I’m back with stats n stuff now =D
Schools I’m applying for (Sadly, I can’t add/replace schools anymore, though I 100% will if I participate in the next application season):
- Phillips Academy Andover
- Phillips Exeter Academy
- Lawrenceville School
- Hotchkiss School
- Deerfield Academy
- Choate Rosemary Hall
Academics:
- Unsure of GPA, but mostly A’s with a few B’s sprinkled in (mostly in 6th grade)
- SSAT: 91% Grade 92% Grade+Gender (I submitted to all schools and will not be retaking. Also, which percentile do schools take into consideration? Grade or Grade + Gender?)
- I’m in all Honors Classes (Including LA, STEM (not official, it’s called Introduction to Engineering Design), Science (not official), and Math (Geometry I), I’ve been accepted into Honors Art but was unable to go due to taking Honors STEM)
- Math Olympians Club for 4.5-5 Years (Still enrolled)
- Stock Market Event for 3 Years (Enrolled after 2 years break, not for BS reasons but could look like it)
ECs & Job/Volunteering:
Piano for 9 years:
- 5 state awards
- 1(maybe 2 or 3?) national award
- ABRSM Level 5 (to be 8, but the test is in April :/) Pianist
- ABRSM Level 5 Music Theorist(?)
- Solo piano performance at a Chinese school CNY Concert
Cello for 4.5 years:
- Solo performance at School concert
- (Cello) First chair for 2 years in School Orchestra (I didn’t write this as it’s not official, should I add it?)
- Small Group/Chamber Ensemble Cellist, performance at local Church
- Currently in School String Quartet (But not in orchestra, it’s complicated)
- Solo Cello performance at a Chinese School CNY Concert
Art for 7 years:
- I have collected a resume with my best artworks in place of awards:
7 pencil/still life sketches, 1 pointillism artwork, 3 acrylic paintings, 1 colored pencil scene
Volunteering:
- Taught children art at an International School over the summer (12 weeks)
- Tutor for children in China, taught English (~60ish hours a year)
School Positions:
- Student Council Representative (1 year)
Sports:
Didn’t write any, won’t be writing any.
- Swimming: 5 (or 6?) years
- Tennis: 2 years
Both recreational, both on hold due to COVID
Other:
- I gave a TED(x?) Talk (but it’s not published yet and won’t be soon enough, so there’s no way I can prove that I gave a TED(-x) Talk :/)
General Info:
- Chinese-American (Pure Asian tho :P)
- Applying for 9th grade and currently in 8th grade
- She/Her (Cis Female)
- 13 years old
- Public Middle School
- New Jersey
- I need 80% to Full Aid
- No hooks
Essays: I’m currently editing. People I’ve talked to says they’re good, but I’m not sure. Interesting topics include:
-
Agar.io
-
Optimistic Nihilism
-
Minecraft
-
Renaissance Europe
-
Being whitewashed (It’s the typical immigrant essay, I wrote it in a poem. It’s not the best topic but I really didn’t know what else to write about)
-
They’re all cringe btw lol
Interviews:
- Exeter - 4/10 My first interview, I stumbled and was very shy, was also my top choice school at the time but the interviewer didn’t seem to like me
- Hotchkiss - 8-9/10(?) The interviewer said I aced the interview and did the best out of anyone he’s interviewed yet, but it was also early October and he might just be nice (like Hotchkiss people are)
- Andover - 7/10(?) The interviewer told me he would write an awesome recommendation for me but what threw me off was that he said “you’re very nice” but I wasn’t sure if he was genuine but it sounded off, or just trying to be nice (like Andover people are)
- Lville - 1/10 I barely got to talk, I answered the “why Lville” question in the wrong way because I didn’t realize it was the “why Lville” question until later on, so I tried to make it up by asking questions regarding the topics of why I wanted to go to Lville, probably didn’t work tho. I also barely got to talk because it just seemed like the interviewer trying to sell me Lville instead of me actually being interviewed. Also I mentioned architecture and the interviewer told me there wasn’t a course on architecture in Lville and told me I was better off starting a club (oof, I should have read their course selection better :/)
- Choate - 5/10 Went better than Exeter but nowhere near as good as Andover or Hotchkiss, I couldn’t get a good read on whether the interviewer liked me or not.
- Deerfield - 3/10 I was really stupid and didn’t schedule this, now it’s on the 15th of January. I blanked out on so many questions and basically just repeated everything for every question. The interviewer said I was nice but he didn’t seem like he really wanted me to come to Deerfield.
Please Chance Me =D thanks
Bruh you literally said you did bad in the interviews, but they’re amazing. Smh don’t doubt yourself. You’ll get in. Also, your artwork is awesome.
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I don’t think interviews sounded that bad. Can’t be 1 out of 10, or 4 out 10. But all schools you are applying to are very selective. Do you need FA?
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You are an amazing applicant. These are amazing schools. This will be a difficult year because of COVID. Nobody here can chance you unless they are faking it. I think you pull at least 1 but that is based upon my gut (often good) and not the facts. Schools, like these, will receive more applications than ever before. I hope you do great!
