What chances do I have at getting into these boarding schools?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

<p>I am a current 8th grader at an all girls private elementary school in san francisco. I have visited about 11 boarding schools to date...</p>

<p>I scored in the 90th percentile for the practice SSAT, and am confident I will do well on the real thing. My grades last year were:</p>

<p>Semester one
A English
A Science
A Social Studies
B+ Math
B+ Spanish</p>

<p>Semester two
A- English
A Math
A science
B+ spanish
B+ social studies</p>

<p>I can get all A's for this coming semester!!!
for extra curricular's i have played soccer since kidnergarten, i am doing my second year of volleyball, and i am taking up tennis this year as i played it over the summer at camp and loved it! i did student gov't (class president) in 6th grade, i was the assistant editor in chief of yearbook in 7th grade, i am currently the co-editor in chief, i do my schools math counts club, i am in my second year of speech & debate, (we debate high topics like the legalization of marijuana, and the elimination of private and public education,) i have done three school plays/musicals to date, and did one year of chorus. (cannot do it this year due to commitments.) i come from an affluent family, so i will not be needing to ask for financial aid etc., also if this is just extra info: my dad is cuban (well he was born in the USA 3 months after my grandparents escaped) and my mom immigrated from ireland. so that's a pretty diverse mix in me...</p>

<p>I am considering applying to:
Choate-I attended a two week writing program there over the summer and LOVED it!!!!!
Tabor-Did a three week summer camp there...LOVED IT TOO!
Hotchkiss-I have two cousins who go there
St. Paul's-Liked it a lot, but had a problem with the almost excessive freedom...(also one girl in my grade is also applying, and her dad went there, so she might have a leg up of getting in...I didn't know if they would want to take two girls from the same school)
Northfield Mt. Hermon-Reccomended to me by my school HS counseulor
Groton-I have a family friend on the board who will write me an excellent reccomendation letter, but I am worried that the limited spots might make it harder to be accepted.
Deerfield-(the girl mentioned above, and another in my grade whose sister currently goes there, so again i assume the school would not be eager to accept THREE girls from the same school...) but I loved it from what I could take from my visit/the website etc.,
Taft-I have yet to visit this school, but my new high school counseulor (not the old one who reccomended NMH,) went here and said I was the type of student who would be perfect there.
Blair-I loved it from the website, brochure, and talking to a rep...I am visiting in October.
Lawrence-My Dad liked it for me, but I felt so-so about it...liked it well enough though.</p>

<p>Based on what I've told you, what chances do I have at getting into these schools? And do you have any ideas which ones would be best fits? I do NOT want to go to an uptight, snobby school...when I visited Hotchkiss I got that air... diversity is important to me.
I do well in interviews, and I am a talented writer. I am outgoing, positive, caring towards others, and I have a great sense of humor =) that last sentence was a bit conceited, but I'm trying to emphasize my best qualities...</p>

<p>I am very excited to go to Boarding school! It would a dream come true...</p>

<p>thank you for all your help!!!!!
:)</p>

2

<p>im not sure how great your chances are exactly, i do know that schools do like to take kids from the west coast, but you will always do better on practice exams, i had 90s on practice ssats, but i ended up with high 60’s, just a word of advice is all, other wise you sound like a good candidate, but nothing is for sure</p>

3

<p>Sound like a pretty decent candidate, don’t count on your mixed blood to be too much help unless your culture at home reflects those countries. You also have to be careful with this many school choices, if I were you I would pick one or two I really would focus on because schools don’t want to know that you want to go to boarding school, they want to know that you want to go to THEIR boarding school.</p>

4

<p>Hi!!
I go to an all girls school in San Francisco, California. (It’s considered one of the best in the country) I had mostly A’s and the occasional B+ in 7th grade, but this year i have all A’s. I am the co-editor in chief of the yearbook, and was the Assistant editor in chief in seventh grade. I have played soccer since kindergarten, and have played volleyball for 2 years. I have done plays and musicals at the school, and am in the math club. I also do debate, at a boys school and am the only girl on the team. (I talked about that in my interviews, and they found that very interesting.) I got a 94 on my ssats (Would you recommend re-taking it?) my school offers honors courses for language and math, but I am not in either. (Will that be a problem?) I also won a recent international essay contest and donated my winnings to two charities. I interviewed EXTREMELY well, and my teacher recs will be good. (At my school they dont really let them be bad, haha.)
For my essays I plan to write about things like my fun family traditions that I have with my cousins in Ireland. (One is getting a bouncy castle summer every year for my birthday even though I’m 14 now. I was going to talk about growing up too fast, and slowing down to “smell the roses.”) But I have meaningful topics for the rest. One also was about my Grandfather, who is extremely religious. (He goes to church three times a day.) I’m an atheist. Even after his son passed away, he still managed to keep faith. He taught me about understanding others points of views, not passing judgment, and appreciating why some people need God, and others appreciate the natural chaos. (Sorry that went on so long!)
Here is where I am applying:<br>
Hotchkiss, where my two cousins currently go.
Choate, where i did a summer program.
Deerfield. ( a lot of ppl from my school r applying there.)
Blair
Groton (A board member who I have known since I was two, and is the mother of my best friend is writing me a letter.)
Middlesex (this is not a definite)
St. Paul’s (this one not a definite either)
Taft
My family is also really wealthy, so I won’t need to apply for financial aid, plus I heard that being wealthy helps because they know your parents will give money.
Thank you all for your time!!! :)</p>

5

<p>I think you’re looking at a great bunch of schools. I would add back in one or two schools from your early list to guarantee that you’ll have choices come March. NMH, Tabor, Lawrence and Blair (the 65-70% SSAT, 35%+ admitted schools) should all be pretty comfortable matches (I hate the term “safety school” :slight_smile: ).</p>

6

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am trying to get into a boarding school. I have applied to Blair, Lawrenceville, Hotchkiss, Milton Academy, Peddie</p>

<p>My Grades are:</p>

<p>A Cinema Studies
A Life Skills
B+ Active Physics
B World History
A- Strings
B- Foundations of Art</p>

<p>My SSAT scores are in the 80-85 percentile. Do I have a chance of getting into any of these schools</p>

7

<p>Hey you guys, stop hijacking the OP’s chance thread… go make your own :P</p>

<p>Anyway, you certainly sound admissible. As long as your essays are good and your interviews go well, I think you have a reasonable chance of getting in.</p>