Chance me for Prep Boarding Schools Fall 2026 (Andover, SPS, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, etc.)

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Hi, I’m a 8th grader applying to 12 prep boarding schools for fall 2026. I’m a male and I’m Nigerian.

Schools I’m applying to: Blair, Brooks, Deerfield, Governor’s, Hotchkiss, Hun, Lawrenceville, Loomis Chaffee, Peddie, Andover, St. Paul’s, and Taft

I would say my top five (in no order) are St. Paul’s, Lawrenceville, Hotchkiss, Andover, and prob Brooks

About me: I have a brother that currently attends St. Paul’s and in his senior year (Legacy really helps for boarding schools). I’m applying for FA. I play 3 sports, basketball (5+ years, middle school team since 5th grade) and football and track each for a year, but no team. Instruments: piano and electric drums both for 5 years (both for my church) and guitar for a year. I also have been drawing for 5 years and I mainly sketch and draw portrait or anatomy. I also peer tutor for fourth grade once a week every Tuesday and I take John Hopkins (CTY) Honors Geometry. The past two summers, I attended this local basketball camp for Rutgers-Newark, and I have been preparing for the upcoming SSAT in December. I also have multiple including two academic excellence awards, principals list award (all A’s) and I have been getting this since 4th grade, 3 awards for the school basketball league I play in, not an award, but National Junior Honor Society, young artist award, and mathematics award, (I have more awards)

Rank and GPA: estimated rank: 1-2 out of 75 and estimated GPA according to chat gpt: 4.75/5

My School: I live in Northern New Jersey, won’t say city, but it’s a big city. I attend one of the top charter schools in my city and the best in terms of sending kids to top boarding schools. Last school year alone, we had one kid go to Andover, Exeter, and St. Paul’s, and two to brooks. I would consider my school to be a feeder to some of these schools.

SSAT: 55th percentile (took in late 7th/May) Verbal 41st, Q/Math 66th/Reading 55th

I’m not worried about my score as im retaking it on December 17th (I think) and hope for at least a 80+

I haven’t really been doing ssat prep but I have the official ssat book and the Princeton review ssat and Isee book. My ssat classes start next Saturday (Oct 18) and that’s when I’ll start ssat prep.

Interviews: I’ve done most of my interviews, except St. Paul’s, Deerfield, Andover, and governors, which are all scheduled. All of them were great, but I would say Lawrenceville was the best.

Haven’t started writing essays yet, but I’ll start in a week or two.

Any tips will help, but I believe I have a strong app

2

Good luck.

Why are your Top Five your Top Five? Foundational for all of your essays. You have to be specific in communicating why you’re applying to each to have a chance. Especially if you have a sibling at one of them. The other schools will assume you’re inclined to go to SPS.

Good news for you is that each school is very different, so there’s plenty to differentiate them. I can understand St Paul’s for family familiarity and Lawrenceville for proximity, but Hotchkiss, Andover and Brooks aren’t as obvious. Of course you will tell Lawrenceville its because of Harkness, not because its nearby, and you will talk about the perspective you have gained through your brother at SPS.

But again, these schools are very different, and it seems an odd list to me. Look forward to better understanding how you came about it. In the meantime take your SSAT prep seriously, as you don’t want to give them a reason to ding and already solid application.

Outside of that, don’t try to be what you think they want to see. Don’t start a club or non-profit to check an EC box. Authenticity is everything in this process. As is kindness. You can do everything else right, but if they’re not comfortable that you’re kind, you’re chances are zero.

Good luck!

3

Thank you for the feedback.

Thanks for bringing that up for my top 5. Most of my impressions on the schools were based off the interviews, and other than Lawrenceville, Brooks was probably my second best interview, which made may like Brooks as a school. I know that I want schools with great athletic facilities and athletics, good extracurriculars and club offerings, not too much students but a somewhat big campus, and good diversity and location.

Do you have any tips on researching schools to improve not just my top 5, but my whole top 12 solely based on what they have to offer, not just the interviews.

4

Try this:

Or your school, which sounds like its quite experienced on this topic. And by that I mean research at your school, not ‘Who went where from the previous class?”

Andover is an outlier in your list if you don’t want a big school. It’s the biggest. But it also has an African Students Union, a Black Students Union and an Afro-Latino-American Society, preposterous facilities and sports, etc., on your list of requirements.

Spend some time figuring out what you really want. If your tests scores are good, you may have to do less than 12 applications. It also sounds like you’re in a pretty great school now, so less pressure.

5

Thank you

I will be researching these schools using various websites, including the one you gave, and the school’s website (of course), and niche