PEA/PA/SPS Chance Me

randomfloridian
Sat, 23 Dec 2017 22:01:30 +0000

Hi, I’m 13 years old and am applying for the 9th grade for Phillips Exeter Academy, Phillips Andover Academy, and St. Paul’s School.

I am not an international applicant; I am from the US. And yes, I will need financial aid…which I’ve heard lowers your chances.

I have some strong community service EC’s (NJHS, volunteer at the local non-profit pet shelter), have a first-degree black belt in taekwondo, and write reviews for several literature websites/magazines. I’ve won a few competitions (speech contest, Battle of the Books, and a writing competition) I also send letters of positivity through a program to help people suffering with depression. If it helps, I’ve had straight A’s my entire life. I am also in my school’s CSI club.

My Phillips Exeter interview was my first interview, and I was so nervous, so I think I did ok, but not very well. St. Paul’s was pretty good, in my opinion, because the interviewer seemed pretty impressed (not to sound conceited or anything, sorry if I come off that way!). And for Phillips Andover, I think the interview went pretty good as well.

The thing that is really concerning me is my SSAT scores. I did ok on the Reading and Writing section (96 and 92 percentile respectively), but on math, I was in the 53 percentile. Overall, I scored in the 85th percentile. I know that these schools are highly competitive and the average score is above or at the 90th percentile (correct me if I’m wrong).

I know that SSAT scores are only a part of it, but somebody said that if I don’t get a 90th percentile or higher, the admissions board just throws away the entire application. …Ah, I’m getting nervous just thinking about that.

Just wanted to hear advice/thoughts from seasoned prep school parents/students. Thanks for reading this!