don’t know much about ABC. There were several people active on CC from ABC a while ago.

3

How important is crew to you? Not all if your schools have it (at least Cate doesn’t).

You seem solid, but obviously I can’t opine with any certainty. You do come across as someone who checks a lot of boxes, though. Fingers crossed for you!

4

I’m not a sports -centric person by any means, so I’m totally fine with a school without crew. I’m pretty artsy/focused on humanities, so what matters most is good arts/humanities programs.
@CateCAParent My Cate interview is tomorrow! As a Cate parent, do you have any advice?

5

Have fun! Ask questions. You’ll do great.

One of the neat things Cate does is let you attend a class.

The admissions staff are super nice. Relax into it and be yourself. They love people who are authentic, community-oriented, and into a bunch of different things. You don’t have to be an athlete. But if you are open to new things - and you seem to be - you will be fine.

Good luck! Report back!