I am a 8th grader who is applying to 9th grade.I have all A’s or A+'s except for 6th and 8th grad math both having a overall grade of B+.I am in science olympiad where we won the regionals competition and are going to states.I am also a cornerback and safety in football which I have been playing for 3 years.I am also a defense player in lacrosse where we won the state title last year.I am applying for financial aid only for philips exeter.I submitted my applications by the due date besides my application to philips exeter which I submitted on feb 8th.I have around 6 hours of volunteer work for my comunity.I have also attended both peddies and lawrencevilles summer programs for 2 year each.I also got a 2196/2400 on the ssat(87th overall percentile).
Idk because the SSAT score is relatively low for these schools and the B+ also is worse for these schools. Normally, the baseline is straight As and 93+ percentile for it not to hurt you. However the sports will help. Volunteer hours and science Olympiad is relatively average for applicants to this school, it doesn’t help that much . What are your other extracurriculars?
Please take ^^ comment with a grain of salt as it’s almost certainly written by another teenager.
Your ssat scores are solid, even for those schools. A B in 6th grade has never kept any kid out of a BS.
Have you spoken to coaches at all the schools? I’d say you have a solid chance of being admitted somewhere.
I agree with this, generally an 85 or above is considered good. however your breakdowns in each section is more valuable.
Btw I have spoken to the lacrosse coach at lawrenceville and peddie.I also do flag football (rec league) and a speaking club for the past 6 years.
I have spoken with the coaches at lawrenceville and peddie.
I don’t know in what realm a SSAT an 87th percentile is considered “low”.
Unless I’m very much mistaken the deadline for Exeter has passed, so I would say your chances at Exeter would be quite low. Based on your stats, ECs, etc…, there doesn’t seem anything here that would jump you in front of the many similar candidates who submitted their materials on time. Your SSATs, while good, are nothing special for Exeter. No clue about peddie or lville.
The Lawrenceville lacrosse coach has a lot of pull; if you can get him to advocate for you, that can help your application a lot. Good luck!
Bluntly, this is 100% incorrect with regards to the ssat score.
I think you will be going to BS next year. Your stats are fine, and being a 2 sport athlete, particularly if you are a good one, should seal the deal at at least one of them.
Have you spoken with L’ville Head Football Coach Napoleon Sykes?
Sykes has done a truly outstanding job in turning the Big Red Football program around. L’ville, like a lot of NEPSAC schools, is making a huge effort to recruit solid football players.
With your experience in the secondary, Sykes might be interested.
I haven’t yet but do you have his contact info
You can find it here: Directory - The Lawrenceville School
87% SSAT is probably good enough for Lawrenceville, based on a few students got there from last year. What are the feedbacks from the coaches at Lawrenceville? If they have told you that you will be a good fit to their team and they will work with admission, then you got it by 99+%.
On the other hand, 87% SSAT may be not enough for Phillips Exeter. Their average admitted students have 95% SSAT last year.
By the way, have you noticed Lawrenceville’s tuition is $15K more than Exeter? Do not understand why you applied FA for Exeter but not for Lawrenceville?
And not sure how you contacted with the coach? Sending video highlights and game footage would be very helpful than just talking. Hope you’ve done that.
Please stop with the ssat score “might not be enough because the average…”
Averages mean that there are kids with scores below the average. Unless you have spoken to an AO about ssat scores please be aware that you are wrong about needing a certain score to get in. Those of us with kids in boarding school currently have spoken to AOs and have been told point blank that it’s the LEAST important part of the application. Some schools read the application without the score first and make preliminary piles. Then compare the scores to make sure kids can hack it. Any school will tell you an 87% ssat can make it at their school.
Please remember that when schools went test optional only kids with outstanding scores submitted scores. This skews the average. In a big way. Schools know this.
And again there are people on this board who got into top schools with much much lower percentiles.
I’m going to assume it’s because Exeter is need-blind and doesn’t take a request for financial aid into account when making decisions. Likely the family can swing the cost (or could do so with help from extended family, etc), but felt like it wouldn’t hurt to ask for FA at Exeter, whereas it might have at Lawrenceville.