Boarding School Chances - Reapplying & Repeating 9th Grade

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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Hello everyone.

I am a freshman student in high school, currently attending a T10 day school. (NICHE 2023 Rankings)

I am seeking to move to a boarding school, since I wanted a well-rounded high school experience not only on academics, and move into a school that is a better fit for me, since and I would appreciate your help on chancing.

I am reapplying to many boarding schools, which I was mostly waitlisted last year, with some new schools included in my list. (Most schools are in the T20s in boarding school rankings, with a few safety schools)

Basic Info:
Asian Male
Reapplying to 9th Grade
Nationality: Korean (Currently applying for Green Card)
Currently Residing in the US (E2 Dependent Visa)
Income: Top bracket (Multiple properties and assets back in South Korea, parents possibly willing to donate to the schools if needed)
No Financial Aid Required
No Alumni Connections

SSAT:
SSAT 2400/2400 (Taken this admissions cycle) (9th grade percentile)
Overall 99%
99% V
99% Q
99% R

SSAT 2322/2400 (Taken last admissions cycle) (8th grade percentile)
Overall 98%
99% V
94% Q
95% R

Grades:
Grade 7: Mostly As and A+s
Grade 8: All grades A+ expect for 1 class (which is A)
Grade 9: Grades are pass/fail, according to school policy (doing decently, current high school is known for academic rigorous)

Extracurriculars:

Created a non-profit doing online education activities for youths (7000+ total participants, 70+ volunteers), done for 3 years, Spoke in a UN climate change conference in 2023 about sustainable action (related to my non profit)

Created a fund to invest in cerebral palsy awareness and research (Raised 30k USD within 2 years of founding), named after my cousin, which has cerebral palsy

Created a youth-led consulting firm where we consult other youth non-profits for free (founded this June, already served 8 clients)

Serving in the Mayor’s Youth Council of my city, at the participatory budgeting committee

Founder of a micronations club, member of Marketing Advisory Group, and tour guide at school

Chairman of the Board of Trustees in a non-profit org in Pakistan (advisory role)

Participated in a lot of Model UN conferences as a delegate, chair, and secretariat (currently working in my schools model UN conference as crisis director)

Student Council Vice President in 7th grade, NJHS Treasurer in 8th Grade, DEI Director in Student Union 8th Grade, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of school newspaper in middle school

Interned in a foreign countries Embassy in Korea

Additional Materials Submitted to Schools:

Resume
Personal Website
Introduction Video About Me & Non-Profits
LinkedIn Profile

(planning to when finished)
Annual Impact Report for my non-profits
Our marketing team’s video about my non-profit’s delegation to the UN climate change conference this year

Recommendations:
rough predictions since all my teachers changed as I came to a new high school
our teachers tends to be really frank with their comments, so it is a point of concern, since it is a T10 school known for its academic rigor in the secondary school scene

Math: probably fine, performing well in her classes
English: not sure dont really know her
(Third Teacher Recommendation) Biology: probably fine, performing well in her classes
(Counsellor/Principal) also my History teacher: very close with her since I’m her advisee
Personal: got it from a CEO of a sustainability consulting company that my non-profit partnered with, she knows me very well since we worked with her

Essays:
id say im a pretty good writer, talked about my personal stories of me being bullied because of my background in elementary school, the story about my non profits

Interviews:
Mostly tends to be 35-45 mins long for the student portion, almost every school done in person
Shared my business card with all my interviewers, and always trying to send them a question in email every month to show demonstrated interest, and always wrote thank you letters that are personalised to the conversation within 48 hours of interview

Why did I think I got waitlisted & rejected last year?

Didn’t show proper demonstrated interest, plus also an international candidate in a overrepresented country, did not present my ECs properly (no resume, no website, no impact report, no LinkedIn or anything), generally sucked in essay writing since I was clueless what to write, all interviews were online too, and the middle school I came from was in Korea, and has no name value

If anyone wants to learn more about my application and give advice I would be happy to talk with them privately.

