Chance me for prep schools! (11th grade)

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

I would really appreciate if you could give me advice/input on my boarding school admissions!

A little context; I applied to Loomis last year but got waitlisted as a 10th grade applicant for this fall (2026), and I think it was mainly my academics, but it could have been my essay/interview as well as it was a very last minute application.

Background:

  • Singapore
  • Female
  • Private school, taking IGCSEs this year, full courseload of 10 subjects
  • No FA needed *school year runs jan-dec
    *
  • Schools i’m planning on applying to (not fully decided)
  • Loomis (top choice, waitlisted last year)
  • Blair Academy
  • Choate
  • Lawrenceville
  • Kent
  • Taft
  • Berkshire
  • Peddie
    *
  • Academics (9th report which I submitted last admissions cycle vs now)
  • Biology: B, A* (9th, 10th)
  • Chemistry: A, A (9th, 10th)
  • Economics: A, A (9th, 10th)
  • English Language: B, B (9th, 10th)
  • English Literature: C, B (9th, 10th)
  • Additional Mathematics: B, A (9th, 10th)
  • Extended Mathematics: B,A* (9th, 10th)
  • Music: A,A (9th, 10th)
  • Physics: C, B (9th, 10th)
  • Chinese (I switched to foreign lang from 2nd lang in 10th)
  • 9th Chinese: C
  • 10th Chinese: A*
    *
  • Extracurriculars
  • violin (14 years, grade 8 abrsm distinction achieved at 10 years old)
  • performed on stage with a well known musician at their concert (they have millions of subscribers/followers/listeners across their social media platforms)
  • touch rugby (7th,8th,9th grade) played in the gold coast all schools touch tournament in 2024 (world’s biggest hs touch tournament)
  • math olympiad (bronze in 2023)
  • piano recreationally now but used to have lessons
  • tennis recreationally (5 years)
    *
  • Service (not saying names of service for privacy)
  • Related to funding for former refugees so they can seek education for various different things like starting businesses, art, secondary education, etc.
    • I got to directly speak to them on a Zoom call and write an article
    • Raised money through bake sales, tournaments, and various events throughout the school year)
    • Been apart of this service for 3 years (8,9,10)
      • 2nd service is related to conservation and protection of wildlife and endangered animals Participated in a bake sale (I baked various goods with a friend and it took us over 10 hours) 10th Grade only
      • 3rd service is related to supporting women who have been trafficked by providing them with healthcare, shelter and more 10th grade and planning to continue
        *
      • I also took the SSATs last year, and scored 81st percentile but didn’t submit it. I barely prepared (because I wasnt even sure of boarding school then) but I will be retaking it this year and score better
      • I’ll also be taking my IGCSEs in Oct, but i’m worried the scores won’t come out before Jan 15, so what shall I do about that?
2

I have a question that I think will have some impact on your chances of transferring high schools: Why do you want to change high schools?

You are already at a private high school. Your academics seem to have improved significantly from 9th to 10th grade. You still have some (a little) room for improvement.

Why not stay where you are, and work hard, and keep ahead as much as possible in your course work, and try to continue to improve your grades? You are already doing quite well where you are, and you are already involved in very good ECs.

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3

For a few reasons:

  1. My school isn’t as “well recognised” as these New England schools so i’m slightly worried for college admissions
  2. After IGCSEs, my school does the IBDP. Because i’m certain of going to college in the US, I think it’s a better fit to follow the curriculum there (APs, SATs, etc. which is hard to study by myself alongside doing the IB)
  3. Of course, overall experience of boarding school life
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4

I would not worry about this.

University admissions in the US is familiar with a wide range of high schools, or more specifically will have someone on staff who is familiar with high schools in your part of the world pretty much regardless of where you are. You are going to be considered an international student regardless of which high school you attend. The highest ranked universities in the US (such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, …) are going to be very high reaches and very unlikely for admissions regardless of where you are coming from, particularly with some B’s in your first two years of high school plus three C’s. They turn down plenty of students who have never had a B in their life. Otherwise there are many, many very good universities in the US, hundreds of them. If you get at least mostly A’s from now on with a few B’s, you should be fine for many very good universities in the US, even if the top ranked 20 or so universities are unlikely.

