What are my chances of getting into Lawrenceville?

Stargirl222 · February 2019

Hello everyone,
I am a female from Kazakhstan and am applying for 10th grade to several schools, but my top choice is Lawrenceville.
I speak english and russian fluently, I’m pretty good at french and am also learning kazakh.

My school grades are:
English A-
Maths A
Physics A
Chemistry A+
Geography A+
Biology A
PE A
Kazakh B+
French A
I am doing maths 2 years ahead (currently doing calculus for grade 11/12)
And french and english 1 year ahead.
My ssat score was 87 percentile, and I got an 800 in maths.

My extracurriculars are:
Soccer team
Basketball team (captain)
Volleyball team
Tennis
Maths olympiad team (have a few awards)
Piano
Duke of Edinburgh award (bronze level)
Sport captain for my house

I’m also really into STEM and I’ve passed an online course in astrophysics from Harvard.
My recommendations are very strong.
I’m really anxious about my decisions, I’m not sure if I’ll get in or not.
These are all the schools I applied to:
Lawrenceville
Andover
Deerfield
Milton
Cranbrook
Loomis Chaffee
Peddie
Taft
NMH

Stargirl222 · February 2019

Oh and I also received an award in geography, pe, english and history last year between all my peers. I also got a commendation award in a geogrpahy competition which was help by the royal geographical society in the UK. And I do a bit of community service, not much though.

Stargirl222 · February 2019

And just to add, I go to british school and we don’t have GPAs, honours, merits and all those things that are mentioned in the other posts. My school isn’t that big and I don’t have much opportunities to do professional sports or join impressive clubs. Thought this might clear things up.

Stargirl222 · February 2019

Anyone? I dont mind if its harsh, i just need to understand my chances

gardenstategal · February 2019

Will you need financial aid?

Stargirl222 · February 2019

@gardenstategal no, I will not need FA

gardenstategal · February 2019

I think you will have options in March.

Harder to say if L'ville will be one of them. I have regularly been surprised at who gets in and who does not there, and it seems to come down very much to institutional priorities. If they are trying to diversify their international population, that could help.

You should definitely search these forums and read some of the feedback on the STEM program if that's your interest.

Overall, though, I think you have a better than 50/50 shot.

Stargirl222 · February 2019

@gardenstategal which schools do you think I have a chance in getting into? Which ones do u think I’m likely to get accepted?

Stargirl222 · February 2019

@gardenstategal and also, what do u mean by institutional priorities?

gardenstategal · February 2019

Institutional priorities include things like kids for sports teams (top recruits), legacy kids, especially from big donor families, racial diversity, etc. You aren't these. But if they want more international students from countries that aren't well represented, you could be that.

It varies from school to school year by year. So nobody can say. On paper, there's no reason to not accept you. But the school needs to choose you to fill out its class the way they want, and none of us can weigh in on that. We also didn't see your interview or read your essays.

I don't want to opine on various schools. But I think you will have options.

CC4life · February 2019

@Stargirl22 I think you will definitely have options on M9, however, I would say that being involved in 4 different sports will come off as a concern to AOs as it is literally impossible to be heavily involved in all 4 sports. This will eventually lead to the question of what your true interests are in athletics. Coming from Kazakhstan will definitely help, however, since it seems like you go to a British school you will likely be placed in the British pool of applicants which, in my experience, tends to be a much larger pool than other sections of the international pool. In regards to Lawrenceville specifically, I agree with @gardenstategal in that their typical admissions decisions vastly differ from other boarding schools. For example, it is not uncommon to see M9 decisions where students will get accepted to several schools such as ex: Andover, Exeter, Milton, Choate, etc., but could be flat out rejected from Lawrenceville or, on the other hand, students may get rejected at schools like Kent and Loomis and accepted to L'ville. This shows many of us that they typically have different admissions criteria than most NE boarding schools. (This is just in my experience learning about family, friends, and counselors experience with Lawrenceville and other prep schools.) Ultimately, any school with an acceptance rate in the 10-20 percent range is highly selective and it is really impossible for us to tell you which schools you will be accepted to. However, based on the information you have provided, I would say you have very good chances. I hope this helps, and make sure to comment back on M9 with your results. Good Luck!

Stargirl222 · February 2019

@CC4life thank you so much, it was really helpful. In my lville interview, he was teally impressed with how many sports I do, is this a good sign? Also, do u think I’ll get accepted to Peddie or deerfield?

CC4life · February 2019

@Stargirl222 Oh if he was impressed then that is a good sign, but again don't read to much into interviews I made that mistake last year and thought I would have several options and got waitlisted at literally every school I applied to. I think Peddie is a school that you will definitely have a strong chance at just based off their acceptance rate and large percentage of day students which means they will constantly be looking for geographic diversity (particularly international diversity). Do you have dual citizenship by any chance because that will greatly improve your chances? Deerfield is again, a much more selective school, but I still think you have the criteria that could get you accepted, again it COULD, but that doesn't necessarily mean it WILL.

On another note, I saw that you are applying to Milton and came across this interview with an AO (actually the same one that interviewed me) and I found it incredibly helpful for both Admissions at Milton, but also at selective boarding schools in general, here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz5C6p7S8rY (Part 1 of 2)

Were you by any chance in touch with the coaches or music teachers at any of the schools? and if you were, did you send them a "demo reel" for piano or for sports?

Stargirl222 · February 2019

@CC4life thank you sooooo much! What does AO mean?

Stargirl222 · February 2019

I was in contact with a basketball coach from NMH, but that’s my safety school (I think). Otherwise, I haven’t been in touch with anyone else, but I did send a link to every school of me playing the piano, playing soccer, basketball, tennis and acrobatics (i usef to do it) @CC4life

Stargirl222 · February 2019

@CC4life will it help if I ask the schools to send me the contacts of the coaches?

CC4life · February 2019

@Stargirl222 AO is admissions officer or admissions office. Oh and sending links will definitely help, and as the video states, most schools pass those links on to the music instructors or sports coaches who will evaluate them and then offer a list of their top suggestions for acceptance. If they put you on that list, your chances will greatly increase, but of course, we will never know who is actually on each list.

CC4life · February 2019

@Stargirl222 asking for their contact information could help, but at this point most schools, if not all have already finalized decisions or are in the process of finalizing them. Ultimately, as long as you have sent them a link with your skills and abilities that is pretty much everything they need to make a decision on your athletic and musical ability.

Stargirl222 · February 2019

Do u think i have more chances of getting into lville or PA? @CC4life

CC4life · February 2019

@Stargirl222 I would definitely say your chances are lower at PA just because PA tends to get the largest number of applicants and therefore they will have stronger geographic diversity and stronger athletic recruiting options, but again, you never know.

Stargirl222 · February 2019

Does anyone have any more opinions?

What are my chances of getting into Lawrenceville?

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