the "uniqueness" factor

Prep School Admissions
1

so, as i understand it (and from what i’ve been told in my interviews), schools look for students who bring something interesting to the table. this is a pretty simple premise, except i have no idea what constitutes “interesting.”

i’m applying to a bunch of schools in TSAO (e.g. andover, exeter, choate), and it seems like everyone i’ve met that attends those schools are wildly talented at something.

the thing is, i’ve always been known for my academic strengths. but because most of the students in these schools are incredibly smart (and i don’t really have all too great a benchmark at my current school), i don’t know where i stand among them. of course, i doubt you will either, because our only interaction is through this body of text. but it’d be nice to get an outside perspective so thank you :slight_smile:

anyways, i’m known primarily for math, so it’s what i’ll be focusing on here:

  1. i took the 8th grade honors math class a year early (only 7th grader in the class) and was the only one to score an 100 on the final examination.
  2. i had to skip 8th grade because the aforementioned class was the highest math class in my middle school and i didn't want to repeat the same content (if it helps, i was also in the highest 9th grade classes when i skipped into freshman year and got among the highest grades compared to my new classmates).
  3. i took geometry and algebra 2 (both honors level) in 9th grade, which no one in my high school has done before. both full-year classes, i took geometry in four months, got a 98 on the final exam, and then switched to a2 for the remainder of the year. i got a 100 on the a2 exam, and everyone else in the class was 2 years older than me (10th graders).
  4. this year, i'm in 10th grade (considering 11th-grade switch to private schools), and i was originally in AB calc. but a month in, i felt it was going too slowly for me, so i switched into BC, which was comprised exclusively of seniors before i entered. this probably doesn't sound that great out of context, so here ya go: the way my school does AB and BC is weird. they make AB a prereq for BC, so BC goes over the AB content for a couple of months before doing actual BC content (e.g. polar coordinates, parametric equations, taylor series). so i had to catch on especially quickly when i transferred because it was expected that i knew everything from AB, when in fact, i did not. so i taught myself most of the AB content, and i have a 93 in BC.
  5. im in JHUCTY and i've taken two college-level math classes for the past two years.
  6. i got a perfect math score on the PSAT/NMSQT (as a 14yo 10th grader), and have been in the 99th-percentile for the SSAT, ISEE, SCAT, and a couple of other standardized exams given by my state.

okay that was loaded - i apologize haha. thank you for reading, and hopefully responding w some feedback! mwah <3

2

Taking courses above grade level is not unique. While not every successful applicant does, many many do. Schools are looking at your talents outside the classroom as well.

3

I would encourage you to apply for repeating 10th grade rather than entering in 11th grade. Yes, it’s an extra year of tuition but the top schools take hardly ANYONE for 11th. 10th grade is still competitive but less so.

4

Is it worth it to repeat the whole year just to complete high school at the above institutions? Do not forget at the end college is what it matters not a high school. I would definitely not lose a year if I have to go to any top high school. It is not worth it. It is a whole year of your life.

5

I many kids that went to IV leak universities and another top colleges and was two thirds in the regular public schools or average private schools. So my advice is to not repeat the year

6

sorry for the typos.

7

I’m definitely not an expert, but I’ll give my opinion.
I am actually in a similar situation as a 10th grader whose main interest is math. I applied for 11th grade without think about doing a repeat year, which now seems like a great option. Boarding school would provide me with an experience I won’t get any other time in life, even in college. I wouldn’t consider it “wasting a year.”
I have a lot of experience with contests. One of the reasons I want to go is to be surrounded with people who can share this interest. Your math ability is only as important as what you want to do with it and displaying interest.
The statistics are very intimidating for 11th grade. At this point it’s best to not think too much and wait.

8

Possibly, depending on what opportunities are available at the BS that aren’t available at the OP’s current school. For example, I’ve heard through the grapevine that doing science research is necessary these days to get accepted at CalTech. There are many more BS that offer their students the opportunity to do science research than public schools. Some of the public high schools in my metro area don’t even offer ANY lab sciences (only lecture).

9

OP, if you are 14 now I strongly suggest repeating a year and starting in 10th at BS. BS is not all about academic pursuits and you are going to be so young if you start as an 11th grader compared to your classmates. I have posted about this before - I don’t think that’s good. Again, BS is about so so so much more than academics. Please really understand that.

