Hi! I was just wondering if anyone can give me some feedback on my chances of getting into Andover, Deerfield, Lawrenceville, Choate and Groton.
My stats are as follows:
SSAT: Average 98; Math 99; Reading 92; Verbal 96
Grades: 4.0 GPA (Straight As)
Essays: I think they’re pretty decent and I put a lot of time and effort into them 
Recommendations: Counselor - Excellent; English - Decent? - Math - Pretty Good; Spanish (Deerfield Only) - Pretty Great;
Personal - Excellent
Extracurriculars: Piano - 7 years of experience, 10 hours per week, top/highest level player in studio
Dance (ballet and character) - 8 years of experience, 12 hours per week, Pre-Vocational, senior competition
team, pointe, 3 years consecutive distinction in RAD exams
Fencing - 2 years, 10 hours per week, intermediate level (I can’t really continue this since most schools
don’t offer it, but I expressed great eagerness to try out new sports)
Interviews: Andover - The interview was probably my best out of all! I think the interviewer absolutely loved me and he said
my story was remarkable and I was “the highlight of his week”
Deerfield - I’ve met my interviewer twice at TSAO conferences and she remembers me and she even introduced
me to the dance mistress and walked me over to the dance building and the dance mistress was
extremely welcoming! We had a 30 minute conversation and I even got to observe her two hour long
class! I sent in my dance videos, of course
Lawrenceville - I have also met my interviewer twice at TSAO and he also remembers me and my name and he
didn’t write anything down during my interview (which is either really good or really bad) and in
fact he remembers what I was wearing at one of the TSAO conferences which is pretty cool! I also
attended Lawrenceville Summer Scholars so that should help.
Choate - The interview went pretty well overall, nothing extremely outstanding but still pretty decent
Groton - My interviewer and I have mailed cards to each other for the holidays and emails right after the
interviews She also told my dad that I’m exactly the type of student they’re looking for so that’s a good
sign!
Additional Info: I also attend Stanford Online High School (two courses) in addition to full time public school and that made a big impression on the interviewers! I’m also the Managing Editor for my school newspaper which should show leadership and dedication.
I’m so sorry the formatting is so weird with random indentations everywhere please ignore those 
Thank you so much for reading though!
Do you need financial aid?
I am assuming you are already in high school since you are taking classes with Stanford Online High school. The grade you are in will greatly affect your chances of admission. In particular if you are applying for 11th or 12th grade. I do want to add, however, that reading too much into the interviews is not smart in the long run as you will end up finding that as with almost all other applicants you will leave the interview feeling wanted at that school.
@Technut123 My Lawrenceville interviewer also didn’t right anything down…Maybe that is just normal at Lawrenceville?
@CC4life Oh I’m in 8th grade, Stanford Online High School ranges from 7th to 12th grade, but most of the students at OHS are 9th to 12th grade.
@CC4life Hmm, I asked other friends who had interviews at Lawrenceville and they said their interviewers wrote things down…
@CaliMex Yes, I will need FA.
Needing FA makes admissions harder, but I have a feeling you might get into Deerfield and Lawrenceville. Best of luck and please do keep us posted!
@CaliMex Thanks for the feedback! So are Andover, Choate, and Groton not that reachable? Just wondering And yes, I’ll definitely keep you guys posted!
@Technut123 Ultimately, looking at acceptance rates alone Deerfield, Choate, Lawrenceville tend to be close to each other (not factoring in the difference in legacies, siblings, athletic recruits, etc.) however, Groton is usually harder to get into as they already have an 8th grade on top of the fact that they are one of the smallest “top tier schools”. Ultimately, it is a heavily reliant on luck and fit and I would urge you not to be surprised if you are accepted to a more selective school and waitlisted or even rejected from some schools with higher acceptance rates.
You may well get in elsewhere, but Deerfield is strong in dance and Lawrenceville has fencing, so those schools have reason to believe you are not just applying to them because they are better known.
I always wonder when I see Groton and Andover on the same list. They are SO different.
@CC4life That’s very helpful information! Thanks!
@CaliMex Yes, I definitely see where you’re coming from. About Groton and Andover being on the same list, I applied to nine schools, but just picked out five of them since it didn’t fit in the title HAHA but they are very often on the same list.
Did any of the AOs ask where else you were applying?
I agree that Groton and Andover are very different but I suppose there are kids who can fit into a lot of different environments. Their similarities are prestige, small acceptance %, is that it? Differences are overwhelming. The pup is the kind of kid who will be fine anywhere but she definitely had a preference when we visited those two schools. She chose to only apply to the one she liked more but I suppose if I was more pushy about casting a wide net she may have applied to more schools and included both. Not sure. Maybe some kids, at the tender age of 13/14, don’t really have any idea of what they like?
At 13/14 and with no expertise, they don’t know the trade offs between a big school and a small school. They don’t know how rankings work and how the criteria might not be relevant. They might put more of an emphasis on “brands” they’ve heard of from peers and might not know that people who actually work in boarding schools consider other schools to be superior.
I don’t want to name names, but when we visited one hidden gem boarding school, one of the kids touring that day was the child of a boarding school head of school. The kid was explicitly told they could go to the school where their parent was the head, or they could attend the school they were touring. The kid was not offered any other choices because of the parent’s insider knowledge and preference for this school. That speaks volumes, even though the school is not in the top 12 in any magazine ranking compiled by non-educators.
@CaliMex Yes, some did.
They may have been trying to discern whether you were looking for a specific type of culture, program, or environment or whether you just automatically applied to schools near the top of some published list. (To help predict the likelihood of your choosing their school if admitted… for yield purposes…)
@CaliMex Oh no, I just replied honestly, did I just put myself at risk?