Chances on boarding schools as a sophomore with mid gpa

Prep School Admissions Prep School Chances
1

hey y’all i’m currently in 10th grade applying to boarding schools for 11th, here are my stats! let me know what you guys think :slight_smile:

white/mena from fl

3.7 W gpa, 3.5 UW (my school is stingy with honors/ap and i havent taken any aps so far, 5 honors classes which i have gotten mostly A’s in. GPA is up from a 3.2 first sem of 9th grade :frowning:)

1270 psat (720 ebrw 550 math, going test optional for all that allow me to, submitting psat otherwise)

awards:

honor roll 2nd sem 9th grade, 1st sem 8th grade, & 1st sem 10th

3 rising star awards on writing that i’ve published on wikihow

probably gonna win a service award this year

outstanding delegate at a model un conference

excellent at district thespian competition

ecs:

acting classes 11 years + vocal training for 9

model un 2 years

leadership 1 year

writing for wikihow 3 years (6 articles published total)

community service (volunteering at food banks, reading to children in my neighborhood, etc)

drama club 4 years

piano 3 years

aided in the publishing of 2 children’s books about reporting abuse

rec letters:

i have 4 total, basic english and math recommendations (i don’t think my english teacher likes me that much but we can pray) as well as a personal recommendation and “other teacher recommendation” which i know will both be good.

additional: i have 4 c’s. this is my weak point :frowning: they’re from 2nd sem of 8th grade and 1st sem of 9th because of family circumstances, and i’ve shared this with my interviewers who generally seemed positive. 4/6 interviews done so far, 3 went really well and one really bad. 2/3 of the positive interviews sent me followup emails including one detailing clubs she thinks i’d do good in at the school lol. also my family needs financial aid + my essays r probably a 9/10 (i’ve had them reviewed by a teacher)

overall i’m not applying to any of the super duper selective boarding schools (andover groton exeter etc) most of the ones i’m going for have like 20-40% acceptance rates + i’m applying to 6 schools total

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forgot to add — my articles have over 40k views total which i have detailed in the application and i’m applying to george/pennington/peddie/kent/govs/lawrence. i’m not sure if my estimate on the acceptance rates was wrong it probably is lol but george is my top choice

3

11th grade has fewer openings than 10th, which automatically makes things more challenging.

A lot will depend on fit and availability - both openings and FA. I like your (more reasonable than most) list of schools, but none of them is actually a safety. In you spare time, do some research on “rolling admissions” in case you don’t have options after M10.

4

11th is always tough to chance, but you look like you have a lot to bring to a community. I think odds are in favor of success. Your interests align really well with George, so fingers crossed it works out for you!

5

hi :slight_smile: thanks for responding, i’ve seen a lot of ur replies on george school related posts so i really appreciate it haha!! i think i did really well in my interview and the gs alum i spoke to said that she thinks i would fit in really well so i’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed as i had like a total dream school moment lol (not to sound corny)

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6

i’ve definitely done some research on rolling admissions but honestly my backup would just be to switch to my local charter school because my reason for transferring schools now is mainly related to outside circumstances and i also need FA so i’m aware my chances aren’t great

7

what are the schools you are applying too?

8

OP said george/pennington/peddie/kent/govs/lawrence

9

kindof useless update but i just wanted to add that i’m also thinking of last minute submitting my application to mercersburg b/c i’ve heard good things about it

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10

If you can, I say go for it. It really is a great school (I’m applying for 9th.) I think completing the interview before the deadline-January 31-is required so make sure you schedule one asap. Good luck!

11

You sound like an interesting candidate with some unusual EC. I like that you have a more realistic group of quality schools. Your grades aren’t super high but on an upward trend. I think candidates are stronger when they apply with test scores, particularly when the you need aid. Is there a reason you didn’t take the SSAT? Are you open to repeating 10th grade? You’d likely be a stronger candidate for the school and it would give you more time to build your college profile and SAT.

12

My mom couldn’t afford to pay for the SSAT because we were also paying for my grandma’s cancer treatment at the time, same reason why I can’t take an extra year of highschool! I’m also satisfied with my PSAT scores because I’m 97th percentile and 99th in my state but I will be getting a tutor for national merit next year : P

13

You can get a waiver for the SSAT fee. Talk to your high school counselor. The SSAT has good practice tools. The same tools will be useful in preparing for the SAT. As for that, PSAT prep is more or less the same as SAT prep which is largely free within Kahn academy. I think FL has a much lower cutoff. (Boarding school students become their own hyper-competitive test bracket so you wouldn’t compete in the FL score group anymore.)

14

I’ve tried to get a waiver, but my mom makes just enough that I’m ineligible.
I’m really not too worried about the test scores because I’m not applying to many highly selective schools.
My applications are also all submitted now, so there really isn’t anything I can do.

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15

You’re fine! You sound like a student these schools would be happy to have. Hoping it works out for you.

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