Hi everyone! I’m in 10th grade applying for 11th grade at Andover.
Extracurriculars:
NJHS 8th grade
Math National Honors Society (1 year)
Student Council (2 years)
Volunteering (at the library and a local middle school, typically at least 4 hours per week)
Violin (not anymore, but 5 years of experience)
Piano (3/4 years, no exceptional awards)
Art (2 years, no competition experience but I can put together a semi-decent portfolio)
Competitive swimming (8-10 years; 2nd at Texas state 2 years ago, qualified for nationals but couldn’t go, previous multiple time provincial champ in Canada)
Singing (just lessons though, not sure if this even counts)
Standard Tests:
Took the SAT instead of the SSAT; scores aren’t out yet but I have consistently gotten over 1500 for practice tests
Never been under 99th percentile for a standardized test (PSAT, STAAR, ITBS, etc.)
Other:
Fluent in Chinese+English, in Spanish 3
Taking AP Computer Science, AP World History, and AP English 3 (skipped a grade of English)
Doubled up in geometry and algebra 2 last year
2 years ahead in school (3 years ahead in English+math)
International background (Norway+Canada)
GPA is 4.0 (100.3 on my school’s 100 point scale)
Aside from AP classes, the others are all Honors level
Straight A/A+ every year
Things hindering my chances: My primary extracurricular is swimming but I’ve had various knee/shoulder injuries for the last year-ish and in addition to missing a ton of practice, I may not even be able to swim next year, so I likely wouldn’t be able to try out for the Andover team. Also, I’m an Asian female and go to a public school. And, during the interview, I don’t think I did absolutely terribly but I also wasn’t really interesting/outstanding either.
I would really appreciate it if you chanced me! Thanks.
You have great grades, scores & ECs. But as I’m sure you know, Andover or any other top school could fill their class with kids with similar stats. Are you applying to other schools as well? If you have your heart set on boarding school, I would broaden your list, especially if you will need FA (do you?). You are a very strong candidate, but you are limiting your chances if you only apply to one school.
Some things to think about as you get started on your essays:
Why Andover? What is it about you (specifically) that is a great fit for Andover (also specifically)? They will want to know what you can bring to their community, and what sets you apart from others.
You are an ORM without a hook, or legacy. Broaden your list of schools and hope for the best. See if you can get your swim coach to call Andover’s swim coach and see what they need, and whether you can be that someone.
I’m not too set on boarding school, so I’m just applying to Andover (I’m more interested in Andover than boarding school, if that makes sense), and I’ll be needing FA. Thanks for the advice! Got to get on those essays…
Got it. It’s very tough to get into Andover if you’re not a legacy, recruited athlete, minority, fits a need for geodiversity (are you from North Dakota), or fulfills some other need Andover has at present, like a bassoonist, but only if they need it this year. My daughter who had all A’s, 99% SSAT, great EC’s recs etc, fabulous violinist, and state star in track and field didn’t get into Andover. When her coach called Andover their track coach said, “we have 3 sprinters already, what else you got?” You will only get in if they need you for some reason. Try a few of the top BS, like DA, Exeter and Choate. If you get in somewhere, at least you kept all your options open. Good Luck. Andover is not the be all end all as we found out.
OK, but there are so many great boarding schools in MA, as you probably already know (Groton, Milton, Middlesex, Deerfield etc.). Obviously it’s up to you, but if you’re already going through the process you might want to consider adding a couple more schools to your list. Who knows how you’ll be feeling by the time March/April rolls around? You might want to give yourself some options. Good luck!
I think you can put singing into your portfolio if you want to, since it’s an outside-of-school activity. I’m going to be putting my piano lessons into my application so I think you’ll be able to do that too except with singing.
Side note- I emailed the swim coach about a month ago and he didn’t reply, is that a red flag? Also, I read elsewhere about repeating 10th grade (more spots than 11th). As I’m two years ahead, I wouldn’t mind repeating a year- should I be considering that?
I think that repeating a year could be a good idea - it would give you more of a chance to get involved in the community and there will be more open spots. How old are you?