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I think you’re a VERY strong candidate!!!

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You certainly sound like a strong candidate. Be careful of having a laundry lists of activities. Make sure that you have shared why the key ones are important to you, what you have learned and how you have grown from them. Schools are not looking for perfection, but rather successful, motivative learners. In order to be that you need to be able to be reflective. Good luck.

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Hi.

I appreciate your advice.

I have made a video (inspired by those Brown video portfolios) and listed my main non-profit activities and talked about my motivations for them.

That was same for my interviews, where I focused a lot about my non-profits, and I wrote the Candidate Profile EC section in order of importance, and used the additional info section to elaborate in the impact aspect of the most important activities, supplementing it with my resume and portfolio website that I made.

So, do you think that will be enough elaboration on my ECs and classifying its importance?

I’m happy to share other details privately (personal info).

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I’d be cautious of who you’re sending such info to.

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You are an extremely strong applicant. I’d say definitely accepted to most of the top boarding schools. Just make sure to show interest and write good essays and you should be almost guaranteed

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No one can say anyone posting on CC has an “almost guaranteed” chance of admission.

OP, you are a strong candidate but I have a hard time believing a 13 year old did some of your activities without a HUGE amount of parental involvement. In my opinion it is much more impressive when activities are mostly, or solely, done by the applicant.

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I agree with Cinnamin1212, the top boarding schools know that a lot of the extracurriculars are driven and setup by highly paid consultants especially for international kids from Korea and China. Same for college applications.

I would be careful about how realistic your extracurriculars appear…

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I suggest sounding more humble about your extracurriculars. You will sound more genuine.

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This but most especially the non-profit. It’s really almost impossible for a 12 or 13 or even 14 year old to actually have a non-profit that is properly registered. Who did this for you?

What has changed since your applications last year when you were waitlisted. It doesn’t sound like you were admitted to any of these…or if you were, you decided not to attend.

Your list of accomplishments here sounds overly impressive.

Oh…and your parents being willing to donate…please don’t use that as a way to leverage admission.

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The non profit was started 3 years ago – so when they were 10 or 11. Cough, cough.

I would be inclined to advise leaving it off the application entirely, or, alternatively describe what the OP actually did. Which was not founding a not for profit at age 10.

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The OP has no need to. The Development Offices already know.

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This is not believable in any way shape or form. And boarding schools know what it takes to set up a real non-profit. A 10 year old isn’t old enough to do the legal things making this a possibility.

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When we were touring Choate, we were told that Choate helps their students setup their own nonprofit if they have a particular passion/interest that requires one…. So no need to (hire an expensive consultant to) setup a nonprofit for your child in elementary or middle school:)

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OP, you need to focus less on extracurriculars.

especially during the interview/essays.

regardless if the non profits were actually created by you, they will see those ECs on the candidate profile. they want to get to know you. you should try to convey something not visible in another part of your application.

i think you may be trying too hard and AOs will see that if that is the case.

you also have no sports, which is something these schools look for, because at all these schools you will have to play sports.

i think uploading a video explaining your non profits in addition to a resume and the business cards is way too much.

these schools aren’t looking for achievement, they are looking for potential.

what schools have you designated as “safeties?” and are you okay at your current school?

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So many applicants have started non profits that I’m afraid the idea of creating a non profit has lost its luster among Admission Officers.

A better way to go might be conducting unique problem solving research utilizing a self developed proprietary AI algorithmic tool

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I have to believe 12 year olds starting not for profits never had any luster with any admissions offices.

Ya know what resonates? Things that demonstrate kindness and authenticity. I still remember the poster who had an EC of starting a knitting club at an assisted living facility, and sticking with it for a few years. Infinitely more impressive.

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Really? Is this realistic for tweens?!

Actually, I couldn’t imagine my high school senior doing this, and the kid is pretty darn bright and motivated.

We’re trying to get across that the focus should be on genuine, kid driven activities, not something that mommy and daddy set up (or paid someone to set up).

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