Chance Me! (The Lawrenceville School, Peddie, Blair, Hun, PDS

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
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Im a First-Gen Guatemalan American student who Is also a first gen seeker for schools of high calibre like L’ville.

Grades:

English I Honors 98

Alg II Honors 94

Env. Sci (couldn’t take honors bio due to overlapping periods with alg II hnrs) 98

Journalism 94

PE 94

Seminar 92

World History Honors 99

(all hardest classes I could take)

Expecting stellar LOR from English, Math.

Good Rec from counselor.

9th applying for 10th as day for all except Blair and Hun.

VERY LIMITED ECS:

Student Council

My L’ville interview went great, and I emphasized to my interviewer I literally have no ECs because of financial constraints (lville). Also mentioned I wanted to come to l ville because it has many opportunities that I yearn for.

I also pointed out they didn’t state they had a debate club on their extracurricular list,

I told them I was interested in Public Speaking, Debate, Model Congress (I specified NJ Model Congress, Princeton Model Congress).

Also emphasized I loved badminton and volleyball, but my school is more focused on basketball, so they wouldn’t approve of these clubs.

I also told them about how I helped my father with his immigration forms in 8th grade, and that I got into Immigration law because of my father.

I founded a club to serve incoming algebra l honors students in 8th grade to ease transition into the class.

Overall, I had a great connection with my interviewer, they said I was more well versed compared to most applicants.

Other interviews haven’t done: Hun,Peddie,pds

Blair interview was ok, my interviewer was very dry.

About Me:

Living around the Trenton Area,

Attending a charter school (then private school) around there,

Passion for immigration law, politics, government.

Low-income first Generation Guatemalan-American, First Generation student looking to attend a school like L ville, First-Gen to go to college (if you exclude my sibling in community college), father is only one in my household to work.

Last year, I applied to just L ville and a local private high school, got into the local, rejected from l ville.

SSAT last year, 34th percentile (I know its way too low).

This was with no tutoring, prep, or anything.

I believe I’m capable, I just need to learn the topics on the test.

Ranking of my schools (highest, lowest)

Lville, Blair, Peddie, Hun, PDS (might apply, unsure)

Planning to add a bill I wrote in 8th grade (revised of course) for Princeton Model Congress (should I?)

I will check this frequently, so ask away.

I know these schools want top-tier students, but I simply cannot attend events literally because there are not many opportunities available to me. a big one being money and transportation.

Any questions, drop em’.

I want to know, what can I do to maximize my chances, and what are my chances as-is right now.

Thanks!

2

Best of luck to you. Your number 1 thing now is to study for the SSAT. You’d be amazed at how much better you can do with disciplined practice. The discipline part is the ballgame. But if you can set aside time daily to work on it and review the questions that are giving you trouble, I’m hopeful you can do well. Your grades are good, so take away any concerns they may have about your ability to do Lawrenceville-level by showing up well on the test. And you don’t need to get 99th percentile, so don’t put undue pressure on yourself around this topic. Relax and prepare.

After that its about selling them on why you would be a good fit at their school, which means demonstrating you understand what their school is about and how you can add to their community.

Rooting for you.

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Thank you! Yes, youre absolutely right about the studying. Im gonna try to get a teacher to show me how to actually do these topics, hopefully it’ll make an impact.

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Your drive and ambition are impressive! My guess is that schools will appreciate this. While full FA is always tricky, it’s exactly students like you that it’s intended for. It really could go any way.

Your SSAT score might be showing that while you have worked really hard in middle school, you may not be adequately prepared for an intense high school, and NO school wants to set a student up for failure. If you just need to prep for the test, do it.

You may want to think about applying to Solebury, George, and Milton Hershey. The first two are close to Trenton, the other is further away but likely to be affordable.

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Hopefully so. Just had my first tutoring session (I skipped geometry, so I had tutoring on that),

No joke, learned most material and could do what was covered only after only a couple attempts.

I honestly think I’ll do well, I just need an actual teacher to teach me!

I see the recommendations. I’ll take this into account, actually.

Thanks for the response!

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Good for you!! This will be a good story for your application!

The reason I suggest a number of schools is not simply to increase the odds of having a single acceptance but to increase the odds of having a choice in the spring. These schools are quite different from each other, and while you may be very adaptable, you will likely have the greatest success at the school that feels most comfortable.

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I know Lville has a debate club! Good Luck!!!

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Thanks! I’ve seen your stats before. Great candidate. Good luck!

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Completely agree with all of the guidance here from @gardenstategal .

PDS isn’t really a FA school and Hun much less so than the others.

I would REALLY lean in to Milton Hershey - it’s a beautiful campus and an amazing school. You should also be aware of Mercersburg in your search.

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Thank you for your suggestion. I have started looking into Milton Hershey thanks to you guys. Thanks for all the help!

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