Hello! I trying to figure out my chances to get into a school like Andover. My ISEE scores are 99th percentile in Verbal Reasoning, 99th percentile in Reading Comprehension, 94th percentile in Quantitive Reasoning, and 98th percentile in Mathematics Achievement. I have been doing worse this year with grades and have mostly Bs, while last year I had mostly As. I am doing 10th grade math and 9th grade ELA. A major concern I have is that I haven’t really done anything major in extracurriculars. I would appreciate any help I have with this. Thank you!
Yes, I agree with your assessment that the ECs are missing. Better feedback will come with an expanded bio. Awards? No clubs at all? What about at home/in the community? Sports, volunteering, music, etc?
The drop in grades is a potential red flag, as these schools are even more academically rigorous than where you are right now. Make sure to communicate the causes of the change in your academic performance in your applications. You have to convince admissions that you would thrive at their school, and your current performance is a blip.
If you have been going through more than the standard 2020 craziness, do not be stoic and silent about this in your application. Rather, be forthright (but not melodramatic) about your challenges. In order to be understanding, people have to understand.
Make the most of the ECs you have, and cast a wider net.
There are many schools that would love to have a bright, independent, intellectually engaged student like you, even without a daunting list of extracurriculars.
Some things to think about:
why are you applying?
what works best for you in class?
what kind of people do you want to be around?
If you are going to board, then the boarding atmosphere is very important to assess. How strict are you comfortable with? How casual?
If you’re open to participating in sports, you have some options. If you hate sports and loath gym, you might want to do some more research.
P.S. Make sure any email/username you use in applying doesn’t have worrisome connotations. “arson” is a red flag.
Due to COVID most of the kids are not having extracurriculars. ITs fine include your precious years extracurriculars and achievements. Explain the reasons for grades. lower. You have excellent SSAT score.
Extracurriculars might not be what you think. Take a step back and think about what you do in your free time. What interests you? How would you spend your perfect day?
Here is an example: I really love broadway musicals (Heathers, Hamilton, Mean Girls, you name it!). Now, interest is nothing on its own, but chances are when you are genuinely interested in something, you’ve done something with it. For me, I have become quite well known in a community that breaks down these musicals to talk about the development of the characters and the techniques that make specific musicals so great. Also, I’m actually working on composing my own musical complete with songs and a script, and while it is just a side project right now, I hope to submit it to a couple of contests and maybe even see it on stage one day.
Suddenly, I’m not just a kid who is interested in musicals anymore. THAT is an extracurricular that takes things to the next level. THAT is an extracurricular that gets you into GLADCHEMMS. Look at your interests in a different way, and change the way you think about “extracurriculars”.