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<p>Applying to six schools with sub-25% admission rate does not improve one’s chances significantly. The chances of admission are not additive. The schools do not admit by lottery. They are also so selective that being waitlisted or rejected by one school does not mean that the next school will WL or R for the same reason. There are a finite number of spots.</p>
<p>St. Paul’s, for example, has a 16% admission rate. For context, on the college side, one poster pointed out to another that any college which admits 50% of its applicants is looking for reasons not to accept a candidate. </p>
<p>The OP is not the only applicant in this position. Again, on the college side, you can hop over there right now and read threads about students who applied to the Ivies and (maybe) a state school they never took seriously. They didn’t get into the Ivies, and the kids who were not as highly ranked might have enviable acceptances in hand, because they created better college lists.</p>
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<p>Many of the full-pay applicants hail from private K-8 schools. Their curricula do not aim to prep kids for the SSAT, but they do prepare them for the standard private high school curriculum. So, on the full pay side, the applicants are quite likely to be prepared to function in an appropriate school. They also have recommendations written by teachers who send generations of students to particular schools. If the teachers say Student X can handle the work, he can handle the work. I think the six schools he applied to could probably fill their schools with very able, full pay students. It is to their credit that they don’t.</p>
<p>As to the superstar issue… Last year we attended an open house day at Andover. I remember the Director of Admission made the point that the school was not looking for the sort of kid who was arrogant about his intelligence (my paraphrase of my memory of her statement.) The message was NOT, “send us your geniuses.” Thus, I think it’s particularly important for the kids at the top of the curve to demonstrate that they are part of their school community.</p>
<p>Taking college-level math and science courses in middle school is very impressive. The admissions committee might wonder how such an advanced student would fit into their current course offerings. </p>
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<p>I can’t speculate, because I don’t know him. I think every candidate should be able to show involvement in his current school community.</p>