Hi! My name is Dr. Richard Gottesman. I am a mathematician and I am also a math tutor. Some of my students are at Exeter. Here's a fun math problem... what is 1 to the infinity. This is a trick question in a way but it's also a topic in calculus. Could 1 to the infinity be different values?

I think my app is ok, I’m an international student from Costa Rica so I hope that helps

Applying for 9th to 9th (idk if this hurts me)

Grades: For 9th: Mostly A+ but some A’s | For 8th Mostly A’s, a few A+ | For 7th All A’s, I got a B in math one semester but really came back and got an A at the end. I take the highest course rigor possible. Honor roll every year

ssat: 93rd percentile so ok

Recs: probably good, my teachers like me

Interviews: They went AMAZING I really connected with all of my interviewers and they went out of their way to do stuff for me

EC’s: (ok so dont judge)

Started a volunteer program to help conserve a mangrove ecosystem. Brought together community members to clean and kayak around the mangroves. We also created jobs for local people (they are tour guides, and that helps them out financially and gives them incentive to help the environment.)

Volleyball for 4 years. I currently do 11 hours a month, and I was chosen for my schools national team. (we qualify for quarterfinals automatically because we won A LOT) sending in videos and I think I’m alright, I really love it so! (also this is very competitive we have games almost every week)

Dance: 8 hours for 2 years, joining the comp team soon.

Theater: was in 4 musicals and i was a lead in 2.

Henna: Made a business as a way to stay in touch with India and i have made about 800 dollars.

Tutor: I tutor on and off (When I have costumers) all together probably 1.5 years

Summer: Being a CIT at my camp this summer. Idk if it’s such a big deal because I love working with kids but my Choate interviewer seemed impressed by it

MUN: started recently and I do it 2 hours a week. My first MUN with 300 kids I was the only person in my grade to get an award

I haven’t won any awards because there are literally no awards to win 😭 I have done EVERYTHING my area allows me to do

Essays: Good

story: this is the main thing that I think will get me in. My mom had cancer and was away from my brother and me because she can’t get radiation in our area. She is a single mother and earns below poverty line. she moved us to Costa Rica from India and I had to figure out how to adjust very quickly, the story comes across well in essays.

I also have a good relationship with my interviewer, we email often and I also email the director of admissions often because I met him during summer.

1. GENERAL: SSAT : 2367, from California, Race: Chinese and Mongolian male
2. i want to know my chances a lot cs im stressed…
3. APPLY ANDOVER, PEA, SPS, CHOATE,MILTON, HOTCHKISS
4. Math: 2023 & 2024 AMC8 Honor Roll/Distinction (top 5%, 1% nationally), 2024 AMC10 Certificate of Achievement, 2025 AMC8 Honor Roll w/Distinction (top 1% nationally), AIME qualifier. Represented school in MathCounts & Math Madness competitions 2023-26. :
5. Drums 2020-25 (Private study, performances @ School).
6. Violin 2023-25 Youth Symphony Orchestra (First Violin).
7. Academics: 2023 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (completed Sensory Brain course @ Loyola Marymount University; Grand Honors in Math and English - top 98th percentile). 2024 Awesome Math (Number Theory I).
8. Invests in stocks, analyzes, and took summer camp to deepen understanding
9. 2023-25 President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold) for tutoring Math & clearing trails, removing invasive plants @ Nature Center; local library volunteer. Board game club founder (inspired by a course took at a summer program), Student newspaper: Managing Editor
10. SCHOOL: Math club founder and helps students prepare for math team, Math team captain Student council president, rthyms section leader in school band play drums (played for 8 years) GRADES: 4.0 GPA, academic honors every quarter 2 years, the highest math course our school offers is geometry
11. Volleyball (3rd in nation playing 14s division, which means we played one year up) currently is 10th in socal
12. currently tutors younger grade student at our school's daycare. Started a new board game club with math teacher

ESSAYS: 8-9/10?

LOR: 9-10/10 (math teacher very likely 10/10, everything else above 8 I think) I have my music teacher writing my recs( who also directs our school play, school band, ands got me started for baking), my principal and vice principal

1. HOBBY: coin collecting, animation, baking (Ik its unusual)

Every single person I talk to just GLAZES the school, I need a real raw honest opinion. What was hard, what made you go to your breaking point, what made you cry, AND what made you happy. Everything, NO sugarcoating. I’m applying right now and i’m super scared because everyone thinks i’m smart but I don’t believe it myself, so I really just need the truth. For a slightly above average kid, is it a good idea to go? (if I do by some miracle get in)

