<p>Blair - I think it is as simple as this: Taft knew you would be accepted elsewhere and didn’t want to ruin its yield rate. Take that Exeter acceptance and cherish it and 
to Taft.</p>
<p>@smeetie: Wow! That photography exhibit was spectacular. Saw it in the gallery during a tour this past December. It was exceptional work by any standard. Did you just read about it in the alumni bulletin or did you see it in person? If it’s still on display and you aren’t too far, it’s worth a visit.</p>
<p>It’s actually okay to want to shine! Sometimes I wonder if people look at Exeter and Andover as places where they’ll be in the middle of the pack…and does it attract people who think like that, while other (ahem) lesser schools attract people who have the attitude that they want to be one of the superstars.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that that’s so. I just sometimes wonder what goes on in those little minds as they decide which school is best. And I know that there are myriad answers, among them being: “I had such a swell interview!”</p>
<p>"Blair - I think it is as simple as this: Taft knew you would be accepted elsewhere and didn’t want to ruin its yield rate. "</p>
<p>I know taft does that. Taft waitlisted me and gave me a wink wink note and said should I decide that Taft is my first choice after revisitin, call this number and talk to the then old admissions director (i think he just retired)</p>
<p>This may be wholly unrelated to the current discussion, but when I applied from my boarding school I felt disadvantaged as a white, upper middle class male, applying from prep school. I felt and still feel that I had the best high school education in the world, but in terms of getting into an Ivy, I would have been better served coming out of public school. Be that as it may, I’m much happier with my outstanding high school education in the college position that I’m in and would never trade it to have been accepted at an Ivy.</p>
<p>Prepschool, where did you go to prep school? (Sorry if that sentence sounds weird :))</p>
<p>If you don’t want to say it publicly, could you please PM me?</p>
<p>An educational consultant told us my son would be better off in the top 10% of a middle tier Prep school or public high school than top 30-40% in one of the higher end prep schools as far as getting into an Ivy school. I’ve heard this yesterday also from a parent who has a son in the middle of the pack in one of the top prep schools. What do you think?</p>
<p>I went to St. George’s and was in the top 10% of my class. The only ivy that I applied to last year was Dartmouth and I got deferred and then rejected. I think if I had been applying from my local high school with equivalent grades and similar sat’s I would have got in. Nevertheless as I said in my previous post, I wouldn’t change the education that I got at St. George’s for anything in the world. For that reason my advice would be to forget about college admissions (the pro of prep schools is that virtually every single kid gets into a “good” school at the very least) and think about what you want your child to get out of their four years of high school.</p>
<p>I think this is especially true when comparing to the larger of the higher end prep schools, where in a graduating class of 250 where 100 (or more) may be applying to one or more Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>IIRC, bearcats has been making the point that it is very difficult to get a lot of kids into any one school no matter how much better qualified they may be than students from another school because schools want a variety of backgrounds.</p>
<p>This being said, being a 2nd quartile student from a top school puts you in line behind a large number of other potential competitors from your own school. And the college counselor at your school is more likely to give a better push to the student from the top decile than you, given that they want to send the message that their best students deserve to go to the top (Ivy) schools.</p>
<p>Being top decile at a second tier school definitely puts you in a better position for Ivy (or any other highly competitive school) admissions as these schools do have an excellent track record for their top students succeding and you will have the preference on the college counselor’s recommendations at the top schools, being one of the top students.</p>
<p>I also agree that Ivy League admissions probably shouldn’t be a primary reason for selecting a school, but I know the reality of the world. BTW, the same arguement above would apply for any highly competitive school.</p>
