Hello. I am an 8th grader applying to boarding school and I would like feedback on how to strengthen my application.
Demographics
American citizen, live in MD, attend top private school in the DMV according to Niche.
I am a legacy at Deerfield, lawrenceville, Exeter, St.Marks, and St. Paul’s. Some of my family were heads of school, others were not.
Awards
I was a 2026 Caroline D. Bradley semi-finalist, and have won many local writing competitions. (I need help here).
Extracurriculars Service hours (100+), swim for NCAP and have raced in PMSL all star and divisional meets. My time for the 1500m freestyle is 14:58. I have been swimming since age 6. I do pottery, watercolor, and creative writing intensives through the CTY advanced honors program. I have played the violin since age three, and participate in the state philharmonic as a third chair. I also have been learning sign language for a friend, and have become fluent. I am also the head of the school newspaper for the MS and on student council.
Schools Applying to Exeter, Lawrenceville, Choate, Deerfield, Andover, Hotchkiss, etc. Am working on narrowing down list. I also have been to lots of conventions and fairs, and some admission officers have loved me. I was asked from Cate’s head of admission to interview and he said he would come from California to interview me, but I am not sure.
Please chance me and find ways I can make my application stronger!
The easiest way for you to torch your candidacy is to gin up inauthentic performative AO-bait. It comes off insencere, which is exactly what these places screen for. More importantly, you don’t need it. Your application stands by itself based on what you’ve outlined, assuming it’s all legit.
The second easiest way to get cut is to not have a clearly articulated answer for why you want to go boarding school at all, school XYZ specifically and how you can contribute to the community. Can’t just give them a list showing how awesome you are. You have to say why the things you do are meaningful to you and how that might benefit them. You haven’t done that here yet. I don’t know why you want to go to Exeter.
Relax. You’ve got everything going for you. Be yourself.
Exeter likes to see kids with passion. Spend some time thinking about what lights you up, how that fits in with the school. Maybe write it down and organize your thoughts. It isn’t hard but does take some deliberate thinking. Then just be yourself. Talk about bringing that passion to the community. Ask not what the school can do for you but what you can do for the school.
Is there any way I can make my extracurriculars better? My school offers the AMC8 and the MATHCOUNTS programs, although I am not mathematically inclined. I am also planning to apply to the Scholastic art and writing awards and many of the NYT writing competitions.
Oh and I frogot- I have been in the play/musical for the last 2 years playing a lead/supporting lead. My swim team is nationally ranked at #6 in the country and #1 in the PMS league for the last 7 years.
Should Andover be on your list? They have the best swim team of all the New England boarding schools, so I’m surprised you’re not considering it, especially if Exeter is on your list.
It’s nice to have legacy status with these schools. Your chances should be very good with the schools where your family members were heads of school, as well as the ones your parents attended.
You have exactly 3 months to finalize your application package. What you have is strong enough. Definitely talk about your leadership roles in your school play in your essays, interviews, or both. Do not worry about MathCounts because it is unlikely to accomplish much in a month or two, to make a difference.
Finally, if you come from a family with a rich boarding school history/experience, you really should ask your family members what schools might be a good for you, because they know you best. You cannot assemble a school list purely based on prestige. For example, Exeter is similar to Andover while L’ville is more in the same group as Choate. SPS and Hotchkiss have an entirely different vibe than the aforementioned ones. You need to do deeper homework to learn about each school in order to shine in an interview.
Be yourself during any interview; do not change because you think that it will impress the interviewer.
Do not highlight any particular activity or achievement in the essays unless asked specifically to do do. Highlight your inner thoughts that reveal something about you that may not be readily apparent to the reader.
Possibly the worst advice that I have ever read about college application essay writing is that if a person found an anonymous essay on the floor, that person would know that it was you. The better guidance is to do the opposite; if a person found an anonymous essay on the floor, that person would be surprised to learn that it was written by you and about you.
That’s great, but you still haven’t said why you’re applying to these schools. All I can gather is that they have fancy names and fancy names are a tradition in your family.
What’s your answer?
Also, your legacy status is a major plus, but can also be a negative in some cases. Example: if your Mom and/or Dad went to Exeter, they’re not going to accept you at Andover unless you have a full throated proclamation that you will come if accepted (the quiet part no one says out loud).
Which brings us back to the “Why (insert school here)?”
Just reinforcing that I believe the strongest applications and strongest interviews actually start with how you pick schools for your list.
Like, you start generally with reflecting on why you are interested in boarding schools. You then investigate different schools and think about where you might thrive the most. And you also think about how you could contribute to that school community, basically becoming part of how other kids there will thrive.
Once you have some clarity on which schools might be the best bets for you based on your preliminary investigation, you visit (if possible) and interview. Obviously you want to represent yourself well, but you should also be open to realizing maybe a school you liked on paper is not actually a top choice for you. But if in person it still fits what you are hoping for, and you can still see yourself being a thriving contributor there, you can just enthusiastically explain all that in your interview.
And then you write essays which reinforce all that, in ways personal to you.
So in a way that sounds pretty simple, and it kind of is. Where people might get tripped up is applying to boarding schools that don’t really make sense for them, or perhaps to boarding schools in general when that doesn’t make sense for them.
But if you really can envision yourself thriving at and contributing to a specific school, then all you really have to do when interviewing and applying is show why you think that. That will give you your best chance of them seeing things the same way. And then apply to a reasonable list overall, and you should get some great offers to consider.