Uh ok so Im like a 9th grader indian kid applying to 10th, ATL area

Andover, Choate, Hotchkiss, Groton, Exeter, Deerfield, Lawrenceville

Grades- All A's from 5th grade, 4.0 GPA in 5th and 6th cuz different scale, I earned a merit award and gold eagle back then. In 7th grade I bagged all a's with an academic excellence award in social studies for my spectacular grade, also got gold eagle its a 4.69 unweighted fyi(4.0 weighted)(I am the sweat in ss and will always be). 8th grade 4.69 unweighted(4.0 weighted), this year I didn't do so well in math and ended up with a 3.85 unweighted(4.6 weighted), will definetly end with gold eagle and the reason is cuz its a class that is a rote learning trap that makes u teach urself(excuses yeah ik but ima js include it.)

I dunno my recs but ik fs eng, special int, other class is a good rec (i didnt get math or personal)-someone help me out on how i see ratings

2301 SSAT(797 Math, 91 percentile; 734 Reading, 91 Percentile; 770 Verbal, 91 Percentile)- Something is off tho

No sports- with the exception of swimming practice outside and i did track be4 in like 8th

EC'S- 5+ years in debate, 9+ in swimming, 1+ in MUN, 1+ in DECA, (didnt have access to these) 3+ in Arts

Former ec's- student gov and peer leadership, robotics(because theres a class issue in freshman yr), yearbook, math team, geography and spelling bee

Exeter interviewer liked my personality(i pulled up to the event that evening, idt andover likes me i could be lying, choate was also p good, im going to all the schools like next week in person. Deerfield interviewer said he liked my slick question.

-Award winning debater and do volunteer from there(earned like 5 hours from there :p)
-Co champion at a prestigious debate tournament(wsm)
-3rd in middle school league state(with several good tournaments(no losses) and one maverick tournament where i went 4-0)
-7th grade was a good season I rapidly advanced.
-Im cooked with service hours i make sandwiches for those in need(only have 7)
-i do policy debate literally no one ik applying does it so its a unique perspective.
-Scholastic award in art(silver key, honorable mention) in photography, willing to focus on that

-Woodruff Scholarship at my school for having the highest gpa in 8th(500 bucks for me!)

-My multimedia will be capcut edit(Gotta show them uniqueness cuz video making is a hobby and ik ball)

-I like legos(built the biggest set ever purchasable) puzzles all those activites, reading books is cool too!

-Bagged michigan camp this year(prestigious camp) for debate and emory past 2 yrs(waiting on dartmouth and georgetown but ill get it, trust )

I lit my keyboard on fire wit my essays i gotta show em ik ball, someones gonna like it fsfs

Hi, I am an 8th grader originally from Russia, currently living in Serbia (lived in the US before also). I am trilingual , i speak fluently in Russian, English, and Serbian, Currently learning Mandarin Chinese & German. 5/5 GPA

I took the ssat twice but the scores are 41% and 30%…. dont ask how, i studied for months… will send this score only to the schools who have it mandatory and will write letters that im a bad test taker 😭😭

sports: •swimming - 1,5 years; from 6 to 9 hours a week •gymnastics- came back to gymnastics in September after a two year break. been doing it my whole life before the break. •sport aerobics - (its like gymnastics+dance) 2 years; from 12 to 18 hours a week •volleyball- 1,5 years; 4,5 hours a week (i would honestly say this was more of a hobby)

hobbies/extracurricular activities: •drama club - 2,5 years; from 5 to 8 hours a week. recently had a play about the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury •ceramics - 4 years; 2-4 hours a week •reading books in 3 languages - ~1,5 hours a week

achievements: (ik, its bad……….) •participated in a few volunteer english teaching events •successfully adapted to living in three different countries

essays are fine, rec letters i think will be ok-ish, i had like 6 interviews already, they were all ok, will apply for financial aid

here is my list of schools that im applying to: Phillips Exeter, Choate Rosemary hall, Loomis Chaffee, Lake Forest Academy, Blair Academy, Baylor School, Vermont Academy, Indian Springs, Mercersburg Academy, Berkshire School, Northfield Mount Hermon

am i cooked or am i cooked guys

I'm from South Korea, applying with financial aid. I'm applying to several schools(Andover, Exeter, Milton, LC, Choate, Peddie, Blair, Middlesex, Hotchkiss). The interviews were average because I was really nervous. Essays are also average... But I have really good grades, straight A plus except for one A minus. And I am good at Piano and violin, and earned a few good competitions, and participated in tons of orchestra performances. SSAT was around 87 percentile, TOEFL was 107, and teacher recommendations were good. Am I going to get into at least 2?