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@Lex6314 Yes, I am applying for FA (80%-Full aid). I do realize that I am applying to some of the most selective schools, but I really cannot add/change schools at this time and will work on a broader school list next application season. Thanks for the feedback on my interviews =)
@michaeluwill Thanks for the encouragement =)
@pearlescentrose You already know that I’m your fan and am pulling for you! You have a great profile that any school would be lucky to have.
My only concern:
I’m nervous when I see your essay topics. Did you use the essay topics to reveal more about you? They sound like academic analysis essay topics. Which is fine, as long as you found a really creative way to reveal yourself through these topics.
Cue my continued narrative on essays for admissions folks:
Goal of essays is not to impress, but to connect. It is very difficult to write an essay so good on an academic topic that people are like: omigosh we NEED this writer here on campus no matter what their personality is like! So just make sure they AO’s know about YOU more after reading each one of your essays. Find a way to stick in their heads and hearts with your human story. Yes, brilliantly-written essays on purely intellectual topics can stick in our brains, and even sometimes in our hearts. But it is much harder. And for better or for worse, it is unlikely that a 14-year-old’s writing is going to be compelling enough that they will shine just for the writing skills. Solid writing + a topic that is personal and draws the reader in and has a few heartfelt elements – that is a much more likely way to be remembered and desired.
Again, you may well have used the Renaissance to reveal the human side of yourself. And if so, then I think you are in great shape! But especially if your interviews were softer, I would make sure that you are using those essays as “extended interview time” where you get to control the entire narrative. Ao’s should really LIKE you a little more after every essay they ready. (If they learn something they didn’t know about the renaissance, well then that’s a bonus!).
Finally, I know you know this but worth repeating for future readers – if you don’t have options come M10, it’s primarily because of the school list you chose. (FWIW, we actually debated about adding a new school to my DD list today! I don’t think we will end up doing it, but it’s not because it’s “too late.”). Oh and your interview on 1/15 is I think a non-issue! DD2 had interviews in early January last year and got into plenty of schools. Don’t stress about that one tiny bit!
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Oh one small thing I just wanted to add.
It will sound nit-picky.
But I am guessing you meant you did a Ted-X talk, not a Ted talk. I realize a lot of people like to use the term interchangeably.
But the difference between the two is huge.
Not that a Ted-X talk isn’t a cool thing to share. It’s really cool that you did that!
But to put this into a metaphor: if you took some of the free classes online that Harvard offers through Edx, you wouldn’t put on your resume that you graduated from Harvard. Yes, really cool thing to take a bunch of Harvard classes, but still – not at all the same thing as being admitted and getting a degree from there. Ted talks are sponsored by TED and are presented at one of their (twice yearly I think?) conferences and are usually very well-known experts in their field. It is an incredibly prestigious honor usually reserved for well-established thought-leaders, authors, etc…
I’m sure that schools will assume you meant to say Ted-X talk (which is a franchise-model of conferences usually hallmarked by short speeches – so there are thousands of these events all over). But I think getting it right would be better if you can. It would avoid anyone thinking that you are trying to sound like you did an actual Ted Talk, or that you just aren’t aware that there is a big difference between a Ted talk and a Ted-X talk.
(And again – maybe you DID do an actual Ted Talk! In which case, we need to re-think your entire application.)
I’ll add finally in case you care about any background: The Ted-X talk and Ted talk mixup has been brought up in the business world as one of the worst branding mistakes made – TED deciding to franchise out their conference model to make money, but not changing the name enough to differentiate the two types of events (adding an X that lots of people just conveniently drop). The result has been diluted value of the TED name and the prestige of the actual TED Talks because now lots of people put on their resumes that they’ve given “Ted Talks.”
(Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.)
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@pearlescentrose no need to apologize at all! And I think you should definitely mention your speech! I think that is really unique and interesting! (I wouldn’t worry about “proving” it.)
Also unrelated but maybe not great idea to have so much detail about your essays here in a public forum. Maybe delete or edit that out?
I will be cheering you on M10!
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Bump, added Deerfield interview results =)
I think you have an great chance based on your qualifications, however it might be hard to say especially since you are Chinese-American and that is a overrepresented majority. I’m so impressed that you gate a ted talk
essay topics are especially very interesting
I honestly thought giving TED (-x?) Talks was common (and, therefore, didn’t write it in my essays, flippy.) And also, yeah, we got that Asian American ORM swag life 
xD
@pearlescentrose is there any way you can include the Ted-X talk info somehow organically in an update to your AO’s? I really do think this is a cool thing for a young teenager to have done! DM me if you want me to help you brainstorm how to work that into an organic update.
I’m not really sure what you mean, if you can explain it that would be great! =D
I added it in my “additional info” section where you could put achievements after submitting the candidate profile!
@pearlescentrose
Oh I misunderstood that you had NOT included it!
OK great! YES I’m so happy you did! Admissions absolutely needed to know about this.
go YOU!