<p>That title was slightly sarcastic but in the state of me being the weird person I am, I actually like filling out forms about myself and writing essays on "Who am I?".</p>
<p>This is a nice, refreshing post on CC after a great summer. (It's almost coming to an end sob.)</p>
<p>I went to CTY (Center for Talented Youth) which is an AMAZING camp made by Johns Hopkins University. I'm pretty sure some of you have attended CTY. I really LOVED it and made so many new friends that I connected with!</p>
<p>So this school year I will be applying for the 4 boarding schools I have finally decided on applying to. </p>
<p>St. Paul's, Hotchkiss, Phillips Academy Andover, Lawrenceville, and The Hill School (for Day because I live sort of nearby.) </p>
<p>In three weeks I'll be going on a tour and having my interview at Phillips Andover. I'm quite excited but nervous at the same time. I will posting a more detailed post on that separately.</p>
<p>But applications are soon going to be a VERY big part of my life. I would like to know if anyone has any good tips for the upcoming school year ahead of me. So please if you do have any advice for someone like me please do provide! I really appreciate all of it. :)</p>
<p>Are you an 8th grader</p>
<p>Don’t wait until last minuet to do the applications. Be yourself in the questions. Don’t answer what they want to hear but what is true.</p>
<p>Don’t freak out if you don’t do as well as you hoped on the SSAT!! And you might want to look at one or two less-selective schools as well.</p>
<p>Have a goal for when you want to finish each application. My suggestion is to be done with the app by jan 1 and spend the next two weeks doing slight editing.</p>
<p>PLEASE ORGANIZE YOUR TIME, PLEASE, PLEASE.</p>
<p>I suffered so much due to lack of organization among Exams, Classes, Ec’s, Tests for BS, Essays, Rec’s (Chasing my teachers), and the Deadlines.</p>
<p>Dont wait until the last moment to start your applications, review your essays (I asked some teachers to read them)</p>
<p>Enjoy your visit at Andover, Oh I would follow sfl2017’s advice and add 1 or 2 less selective schools.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>I would add less selective schools but if I do not get accepted into any of those boarding schools, I will simply go to a very good private school that is nearby where I live.</p>
<p>And don’t underestimate how much “chasing after” your recommendations you might have to do!</p>
<p>I do hope that I maintain a good relationship with my future math and english teacher for that will obviously make quite a big impact on the recommendations. </p>
<p>A question on the recommendations,
am I supposed to ask my teachers to make an account on gatewaytoprepschools.com ? I worry that if my english teacher is one of those lazier teachers, (trust me, I’ve had them before) they will not feel like registering.</p>
<p>No you don’t have to do that. In gateway you should be able to send them links to fill out recs. I was worried that one of my teachers wouldn’t do the online rec so I just printed out the papers and sent them via FedEx(with the requirement that whoever received the papers on the other end signed so that we knew they were received and who they were received by). So that’s another option if you’re worried about her filling out the recommendation.</p>
<p>@Rareparadox uhm, yes they do have to register, I took me more than 2 months to make my English teacher fill out my rec… Good luck</p>
<p>No they don’t…you have the option of printing them out and sending them by mail… Also, personal reccomendations can just be a letter, generally speaking. That’s what a majority of my teachers did for recs and it worked out quite well</p>
<p>Well I did everything online… that’s why I say they have to register, I gave them the paper recs and it didn’t work…or well, they didnt</p>
<p>Holderness seems like a “safety”</p>
<p>how do the teachers submit their rec online? are they able to type it on a PDF form?</p>
<p>@swimdude006 so the teachers dont have to answer directly to the questions given on the gateway website?</p>
<p>I think I would rather prefer them to do it on paper so I will find out if I can do that.
And I’m having my interview with Andover on Monday, I would like to know if you guys have any tips?
Like what are some of the questions you were asked? I would just like to be prepared so that I don’t end up stuttering and taking a long time to think about the questions.</p>
<p>I am working on my eye contact (because I’m really bad with it) and my posture (I’m a sloucher).</p>
<p>So nervous though!</p>
<ol>
<li>Don’t be nervous. Honestly, just act like you’re talking with someone you know. Plus they understand that this can be nerve wracking.</li>
<li>There’s no need to sound overly polished with your answers. They’ll be able to tell what’s genuine and what’s rehearsed.</li>
<li>Try to be to the point with your answers unless it’s something that you believe should be elaborated on. As I did my second and third interviews I realized that at my first interview(Andover) I dragged on. </li>
<li>Remember everyone’s in the same situation as you. Even those that project confidence in the waiting room have some sort of nervousness</li>
<li>Make sure you have questions</li>
<li>They ask how would your friends describe you. Normally I would say not to have answers ahead of time out of fear of sounding rehearsed, but I know this can be a hard one for some because it was for me. I didn’t want to sound arrogant, but didn’t want to sound overly modest either. So perhaps just think about why your friends like you.</li>
</ol>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>This helps very much!
Do you think stuttering could hurt me? Because I know that in my normal conversations I sometimes stutter but I don’t do it a lot but when I do, it is noticeable. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what questions I really have. I am quite interested in the variety of AP courses Andover has to offer. I guess I could ask about fencing and sports there like how I could be involved. But don’t really have any specific, direct questions which worries me.</p>
<p>Hm would the question “Does Andover allow one to take 2 language courses?” sound reasonable? I do not want to ask too obvious questions, making myself look like a fool.</p>
<p>On Confusedonhades #2. Yes I agree it is a bad idea to sound overly polished, but I would recommend having in mind what you want to talk about. I made a list of some of my strong points and passions and made sure to get them across during the interview. I guess the key is to get them across naturally, and good luck to you, hope you get into the school of your dreams :)</p>