your first essay reads like a book report, it doesn’t say how it impacted you
I’m a hs freshman, but I skipped 8th so we’re the same age. I also chose the book prompt bc i love reading (i screwed it up too tho, made it way too over dramatic) and I wrote about crime and punishment (holy shizzle its so gooooood!) and how it really spoke to me about human nature and made me appreciate the good inside of everyone
Please people, do not post your essays on here! Even without the essays, several of you post way too much identifying information and that is not a good idea. I know for fact that colleges monitor what is posted about them on CC, and I would not be surprised if boarding schools did as well. If they do they can very easily figure out who you are. The chance threads are fairly useless to begin with but this is way over the top.
Yeah, the book essay wasn’t great. Do you think it will affect me that much? Also how hard do they take a few grammar mistakes in your essays? I found one stupid one in the last sentence where it should have been “in solitude”?
It’s not that big of a deal I don’t think, as long as it’s not too distracting.
Have you had your interview yet?
GREAT NEWS GUYS!!!
My safety school pulled through! I got my Delbarton acceptance letter today. At least I still have a very high-quality school to fall back on if all these boarding schools (which as you know are very very selective) reject me. My Pingry decision letter comes on February 7th. I’m quite confident I’ll get in as the interviewer really loved me and couldn’t stop talking about my amazing qualities to my parents. My Andover/Exeter interviews are next Thursday/Friday. I’m not going to posting anything until after the interviews; so wish me good luck!
@AKmath congratulations. PS it would have been a better if you had omitted the “safety” and “fall back on”. I sure hope the AO isn’t reading this as you’ve posted quite a lot of information that could identify you.
There would be no admissions consequences if Delbarton’s AO is reading this.
But it is always good to preserve anonymity on internet boards.
Congratulations! Delbarton is a nice option.
What is your UTR for tennis?
Hey guys, just had my Exeter interview today.
I’d probably rate it an 11/10. It went super well and there’s no way I think it could have gone better. We really bonded and talked for a long time about mostly political stuff, which is my passion. The interview was supposed to be 20-25 minutes long… I was in there for ~45 according to my mom. The interviewer [who was the Dean if Admissions] told my parents that he was extremely impressed by me and knew right away that I was an extremely knowledgeable passionate person. I don’t mean to count my eggs before they hatch, but he told my parents “I can’t wait to see how he’d do with Simon [a person he interviewed earlier that week], I’d love to pair them together and see how they do, they both love politics and especially economics”. I knew this was good sign and at this point I’m more optimistic that I’ll get in. I visited for the first time today and really loved it. It was absolutely amazing and no surprise, the best high school I’ve been too by far. Everything from the classes to the people were superb. I really hope I get in as it will certainly be the perfect fit for me.
(Andover is tomorrow)
No offense but no one really needs updates on your application progress. I am also an applicant, and like you, I am anxious and excited for the results. CC is not going to increase your chances of admission. We get that you are excited. Go do a fun activity to take your mind off of things.
Read nothing into it.
No offense, but if you don’t want updates, don’t read the thread. The OP is quite free to write updates, but you do not get to tell users what they can or cannot post. Feel free to post your own updates on your own thread or go do "a fun activity to take your mind off of things. "
Regarding these interviews, my experience has given me the following wisdom: if you think you screwed up, yes you did, but if you think you nailed it, read nothing into it. My friend’s kid had such a great interview at one of the boardings that the kid ended up being invited to a dinner by the same AO that night… and he did not get in. My own experience wrt my DS was similar - there was absolutely no correlation between our positive feeling and his admission result, although there was some relationship between our negative feeling and his result.
When someone finishes the interview super quickly, in certain instances it could be that the candidate is a sure winner and AO does not want to waste his time checking further. From the school’s view, the interview is a chance to verify and check off the list; AO is much less interested in the specific contents of conversation. So the important point is that you get the check marks right (character, confidence, humility, clarity, etc., but most importantly it provides a verification / confirmation that it truly is you and not someone else, as they will later open up and read your folder). I know this is superficial, but your deeper side they already have in the application. Many kids do not get this point and try a hail Mary move (trying to play a misunderstood genius when numbers do not measure up.)
