Why might I have been waitlisted?

Prep School Admissions
1

Why might I have been waitlisted?
STATS
(I applied to only three schools: Andover, Exeter and Choate)
SSAT:
Quantative: 85 ( many of the topics weren’t in my curriculum so I had to self study)
Reading: 96
Verbal: 97
Overall: 95
School grades for 7th and 8th grade: 97/100
English rec: 10/10
Math rec: 9/10
Social Studies rec: 9/10
School type: large private English-Turkish bilingual school
Essays were good imo
Interviews all went great 10/10
Ethnicity/ Nationality: Turkish-American
Citizenship: USA and Turkey
Country of residence: Turkey
Gender: Female
Needs FA (30%)

Extracurriculars
World Scholars Cup
2023-2024
Top Scholar from Turkey 2024, Top Scholar from the Near East Stockholm Global Round 2024, Overall National Champion Scholar 2024 Turkish Regional Round, 3rd Place Stockholm Global Round 2024, Club President, Jac Khor Award

Professional Soprano Chorist in Polyphonic Choir
2021-2024
I did many concerts with famous Turkish singers such as a backup singer and also attended album recordings. Went all over Turkey for international and national choir competitions and won many awards. Did the back vocals for LOTR in Concert Istanbul

DI (Destination Imagination)
2021-2023
Won 1st place nationals in engineering category in 2023 and 10th place at globals same year
Club President

JMUN (Junior Model United Nations)
2024-2025
MUN for middle schoolers
Attended many international and national conferences

Volunteering ( submitted after being waitlisted)
Volunteered at local soup kitchen and packaged foods
Raised funds at school charity fair for children with cerebral palsy

Details
I do pretty well at school and my school gives many awards to students but I can’t give many specifics because it would make this too long. Won essay competitions at school, awards for art and music etc.

I had almost no prior information about the application process other than I knew that it was competitive so I might not have represented myself to the best degree. I was really sure that I would be accepted by Choate as it was the only school that I was looking into that had an Istanbul Admissions Reception and had a way higher acceptance rate than Andover or Exeter

Really hoping to get off the waitlist this year but I would look into repeating 9th grade if it would increase my chances for next year. I know that the chance of getting off the waitlist are very slim but
I still have hope.

I already sent LOCI’s and a first choice letter to Andover but if anyone has any tips or suggestions regarding the waitlist process that would be amazing.

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My tip is to read the waitlist thread so you understand the process and what is involved.

No one can tell you why you were waitlisted, because no one here knows. Waitlisting means you were a competitive candidate. The problem is that there are many more competitive applicants than spots at those schools.

If you apply again “cast a wide net”, which means apply to more than 3 schools, and apply to some with much higher acceptance rates (e.g. 50%)

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Do you think there is anything that I could have improved such as extracurriculars or volunteering?

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You are enough. :heart:

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No, it wasn’t you. You just chose to apply to three of the most selective schools. If you really want to go to boarding school, try again next year and add some admission friendlier schools to your list.

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For international, the standard is just higher because there are too many applicants and they only allocate a very few number of the overall slots to international (e.g., at one school only 30/200 slots are for international). There can also be a lot of legacy kids who are international, and they tend to all have relatively good stats academically. Definitely apply again, and work on the SSAT. The SSAT expectations for international are way higher than for domestic students. Also recommend casting a wider net, and consider the Canadian boarding schools too.

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@mey I would disagree with the point about SSAT recommendations for international students being way higher. I’m from the UK and applied to 9 schools (Loomis, NMH, Hotchkiss, Williston Northampton, Suffield, Choate, Berkshire, Kingswood Oxford and Kent). My SSAT overall was 83rd percentile (Q72, V90, R83). I had great interviews and recommendations, and my extracurriculars are similar to yours with music. I sing with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and I have a couple of ABRSM grades in piano, guitar and voice, I’ve also got my bronze Duke of Edinburgh award.
I got into 7 schools of the 9 and was waitlisted at 2 (Hotchkiss and Choate).
I agree with @vwlizard—you only need to cast your net wider and apply to some less competitive schools. We toured many schools last autumn in the States, and I think the academic provision across most of these schools is, by and large, the same. Unless you’re interested in a particular music, STEM, or sports program, you’re not short-changed going to a non-GLAADCHEMS school.
If you’re reapplying next year, go for a mix of T1 and T2 schools and preferably test optional. Maybe do some ABRSM voice exams remotely, so you have some recognised qualifications for your musicianship. But you’re more than enough to get in and all the very best!

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I’d add that international needing FA is a very tough hurdle.

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