democratic school- its great, but am wondering what admissions will think

Prep School Admissions
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<p>hi! im applying for junior yr at the usual places (exeter, milton, choate, lawrenceville, etc. ), wont need FA, and i used to attend a public magnet school w/ IB, but switched to a democratic school about 1 1/2 months ago. its basically a system of thought in which students should be allowed to think for themselves in terms of educational curriculum, ie there is no official imposed curriculum, students are placed on the same levels as teachers in the sense that (when we vote in our judicial system) a 5 year old’s vote has the same weight as a 50 yr old. (theres age mixing too) basically i felt thta i needed a change of atmostphere and that i really wanted to evaluate why and what i was learning in terms of an ‘official education.’ im feeling quite happy right now, i get to study whatever i like- emerson essays, wilde, plato, albert camus, nietzsche, theory of knowledge, all sorts of good stuff, :slight_smile: im also doing some anthro/sociology stuff right now, but im afraid my math is a bit basic- im still in precal. unfortunately. >.<
my interests include filmmaking (am going to idyllwild for 2nd semester), fencing(went to 2005 nationals but didnt win), violin and piano since i was 5, speech/debate, moot court finalist, i like writing and community service alot(chinese school tutoring, sacramento opera, sac youth syphony, UCD neuroscience PM&R department, children’s science museum, etc.)- id really love to apply to exeter (my dream school!) but am definitely concerned about how my choice of education will be looked upon by admissions. truth be told, my parents werent very supportive of my decision to leave my top notch public school. >.<
will this come to hurt me later? </p>

<p>my grades in middle school and frosh yr were definitely supbar w/ respect to my own abilities, but i sort of had alot of personal stuff on my plate,(family issues, social workers, anxiety, ADD, blahblah) so i guess that sort of affected my school? my gpa from reg. school is awful, but i managed to bring up my C average to A’s in my last semester. (which i am most definitely proud of :slight_smile: hehe) i was also doing full diploma IB at my old school. </p>

<p>so basically my question is that, how will this look to admissions, should i be looking at easier schools, (its been challenging for me to find schools w/ strong academics that also have chinese, filmmaking, and fencing. yeah, im kinda picky) i am waiting for my ssat results, am working on my essays (fortunately the topics apply to me pretty well and will be a chance for me to explain my educational process), im sure my recs will be good, and im usually fine w/ interviews because i adore conversation hehe. ^<em>^
thx for anyone taking the time to reading this post! apologizies for the excessive length, i tend to babble.
dreaming big,
sabregiel121 ^</em>^</p>

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<p>I think your math is fine for these schools (I think that when I am a sophomore I will be taking PreCal too…) but what you should get across in your essays and interviews (if you haven’t had them) is your ability to overcome what you have overcome. It seems like you worked to retain an A average, and you should talk about what kind of obstacles you faced and how you changed them to suit you, if you did face any obstacles. </p>

<p>What were your SSATs?</p>

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<p>Do you go to SVS?</p>

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<p>yup, indeed i do. :slight_smile: how’d u know?</p>

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<p>i have yet to see my ssat scores- but im not sure if i did that well, ill be lucky to score in the 90’s, if at all.</p>

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<p>Have you taken the SSATs yet?</p>

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<p>yup, took it in december. still waiting tho.</p>

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<p>I have a family member who was looking at the school. I believe she ended up at Sac Country Day.</p>

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<p>hehe, what a small world. ^_^</p>

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<p>just got my ssat scores from the december administration- overall 95% percentile, im kinda worried about my math score (81% percentile), reading section was 88%, but i got an 800 on the verbal so i guess that helped raised things? </p>

<p>anyone know if this is acceptable for exeter/andover?</p>

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<p>Good job. Did you get them emailed to you?</p>

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<p>Those scores are great, sabre. If you feel you can do better in Math (take a practice test and see how you did compared to your 81) then take it again if you feel there is a more than 5 percent difference. One of my friends got a 55 on the Math SSAT, but usually gets an 85 on the practice tests, so she took it again. If you don’t have a very big percentile difference, then you’re going to get about the same score if you retake it, so there’s no point.</p>

<p>Great job on verbal. :)</p>

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<p>yup, email report. is it just me, or is the ssat kind of a ripoff in terms of cost? imean they even charge the schools $35 for each student’s report! </p>

<p>i studied for the test starting a few days before - but what sort of ****ed me off is that my brother got a 97% (800’s on the math and verbal) and he didnt study, and didnt even bother to check his answers. (because he’s awfully careless) he spent like most of the testing period doodling over his exambook. i dont think the ssat should hold so much weight on an application- it doesnt seem to measure very much anyways.</p>

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<p>Trust me; you’re not the only one.</p>

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<p>Before I took the test the Director of Admissions said the SSAT is one of the least important factors in the admissions decisions. She said teacher recommendations, the interview, and fit matter the most.</p>

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<p>whoa do they block off stuff on this forum?</p>

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<p>Well, the SSAT does correlate with many things (IQ and SAT scores) but I think that personality factors are also very important in any decision.</p>

<p>I got a 97, but a 90 on Math. I checked my answers, too, but didn’t study.</p>

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<p>wow thats a great score, olivia567. uknow, idk its funny how some ppl study alot for this test but yet other ppl just go in and do their best. course i wasnt one of them lol, i was poring over the princeton review book the night before. >.<</p>

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<p>sabre, when do you think I will get my scores? Within a few days or like a week?</p>

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<p>Thanks sabre. :slight_smile:
Where are you applying?</p>

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<p>johnathan1-
hmm, um im actually not sure. i took the test in december, and i ordered the web service bundle thing. i know that if you take a look at the brochure they have the offical report dates listed in them. (ie when the scores are released to schools, late score reporting, etc. ) </p>

<p>olivia567-
lol actually im not very sure. my parents are telling me not to apply to exeter and andover, (exeter’s my ultimate dream school, its always been ^_^) im applying for sure to taft, lawrenceville, choate, the cambridge school of weston (safety), and maybe hotchkiss and milton. god willing, i promise i will get in somewhere haha. jk, im nonreligious…</p>