Chance me for Andover, Groton, St Paul's, or any of the Eight Schools

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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Hello! I’m currently an 8th grader applying for 9th grade to the Eight School Association (2026/2027). and I was wondering what my chances were. Here are a few stats:

–I am Asian (immigrated from Vietnam, living now in Henderson, NV).

-Low income family (will be applying for full financial aid).

-Taking all Advanced classes at my middle school. Except for Math, I am currently taking Geometry Honors.

-No legacy

-Haven’t taken the SSAT yet (But it is scheduled for November). But I think I could get a 90+%.

-High achiever in state testing such as SBAC and MAPS. 95+%

-I would say I am a good essay writer (could be subjective).

-Math, Reading, Science, and Special Interest Recommendations are all sent.

Extracurriculars and Achievements:

1. Percussion: Being a dual percussion/flute player has really instilled in me the importance of practice and patience, traits to which I have applied in my other interests (archery, academics, Model UN, etc).

2. Philosophical Concepts Research: I am really curious about the philosophical aspect of the world and spend my free time researching concepts that have been developed by famous philosophers, such as Socrates and Aristotle. I also love to research and think about paradoxes!

3. Model UN: Model UN helps me understand world issues and how certain countries are addressing them. Through looking at real world problems from the perspective of a country delegate, I can better understand the world that we live in and the ways we operate to ensure everyone is safe and happy in their country. This activity also teaches me impromptu speaking skills (which may come in handy for interviews), and debate techniques, all of which are crucial to succeeding in various academic areas.

4. Student Council: being part of STUCO as a representative, I advocate for issues that concern my selected student body and come up with ways to address them.

5. Post 12101 Winner for the VFW Patriot’s Pen Competition

6. Great American Award Recipient

7. Perfect GPA for 3 Years

8. Read over 300+ hours of books (classical, fantasy, romance, and YA)

9. Best Delegation in Model UN (online virtual conference)

10. Perfect ELA SBAC for 2 years

11. Superior Rating at the CCSD Band Festival

12. “A” Rating at the annual CASLV Science Fair

13. 1st place at the NASP Archery State Tournament - 2024/2025

14. 2nd place at the NASP Archery State Tournament - 2023/2024

15. 2 years in the Del Webb Advanced Band (top ensemble for 7th and 8th)

16. 2nd Place (Essay Category) at the Henderson Teen Writing Competition

17. Earned 1000+ points on the AR and STAR Competition (1st place)

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me suggestions out my application. I truly appreciate it! :slight_smile:

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Thank you so much for taking the time to give me suggestions out my application. I truly appreciate it! :slight_smile:

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I’m so sorry but I forgot to mention that in terms of grades, I have had a 4.0 GPA for all 3 years of middle school.

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I’m not an expert but based on watching my daughter’s application process, I think the schools are often looking for a profile to fill at their school vs having strong all around students. Your profile is amazing but you need to figure out what group would want you so you could have an advocate within the school arguing your case. In a lot of cases, this is through a sports team that wants a player, the orchestra that wants a musician, etc. In your case, I’d suggest looking at the Classics program at SPS. It seems like you’d genuinely want to do the program, if admitted and you have a strong background based on your own self learning in this area that you’d have credibility saying so. I’d reach out to one of the teachers when you’re ready to better understand the program and make your case. There may be similarly compelling programs at the other schools. Here’s SPS’ Classical Honors | St. Paul's School.

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You’re clearly very accomplished and hard-working. That is always going to be a plus for you, no matter where you end up.

The majority of applicants at these schools will be academically strong, so that is unlikely to differentiate you, but it will keep you in the running!

The bad news is that you need full FA and that puts you into a particularly competitive pool, while the good news is that you are exactly the kind of student for whom those full FA awards were intended.

Being from NV may be a slight positive. Schools DO like kids who are willing to get involved in different things and contribute to the community that way.

Get your SSAT score as soon as you can. If it’s not as high as you expect, you’ll have time to study and retest and/or pivot to test optional schools.