<p>prepschool–st. g’s doesn’t have many ivy kids ( <a href=“http://www.stgeorges.edu/school_life/counseling/matriculation.asp?L4=2[/url]”>http://www.stgeorges.edu/school_life/counseling/matriculation.asp?L4=2</a> ), so i don’t think you can blame sgs, since you weren’t competing against anyone to get into dartmouth (or yale, UPenn, or princeton, or stanford, or MIT, for that matter). plus, if you were in the top 10% and took the challenging courses that were available (there doesn’t seem to be too many at SGS… many public high schools have much more, excluding the chinese language courses), then it was most likely something other than your academics at prep school (assuming your SAT’s confirm your academic achievment).</p>
<p>it’s competitive to get into an ivy from a prep because you’re fighting for a few spots w/ your classmates (in addition to everyone applying from other schools), but if there aren’t any other competitors who the ivy wants more, then you have an advantage within your school…but not to the public school down the street (well, lol, newport public schools suck, but that’s beside the point).</p>
<p>i just wanted to point that out to kid worried about matric lists.</p>
<p>SGS is a great school but, If the ivy league is your goal, you probably would not choose SGS. If beauty was important…SGS may be just the ticket. </p>
<p>I wonder how many prep school kids are really going to BS for the education versus the thought that it may be a ticket to the ivies? Imo, the ivies are looking more and more outside the BS world. Imo, if you go to a descent bs you will get an excellent education and be well prepared for college.</p>
<p>I am definitely going to BS for the education, not the ivy-league path. Getting into a “good school” is just one of the perks of BS. If you really think about it, anyone can get into an ivy college if they really want to. BS just puts all available resources and the people in one spot. Which makes an intelligent and motivated student’s high school experience really fantastic. Which is why you should go to BS, not ONLY b/c of the collge matriculation.</p>
<p>I think.</p>
<p>“If you really think about it, anyone can get into an ivy college if they really want to.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, with acceptance rates around 10% and an exceptionally competitive applicant pool, there is no sure path to an ivy.</p>
<p>prepparent… just wondering if you post “Canadian Top 10 Boarding Schools Ranking”… I’m very curious since I’m from Canada myself. And here’s a heads-up THANKYOU if you decide to post it. :)</p>
<p>cecretcindy, I hope this helps</p>
<p>Global Top 50 Boarding School Ranking
PrepReview.com Premium Content</p>
<p>Global Top 50 College Preparatory Boarding School Ranking 2005
Based on Percent Matriculation to Top Universities in Britain, Canada, and the United States*</p>
<p>Notable Alumni in Politics, Government and Public Service</p>
<p>Global Top 50 Boarding Schools Ranking American Top 30 Boarding Schools Ranking
British Top 30 Boarding Schools Ranking
Canadian Top 10 Boarding Schools Ranking
Endowment Ranking</p>
<p>Rank Nation College Preparatory Boarding School Location Top College Matriculation College Entrance Exam Boarding Age Boarding Tuition 2004-2005 School Type Top University Placements
1<br>
Westminster School
London 46% 97% 12 - 19 yrs old UK 20,658 Coed School Oxford & Cambridge
2<br>
St. Paul’s School
New Hampshire 40% 1345 14 - 18 yrs old US 31,125 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
3<br>
Milton Academy
Massachusetts 32% 1340 14 - 18 yrs old US 29,275 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
4<br>
Groton School
Massachusetts 31% 1360 13 - 18 yrs old US 33,930 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Phillips Andover Academy
Massachusetts 31% 1350 14 - 19 yrs old US 30,100 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
6<br>
St. Paul’s School (UK)
London 30% 97% 7 - 19 yrs old UK 20,085 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Winchester College
Winchester 30% 95% 13 - 18 yrs old UK 21,950 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge
8<br>
Eton College
Windsor 29% 96% 13 - 18 yrs old UK 22,480 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Nobles and Greenough School
Massachusetts 29% 1310 14 - 18 yrs old US 29,300 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
10<br>
Phillips Exeter Academy
New Hampshire 28% 1365 14 - 19 yrs old US 30,000 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
11<br>
Deerfield Academy
Massachusetts 27% 1330 14 - 19 yrs old US 29,690 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
12<br>
Wycombe Abbey School
High Wycombe 25% 97% 11 - 18 yrs old UK 20,100 Girls’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Hotchkiss School
