Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

to which prep schools are you applying? if possible, please also post your stats.

By Ibemuslim (Ibemuslim) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 04:11 pm: Edit

MILTON

By Ibemuslim (Ibemuslim) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 04:43 pm: Edit

it's a maybe i want to get my first marking period report card then see

By Mazzystar (Mazzystar) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 04:58 pm: Edit

Deerfield, Loomis-Chaffee, and possibly Idyllwild (if that can be considered a prep school)

By Dragonreborn (Dragonreborn) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 05:05 pm: Edit

Uhm, Andover, Deerfield, Milton and Loomis Chaffee for now...But St. Paul's has recently sent me its catalogs and inevitably, I find my eyes attracted toward their campus, specifically, a certain place in the campus. THE SCHOOL HAS LIKE FOUR OBSERVATORY DOMES FOR ASTRONOMY STAR GAZING!

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 05:21 pm: Edit

hey dragonreborn milton has an observatory too!! lol but i think it only has like 2 domes. by the way, i'm so excited most of you are thinking of applying to milton. i hope to see you some time during your visit should you come over here.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 05:23 pm: Edit

hey mazzystar...those three are terrific prep schools! but please add milton to your list if you feel like it. other schools you should consider are members of the nine schools consortium: talented.org . thanks!

By Mazzystar (Mazzystar) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 06:00 pm: Edit

Hey Gian! I'm pretty sure Milton would look at my application and laugh in my face. Of course...Deerfield and Loomis might do that also. I'm also looking into Choate. My only problem is getting my hope up with these schools, since I will need a substantial amount of financial aid. But who knows, lol.

By Dragonreborn (Dragonreborn) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 06:10 pm: Edit

Choate Rosemary Hall? One of my friends is applying for it too. But I think I have enough schools on my list now to last me weeks of thinking and writing.

Hey, don't worry about that...I'm also applying for financial aid. A friend of mine got accepted into Deerfield five years ago, and she received everything free, from tuition to the books and other materials she needed for school.

By Jimster0489 (Jimster0489) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 08:00 pm: Edit

Andover and Lawrenceville.. those are THE only two schools I can see myself at.

By Ibemuslim (Ibemuslim) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 08:09 pm: Edit

lawrencville financial aid sucks, simply put it they offered me 3k max and i didn't even reply to their email after that

By Mazzystar (Mazzystar) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 08:28 pm: Edit

Yeah, I'm not too worried about Deerfield financial aid, their endowment is...simply put, A LOT. I got the Deerfield application today. I'm not going to do anything, though, until I get my mid semester grades in. If they're what I hope they'll be (All A's and B's) then I might start working on it.

But yeah, the application scares me. It shows the class rank and I just took a big gulp and practically fell over.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 08:42 pm: Edit

hey don't let the applications scare you away...i know they look intimidating but they just want to get to know you the best they can... please give milton a shot. you never know. i like your personality, mazzystar, so that aspect of your application shouldn't be a problem.

By Mazzystar (Mazzystar) on Monday, October 20, 2003 - 09:01 pm: Edit

Aw, thanks Gian! You're really givin' me a huge self-confidence boost. I'll look into Milton. I really like the aspect that it's so close to Boston.

By Nemom (Nemom) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 09:45 am: Edit

I would recommend that folks start the application process now - grades won't go in until you submit those forms to your teachers and it's probably better to get the other stuff in and schedule an interview now. You can always back out too.
Re: observatories - as someone who lives in the Boston area, let me just note that the viewing anywhere within about 30 miles of Boston is just terrible due to general light pollution, so don't get your hopes up too high. That being said, there are considerable resources in the area for stargazing, including Harvard's ancient facility in Cambridge.

By Redgrail (Redgrail) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 10:10 am: Edit

I will possibly apply to Andover, Exeter, Choate and Deerfield and definately to UWC (with an Atlantic College preference) for admission to the 11th grade (international applicant). I am also considering Groton and Milton.

My GPA will be 5+ on a grading system that I believe is similar to Andover's (1-6, nobody gets a 6 average[6 is only given to extremely qualified students, and equates to circa 100%]) and my SSAT upper (we don't have PSAT where I live) will be somewhere around the 90th percentile.

Does that sound good like a good plan?

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 03:14 pm: Edit

hey that sounds great, redgrail. your grades and predicted test scores are excellent. would you care to tell us about your ECs? they're an important aspect of the application as well.

Nemom: i haven't used the observatory just yet but from what i was told, the viewing was perfect. we even had people from surrounding suburbs come to it...there was a really long line.

mazzystar: i didn't believe in myself when i applied to milton but look where it got me! i think it's pure luck that i'm here now. i didn't even know about boarding schools prior to the year i applied.

By Nemom (Nemom) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 04:04 pm: Edit

Gialscolere,
There simply is no great seeing that close to Boston - there is simply too much light pollution. I've been to the Harvard observatory in Cambridge (admittedly worse conditions than Milton, but also better 'scopes - the Clark 9 inch is very nice and , of course, the behemouth 'Great' is just that...) more than once and worked at a college observatory that's probably on a par with Milton. - it's a blast but it's not the same as being out in the country. This doesn't mean you can't have a lot of fun and I'm sure you can get a good view of Mars these days and/or any comets when they are visible and that lots of folks come by on open seeing nights just as they do at Harvard but it's just not ideal.

By Redgrail (Redgrail) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 04:56 pm: Edit

My ECs:

I do a lot of community volunteering and working for youth programs etc.

I will be elected president of the Borough Youth Council (this is a definate, I really have no competition) in January. I will then have served for three years (will be four before I leave for boarding school).
I am on the City Youth Council (umbrella for the Burough Councils), where I share presidential duties with the other nine principal members, and I am also the Liaison Officer for that group (involves transport of information back and forth from the Council to the City Council, the Municipality and the County).
I will most probably be elected to the County Youth Council as well (I will know for sure next weekend).
As you can see - these types of things take up most of my time.

