Chance an international student applying for 11th grade to top boarding schools

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

I’m 16 and will be applying for 11th grade. I’ll need full aid since my household income is less than 15k USD. here are my stats + ecs:

1440 (690RW 750M) SAT (idk if i should give the ssat) | 9th grade: 4.54/5.0, 10th grade: 4.85/5.0 (ranked 2/388)

Awards:
Top 30 Finalist, National Mathematics Olympiad (ranked 28th out of 4800~ participants)
Top 50 Finalist, National Olympiad in Informatics (ranked 43th out of 3200~ participants)
Winner, International Youth Science Journal Research Competition (Presented review article on neuromorphic computing)
1st place, Central Speech & Debate Competition (state-level competition with 30+ schools participating)
1st place, National Science Quiz Competition (Qualified through the central competition and then represented my school at the capital)
2nd place / Runner-up, Zonal Badminton Tournament

Extracurriculars:
Speech and Debate, Literature Club:

As Literature Club President, I increased 5 members to 15+ members. I held different activities, ranging from reading drives to plays. Supplied 200+ books through donations and free English classes for underprivileged students. Won inter-house school and state competitions

Independent Research with Mentor:

My research project began through a mentorship opportunity with a student at Northwestern University, where I analyzed papers from IEEE, Nature, and Science journals. This led to my review article “Neuromorphic Computing: Energy-Efficient Architectures and Emerging Applications,” which won the Youth Science Journal Research Competition.

Athletics, Badminton:

I have played badminton since 5th grade, and currently I’m serving as Team Captain. I have won our school’s inter-house tournament, reaching the finals at the zonal competition (competing against other schools).

Independent Coursework, Hackathons/Projects:

I’ve completed university-level coursework, including Harvard’s CS50, Stanford’s Machine Learning course, and MIT OpenCourseWare while maintaining my high school studies. This self-directed approach has enabled me to build projects like an AI-powered fake news detector and Twitter sentiment analyzer, and participate in prestigious competitions, including the NASA Space Apps Challenge, Google Chrome Built-in AI Challenge and NYAS Junior Academy Innovation Challenge.

Journalism/Content Writing:

Through my role as Editorial Board Member at The Journal for Youth Voice, I’ve published 10+ articles covering science, media analysis, philosophy, and global politics, accumulating over 100,000 combined views.

Community Service:

Our School Partnered with the local government for a cleanup campaign in our community, where I volunteered as an Initiative Coordinator. I led cleanup drives and coordinated with the local government to supply permanent dustbins, which our area was lacking. This decreased the amount of trash being littered on the road.

Arts, Creative Arts & School Media:

My diverse interests reflect my belief that creativity and technology are deeply interconnected. As Creative Director for school publications, I handle all the graphic design and video editing for our school’s magazine and social media. I also do oil painting and commissioned art.

Entrepreneurship, Passion Project/Startup:

Leading a team of four, I developed an IoT-based automated plant watering system that won the BizMaster Challenge at Salim Habib University, earning $300 in prize money. We’re currently expanding this into a startup focused on promoting urban plantation in Karachi, where greenery is critically needed.

Internship, Front-End Developer:

My three-month internship as a Front-End Developer at Pearedco, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, provided professional experience in web development. Working 12 hours weekly, I worked on the Explore and About pages, implemented SEO optimization, and gained hands-on experience in the nonprofit technology sector.

ik I yapped quite a bit, but i wanted this to be as detailed as possible so I can get a better chance me

2

I forgot to mention but I’ll be applying to Phillips Exeter Academy, Phillips Academy Andover, Deerfield, Choate Rosemary, Hotchkiss, St. Pauls, Lawrenceville, Groton + some more

3

You have a great background and will be an attractive candidate for all of those places. The bad news is that you picked all of the toughest ones to get into, so it will be a bit of a crap shoot, but you Also picked the ones with the biggest endowments, so could help with money.

I will just say what I say to everyone who applies for 11th grade:It’s the toughest entry point. Beyond that, once you’re in, it’s the toughest year academically. Add that to the inevitable challenges of transition and you’re looking at a tough slog.

Reclassing to tenth grade would give you a better entry point and better overall experience, in my opinion.

Finally those are all very different places and different experiences. Andover is huge and Groton is tiny. You could practically fit the entirety of Groton’s 9-12 grades into Exeter’s graduating class. If you’re going to be very far from home in another country, fit and culture are important.

Good luck!

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4

this is really helpful!! thank you so much!

5

You look like an impressive applicant. Please be sure to verify with each school during your interview that they can provide the level of FA you need given that you are an international student.

This, coupled with 11th grade and very selective schools, means this may be hard, even with all you have accomplished. Have you considered United World College as well?

6

yes i’ll also be applying to uwc

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