You will be placed, math wise, wherever you test so you don’t need to be in 11th to take high level math. We have freshmen in Calc BC. Starting any school in 11th is kind of “too late” and I know several kids who did so and struggled to adjust. That’s a problem because 11th is an important year for your transcripts for college. That’s the academic reason to repeat 10th.

10

thank you for responding! the thing is, only lawrenceville has been trying to convince me to stay back a grade. in my interviews, after explaining my situation at my current school (which is probably a bit too convoluted to get into here), all the other admissions officers i spoke to agreed that i could manage 11th grade if i were to attend their schools. and my goal for BS is more so for the programs rather than my transcript. my current school is severely underfunded in its offerings, but STEM is perhaps the most limited, so my hope was that i’d have access to more support in STEM in and out of the classroom (e.g. math teams and contests, which i haven’t had access to as of yet).

also, @CrimsonWife, i’m participating in a science research program at my school, which i included in my application. the issue is, it has like ten students out of the 1500 at my school, so it’s not a very extensive program. i did mention that i was working on quantum field theory and lattice QCD as they related to topology and analysis, though. of course, it’s not really traditional lab research, but my supervisor allowed it.

and @skieurope, i completely understand that above grade-level classes are not special. of course, math isn’t the only thing on my application. i still have a bunch of long-term extracurriculars in non-math (and non-academic) pursuits - i just didn’t know how specialized the rest of the applicant body was when it came to these “unique” interests.

11

Please list in your next reply the “long-term extracurriculars in non-math (and non-academic) pursuits” so people here on cc can give their best advice.

It’s hard to advise when you don’t give all the relevant info.

You sound like a really impressive kid! Just please give more info here for a better idea of who you are, as this is such an important decision (repeat 10th or do 11th).

I am not at all as experienced as some others with BS, but I have learned enough to know that repeating a year when entering is incredibly common. Kids do it for a variety of reasons. So, if a lot of students have repeated, and if you have already skipped a grade at your local public school (LPS in CC talk), then if you go to BS as a non-repeating 11th grader, you will be not 1 year, but 2 years younger than good number of kids in your grade level. Since you are so accelerated in your math (for a US school system) I believe you when you say you are super comfortable being with kids several years older than you in class. But, at BS, you won’t just be in class with kids. You are LIVING there with them, round the clock. I think you would have a better experience entering as a 10th grader if possible.

You sound, by the fact that you have self learned some advanced math and the bit of academic research you listed (quantum field theory), like a what is often called a gifted student. I know a bit about that. Giftedness, if that’s you, is typically not acceleration in every of a child’s life - and I’m not talking about academics. You may have other areas of your life (maybe social development, is an example often give [I’m not judging that by your post, you seem to be a mature writer, just by the literature on giftedness] or executive functioning [planning, organization…]) that are not “advanced” but rather age-typical or even a little delayed from age peers. So if your academics are 12th (13th+) grade in some areas, 9th - 10th grade in others (non-math things like English, history, art), and your personal development is 9th-10th grade, and your body (you are a teen going through changes) is 9th-10th, I think you should repeat 10th.

Lastly, many of the BS that offer really strong research projects often try to have students do that in 11th grade not 12th (so the research project can show up on college applications, plus also 12th is so busy with applications, they don’t want kids to take on too much). And the BSs that I have looked into with special research emphasis have students prep for that experience (maybe a pre-research project class) in 10th grade. Others CCers can chime in who know more about this. I think your desire for research better fits a repeat 10th grade model. It would give you time in 10th grad to adjust to BS, and also to find out details about research options and see if it would be with a group/team, on your own with a faculty advisor, on your own with a local university professor plus a BS advisor, etc. Some of the schools the research is a summer program. And regardless of how it is, if you are going to work with a university, whether for their resources like their lab, or with a university professor mentoring, your BS will have to know you well to make that happen (they don’t want to pair up a kid who has really bad work habits with a university!) so, again, giving your BS 10th grade to get to know you, may open way more doors than just showing up in 11th and expecting to dive right in in 11th grade to research.

Some schools offer merit scholarships. If you do not want to repeat 10th due to the cost, you should research schools with merit scholarships. In the small pool we applied to, 1/3 had merit aide. And since you are already at a not well funded LPS and not going to a local private school even though you think you LPS is not very good, then you may be someone whose parent(s) are in the income bracket to qualify for Financial Aide (FA of CC) to reduce the cost of tuition. So you shouldn’t base the decision of 10th versus 11th on cost, because there are resources to help your family with that.