@gardenstategal @one1ofeach @amumof2 Thanks for the advice! I just submitted it last night, and I’m pretty relieved. Today I talked to the transcript manager at my school and she said she will not upload my transcript for me, and it won’t be available until February 8th. Even then, she will only do a mail-in transcript. Should I email the schools and ask what to do? Or what else could I do?
Most schools want the transcript through 7th grade (or whatever the grade before you applied is) with the application and then the first semester grades are sent whenever they become available. That’s what we were told last year when we were applying, anyway.
Can I ask you - do your parents not speak English, or not want you to go to bs? It seems like your school is kind of pushing you around. If someone told my kid “I won’t do xyz” that was their job I would have an issue with that. I think you need to have your parents take over some of the communication with your current school.
Hi, im also applying to deerfield but grade 11, I was wondering what you did for the additional info section. Im not sure if I should leave it blank, write a story or an essay. please help out thxx
I would contact the schools now and let them know what your school is planning to do with the transcript. My guess is it’ll be fine since they know it’s coming.
If you have copies of your year end report cards from prior years and your most recent one for this year, you could offer to scan and send them so they have something to work with while they wait for the official transcript.
I actually emailed all of my schools and they said it wouldn’t be considered late if the transcripts were sent in late, so you’re all good (:
@417WHB The transcript manager said that she won’t upload my previous grades because it’s not her responsibility. She told me to upload them myself but I don’t think it’s an option on Gateway to Prep. I am currently thinking of emailing my 7th and 8th grade grades to the schools in pdf format since it’s all I can do.
@one1ofeach My parents speak English (not completely fluent) and fully support me going to boarding school. It’s just that my school and just the school district in general has a reputation for bad management even though my high school is top 10 in public schools in California (extremely shocking). No matter how much you complain they won’t do anything about it, so students and parents at my school have just learned to stay silent and let things happen. 
@gardenstategal Thanks! I’ll write them an email tonight with my 7th and 8th grade transcripts. I don’t have any grades from this year yet because our 1st semester ends in late January.
@mondaydevil Oh okay I see, thank you so much for the information!
@stressedpotatoo For my application I just included a dance supplemental in the additional info section, so I’m not sure how it will apply to you, but you can put sports portfolios or just updates on what you’ve been doing since submitting the Candidate Profile.
But for the candidate profile, did you write anything for the additional information part? Or can i leave it blank?
@stressedpotatoo I left the additional information section blank on the candidate profile.
Ok I see. I still think it’s time to get your parents involved in both ends. I think they should contact your current school to put extra pressure on them and then have a call with the ao’s at the schools you’re applying to. At this point, IMO and I know a lot of people on cc disagree, it’s moved into an adult conversation.
If I were an ao and you called and told me the transcript lady wouldn’t upload your transcript the first thing I’d ask is “did your parents speak to her?” If you said “no there’s no point” it wouldn’t sit well with me.
@one1ofeach Thanks for the advice, will do!
@sadpotato I think it’s absurd your results last year were not closer to 5 admits, 4 waitlists. I know this is a very competitive game, but you sound like a stellar candidate. You are probably right to concentrate on a smaller set of schools and make them feel loved. Is a visit possible? Even if you’ve done your skype interview that might demonstrate interest.
You mention your financial aid application played a role. Is that an inference (understandably!) or did something more concrete happen to give you that impression?
Good luck this year.
@Trebuchet Thank you! Unfortunately, a visit isn’t possible anymore since I am extremely busy until the beginning of February and it would be too late by then.
Regarding what I said about FA, nothing concrete happened; it was just an inference I made. (However, my tour guide for Exeter last year told me that the first year he applied for 10 schools to 9th grade boarding with FA and got waitlisted/rejected from all, and he applied to the same 10 schools the following year without FA and got accepted to most.)
Quick question to anyone who sees this: Unfortunately I think I’ll be getting a B and a B+ for first semester which will pull my GPA down from 4.0/4.0 to 3.8/4.0. The B+ is from PE, and I’m a relatively slow runner but my teacher is extremely strict on grading miles. Fortunately, PE does not count in the overall GPA (at least at my school, not sure about others). Will this greatly affect my chances?
I ended up being rejected by Choate and Hotchkiss. I withdrew my application to Deerfield and Lawrenceville because of “fit” reasons.
Ugh, I’m sorry to hear that. Their loss. Good luck on your next steps.