I thought the IBDP was pretty well known and recognized worldwide, although I will admit that I do not know much about it.

This will indeed be a significant difference.

At one point one daughter studied abroad for three months while in high school (and it went well). I did think that this made the point that she was ready to go abroad, or at least away from home, for university. This might have helped in university admissions. Thus to me the boarding school experience does seem like a significant difference.

Does your current high school have a “study abroad” program, possibly in cooperation with high schools in other parts of the world? Could you take a semester abroad? If so this might be another thing to consider.

I guess my concern is that switching high schools half way through is a big change. There is some risk, such as finding the academics tough at first. You need to be sure that you want to do it. Such a major change half way through high school will both change the academics that you are dealing with, plus require you to change some of your ECs (although of course violins and music are mostly the same anywhere).

Perhaps the main two questions are whether you want to do this switch, and whether you can afford to pay for this switch (without for example messing up funding for either university or graduate school). If you have a strong yes to both questions then apply and see what happens. I do see that your application seems stronger this year, although my understanding is that highly ranked prep schools accept relatively few students half way though.

I really do not think that this switch will make any significant difference at all in terms of either your chances of being accepted to universities in the US, or your chances of doing well at universities in the US. Given the number of B’s and C’s that you already have, I think that highly ranked universities on the Harvard, Stanford level are already quite unlikely, and I think that your improvement from 9th to 10th grade plus a continued improvement going forward, plus the ability to be full pay, would already make acceptance at a wide range of other very good universities in the US very likely even if you stay where you currently are for high school.

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5

Just a few thoughts:

  1. You have shown great improvement from last year. That will help you!
  2. The IBDP is well-recognized and respected in the U.S. It is generally considered to be meet the criteria of "most rigorous " curriculum, so this is not a good reason to change schools. In fact, being in this program now could help you make a good case for admission at a BS like George School, which offers the IB program.
  3. There has been quite a bit in the media about foreign students finding the U.S. a less desirable destination, so you may get a bit of a lift from that macro trend.
  4. Your SSAT score is fine, but bringing it up may help.
  5. Your profile is fine. Definitely think about WHY you want each of those schools, and moreover, what you want your time at BS to look like. BS gives you the opportunity to be in a community 24/7. You won’t be in class - or even studying - for many hours each week, so how do you want to fill that time? Also ask how you learn best.

The great thing about applying to BS - especially a second time - is that you can think about and then match a particular living and learning environment to what will allow you to grow and thrive. Be intentional about this, and make sure it shows in your applications. It’s a little hard for me to figure that out from your list, so it should at least be clear to you.

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6

I definitely agree with your point about studying abroad. If my current school offered something like that, I would 100% consider it. Unfortunately though, that’s not an option at my school.

I also agree that switching schools halfway through high school is a big decision, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. One of the main reasons I’m applying is that I feel the opportunities at my current school are relatively limited compared to those at US boarding schools, both academically and outside the classroom. I’m mainly interested in the broader courses, community, and music opportunities which these schools can better provide.

I also understand that attending a boarding school isn’t necessary for admission to a good US university, and that’s actually not my main motivation. I’m applying because I think it would be a better environment for me to grow over the next two years.

7

Thank you so much for your input, I really appreciate it!

You made a great point about being intentional with my school list and thinking about the kind of community and environment that would allow me to thrive. That’s definitely something I’ve given more though to after going through the admissions process earlier this year.

One thing that’s also been on my mind is that attending a top US university isn’t very common from my current school. Most students end up going to universities in Australia or the UK, so our university counsellors have more experience with those application systems than with US admissions. That isn’t my main reason for applying to boarding school, but it is something I’ve considered because I think having more guidance would be helpful.

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8

Did you only apply to Loomis last year? Did you request any feedback given you were WL?

What was your TOEFL score? Or is that not a requirement since your courses are taught in English?

9

Yes, I only applied to Loomis last year. Also, I didn’t know I could request feedback, can I still do so?

And yeah, TOEFL wasn’t a requirement for me

10

A lot of schools are pretty hesitant to admit students in the 11th grade. With 11th traditionally being the “most challenging” level at many schools they tend to be very selective with those students they admit and it is not uncommon for the whole of a school’s 11th grade class to be entirely recruited athletes.

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