I recently had to quit greco-roman wrestling because it was wrecking havoc on my neck and back (I have a family history of general back-trouble, especially disc prolapse, and my doctor and I were worried about agitating what might be a very fragile spine), so I am looking for a new sport to participate in. Right now, the balance is tipping towards fencing, but I just am not sure yet.

Other than that I self-study two APs (US and Comparative Government and Politics) and play the guitar on a just-for-laughs basis.


I am pretty sure I can make a decent case for myself in terms of "standing out" with all the leadership ECs I have, but I might not make it if the schools emphasize well-roundedness in ECs.


I am sorry if that was long and rambling, but I've gone over it several times and there is just no other way to explain the intricacies of it all with fewer words. I hope they have been of assistance to you in evaluating my prospects!

Thank you!

By Mazzystar (Mazzystar) on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 11:13 pm: Edit

Gian, I sent off for information on Milton. I doubt I really will get in, since you and I differ so much in terms of grading, but what's so sad and what I regret the most about my freshman year is that my GPA does not reflect my intelligence. My current sophmore GPA is around a 3.6, so do you think that shows anything?

Also, Milton does look very interesting. I'm excited about recieving their viewbook!

By Jimster0489 (Jimster0489) on Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 09:41 pm: Edit

Lawrenceville has bad financial aid?? ::crosses it off the list:: lol well anyways here are my stats (sorry if i sound a little cocky):

ACADEMICS

I have had a record of straight-A's up until 8th grade when I transferred into a prestigious junior-high magnet program in my city (8th grade). I took all high school level classes there, 4 of them being honors level. I earned a 3.8 GPA on a 5.0 scale. Currently, I am primarily making A's, B's, and 1 C.. I am currently attending my state's #1 public magnet high school, being one out of 300 that were admitted to a school that received 5,600 applications for freshman admissions.

STANDARDIZED TESTING

I have consistently been scoring at the 97th percentile and higher on standardized testing. In 6th grade, my reading equivalency was that of an 11th grader according to the test. In 6th grade, I also took the SAT I for the Midwest Talent Search at Northwestern University and scored in the top 95th percentile of all test-takers in my grade level. My 8th grade testing scores were also pretty good, my lowest score (Mathematics) was at the top 95th percentile; all my other scores were either 98s or 99s. I'm hoping that I will fair well on the SSAT's or ISEE's.
Please also note: Based on my scores and affiliation with Northwestern, Choate Rosemary Hall invited me to be an Icahn Scholar (which I declined).

EXTRACURRICULAR ACHIEVEMENTS

I am currently Freshman Class President. I am also Director of Public Relations for my school's Desi Club, as well as its co-founder. I am a member of the Asian Club and Key Club, as well. I play junior varsity lacrosse (this is my 1st year) for my HS which is known as one of the lacrosse goliaths in my state. I am one of the few selected freshman reporters for our school newspapers that wins bundles of Scholastic Press Association awards every year!

These are most of my accolades:

-Region 1 Academic Olympics: Essay/Writing First Place in Intermediate level (6th grade, 2001) and Upper level (7th grade, 2002) consecutive record

-Participant in the Chicago Public Schools City Student Science Fair 2002 and a special award recipient in botany from the Chicago Botanical Gardens; One of very few 7th graders selected in my region to advance to City competitions

-Annenberg/Loyola University of Chicago Paleontology Program with University of Chicago professor Dr. Paul Sereno (2000)

-Future Problem Solving State Finalist (2000) and recipient of the Rookie Award

-Chicago Area Problem Solving: 6th grade - 5th place team in city 7th grade – Regional 1st place team winner in drama 8th grade – 5th place team in city (drama competition)

-Team Manager (2001-2002 season) of the basketball team

-Volunteered at the library for the summer program (1998 – 2001) with a total of 135 hours

-Captain of the Academic Olympics Team at my elementary school, MVP Player at the Region meet (2001-2002); Captain of the Academic Olympics Team at Junior-High, in which team placed third overall

-Youth Leader of the Kerala Latin Catholic Association of Illinois, 2002-2003

-Member of my elementary school's chorale since 5th grade, worked with the residents at Peterson Park Health Care Centre for senior citizens

-Participated in the Annenberg Foundation/Loyola University of Chicago partnership program and took immersion courses in Native American Art, Asian Art, African Art, and European Art

-Past member of the Reflections gifted visual arts program for urban youth in Chicago

-Had leading roles in four dramatic performances at my elemntary and junior high

-Attended Gallery 37 program (a prestigious arts program for Chicago youth) for two seasons (fall and spring 2001-2002). With Tellin’ Tales Theatre and Gallery 37, constructed and performed two radio dramas (World’s Fair of 1893 and the Wild West) performed on Chicago's premier news-talk radio station.

-Worked with Scott Ramsayer, Tekki Lomnicki (artistic director of Tellin’ Tales Theatre) and Merryl Botulla, famed stage actress currently performing in the UK

-Co-directed The Tempest at Junior High

-Was invited to be a member of the Crosstown Ensemble at Chicago’s Tony-winning Steppenwolf Theatre

Like many people have said, I've focused way more on my ECs rather than my academics, which could be a bad thing... I think I will receive *good* recommendations from my teachers but not the most exceptional and vivid ones.. my counselor and I are really good friends and I know she will write me an excellent rec.

I definitely want to pursue theatre, due to the lack of a theatre dept. at my current school. I also want to continue lacrosse, and try out crew and maybe, interscholastic soccer. I will also want to work with Student Government, as well as the school's service society and community projects.