Chance me for US top boarding schools (9th grade)

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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  1. Background
  • Planning to pay full fee, but thinking about applying to financial aid partially
  • Comes from South Korea, middle upper class family
  • Attends International School rn
  1. Grades
  • School uses IB MYP curriculum, 6th grade transcript was all 7/7, and 7th grade transcript I had all 7/7s except for spanish phase 2A where I had 6/7 (near perfect gpa)
  1. Extracurriculars and awards
    • Creator and leader of club Music for Charity Youth Organization where the club
      plays for the underprivileged (hospitals, charity centers), also raising money for
      those organizations by playing concerts - In and out of school club organization
    • Played cello for +9 years, have put extreme dedication (practice +8 hours a day)
      have won country-wide and international competition prizes
      - 2023 Mahler International Cello Competition: Winner of 1st prize in category 4
      - 2020 David Popper International Cello Competition: 3rd place in 1st category
      - 2024 Saint Saens International Cello Competition: 1st Place/Platinum Prize and
      Exceptional artistry award
      - 2020, 2022-2023: two time medalist in Junior category 1st place and
      Exceptional prize in Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition
      - Invited to venues in the UK and Austria (Royal Albert Hall) for concert
      - In country cello competitions
      - Concert organized by Seoul Central Conservatory “Rising Star”
    • Accepted to the New England Music Conservatory Summer Institute as cello player
    • Chosen to represent South Korea for CREDECA Math & Science Olympiad
    • Prize winner in International round for Math and Science Olympiad (CREDECA)
    • Section leader in 8th grade for cello section for MS Orchestra (school orch)
      - School Orchestra won Platinum (highest) rank at 2022-2023 school year KAIAC
      Big Ensemble festival
    • Cello section leader for 6, 7, and 8th grade Strings Class.
      - Took Strings class for 3 consecutive years as a cello player
    • Played tennis for 2+ years (played in 8th grade athletics)
  2. Stats
    • Havent taken yet but I’m pretty sure I can get above 90-95th percentile in SSAT
    • TOEFL grades: 115/120
  3. Personal Stuff
    • Global Trip to Spain to learn a Spanish Course in the Salamanca University
    • Poetry writer and lyricist (I’ve entered some poems in competitions but I haven’t
      heard back yet)
    • Amateur piano player (played low level piano for +3 years)
    • Other informal leadership positions throughout school

:sob: I’m concerned that I’m only strong in one particular area and not a lot of other subjects, is that a problem for my application? Can you chance me for top boarding schools (Andover, Exeter, Groton…etc) and recommend other top schools I should apply for?
Thank you so much :slight_smile:

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Just as an aside, if your eventual goal is acceptance to a top US college, you might want to consider boarding schools (or private day schools while living with local families) within fairly easy train ride distance to NYC. You are an excellent candidate for Juilliard’s precollege program. Not only would you get the best classical music education available all through high school, you would also significantly increase your chances at acceptance to top US colleges (and schools of music or conservatories, if that is what you desire at that point). Juilliard precollege students tend to do extremely well in the college admissions process.

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Reach out to the music programs at the schools that you are interested in. It’s okay to have one deep interest. What would be the most help is to get someone from the school to advocate for you. Good luck.

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You may want to edit your original post and be less specific about your music awards to maintain anonymity. :blush:

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thank you for the concern :sob:

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Just as a side note, my eventual goal is not to be accepted into a music high school or college, but just a top boarding school in the US :sob:
It’s just that I’m really involved in music as an extracurricular

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Understood that your immediate goal.is boarding school, but what are your college aspirations? Extremwly high achievement in music can help you to get into a top college.

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In my experience, Hotchkiss and perhaps Exeter have the best cello teachers and music departments overall in the world of academics-first boarding schools.

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Unless you’re not motivated to continue with music, it can definitely be the “spike” that gets you into a top US college. Aside from Juilliard pre in NYC, which I think you could get into, based upon your competition awards, there is New England Conservatory precollege in Boston, plus there are other programs in Boston and NYC that are also worthwhile. Do not underestimate the boost to your college applications that coming out of Juilliard precollege, or having participated in Boston Youth Symphony (if you want Harvard - they have the same conductor) can give you. All of my kid’s friends from these programs got into tippy-top colleges, as long as they also had good grades.

