@CavsFan2003 I don’t believe that aid will be problem at schools like Andover, Exeter, Choate, etc. but that is assuming you are accepted to those highly selective schools. Of course, it will be tougher to receive full aid from schools such as CA or Brooks. Overall, I think your chances are pretty strong. In terms of 2nd semester grades, it really depends on how low you are talking about. If there are 1 or 2 Bs or B+s, I believe it will lower your chances, but not by that much. However, if you have several C’s that is definitely something to worry about. In terms of class rank, don’t sweat it, as long as you are in the top 10% of your class (or even in the top 15- 20%) you should be fine, but again, this is coming from a person who’s school doesn’t rank so take my advice there with a grain of salt.
Another thing I want to caution you on is try to stay away from the popular assumption that supposedly low grades will balance out due to a high SSAT score. To quote the head of admissions from a school at a Ten Schools Admissions event, “some applicants believe that a high SSAT score will compensate for really low grades. It won’t. It just leads us to the assumption that you had the ability to do better in school, but didn’t put in the effort or you just worked really hard to succeed on a standardized test rather than do anything else.”
I also want to point out that while your EC’s are really interesting I believe your lack of a major sport will hurt you in the process. I’m not saying you need to be a recruited athlete, however many, if not all, of the schools on your list do not have a bowling team or a bowl alley. Furthermore, I think track is a great sport, however, I have been told by several of my friends at boarding school and several tour guides that it tends to become the sport everyone does when they don’t really have any other commitment that they like during that season (again I’m not saying everyone doing track is just doing it to fulfill the athletics/after school requirement, but many are). Ultimately, I would say that academically and extracurricular wise–you are set, however, the FA and lack of athletics will be a draw back. Overall, I think you will have options on M9.
*Note: at the level of Choate, Deerfield, Andover, Exeter, etc. there truly isn’t any “geodiversity” in regards to different US states due to the incredibly high volume of applications they receive. So, I don’t believe this would be a “hook” or even a boost for your app.
Anyways, GOOD LUCK! And make sure you post back on M9 with your results!