Updated: What are my chances for Andover, Exeter, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Hotchkiss

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Hi everyone,
I’m an eighth grader applying for ninth grade (2018-2019) at Phillips Academy, Phillips Exeter Academy, Deerfield Academy, The Hotchkiss School and The Lawrenceville School.
I have no idea where I stand so it would be great if you pitched in advice.
Thanks in advance.

Here are my “stats” =

SSAT:
99% overall - 2328
99% Q, 99% R, 94% V

“Hooks”:
Music recruit?
(honestly I have no hook)

Grades:
School has no GPA or ranking
Self calculated GPAs (unweighted) - out of 5
6th grade = 4.51
7th grade = 4.40
8th grade = 4.55
Self-estimated ranking - probably top 5 / 160 of class

Classes:
Algebra I (technically highest level as stated in the course book)
Thai Native (highest level)
French Intermediate (2nd year french)
Concert Orchestra (highest level)
English, Social Studies, Science, P.E., Wellness have only one level
I was granted a triple-course load - I have to take extra classes after school

ECs:

  • Honorable mentions, finalist in national piano competitions x 4
  • Selected for an asian honour orchestra as a violist - has a 25% acceptance rate x 2
  • Was concertmaster in school orchestra last year as a violinist
  • Founded my own club that teaches music to less privileged students at local schools
  • President of a shark-protection club
  • Co-President of a club that helps schools devastated by the 2004 tsunami
  • World Scholar’s Cup - 10th overall nationally, 21 medals in total
  • Class rep for end-of year speech, math olympiad member
  • On the school’s badminton team

Interviews:
Did them during the summer, went pretty well (interviewers seemed genuinely interested in me, also gave me contacts for the orchestra directors)

Recommendations:
Math - pretty good, really positive during conferences
English - pretty good, I am co-president for the club he runs
Counselor(s) - ok, I am members in the clubs they run, work with them independently too
Other Academic - Science - really good, claimed that he “would be sad to see me go to prep school, but have the potential to succeed there”
Special Interest - really good, he is my ex-orchestra teacher - I was the “teacher’s pet”
Personal - French - likes me a lot

Application:

  • Have submitted Candidate Profile & Fee
  • Starting on essays
  • Most recommendations are in

Note: I am not a FA applicant, I am applying for full-pay.

Thanks for reading this far~
I’ll update if I forgot to mention anything

2

Also, I just got my character skills snapshot back.
Mine is at demonstrating for everything except Intellectual Curiosity which is at developing.
Should I submit this?

3

I forgot to mention I’m an international applicant from Thailand

4

ooh i’ve got almost exactly the same ssat score as you, with the exact same percentiles!! except raw score is different lmao + eyy i did wsc too!! burch leaving broke my heart though

5

@altablue I PMed you

6

You seem to have a very good chance, especially being an international student and all. Can I just ask why you didn’t apply to Choate (just out of curiosity)?

7

Sometimes being an ORM can hurt instead of help @wildebore there are typically lots of Asian applicants which is considered an over repented minority. This can actually hurt chands of admission because the school can only accept so many kids from one place. I’m not sure how many kids from Thailand apply to each of the schools/which ones consider being Thai an ORM but just keep in mind that it could impact your chances. Good luck!

8

In fact, being an international applicant is already a disadvantage. Thee boarding schools were made to educate American students, not international ones. If the OP had come from China or Korea, there’s an even larger disadvantage.

9

@wildebore I didn’t apply to Choate because one of my classmates has legacy there and Choate only accepts 1 Thai kid per year

10

@cababe97 @babymalcolm Thais are technically not as over-represented as China and Korea as we send only 20-something students each year max. Top BS usually accept 1-3 kids from Thailand per year.

11

I agree that China and SKs application numbers would completely dwarf Thailand’s application numbers, but being an international applicant already gives you a disadvantage. I believe that you will be competing against your fellow country men and women. For A/E, your chances would probably sit around 10%, because honestly, piano and violin are the most generic instruments, and there will be national champions and even international winners applying to these schools. Also, you only have academic EC’s, good thing you don’t need FA, otherwise your chances would plummet.

Anyways, good luck :slight_smile:

12

@babymalcolm Thanks for the advice. Just wondering, what do you think my chances would be for the other schools I’m applying to besides A/E?

13

In my experience (limited), Hotchkiss takes a lot of legacies. Don’t know much about L’vlle. Good Luck!

14

@preppedparent Thanks for the input! What do you think my chances are for Hotchkiss and L’ville?

15

No they don’t. The plural of anecdote is not data. While many schools, including all the ones on your list, will impose a hard or soft cap on the number of international students, no school will reject a Thai applicant in favor of a less qualified Cambodian applicant simply because they have already admitted someone from Thailand.

That said, while full pay helps, being international still hurts. You seem as competitive as anyone else, so all you can do is put together the best package that you can. Nobody here will be able to quantify your chances any further.

16

@skieurope Thanks for the feedback!

17

Literally 90% of this forum does World Scholars Cup. Did you go to Globals? I would emphasize that more.

18

Your chances are slim–i.e a roll of the dice: you don’t appear to play any sports which is a huge negative. I would suggest a broader pool of schools like Tabor Academy, St Georges, and other mid-atlantic schools

19

@22louisl I attended Globals my first year but did poorly so I’m not sure whether to include it in my application or not.

20

@Center I am in my school’s badminton team (if that counts) and have expressed interest in joining the Crew program at the schools I’m applying to (besides Hotchkiss).