For these reasons, I think that you should seriously be looking at boarding schools within striking distance of these programs, or top day schools where you can board with a family, near these programs. Both Boston and NYC have excellent commuter rail systems that you could take into the cities for these programs that all take place on Saturdays or Sundays. Some of the other major conservatories in big cities in the US have similar weekend programs, too. Even smaller conservatories in small cities may have precollege programs, but they don’t carry the same prestigious name clout that Juilliard precollege does.

Look at Lawrenceville in central NJ, Noble and Greenhough in Dedham, MA, Middlesex in Concord, MA, Peddie in central NJ, Concord Academy in Concord, MA, Princeton International School of Math and Science IF you have a strong interest in STEM, St Marks in Framingham, MA, maybe Milton south of Boston. They all are within a commuter train ride of either NYC or Boston, for these programs. There are others (Choate and Loomis in central CT, for instance) but they are over 2 hours travel time to NYC or Boston, which makes it very difficult to get to these programs.

Take a look at this site and mapping tool for locating prep schools within commuter rail line distance of NYC and Boston. Google 2024 Best Boarding High Schools in America on niche dot com for a list and map search tool.

Of course, if you’re not interested in continuing with cello throughout high school, if you have other strong interests that you would prefer to develop, then being within striking distance of a top pre-college conservatory program would not matter to you.

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I’ve read your comment and here’s my thought. The NEC Pre-College program is just as good as JPC, but the main difference is how skilled the players are. NEC has a big gap between the least skilled and the most skilled players, while JPC has a smaller gap. Many talented musicians, including winners of big competitions, have studied at NEC Pre-College. Also, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (BYSO) isn’t the only great youth orchestra in town; the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (BPYO) is also a top choice for music and help with college. The conductor, Benjamin Zander, is very influential in Boston and has many college connections, including a family member who was a head at Harvard. BPYO doesn’t charge tuition, and their yearly tours are paid for by sponsors. A lot of students from well-known schools like Andover and Exeter choose BPYO over BYSO. BYSO can be tough for newcomers. For example, my friend who won a Grammy with the New York Youth Symphony moved to Boston and only got into BYSO’s third-best orchestra, but he got into BPYO, which is considered the best in the area.

I’ve never known anyone from the top schools in the Northeast who could manage to go to JPC every weekend. One of my friends used to go to JPC but switched to NEC because JPC was too far from Andover.

For the original poster, some of the best music and STEM programs are at Exeter, St. Paul’s School, Hotchkiss, and Andover. You should really check them out—they’re excellent schools. Good luck with your application!

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BPYO is really a college conservatory level program, with some exceptional high schoolers in it. It is an amazing ensemble; however, Benjamin Zander is 85 years old. May he live and be well, but he is the driving force behind BPYO - I don’t know if it will continue after him.

It is possible to get to Juilliard from Choate, but it is a 2.5 hr trip on Amtrak, but with trains that go from Wallingford at a time that could work with the program. There are top day schools closer, and it is often possible to find a good family to live with. And of course, the boarding schools in central NJ are within commuter rail distance of NYC, but again, a 2 hr trip each way - and then you still have to get to the Lincoln Center area, so an additional subway ride, too.

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Actually, about 1 hour 15. But yes, still tied to a schedule and needing to get 25 blocks uptown. It’s a real commitment which can be tough to juggle with much of what draws students to the BS experience.

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Attempting to juggle Juilliard Prep etc. while attending boarding school as a boarder is exceptionally difficult, with too much sacrifice of what boarding school offers. For proper balance, the OP would be wise to investigate the music programs of various schools and even the backgrounds of the cello teachers. If none are to her liking, she could probably get lessons via zoom from bigger names, should she desire.

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From what I’ve heard the BPYO program will continue getting support from sponsors even if Zander retires (Rumors have it he will retire in ~2-3 years) and they already have a assistant conductor.

I know one person from Choate who did JPC during her freshmen year but she dropped out of it because it was too big of a time commitment.

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Andover’s new Falls Music Center:

“The facility will be Phillips Academy’s first purpose-built structure for music education and performance. Located on Phillips Street, adjacent to the Peabody Institute of Archaeology, the 30,000-square-foot center will become the western anchor of a new “cultural corridor” on campus.”