JB1

I get the feeling that it is more the younger posters on this board that are pushing the idea that one "needs" to go to ASED ect...

That is definatelly a blanket statement and there are exceptions to every rule, but a look at the last few posts in this thread show that some of what I consider to be the more frequent/responsible adult posters here are happily sending their children to schools other than ASEDPDQECT...
as long as it is a good fit for the child. Count me in this category. (maybe not the frequent/responsible poster part) I hopefully will send my D to a lesser talked about school and couldn't be happier about it. We looked at one of the better known schools and my D wanted nothing to do with it. Could she get in? Her stats are pretty good but who knows.

It is my contention that most of the lesser talked about schools (I hate to even use tier vs tier) are very capable of sending students to Ivy League Schools. They do all the time. It is more a factor of the student than the school. If you took a student from Andover who is going to an Ivy and put him/her in an MAPL school I feel that they would still go to an Ivy.

Having said all of that, I am sure that there are students that want to go to ASED for all of the right reasons and they would thrive there. I just hate to see kids exclude other schools for no better reason than a message board said they should.

keylyme

True....I feel bad for students who choose not to go to any bs if they don't get in to AESD, etc. There are many schools that are truly just as good (maybe better), but lack the prestige/popularity of the older, big-name schools to attract the large numbers of applications, hence making their admission stats higher.

sbergman

Thanks for the wonderful post jennycraig. You certainly described my experience. I attended a public school through 9th grade. My teachers were good, the school was good, and most of my friends there were headed to college. I could get an A without a lot of effort and although my teachers would talk about "unmet potential," they certainly didn't have the time to try to further motivate one good student when they had plenty of not-so-good students to deal with.

For me the biggest joy of switching to a smaller school was that I didn't have to wait in line to participate in sports and theater. At my public school there was no chance of making a varsity team before my junior year or getting a lead in a play before my senior year. I also hated that you had to choose your group (brainiacs, jocks, burnouts). With just 100 kids per grade at my new school, everybody was everything.

I now work for a school that is not on any top ten list. Our typical senior class will go to a wide range of colleges - including several to the Ivies or top tier liberal arts schools and many to state schools. Here's a quote from one of our recent grads who is now at Yale, "I know that some people worry that SAS is a small pond and that at some point there will be a reality check but the confidence I built in that small pond prepared me for that challenge when it came.” There's something to be said for being a big fish in a small pond.

Periwinkle

I'm more impressed when a current parent is happy with a school. Schools can change quickly, especially when the administration changes. Philosophy does matter, and sometimes, in the pursuit of the Big Names, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the aim of this process is to educate one child at a time. Even today's Big Name schools were once No Name schools. John McPhee's biography, "The Headmaster", is a moving portrait of Deerfield's first Headmaster.

So far, I've heard good things about St. Mark's, Tilton, Lawrence Academy, Worcester Academy, and Brooks School. All the parents paid full tuition, as well, so they felt it was worth the sacrifice. That's more impressive to me than any guidebook, or how large an endowment a school manages, or how prestigious a school is thought to be.

I have heard opinions about other schools, but I discount the recollections of 20+ years ago. Schools do change, and a school which was great or a pressure cooker back then, may be entirely different today.

hpflrent

I think you could easily add Mercersburg Academy to that list of schools just mentioned. What a great school and in a beautiful setting, too.

barcafan

does anybody know what tier Western Reserve Academy is in

D'yer Maker

II-A10 chars

sbergman

I've met some really incredible Western Reserve graduates. The school is a boarding/day school in an area where very few people send their children to boarding school and the day schools are outstanding so it really has to work hard to be a player in the market there. Plus, Hudson is a beautiful town. I'd recommend it.

beanaparker

Hi!
I just got a full merit scholarship to Western Reserve Academy!!!! (celebration) And i also got accepted to Lawrenceville School.
I really love Lawrenceville more. I feel it is a better school academically with a better reputation. Money is not a HUGE issue for my family... i want to go to the best school for me. Any suggestions about what school I should choose?

dtracy

I would like to add Cushing Academy to the list of schools that should be considered. My daughter is a senior and has been a student at Cushing for 3 years. She was a top student at a local private school with incredible stats and would have been a strong candidate at the so called teir 1 schools. In fact we started the application process at a few but I had already heard of Cushing from a client of mine. My daughter fell in love with Cushing the day she spent there attending classes and meeting students. I felt that she would be lost at a tier 1 school and would not thrive there. We were looking for that magical fit and Cushing was the perfect match. We pulled all other applications after she was quickly accepted. After 3 years I can confirm our instincts were correct and she realized her potential and became a top 5 or so student with great AP and SAT stats. She used the same "fit" approach in her college search and fell in love with Vanderbilt the day we visited over the summer. She applied EDI and was accepted and will be part of the class of 2012. She started her college search thinking she wanted to attend our local Ivy but the fit at Vanderbilt was compelling, similar to the Cushing fit. As the Vanderbilt admissions person told us that day "College is a match to be made not a prize to be won." The same applies to boarding schools.

liv&learn

I highly recommend going to revisit days at each school you are accepted to. And do so with your eyes and ears open. Sometimes what we think we want can change. It's all about how you feel, how you fit and what your gut tells you. You'll know where you belong after you revisit with an open mind.

click46

To beanaparker:
If money is not a big issue, I would definitely go to Lawrenceville. You will meet much more diverse people there and have much more opportunities academically during and after high school, than at WRA.

beanaparker

I think I will go back for the revisit days at both schools...
There are things I don't like in both schools..., oh I just dont know what to do!! but thanks for the advice!

laxtaxi

I think most of the adults on this forum would agree with the following. In my professional life I have met amazing, confident, capable, brilliant people who went to non-descript or non-brand name colleges or universities. I have also met people who went to the elite Ivies who are, to be candid, complete tools. I have less exposure to boarding school graduates but I would venture a guess that the experience is similar.

wyvern

beanparker...
....what dont you like about Lville? I was admitted there and I am weighing it against Deerfield, SPS and Groton. Lvlle seemed to be a pretty good all around package. Maybe too many day students? How tight are the alumni connections at Lvlle?