after looking at a bunch of these threads, i’ve realized that i’m pretty much like every other applicant, so i was wondering what kind of stuff i could add to my application that would really be an attention grabber.
i’m and 8th grader (living in the new england area) applying for 9th in andover, exeter, etc-- you get the gist.
basic achievements:
writing:
2020 barnes & noble children’s short story competition winner; published story
creative communications national top ten (highest award) for poetry
other smaller area writing awards (ex. new england area, etc)
applying for scholastic writing awards this year
music:
junior districts choral award
applying for other singing competitions this year
i’ve been part of many music videos, especially recently in my community surrounding protests against asian hate and stuff
i have studio-recorded live performances of me singing a few well known musical songs
i don’t have a lot of solid awards in this music category, but i’m really passionate about it and i also am in the process of recording my original songs and stuff- maybe that could be something that’s an attention grabber?
art:
multiple celebrating art competition honors
submitting pieces for scholastic art awards this year
swim:
silvers, championships, age groups, etc
not much in this category either
other extracurriculars:
community service (i teach weekly classes; tutoring english to my students who live in china)
dance (i have videos of some of the group dance projects i’ve done)
school math team (i believe we were second place in our league last year and also most improved)
piano
honors:
2021 caroline d bradley scholarship finalist
grades:
report cards are always a+ and sometimes a
ssat score: 99 percentile (reading 99, math 99, verbal 89)
sooooooo yeah pretty much like every other applicant i’ve seen on this website-
any advice on what to add so that i can improve my chances of getting into, you know, those top prestigious schools? thank you!
thanks for this too! i thought about my plan b after seeing a bunch of recommendations on the website for others saying to add more schools, and i think i’d rather just fall back on my local public school if i can’t get into the schools i’m applying for, just because i live in a pretty nice town with pretty good education, so- yeah and thank you so much for your feedback! just in case though, would you know of any schools with higher admission rates in new england that still have pretty rigorous academics and not as much emphasis on athletics? i’m going to do more research on all of that but i’d really appreciate any recommendations!
My advice would be to look deeper - you might be too cool for those prestigious schools.
You’ve been given excellent advice on where to search for information. Now… think about who you are, and what inspires you and drives you. For some schools, your interest in performing arts would make you a strong match.
And yes, even some of these below the radar schools offer academic rigor. They might not be pressure cookers, but they do offer academic opportunities.
ok i’m kinda looking back at this randomly, but i just want to put this here for anybody looking at this thread in the future-- you don’t need to freak out ab getting in or if your application is good enough or not when you’re not even halfway through your application. you’re just gonna overthink and end up wasting your time that you could use writing your essays or doing other things. the whole process seems a lot more daunting than it turns out to be; so just do your best. you’ll get through through it, i promise.
(take this with a grain of salt as i’m just another applicant and this is based off my experience)
