I am a current Sophomore who is going to apply for the Fall 2018 term (I’ll be an entering Junior). I’m a fairly well rounded all honors student, and take a bunch of EC’s with leadership positions. The schools I want to get into are Choate, Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Andover, and Exeter. Is it harder to get accepted to those schools as a Junior? If anyone has tips on the ISEE, SSAT, or anything else please lmk!
It is hard to get into those school period for everybody. They are very selective. As a junior, you will probably need to submit PSAT or SAT scores.
You need very good scores to be considered, correct (upwards of 90th percentile)? But how much does that factor in to whether or not you get admitted to a certain school?
There is no magic formula for getting into the most selective schools…I would not waste any time trying to divine one. Being URM, a development case, or bringing some extreme level of talent in a field desired by the school all help, but even then there are no guarantees.
IMO, the smartest thing you can do to optimize your chances for a junior year admit is to consider schools well beyond the 5 you list — which just happen to be among the most selective schools out there.
Ask yourself if you want to go to boarding school or only to a “prestigious” boarding school. Assuming you attend PS now, I can guarantee that unless you go to one of a handful of public high schools in the country (TJ, Bronx Science, and the like), even the least “prestigious” boarding school mentioned on this forum will be more “prestigious” than your current school. Quotes totally intentional because I loathe using that very nebulous attribute to make any decision — especially one regarding education.
Another option to consider is applying as a repeat sophomore. Some schools factor in a significant expansion in class size from frosh to soph year, but not so much from soph to junior. While there are fewer applicants for the available junior year slots than for frosh or soph year, there are far fewer slots…sometimes literally a handful (5 or less).
Best of luck with your process. There are good advocates and unofficial representatives (students/parents, not admin/staff) of MANY schools that are active on the forum and can share a wealth of knowledge and experience with you/your parents. I’d advise you to do your homework before starting to pick people’s brains via PM…many of the more common questions have already been asked and answered on public threads.
FWIW, I don’t love your chances at garnering an admit if you limit your scope to the schools listed. It’s nothing against you…don’t like anyone’s chances at the ultra-selective schools.
My DD applied to four of the five you list, was accepted at three; however!!!, she also applied to three additional school with far higher acceptance rates. You should consider adding to your list to ensure you are not blanked come March.
@MAandMEmom: Was your DD applying for a Junior slot? I think that makes a big different in an applicant’s chance.
Junior slots are going to be few and far between. You’ll have to have something compelling about your apps. Have you lived abroad, play an instrument or won any national titles? Think on another scale in terms of leadership. Have you done something outstanding in your school or town community? At the very least, be interesting. Good Luck! If you have geodiversity (from the Midwest instead of Northeast) that may help,
no @SevenDad I should have included that info as well. She was apply as an 8th grader. Agreed that junior slot are few and far between. I do know a pretty well-rounded girl that almost knew she was headed to Exeter beginning in junior year before M10. I always wondered until I saw a photo of her with her grandfather, an Exeter alum. It happens but there needs to be something extraordinary to get a nod in 11th grade.
I’m considering applying as a repeat Sophomore because of the increased competition as a Junior, but I’m not sure if that would look good or if that would be the right move for me.
@iris11 it is rare that repeating a year would look bad for some reason. Lots of kids repeat and it is fairly common. In my opinion repeating a year is a smart option and wouldn’t do anything but increase your chance of acceptance.
Just a quick note to OP (iris11)…from your post count, it looks like you are new here. Welcome!
One thing that you should know off the bat, is that pretty much every one of the contributors on this forum (some of us true OGs) have nothing but the best interests of applicants at heart. We want every kid to have a happy outcome.
So when someone (like me) advises repeating a year…I don’t do this lightly or because I think it will “look bad”. I would never want to compromise your (or any kid’s) chances at an acceptance. Yes, it may not be the right move for you for any number of reasons…but it is a route that many applicants have gone — and will continue to go. Don’t discount the idea out of hand.
In most cases, it will be much easier to get in for 10th grade than 11th grade.
I would add more schools to your list. Yours are highly, highly competitive and may result in no admissions for 11th grade, simply because there are so few spots.
@sunnyschool @cababe97 I’m looking at a couple of other schools, but those are the ones I thought would probably be important to include in my question, in total my list comes to about 9/10 schools. Is it easier to get in because there are more open spots or are there other reasons?
In my experience, it is because there are more open spots OR in some cases (more unlikely) students will repeat a year for sports if they are looking to be recruited by colleges and want more years of experience. There are typically few junior spots open in most schools and that makes it even harder than it already is to get into top tier schools. I’m not sure if you need FA or not, but if you do you should strongly consider repeating. Remember: repeating is extremely common and not looked as weird or unusual. My current grade is probably about 25% repeats. What other schools are you looking at?
@cababe97 I’m also looking at Loomis, Millbrook, Kimball Union, Northfield Mount Hermon, and Taft. And yes, I waill be applying for FA.
@iris11 Yes, more open spots for 10th than 11th.
@MAandMEmom where did she apply?
@iris11 My DD applied to in alpha order…Andover, Deerfield, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Loomis Chaffee, St. George’s, and Suffield. I shall say though that she does has some aspects which might put her in the hooked category (athletics and academics to some extent) and some that no doubt detract (not full pay). A wash? Who knows…