Now, in your case, it certainly appears that the AO has checked off right and that is great for you. You just raised your chance by 10~20%. Now you only have to clear the remaining gazillion hurdles. At our PE interview, AO actually seemed quite concerned that my DS would not be a good fit for the H table (“is he applying other schools too? that’s good.”) and we realized we were out. And we did get rejected. We actually appreciated candor and frankness of the AO as it made us erase PE off our mind early on, putting more efforts in other great schools which are A LOT.
But this was not the norm. Other than this, for some strange reason, for us, the schools that were radio silent after the deadline were the ones that sent us the good news on M10, and the schools that appeared most enthusiastic to us were the ones that flatout rejected us. Many in between fell into the waitlist category. So maybe the reticence was “we picked you already; we know what we want.” sort of situation? I wouldn’t know. But I did learn that I should read absolutely nothing into kind gestures and good will signs by schools.
I am not telling anyone what they can or cannot post. I am simply giving the majority opinion. No one likes to see a spam of Snapchat stories. Specifics of interviews or essays that contain a lot of identifiable information should be messaged to interested parties.
Someone has got to be honest, and that someone is me. Sugarcoating does more harm than good. If someone fishes for compliments, I am going to assess, then give constructive criticism if applicable.
If you or anyone is offended by my integrity and bluntness which is a core part of my identity and one of my most positive attributes, feel free to disregard my comments.
(Even if my friends get slightly hurt by my bluntness, they also thank me and they appreciate it because it might as well be their close friend that tells them the truth.)
@saddoughnut27 - The haters gonna hate. BTW how is it possible for a doughnut to be sad?
Anyway, My Andover interview went very well and maybe even better than the Exeter one. It was a lot less free-flowing and it was more of her asking questions and me answering, but none the less my interviewer still told my parents similar and maybe even better things than the Dean of Admissions at Exeter told them. I think this lifted a great burden off my chest, and now I know I did my best and now I just have to hope for the best.
I have a few quick questions though (and one for Andover attendees/alums too)
- How much bearing does the parent interview have? My dad foolishly asked the Exeter guy if he thought I was ready for boarding school and according to my mom, his tone was different for the rest of the interview.
- (For people who have been in Andover) How much of a difference do you think not having Harkness in Math and Science was. I really like Harkness and I was wondering if anyone thinks it made that much of a difference in STEM-related classes as I think I'll benefit most from having Harkness in Math.
@AKmath Eh, idrk. A doughnut is sad when it’s chocolate and not glazed. LOL!
Also, I send you a message.
Just had a chance to read your entire thread. Good to see that you got accepted to Delbarton. Its a great school.
My son went through this same process in 2014. We are also from NJ. He was fortunately accepted to all of them, and graduated from Lville in 2018.
Getting in as a desi from NJ to Lawrenceville is very tough, especially if you are applying as a day student. The day students are about 30% of the total. Equally split between boys and girls. For day boys, there are only about 15 seats in the incoming class. For this they will typically accept about 20-25. They add a bunch more students in grade 10. Generally the valedictorians/top students from the nearby private schools were offered day admittance (Chapin, Princeton Charter, etc). Plus the incoming freshman class had a lot of development and legacy kids. My son had similar scores as you, but the tipping point was his sport. Otherwise he probably wouldn’t have gotten into Lville. It is probably harder to get into Lawrenceville as a NJ resident as compared vs Exeter/Andover.
Being full pay will help with the other schools. Your geography will help with the New England schools. Pingry will send out acceptances in early March from what I remember, about a week before the boarding schools do.
Best of luck. Please post your results here on M10. Hoping for good news.
@enpassant2019 thank you for your very helpful thoughts about your experiences. I think it should be a separate post, but that’s just me. I wish I had known this when my first child was going through this. We also got the “so many kids, so few spots.” with a sad head shake at one school. As you said, other schools were perfunctory and others kept in touch with no correlation.