This is all to say that yes, it looks like you have what it takes to be admitted to any of the schools on your list, but because they are so selective, it’s not a sure thing.

If you are determined to go to BS, it would behoove you to cast a wider net beyond the most commonly recognized names.

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Thank you so much for that helpful advice! :slight_smile: What school did you daughter get accepted into?

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Thank you so much! Your advice was very helpful! :slight_smile: Have you ever had the experience with BS applications? If so, what was it like?

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Arguably the most important factor is missing. Repost once you have an SSAT score.

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I respectfully disagree that the SSAT score is one of the most important factors at these places. Not even sure SSAT’s are required at all of them. Not Choate, unless they changed this year. Not NMH either. You should surely prepare, take them and do your best, but I wouldn’t get twisted in a knot if you end up below the 90th percentile. Or 80th, for that matter. Given your academic background and other testing results, I’m confident you’ll do fine. It would be a shame if you had a bad day and underperformed because you put too much pressure on yourself. Relax.

You’ve got great stuff to work with here. The key bit is to highlight your differentiators. You are an Asian kid with great grades who does music/orchestra and Model UN at a high level. That is not unusual in your competitive applicant pool, in fact it may be the one of the most common profiles. Being an Asian kid with great grades who does music/orchestra, Model UN and is a champion archer from Nevada who is keenly interested in Philosophy? Not so common. And, more important, interesting. Also interesting (I would guess) is your journey as an immigrant (and I’m assuming a racial minority) to being a representative for your peers in student government. I’d be curious to read about that as an Admissions person. Says a lot about you.

The thing I’d caution you to remember is that these are boarding schools, and so while they are filled with amazingly accomplished kids, stats of which are all we read about places like here and Reddit, they got in and are there because they are great kids who demonstrated that they are kind and work well with others in their applications. They aren’t looking for brainiacs, although some of the kids are. The admissions officers are keenly aware that these aren’t Magnet or BASIS schools; the vast majority of the kids have actually to live together, so rather than listing all of your accomplishments “Aren’t I great” style, talk about how you work with others on the student council to properly represent your peers, or how your time in Model UN or Band taught you about working with others. Remember, the application is an invitation to join their community. You gotta show you’ll be a good guest.

Long winded way of saying, your chances improve greatly at these highly competitive places if you focus less on all the great things you’ve done and what these experiences do for you, and more on how your greatness and experiences can have a positive impact on others. Make sure whoever is writing your recs underscores that. That you are a kind person has to come across. A fun game to play is to count the number of times you hear the word “kind” in your tours, online and other interactions with the schools. In my experience, the common thread across these students is that they’re great kids.

Good luck Kaylah

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Because you need full FA, make sure you apply to all of the need-blind schools (PA, PEA, Groton and I believe Deerfield now). They’re extremely hard to get into, but less selective schools that are need-aware will wait-list or reject candidates who don’t fit the profile of the students whom they’re targeting for financial aid (think middle-class athletes, under-represented minorities, outstanding local students, etc).

Put a few videos of yourself playing flute and piano, preferably solo, on YouTube, and reach out to the schools’ music departments when you apply (there’s usually a form on the school website).

Find someplace to host your award-winning writing as well so that you can include that in the additional materials portion of your application (this could be as simple as hosting it on Google Docs and making the link generally accessible but not editable).

Good luck!

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Also remember that these schools are looking for kind human beings who care as much about the community as they do their own accomplishments. They are also wanting kids who are not only focused on outcomes but appreciate and embrace the process. Work to insert these attributes into essays and interviews.

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Hello! Thank so much for the great advice. I’ll keep that in mind from here on. :slight_smile:

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Yes! Thank you so much!

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Thank you so much! I’ll keep you updated about the process (including March 10)!! :slight_smile:

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This is good advice , but don’t limit yourself to these very selective schools. There are need aware schools that have a greater % of students receiving FA than these need blind ones (and they have less competitive admissions.)

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