xGods_Favoritex

Georgetown Prep and Landon are also noteworthy schools--both all-boys.

For publics, there is TJHSST in VA and Montgomery Blair in Maryland if your friend is living outside city lines.

soccerprep92

Choate is of course a great school, however I don't see how you can argue that attending an exclusive private boarding school in Connecticut exposes you to the real world. I guess if you want diversity and non sheltered students, you are much better off at Choate rather than say Anacostia or Wilson.

bearcats

are you kidding? all the top boardings have around 35% on financial aid and constantly take top kids from inner city schools through some assistance programs... also...School year abroad is more common at top boardings than anywhere else..and we have a lot of fundings for global community service or community service within the states.. ... not something st albans can match

gobulldogs

Hey CRH I just have a few questions for you. First, how are the academics in the St. Albans upper school horrible? I think that the example that you provided, while somewhat unusual, is not indicative of an overall weak academic curriculum. Also, what made you want to leave STA so badly in the first place? Is it really that awful of a place? Finally, what do you think of Sidwell and GDS, since you have connections there?

soccerprep92

Lets be honest bearcats and crh, if you really want diversity and live in the "real world" you wouldn't attend Choate or Hotchkiss or any elite private school. It's just like a bunch of priveledged kids trying to argue that by awarding 29 percent of the student body with financial aid that that school is sooooo diverse. When in fact, giving financial aid to people who make 90 K a year may be poor in your circles but certainly not in the inner city.

olivia567

Actually, boarding schools are more diverse than other private and public schools. While those schools attract students from one area (the town which the private/public school is in), boarding schools recruit students from all over the world and many different states. You can't argue it isn't geographically diverse, and the percentage of students of color is higher than it is at other private schools. Many kids from BS laud their school's diversity, so stereotypes such as BS is just a privileged, WASP environment, are not justified.

bearcats

"certainly not in the inner city."

you serious? we take kids from inner city all the time through different organizations...and you know what? one of my best friends is a homeless kid from afghanistan and he wont be going home any vacation becoz he dosent even know where his family is as of now

soccerprep92

Yes, and yet Hotchkiss also gives financial aid to people making more than 120,000 a year. Don't you think that since Hotchkiss is such a great, non prestigious, open, environment that the money helping a middle class child attend Hotchkiss should instead be helping more inner city kids like your friend? How many inner city kids does Hotchkiss help?

tryingtorelax

(I didn't realize that diverse meant "geographically diverse;" I suppose that covers the royalties from abroad.)It is, however, very laudable that all you kids, who attend some of the most elitist schools in the country, place so much emphasis on whose school provides you with more "diversity", "socially disadvantaged classmates", "real-life exposure." And, of course, these schools will be great stepping preparation to HYP, Wall Street, big law firms, public office, etc. which we all know are 'the real world.' In the meantime, I assume that you're not wasting your summers by having silly jobs like flipping burgers or being life guards but rather doing important volunteer work or summer programs in exotic places, which, judging from their price tags (5000/4 weeks or 39000 for school year abroad) provide such a "valuable" experience.

Traveldude50

Woah my school's on that list haha, i knew it was good. However we're better then the school listed a couple spots above us.

cameliasinensis

On the other hand, if that list is the determinant of what is good, my school is neither competitive nor respected.

bearcats

"How many inner city kids does Hotchkiss help?"

why would you expect hotchkiss to "help"? the main purpose of accepting inner city school kids not to "help", the main purpose of accepting a kid from afghanistan is not to "help", but merely to create a community that includes as many people from different background as possible. Schools do what's good for them, not what's good for you. all you need is have as many cultures, backgrounds, states and countries represented as possible........

crh08

thanks to bearcats and olivia for backing me up here! First off, Choate has waaay more socioeconomic and ethnic diversity than STA can ever hope to have. Because it is in Connecticut does not mean that it is populated entirely by wealthy kids from Greenwich by any means. While there are kids like that here and at all boarding schools, they are certainly not a majority at Choate. To answer gobulldogs' questions, STA upper school academics are pretty bad. At Choate, for example, one has to earn a B+ or higher in REGULAR, not honors, Algebra 2 to proceed to regular Precalc the next year...add to this the fact that the regular alg 2 class uses the same book as honors, and it makes for a very hard time getting into precalc. At STA, "advanced" classes are not actually so..Most people go to precalc, without any consideration of their math abilities. In additon, getting into AP science after sophmore year chem is a breeze...99 percent of my friends SAILED into AP chem or bio, whereas at choate to get into AP chem, you must get an A in Honors Chemistry or an A with a department rec in regular to move to AP chem. Also, if you are looking for a bunch of kids who enjoy driving to each others' houses and having their parties broken up by the cops, then STA is for you, because that is basically the social scene. As for Sidwell, I liked it a lot, the only reason I didn't go was b/c I wanted to go to Choate...also, my sister HATES GDS and is leaving after this year...a lot of the kids are jerks. Hope this helps.

crh08

Oh, I didn't even see tryingtorelax's post. The stereotype you just described is represented by maybe .02 of the boarding school population, or at least at Choate. I am not applying to Princeton or Harvard next year for those very reasons, as I want a global environment with people comitted to changing the world (I realize that is very idealistic), so Brown is my first choice. Trying, that is a really jaded perspective you have there and I wonder if you have ever had contact with real boarding school type instead of those portrayed in inaccurate Gossip girls type books.

FrancisOuimet07

stewie and brian had a great time at brown.no grades...woohooo.