<p>We all agree every school (just like every college) is choosing students to meet their school community’s needs for the year so they can form a balanced class, but the kid applied to a good number of schools. We don’t know if he is particularly <em>lacking of</em> leadership, but we do know he has extracurricular activities and is well rounded in his own way. His strength or “selling point” is his exceptional academic achievement though. Let’s face it. Prep schools, admissions tough as is, has a much limited applicant pool and are not as nearly competitive, compared with the most selective colleges. A kid like OP should have a spot in at least <em>one</em> of those schools best known for their academic rigor, just as if not more so than a star athelete who has mediocure academic ability. Facing such outcome, I would suspect there might be some “red flag” in pieces of his applications, or considerations beyond qualifications such as the consideration for “yield” might’ve played a role in those decisions.</p>