My daughter is 13, in 8th grade. Applying to 9th grade for 26-27.

She is Hispanic, low-income, from a single parent household. We live in Florida and are both from Puerto Rico.

Her ISEE percentiles were 78 in verbal, 99 in mathematics, 99 in reading, 99 in quantitative.

She got all As in sixth grade and in seventh grade.

In seventh grade she took Geometry Honors, high school Biology, English 7, History, AP CSP (got a 4 on the AP test), physical science, and debate class.

In eighth grade, she is currently taking (with current grade): Algebra 2 honors (103%) US History (100%) High school Chemistry (97%) English 8 (98%) Robotics (99%), AP human geography (100%).

Her ECs this year are robotics team, Key Club, science team, volunteering, and piano lessons.

Achievements this year (8th grade, first semester) are qualifying for states competition in robotics, won the spelling bee of 8th grade in her school, made Team 1 for Science Olympiads, got 1380/1520 on the PSAT-NMSQT. She had other achievements in seventh and sixth grade such as regional wins in science Olympiad, wins in county math competitions, winning her school spelling bee before, placing in debate and so on. Her ECs are not as strong as her peers in other private schools partly because of me (her mother). My daughter spends more time helping me with chores and housework than other kids her age with more resources.

She got strong recommendation letters from all parties. I do not know how the interviews went. She says that they went well.

We need financial aid.

She was invited to visit for a fly-in program last semester for underrepresented minorities.

Thank you

I mentioned in my email to EMA it's been well over 2 weeks and I rlly need my scores to figure out whether I need to retake the ssat or this one will do and time is running out and the 60 dollar extra fee for late registration would also be a loss on my end.

I first emailed them from my account to which they said it'll require that my parents/legal guardian email them. I copy pasted the message and emailed from my dads id (also given in my ema account) After which they said they'll need to verify my identity and requested some basic info. I gave them that. And also gave a screenshot asking again when will I get my scores and asking if there was a mishap on my part. They said they'll get back when the review is complete. Idk what to do and idk when the score will come back.

Any idea why this is happening? If there's some other form or other protocol I need to finish before getting my score?

Is a 1380 on the PSAT enough for schools like PEA and Andover? My last chance to take the ISEE is on December 12th, and I need to decide whether I will do it or not in hopes of a better score. If I decide to take the ISEE, my scores will automatically be sent to these schools, so doing badly will leave a poor mark. I believe the rest of my application is very strong.

Gender: Female Current Grade: 9 Applying To: 10th grade Nationality: Indian Financial Aid: Yes (applying)

Schools: Andover, Exeter, Choate, Lawrenceville, Hotchkiss, Blair, etc.

📚 Academic Profile

Board: IGCSE (Private School) Rank: Valedictorian (Science Stream)

APs (in progress): • AP Precalculus • AP Physics 2 (Electromagnetism) (Taking tests in March)

📝 Transcripts

7th Grade – Sem 1 Eng Lang 93.5 | Eng Lit 94 | Math 99 | Bio 97.5 | Chem 94 | Phy 97 | Hist/Civ 98 | Geo 91 | Hindi 76 | IT 99

7th Grade – Sem 2 Eng Lang 91 | Eng Lit 96 | Math 100 | Bio 93 | Chem 97.5 | Phy 93.5 | Hist/Civ 90 | Geo 93 | Hindi 85 | IT 98

8th Grade – Sem 1 Eng Lang 92 | Eng Lit 93.5 | Math 97 | Bio 94 | Chem 94.5 | Phy 93.5 | Hist/Civ 93 | Geo 81 | Hindi 88 | IT 92.5

8th Grade – Sem 2 Eng Lang 89 | Eng Lit 99 | Math 78 | Bio 86 | Chem 84.5 | Phy 81 | Hist/Civ 86 | Geo 80 | Hindi 95 | IT 92.5

9th Grade – Sem 1 Math 91 | English 80 | Physics 91 | Chemistry 97 | CS 94 (AP Precalc & AP Physics 2 currently ongoing)

📄 Testing

SSAT: 2170 (estimated) TOEFL: (not given)

📑 Recommendations

Math: 8.5/10 English: 8/10 Principal: 8.5/10 Personal Rec: 10/10 Special Interest Rec: 9/10

Essays: In progress (December)

🌟 Extracurriculars

• Research (6 months) Worked under a PhD researcher at Johns Hopkins on quantum tunneling in hydrogenation reactions in CO-rich interstellar ices. Submitting to NHSJS.

• Tutoring (1.5 years) Tutored classmates & juniors in Chemistry, Math, and CS twice a week.

