Chance Me (Exeter, Andover, Choate, Lville, PDS, Peddie, etc)

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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I’m an 8th grade student (male) applying to 9th grade next year to a LOT of boarding schools and one Day School (PDS). We’re applying to so many bc we’re applying for Financial Aid (we probably can’t contribute more than $10k/yr so we’d need a lot of aid), so we wanted to apply to a mix of different types of schools. Here are the schools I’m applying to:

Exeter, Andover, Groton, St. Paul’s, Choate, Hotchkiss, Taft, Kent (CT), Suffield, Blair, Peddie, Lwville, Pennington, The Hun, The Hill, St. Andrews’s and PDS (the only day school).

Here are my stats:

I’m in a good/tough school district. Almost all A’s in 7th & 8th grade including Honors Algebra (except for a B+ in Honors English). 6th Grade was a mix of A’s/B’s and 1 class C’s (surprisingly math which I’ve aced in 7th & 8th) bc I had undiagnosed ADHD so concentrating became really tough. I was diagnosed and put on meds at the end of 6th so grades jumped right back up. I explained this in my essays as well as interviews.

My interviews all went pretty well and I have very good letters of recommendation.

I’m White Latino (Puerto Rican).

Have done Jiu Jitsu since I was 8, but recently switched to Wrestling this last summer. Although new to it, taking private lessons and I’m thin so could fill the 106lb weight class (which many of these schools have to forfeit bc it’s hard to get a kid my age that’s 106 lbs.

I’m a volunteer at a local food organization that helps to bring unsold food from local restaurants at the end of the night to local food pantries. I’ve even opened up a restaurant. I also created my own Holiday Toy Drive for a local charity this year. I raised over $1,400 and donated over 60 toys and gift cards to local children and teens in need.

I got a 94% on my SSAT score (and retook it this week, but don’t know the score of that one yet, so at least I have a 94%.

Please lmk what you think my chances are at the different tiers.

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@Nitania, congrats on your SSAT score and overcoming your personal challenges. I am certain that all of your hard work, dedication and sacrifice makes your parents extremely proud. You read like a great kid. 94% SSAT is fine, believe me. If you improve on that, it’s gravy, but not necessary at this stage.

You’ve given 100% of yourself, you are entitled to shoot your shot - as long as you prioritize certain schools over others. Have you already sent in applications? Have you scheduled/attended interviews? If you haven’t, you are calling it rather close for a few of these schools - the application deadline for Groton is January 15th. You and your parents should make a batch of cookies, sit down and go over which schools you like the most - research websites, watch YouTube videos, get knowledgeable quickly. You’ll learn things that PDS is not really a financial aid school. It’s not. Neither is HUN. Just looking at your numbers, I think that you would be a competitive applicant for any number of these schools. Also, if financial aid is a critical part of your application, I would swap out PDS & HUN (unless there’s a relationship with the wrestling coach) and add Mercersburg to your list and apply quickly (also a Jan 15th deadline.)

Exeter/St.Paul’s/Choate/L’Ville/Kent/Suffield/Peddie/Andover/Groton/Blair/Mercersburg/Hotchkiss/Taft/Pennington/St. Andrews/Hill. I also included my vague recollection of FA generosity in ranking these schools. I’m sure that others can chime in here as well.

You know that there are no guarantees to gaining admittance to any of these schools - they are all competitive and that race to M10 gets crazier every year. HOWEVER, through your hard work, you’ve earned the right to get in the mix and see where the day takes you.

Good luck, kid.

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Great resume with a good story. I too was going to say that given that you need generous FA, Mercersberg and George should probably be on your list.

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Rooting for you. Where have you interviewed?