Connecticut 25% 1300 14 - 19 yrs old US 29,925 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
14<br>
Middlesex School
Massachusetts 24% 1320 14 - 18 yrs old US 32,800 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
15<br>
Lawrenceville School
New Jersey 23% 1340 14 - 19 yrs old US 30,335 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Upper Canada College
Ontario 23% 1380 14 - 19 yrs old CA 37,975 Boys’ School McGill & Univ. of Toronto
17<br>
Sevenoaks School
Sevenoaks 20% 91% 11 - 19 yrs old UK 21,900 Girls’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Badminton School
Bristol 20% 89% 4 - 18 yrs old UK 20,730 Girls’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Charterhouse School
Godalming 20% 88% 13 - 18 yrs old UK 22,180 Coed School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Tonbridge School
Tonbridge 20% 86% 12 - 19 yrs old UK 22,120 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Choate Rosemary Hall
Connecticut 20% 1300 14 - 19 yrs old US 31,590 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
22<br>
Bishop Strachan School
Ontario 19% 1290 13 - 18 yrs old CA 33,400 Girls’ School McGill & Univ. of Toronto
23<br>
Thacher School
California 18% 1320 14 - 18 yrs old US 31,250 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Hockaday School
Texas 18% 1280 13 - 18 yrs old US 28,920 Girls’ School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Taft School
Connecticut 18% 1290 14 - 19 yrs old US 31,000 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Havergal College
Ontario 18% - 14 - 18 yrs old CA 35,400 Girls’ School McGill & Univ. of Toronto
27<br>
Cheltenham Ladies College
Cheltenham 17% 91% 11 - 18 yrs old UK 23,370 Girls’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Harrow School
Harrow 17% 85% 13 -18 yrs old UK 22,350 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge
29<br>
Radley College
Abingdon 16% 86% 13 - 18 yrs old UK 19,050 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Fettes College Edinburgh 16% 87% 7 - 18 yrs old UK 20,199 Coed School Oxford & Cambridge
31<br>
Webb School
California 15% 1310 14 - 18 yrs old US 29,300 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>St. Andrew’s School
Delaware 15% 1290 14 - 18 yrs old US 29,000 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Loomis Chaffee School
Connecticut 15% - 14 - 19 yrs old US 30,900 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Northfield Mt. Hermon School
Massachusetts 15% - 14 - 19 yrs old US 30,300 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Cranbrook Schools
Michigan 15% 1270 14 - 18 yrs old US 27,930 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Ashbury College
Ontario 15% 1200 14 - 18 yrs old CA 31,950 Coed School McGill & Univ. of Toronto
37<br>
St. George’s School
British Columbia 14% 1335 11 - 18 yrs old CA 34,000 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge
38<br>
Appleby College
Ontario 13% - 14 - 18 yrs old CA 36,000 Coed School McGill & Univ. of Toronto</p>
<p>Oundle School
Peterborough 13% 81% 11 - 19 yrs old UK 18,423 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Cate School
California 13% 1280 14 - 18 yrs old US 31,500 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
41<br>
Concord Academy
Massachusetts 12% 1350 14 - 18 yrs old US 31,985 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>St. George’s School
Rhode Island 12% 1260 14 - 18 yrs old US 30,000 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Miss Porter’s School
Connecticut 12% - 14 - 18 yrs old US 31,500 Girls’ School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Emma Willard School
New York 12% 1280 14 - 19 yrs old US 31,200 Girls’ School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Peddie School
New Jersey 12% - 14 - 19 yrs old US 30,400 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford
46<br>
Benenden School
Cranbrook 11% 89% 11 - 18 yrs old UK 22,350 Girls’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Rugby School
Rugby 11% 86% 13 - 18 yrs old UK 20,610 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge</p>
<p>Kent School
Connecticut 11% 1290 14 - 19 yrs old US 31,900 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Dulwich College
London 11% 83% 7 - 18 yrs old UK 21,630 Boys’ School Oxford & Cambridge
50<br>
Episcopal High School
Virginia 10% - 14 - 18 yrs old US 29,300 Coed School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Woodberry Forest School
Virginia 10% 1280 14 - 18 yrs old US 28,400 Boys’ School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>
<p>Georgetown Preparatory School
Maryland 10% - 14 - 18 yrs old US 31,270 Boys’ School Ivy League + MIT & Stanford</p>