What are my chances to get into a prestigious high school like Exeter or Choate?

Sports/Hobbies and Activities:

  1. Swimming - Highly decorated Swimming Athlete. Starting from the year 2016 till 2021 where I moved to another country, I had made the Illinois State Championships as well as made the top 20 every year. During the 2017–2018 season, I earned a 3rd, 4th, 5th, two 7ths, 8th, and a 10th place medal at the state championships. I’ve put a lot of dedication and hard work into this sport and there will be a 100 percent chance that I will continue. I’ve also had one national qualifying time. There is still a lot more to add about my swimming career, however, I think I’ve said enough.

  2. Lego Robotics Team - Joined in my 6th-grade year. A team made out of 10 students. Nominated and Acted as the Engineering/Design Leader for my team. Made the State Championships. Couldn’t do robotics during Covid-19.

  3. Band/Instruments - Played the tenor saxophone for our Concert Band. Was first chair tenor. Also joined the Jazz Band and am currently in the Symphonic Band (more advanced) for my current school. I’ve played the Tenor for three years as well as other instruments such as the piano and clarinet.

  4. Art/Painting - Was part of an art studio in my local town for a few years. Nothing much to say about this one.

  5. Economics/Investing - Economics and Investing have always been fascinating to me. Luckily, my parents were able to introduce me to this sort of stuff. Luckily, I was able to make my own money to invest in companies that I thought would make a big difference in the future. This includes companies that specialize in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Climate change, and technology. Google, Tesla, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple are just to name a few.

  6. I’ve done some community service but this isn’t a topic that needs to be dived into very much.

School Grades and Tests

  1. Always been a student who has consistently gotten straight A’s. Never really waivered from getting good grades.

  2. In my school, there have been classes like reading and Math that were separated into different levels. In math, there were three levels. The last level was where you would learn math that was two grades above your own at a much faster pace. In reading/ELA, there were only two levels. The second level had students do writing a grade above their own and reading two grades above. I was part of both of these programs.

  3. Favorite Subjects were usually Math, Social Studies, and Science.

  4. As of right now, I have not taken the SSAT. However, my average score for the numerous practice tests that I have taken is usually around the 96–98%.

You seem like a strong candidate. Swimming will be a good boost to your application. A lot will come down to teacher recs and essays, so make sure you’re setting yourself up to do well at those.

Ask to meet with the swim coach as part of your interview process.

If there’s nothing much to say about something then don’t put it on your application.

I think because of your swimming you are a very strong candidate. The one area I would like to see more of is actual community service that you CAN say something about but I understand that covid halted a lot of those opportunities.

I would guess that with your stats, being FP (assuming that to be the case based on investing), and swimming, your odds are good. You should be sure you can swim year round if you are at this level. Not all schools offer this, so do your research.

I don’t think community service matters as much as some do – typically this requires a certain level of parental "sponsorship " that isn’t necessarily available to every student. What does matter is that you treat those you come in contact with with kindness, and hopefully your recs will indicate this.

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I would reach out to the swim coaches of each school via email, and send your best times in your best events. Times are more relevant than one’s placement.

There is a lot of info on this website re: schools that have competitive swim programs. You may want to take a look at Suffield and Loomis, in addition to Exeter, Choate et al.

https://www.nepssa.org/2020%20championships/2020_championships.html

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I agree in the abstract that community service is, or can be, like so many other things, a way for people of privilege to flex (paid volunteer trips anyone?)

That said, if your assumption that the OP’s interest in investing = FP, then I think a certain amount of community service would be at least somewhat expected.

So… Meaningful community service generally would involve spending time with someone who could benefit from it. Where I live, it is hard for young people do volunteer time in places where it would be most needed without being accompanied by an adult. And even then, there are age limits. This can make service very tricky unless there is a parent who doesn’t work or has,lots of flexibility and can fit this in with other driving obligations the child (and siblings) has. I think most admissions folks recognized that “volunteering” the resources of a parent for a charity for what it is.

Don’t get me wrong - I think an AO will be happy to see volunteer efforts on an app but I don’t think that an app without them is necessarily lacking for a 14 year old. That was what I was responding to.

There are scads of remote/virtual volunteer opportunities, now more than ever. A great resource for finding opportunities is volunteermatch.org, and one of the filter options is Virtual Only.

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Choate and many other prep schools haven’t had a school pep band to play at football games and other athletic events in decades.

An applicant that can offer a realistic plan (ie essay) to initiate and get students together in a school band would be viewed highly favorably in my opinion.

I’m sure more than a few alums would donate to a start-up band.

I’d say you check all the boxes for all top boarding schools. If you are certain you want to continue with swimming, you should consider Lawrenceville for its strong academics and swim program. It is similar size to Choate, but has an arguably better location, if shopping/proximity to a metropolis is important to you.

And yes, definitely reach out to swim coaches with your records. Good luck!

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