I am a black male whose parents are from Africa. I have an top notch marks and an excellent middle school GPA. I excel in my sports (cross country/track) and have played the clarinet for 4 years. I have scored 95%+ on the SSAT and am improving day by day. I belong to leadership programs and plan on volunteering at my church. I am teaching myself Javascript, HTML and CSS. I am applying later this year for my sophomore year. Please be brutally honest and give me necessary feedback.
I am not an expert on Exeter/Andover by any means, but I would say that if you were applying for freshman year, your chances would be excellent. Applying for sophomore year? Hard to say.
A somewhat popular tactic is to apply as a repeat freshman instead of for sophomore year.
Another factor in your application will be your requirement for financial aid. Good luck!
Oh. my. gosh.
I cannot express how happy I am to find someone else who has parents from Africa! It’s not exactly that common in South Carolina! My parents are from Nigeria :))
Anyways, I am by no means an expert on boarding school admissions, but looking at your stats, I feel like you are a high qualified individual regardless. However, as with all admissions situations, AOs are looking for curiosity with legs.
You mentioned you are teaching yourself HTML, Javascript, and CSS. You need to show you can do something with that interest, and take it places. Boarding schools are looking for people who take action. That might mean coding a project and posting it on a site like Product Hunt. Or starting an online business. Just think about doing something that shows your intellectual vitality.
Also, if you are anything like me, your African culture has had a huge impact on your life. This is a great potential essay topic to write about.
You seem like a rather well rounded student, but unfortunately, that is not enough. AOs are looking to build a well rounded class. Identify your interests, and accentuate it throughout your application. Build a narrative.
One last piece of advice: Please please PLEASE make sure to check out safety schools if you have your heart set on going to boarding school. Exeter and Andover are competitive schools to get into no matter how qualified you are.
I’m applying to both schools as well as others as well for my freshman year. If you would like, I can DM you so we can chat about this further!
Good Luck!