Hi everyone! I’m an international student currently in Grade 10, and I’m planning to apply to boarding schools in the US for entry in Grade 11. I honestly have no idea which schools can I get into and which would be a good fit for me, so I’d really appreciate some suggestions!
Academics::
9th Grade: 12 A*s
10th Grade: 12 A*s (This is essentially scoring a perfect GPA/ straight As) SAT: 1600
Extracurriculars:
Speech & Debate: This is probably the biggest part of my application. I’ve represented my country at the World Schools Debating Championship in both Grade 9 and Grade 10. I also received a fairly significant individual award there and have an entire article about me published in Forbes in my country.
Editor-in-Chief of my school’s Philosophy Magazine: According to my English teacher, I’ve helped completely revamp the magazine, organising several philosophy seminars, raising around $1,000, and have also edited/reviewed 200+ student submissions.
President & Coach of my school’s Debate Society
Currently interning at the Chambers of a law firm in my country’s Supreme Court
Part of a math circle led by a Stanford professor
Honors/Awards:
Best Speaker Award at the World Schools Debating Championship (being vague with the rank)
Bronze Medal — Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest
Gold Prize — National Latin Exam
Honor Roll — AMC 10
Also, forgot to mention I’ll be needing financial aid to attend one of these schools.
Based on what you told us I don’t see any real limits on where you can plausibly apply, but it is important to know that 11th grade entry at the more popular boarding schools is usually very limited, and even with excellent qualifications you may not fit what they perceive as a need at that point. Like they may be doing some athletic recruiting, or looking for other very niche profiles.
One way to address this at least partially is be willing to reclass as a 10th grade entrant, although obviously that has practical downsides.
Another is to just cast a wider net in terms of possible boarding schools. Which doesn’t mean you can’t try some of the most popular ones, but it might help to have some that are least somewhat less well known globally.
Yes, reclassing will significantly help your chances of admission as there aren’t many spots for 11th graders at these schools–especially for an international student. While a school may be open to having a championship debater, that profile isn’t a “need to have” in the way that other profiles might be (e.g., first violinist, star runningback).
Cast a wide net if you really want to go to a boarding school next year.
During your interviews, confirm that the school will be able to consider FA at the level you need. Some will not give more than 50%. Some have students who are funded by other organizations, and they may be able to point you to these.
Every year, there are amazing students who get awfully far down the road - in terms of work and hope - with schools that were not in a position to accept them.
They obviously do a lot of admissions for 9th, and then apparently also usually plan to do a lot for 10th as well. As I understand it, that is in part because a decent number of kids look to make a change after a year at another HS, and they want to be able to scoop up some of those kids. And actually, sometimes kids want to make a change after their first couple years at another HS, but in practice need to reclass to really be on track at a very selective boarding school.
But then for 11th entry, apparently they tend to have way fewer slots they are planning to fill, and often have much more specific needs (which can in fact vary unpredictably year to year).
So everything I have heard suggests that 9th and 10th are by far the best entry classes for “general admissions” sorts of applicants–like you hope you are generally what they are looking for, but don’t have some very specific niche you would be filling.
Yes, most schools have reasonable new student intake at 9th and 10th. The latter tends to pick up JBS kids, international students whose systems have a break there, and kids who realize they would be better off than where they are in 9th.
11th matters so much for college that it can be a risky proposition for both the student and the school. A student who is likely to be recruited for athletics is less of a risk. And of course, schools can fill pockets of need. But it’s just not when most new students start.