Chance me for prep schools, please?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

Applying to 9th for Choate, NMH, Mercersburg, St. Paul’s, St. Andrews, Episcopal, Kent, Taft, Culver, also applying for financial assistance

US citizen, 2nd generation Asian

Currently attending a small private school

SSAT 97%

GPA 97.xx%, never missed High Honors in upper school (but my school isn’t too difficult to get good grades) All A/A+ in 7th grade. Math was B+ in Q1 of 8th grade. Frankly, not a STEM guy.

Founded a non-profit (sustainability)

Competitive fencer; placed 2nd 3rd in a couple of regional tournaments

Participated in all school sports throughout the last four years; varsity lacrosse, xcountry, soccer, golf (participated in state championships) and basketball

Volunteer as an assistant fencing coach, school ambassador, and civics stage leader

Selected to represent school in local leadership summit

Bilingual + spanish and latin (at school)

Essays are good; i wrote them, but my parents are both writers, so they were truly helpful in digging out materials and identifying my own story

Have great relationship with teachers; mom also on school board

2

Pretty impressive. Do kids from your school go to these places?

3

I live in a moderate-sized city and my school is small. Like one per year? We had students go to St. Paul’s (legacy), St. Andrews (no legacy), Taft (legacy) and Mercersburg (no legacy) in the past

4

I ask because if those schools are familiar with yours, it will provide perspective on your performance. Have you interviewed at any?

5

Starting this week!

I was looking through the posts here and became concerned about having a B in the first quarter (and that I am seeking FA, although the average awarded to those in my parents income level is around 30-40k range)

6

Don’t worry about either. Just crush the interviews and have them want you at their school. If you’ve been paying attention, they have to leave the interview feeling like you are a good fit. That entails demonstrating you understand and are excited about what they think makes their school unique (what makes Choate, Choate), demonstrate how you are aligned with these characteristics and how you will be a positive contributor to their community. This is not about how great you are, but how you can make others great.

Knock ‘em dead.

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Aww thank you for your kind words!

Happy New Year!

8

Are you looking for a school with a fencing program? I’d consider adding St. Mark’s if fencing isn’t important. (They host a well known summer camp for fencing, but no fencing team during the school year).

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thanks for the recommendation. We’ll look into it!

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My daughter has a broadly similar profile and an overlapping list of schools.

I’d just underscore everything IndySceptic explained. My understanding is none of those schools will have serious reservations about your ability to do well academically given your stated qualifications, and otherwise they just want to evaluate you as a fit for their community. My daughter has generally enjoyed her interviews, and in some cases they have specifically helped her be more interested in a school, so I would approach it with that spirit–if the fit is good you should feel it in the same way the interviewer does, and if the fit isn’t good, maybe that isn’t a school to prioritize.

I note my daughter’s main sport is lacrosse, and we have typically asked if she could meet with the LAX coach, who has sometimes turned out to be an admissions official as well, and possibly also players. If you have not already, you could consider doing that for fencing. This again is primarily for your benefit, but I don’t think it hurts to make it clear you have something like that you really want to continue at their school.

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11

George School (PA.) recently added fencing as a varsity sport, so it could be a plus for you. Iirc, they have a slightly later application deadline, so if it’s of interest, there’s time.

And please, don’t sweat that B! @NiceUnparticularMan is 100% right that there is unlikely to be concern to any school. Most are far more interested with how you can fit into the community. You look like a great candidate!