What are my chances of getting into Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, or Lawrence Academy?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Hey! My name is Anna, and I’m applying to the schools named above. I would like to know whether I have chances of getting into one of the schools. Please let me know.

Academic:
Currently I am in 9th grade and applying for 10th.
GPA: 4.21
AP music theory
Honors biology (and other classes, of course)
Straight A student

SSAT score: 84% ?

Extracurricular: French, piano, swimming, theater, Junior Chamber Music, board member of Junior Chamber Music Student Service Alliance, director and columnist for school newspaper.

Awards: 1st place at Southern Youth Music Festival, 2nd place at Los Angeles International Piano Competition, 1st place at Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Piano Competition, 2nd place at San Jose International Piano Competition, 2nd place at Kristen Taczevsky International Piano Competition, 1st place at Great Composers International Piano Competition, (two time winner), 2nd place at All Girls Math Tournament. I Appeared at the TEDx conference in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and have performed with orchestra numerous times.

Languages spoken fluently: Czech and French

Community service: As of the academic year of 2019, I have done 15 hours of volunteering.

Application Essays: I have gotten very good feed back about my essays and I myself believe that they are very unique and interesting.

Recommendation letters: All of my teachers see me as a good and dedicated student so I see no reason why they wouldn’t write me good letters of recommendation.

Interviews: Here is the issue. Naturally, I am not an avid talker, so when I was asked a question, I stayed within the boundaries of the question and didn’t really express myself completely. I didn’t stutter nor was nervous, and I talked with wit, sometimes even making the interviewer laugh at joke that I made, but I kept things very formal and didn’t get too personal. My interview with Exeter went 30 minutes over time, as we started talking about the dangers of iPhones on our younger generation, but with Deerfield, we ended 3 minutes ahead of time. The interviewer for Lawrence Academy really liked me and was very enthusiastic about me attending their school. My interview for Andover didn’t take place yet.

I would truly appreciate your response! Thanks! Anna

2

I think you have a good chance. Plenty of kids are nervous in interviews and not chatty. As long as you didn’t give one word answers and were able to look people in the eye and shake hands without being a wet noodle that part is probably fine.

International students have a harder time - I am assuming you are international?

Are those the only schools you are applying to? Lawrence Academy sticks out like a sore thumb - is it your “safety school” or do you love it?

3

Not everyone is an extroverted chatty type. In fact I think if you were a little introverted but managed to be a bit funny, that would be a really good thing because it’s an interesting combination! They don’t want all type A extroverts cracking big broad jokes. I LOVE a quiet type with wit. ?? (even if I’m totally not that myself).

4

No, I am not an international student. Lawrence Academy is my safe school actually, the schools that I really like however are Deerfield and Andover.

5

Also, I am concerned about my SSAT scores… Do you think that that is an issue in my portfolio?

6

no, probably not

7

You sound like a strong applicant. IMHO most AO’s look at the big picture and holistically at each applicant. Best wishes and please let us know what you decide in a few months!