Winterset

It seems to me that some boarding schools should have their own threads (or even page). Since I do not see that, I thought I would start this thread for Just St. Paul's. This might avoid some of the endless internecine rivalry between people who are proud of their respective schools, but usually devolves into trying to prove which is better.

So here, let’s just focus on St. Paul’s. Please wait...

What we know. What it is. And as a forum to answer questions.

I am a graduate, I had two nephews there, I have a son there, and I am an admissions ambassador. Oh, and I have a bias. I love the place.

Winterset

Admissions for the fall of '08:

HIGH RATE OF ADMISSIONS SELECTIVITY CONTINUES
St. Paul's School received a record number of applications for admission for the fall of 2008. Of the 1,182 students who applied, 250 - or 21 percent - were admitted, continuing the high rate of selectivity that has become the norm over the last several years.

Of those admitted, including 25 students offered admission from a strong waiting list, 59 percent have elected to enroll. In a year of unpredictable yields for many independent schools - a trend caused by the declining economy and increasingly generous financial aid offers from many institutions - St. Paul's continued to attract students of the highest caliber.

"In the uncertain financial climate of today, we are fortunate that we are in a very good position where we continue to attract and enroll high-achieving students who have many other options at our peer schools," said first-year Admissions Director Jada Hebra. "We have so many amazing kids coming and amazing students still on our waiting list."

Of the 148 new students expected in the fall, 77 are boys and 71 girls. The students hail from 24 states and 12 countries. Included in those numbers are 21 new students of color and 24 students with an alumni or sibling relationship with the School. In terms of geographic distribution, 22 of the new students come from Massachusetts with New Hampshire (16), New York (14), California (13), and New Jersey (9) also well-represented.

Eight of the new students hail from South Korea while seven come from Hong Kong and five are Canadian residents. The School will also welcome new students from Colombia, the Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, and Japan.

Among the new students will be 97 new Third Formers, 46 new Fourth Formers, and five new Fifth Formers.

In a continued effort to open its doors to more families, the School announced in March that it would enhance a two-year-old financial aid policy providing free tuition to certain middle-income families. The new initiative provides an education at no cost for admitted students whose families earn $80,000 or less annually. That announcement built on the School's previous policy, announced in 2006, that provided free tuition to admitted students with family incomes under $65,000.

Thirty-five percent of new students will receive some form of tuition assistance during the 2008-09 academic year. Overall, 34 percent of St. Paul's students will receive financial aid next year.

Hebra said her office was cautious in its initial admissions decisions, admitting fewer students than usual to prevent over-enrollment. But the School took more than two dozen students off the waiting list between the March 10 decisions and the April 10 enrollment deadline.

"We went to the wait list early because we intentionally built a strong one," explained Hebra. "In this time of economic downturn, where yield is more uncertain than ever because of attractive financial aid offers from so many schools, St. Paul's still had a record number of applications and very low selectivity."

MomtoanUndecided

Pelican Online

School newspaper online....(thanks creative for pointing it out to me!)....

shore

Only a 59% matriculation? Isn't that low for such a great school?

hockeykid841

I'm not sure where that 21 percent comes from, but the rector announced a 19 percent acceptence rate in chapel.


I dont know which is right but i'm just throwing it out there.

creative1

shore -

I don't think you can compare the yield rate to Exeter or Andover, for example. SPS is 100% boarding. Exeter and Andover have a day student population and I would speculate that the yield rate for the day student population is at or close to 100%. That would skew the overall yield rate for those schools much higher.


Hockeykid - go study for your finals! and best of luck to you on them!

Winterset

The long post was the SPS press release (for you Hockeykid). Not sure about what Bill Matthews said in Chapel. I have been told that SPS "admitted low" for the March 10th deadline and then went to the "waitlist" even before the April 10th deadline. I also heard that " Those kids, if admitted on March 10, would have enrolled at SPS I am certain. In fact, those kids had great choices and held out for SPS." As you can guess, a number of factors affect the reported numbers. Individually, any statistics have to be used and viewed in a very measured way. All the top schhols are Great (well SPS is a bit greater, but...)

Can't help smiling! Yes all SPS students SHOULD be studying, not reading these emails!

Winterset

MomtoanUndecided:

http://www.tenschools.org/images/mem...al_stpauls.gif

Thanks for adding the Pelican link. I have just saved it to favorites. I had WSPS online streaming when my son had a radio broadcast, but not the Pelican!

Pelican Online

Jonathan1

I love SPS!!!!!!!

MomtoanUndecided

Regarding yield (i.e., matriculation versus offers of admission):

I think 59% sounds very high. It's better than 1 in 2. Considering the number of schools kids apply to, and the certain other great choices kids usually have when they are admitted to a highly selective school, getting more than 1 student out of 2 is very very good, I think. I don't know the yields for other comparable schools though, so I may be wrong.

I don't want to hijack this thread away from SPS, but even Harvard this year went to its waitlist - to the tune of over 200 students!!! That's possibly TEN PERCENT of its class it took from the WAITLIST. Harvard? Yeah. http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=523551. Its yield was 76 percent apparently. My husband opined that kids who got into Harvard but came from families that did not qualify for aid (it's all need-based) just got very very good money thrown at them from other schools - good schools of course -and that in light of say, a full ride at Duke (for example) versus full pay at Harvard, families might think that saving the $50k plus per year for great graduate programs makes plenty of sense.

Sadie2

St. Paul's is one of the schools at the top of my D's list right now. Our tentative plans are to visit in the fall, and from what we have learned so far, I expect she is going to love it.

D especially loves music, art and theatre. She would enjoy learning Latin, if possible, but not without giving up French. I wonder what sacrifices a student has to make in order to participate in the classics diploma program?

She has a keen eye for good architecture and is sensitive to her surroundings. (She wants very much to belong to a school with a beautiful campus, if possible!) She is also completely self motivated and diligent with homework and studying. The freedom with responsibility thing she should handle well.
St. Paul's sounds like a good fit to me..........we are looking forward to learning all we can about it!

Winterset

Maybe another parent (or student) can speak first hand about the Classics Program. We know one friend's son from our town in the program. I would say there ARE sacrifices, but there are also sacrifices you make for the ballet program, robotics, drama, crew or anything you commit yourself to. I would encourgage her and if she goes to SPS let her discuss it with her advisor. It is a great and unusual program.

lilyrobin

I love St Paul's! Not that I go there or anything, but I've always wanted to. My parents would never let me go to boarding school though. But I'm going there for their summer program! I'm so excited!

And that was pointless. But I love St Paul's!

hickton45

Does anyone know anything about languages at SPS, specifically German?

rebelangel

Two St. Paul's grads in my fraternity at Penn, not exactly the biggest sample. They loved the School, but they were universally acknowledged as the biggest snobs ever. I've always wondered if SPS brings that out in its student body. I've never met any other grads, but those two certainly didn't rep the School well.