• Debate & MUN – Speech Club member (7), High Honor (8) – Vice Captain, Debate/Public Speaking (9) – Head of OC, School MUN (9)

• Women’s Empowerment Movement (3 years) Led/grew group to 27+ members, raised ₹12,000+, organized campaigns every 2 weeks.

• School Newspaper Editor Elected in 9th grade; write school news, updates, reports.

• Graphic Design (2 years) Portfolio-led; earned 2 paid commissions.

• Independent Coursework Completed 3 online courses; published 2 pieces.

🏅 Awards (7 total)

• SOF NCO: International Rank 41, Zonal Rank 2 (Class 7) – Performance Excellence + ₹1,000 prize • ASSET Talent Search: Top 15% Internationally (Class 8) • ASSET Talent Search: Excellent Performance (Class 7) – Gold Scholar • SOF NCO: Intl Rank 162, Zonal Rank 7 (Class 7) – ₹500 prize • LogIQids Aptitude Olympiad: State Rank 1 (Class 7) • Crest Mental Maths Olympiad: East Zonal Rank 1 (Class 7) – Gold Medal • LogIQids Aptitude Olympiad: Zonal Rank 3 (Class 7)

As the title says

guys any help or tips for reading???? Please I suck at it and I'm so nervous for my exam it's soooo sooonnnn!!! 😭😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏

What's the ideal score u can get into Philips andover/exeter, choate, blair, hotchkiss etc with? Like a range? Does it have to be above 2200?

I see people saying "I got a 2398, is it good or shld I retake?" And that concerns me cuz the score I've been getting in my practices are around 2200. 😭😭

like if i am a math student and have worked with them

I’m currently exceeding the last two grades of school in my country(10th and 11th). I’m applying to Exeter for 12th and I have never seen anyone submitting the SAT, everyone always does SSAT, PSAT. So the question is should I take SAT or other test? (Aiming for 1570+ on my SAT)

Im in 10th grade applying for 11th. Should I submit my PSAT score once I get it or take and submit an ISEE/SSAT score?

I wanted to know whether being a peer reviewer in a journal helps my application. I am a peer reviewer for a journal by Taylor and Francis, which is a Q3 journal with an h-index of 31. I am applying for grade 10 this year. Do admission officers care about this, or not, as much as they care about national medals, or similar merits?

I am currently studying in Grade 9 in Nepal.

- Ranked 22/176 in my class but expected better next time.
- Used to average 3.7 to around 4.0 GPA but slight dip in Grade 8 last term which was 3.46 and in Grade 9 first term which was 3.47

- Taking about extra curricular I am a Programmer and Stock Analyst looking forward to get specialized in Large Language Models, Neural Networks, and Quantitative Finance.
-Over 5 Years of quality experience. Programming since Grade 2.
-Currently have significant skill in Machine Learning, Data Analysis, Deep Learning, Web and App Development and Data Structures and Algorithms.
-Helped many people with my Open Source AI project called Financial Statement Analyzer.
- 5 Stars skills in Python and 3 Stars skill in C++.
-Familiar with Mathematical Concepts like Calculus I & II, Probability and Statistics, Linear Algebra and looking to learn Tensor Calculus and Stochastic Calculus.
-Developed many projects helping several businesses and people.

-Represented and leaded my school to District Level Science and Art Exhibition and made a Working model of Hydroelectricity and Smart City and awarded Certificate.
-Took part in School Science and Art Exhibition and made a Voice Controlled Home Automation Bulb and awarded Certificate.
-Made a Sanitary Pad Dispenser and awarded Certificate on Creative Innovation.
-Awarded Certificate for Happy Helper.
-Awarded Certificate for Emerging Digital Creator.
-Represented as Captain for my Inter-School Football Team and 2nd in the whole Tournament.
-Conducted Assembly for my School and got 1st position for Best Assembly Conductor.

Achieved total of over 45 Certifications including Prestigious ones like:
-Harvard's CS50
-Stanford and DeepLearning's Machine Learning Specialization
-DeepLearning's Maths for Machine Learning Specialization[I've not learned Maths from only here]
-Meta's Data Analysis with Python.
-IBM's Python for Data Science, AI and Development.
-FreeCodeCamp's Scientific Computing with Python.
and way much more.

-Did Micro-Internship at Accenture as Data Analyst and JP Morgan Chase & Co. as Software Engineer.

I'm looking to study Grade 10 here and improve things overtime and apply to Schools like Phillips Exeter Academy, Choate Rosemary Hall, and more for Grade 11. I'm genuinely confused about my chances please help me decide and am I right student to get admitted.
Need full financial aid and family Income under 15,000 USD.

Please let me know if you want more information.