Yeah, CA is a pretty stingy school when it comes to FA. I’m glad to hear the she was accepted though! We loved C.A. mainly because of how close it is to us. Did she happen to apply to any other schools?
If you had to rank choate, groton, andover, deerfield, and lawrenceville how would you rank
There is no such thing as a meaningful generic ranking of such schools. You would have to discuss what you think you need in a good boarding school experience, and then also discuss some of the things you would also like, but do not strictly need. And then informed people could assess those schools for you in light of such guidance. If you like, you could in fact start a discussion like that.
I note if you are like most kids, it will turn out there are several schools that have everything you need, but none have everything you might want. That’s why these are often not easy decisions, but it then comes down to which balance of attributes is most exciting to you. As long as that school has everything you need, you can’t really make a bad decision. But we can’t make it for you.
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I think it’s personal Preference. For academics, ye there will be rankings but there’s no one definitive answer to that.
I know a family whose children were choosing from among those schools in various years. They chose three different schools! Because they “ranked” them according to what would best serve each student.
Ranking, once one has achieved a certain level of excellence, is both a fool’s errand and a red herring. To succeed at any of these schools, critical thinking and analysis will be required. Applying those skills now is your first assignment. Take away the brand names, and pretend you are seeing each school through the eyes of someone who knows nothing about the schools. Look at the actual experience, and the people, and the structure. Where will you thrive?
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Just to sort of illustrate that point about preferences . . .
It is easy enough to look up, say, a list of boarding schools ranked by endowment size. Why isn’t that definitive?
Well, of course, it is because they don’t all use those financial resources in the same way. Like, some are then bigger than others. You can then calculate things like endowment per student, but maybe there are some advantages to more students. Or less. Maybe there is a sweet spot for boarding school size. Maybe the sweet spot is different for different kids. I don’t think there are easy answers.
OK, so we barely started this analysis, looking just at endowments and student body sizes, and we already lack any sort of clear answers about what is best. And obviously endowments are not the only resource that matters. Obviously the number of students isn’t the only choice they make about how to use their available resources. Very quickly, this will become an even more complicated situation where the choices institutions are making are going to lead to different balances of attributes.
So there are no generic answers. But again, this also means there really are no generic bad answers. Again, just to be blunt about it, all those schools are highly-resourced.
So you pick one which is using its resources in a way you particularly like. And that’s what a good decision in this context necessarily looks like.
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Endowments certainly have a substantial impact regarding the resources available to students and to faculty.
Schools ranked by endowment can be ranked in two ways: overall/total endowment and by endowment-per-student.
Regarding total endowment, the top 5 US boarding schools are: Exeter, Andover, Deerfield Academy, Lawrenceville, and St. Paul’s School.
With respect to endowment per student the top school is St. Paul’s School followed by Groton. Next are Exeter, Andover, Woodberry Forest (all male), Deerfield Academy, Hotchkiss, Middlesex, and St. Andrews in Delaware.
Some families might prefer boarding schools which do not admit PGs (post graduates) and some families prefer boarding schools with close to 100% boarding student population.
@jojojojojojojo requested posters to rank Choate Rosemary Hall, Phillips Academy at Andover, Deerfield Academy, the Lawrenceville School, and the Groton School. Among these 5 schools, Groton will be the least known because it has the smallest enrollment (just 380 students) and does not admit PGs.
The remaining 4 schools are the 4 largest boarding schools in the country: Andover (1,165), Exeter (1,106), Choate (860), and Lawrenceville (815).
Students at Andover enjoy easy access to Boston. For some families, that may be a positive aspect, while, for other families, it may be a negative. Also, Andover has a well deserved reputation for intense, high pressure academics. Is that good or bad ?
Academically, all 5 schools are outstanding.
Among the 5 schools, it becomes a personal decision as to what is most important to a particular student and to his/her family. Some families find comfort in schools with Saturday morning classes, while some students may prefer more freedom / more time to venture off campus during weekends.
Rank among these 5 outstanding options should be done by personal preference.
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I am feeling a bit constrained in my options, as the only boarding school I’ve been accepted to is Andover (which I am immensely grateful for). My other option was a private day school in my area, but they did not offer me FA and the enrollment deadline has passed so attending that school isn’t feasible for my family.
I had been hoping to attend a boarding school with a balance of academics, rigorous enough to keep my mind engaged, but not so intense that it would overwhelm me or leave me little time for ballet. I hope I can learn more about Andover on revisit day, but right now I feel both over the moon and a little worried about whether I’ll have enough time for dance and other personal passions. Does anyone have any insight or experiences about attending Andover?
I will say that you should reach out to kids that go there. Additionally I can tell you that you will have time for ballet along with other personal interests. I recommend you look at the schedule for Andover. I think this will help you receive some insight on the time you would have. I think that as someone said from Exeter “The workload is hard but it’s manageable. These schools have resources such as ‘conference’, teachers etc to help you”. Having said this I believe it wont be easy but I also think that you should do a little more research on a sample schedule and the school in general. Talk to Students/Parents, talk to advisors. I think that by looking into the resources you have right now, it may help you come to an opinion. I can tell you for one that I had the same concern as you but after watching a few Andover vlogs on yt and researching the schedule/course requirements, I concluded that I would have time for my sports and hobbies I would want to persue. I hope this helps! 
Balancing multiple interests and prioritizing them is part of the experience, as is developing the skillset to do it effectively. Everyone you’ll be going to school with will be facing the same challenges (because having multiple talents and interests is likely why they got accepted there in the first place). The good news is that you have a plethora of resources and amazing peers to help you. I know a kid who just came back from indoor nationals in her sport and is a phenomenal musician who plays with a top orchestra OUTSIDE of PA. The point is, this is an amazing but not unusual kid there. And by no means a genius. Just works really hard and leverages all of the resources I mentioned. And loves it. Couldn’t. Love. It. More.
You guys don’t have to decide anything now. Go to revisit Day. If you don’t feel an inexorable pull to that place, don’t go. What a lot of folks seem to forget is that its not an accolade. It’s a demanding school with excellent peers that expects a lot from you. The good news is it gives you back tenfold. But it’s no joke.
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If ballet counts as your sport, you will have a dedicated sports block most days for dance.
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Guys I got a financial aid appeal form from Hill. Wish me luck bc if I can’t get any more aid I won’t be able to go 
Still attending a revisit day though!
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Andover, Lawrenceville, Choate, Deerfield, Groton for sure. Deerfield pretty close to Choate though.
You have posted several times about your concern about the workload. Let’s start with the fact that PA would not have admitted you if they felt you couldn’t handle it.
You may need to be very deliberate about how you spend your time so that you have time for both ballet and academics. That might mean you will not be able to do other things that have caught your interest. Or it may mean that you forgo some rigor. Or you may have less time to chill with friends. It’s hard to make choices! But you can do it, just maybe not all of it.
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Yes, there is a workload. My children went to 2 different middle schools - one a k-8 catholic school and one a local public charter school. Both very good schools in our state but nowhere near the workload of Andover. Everyone is coming from different schools and the incoming juniors/9 th graders all start out on different footing but they quickly learn how to study efficiently. My son and daughter learned how to weave their studying through the day and on weekends. They quickly learn time management skills their first year. They were definitely challenged no matter what their math or English level. The 4 hours is real but doable. There were pass/fail courses in the beginning to get all students acclimated to the workload. They definitely worked but they definitely had fun. There definitely were challenges but for students who were accepted, the admissions staff did a good job selecting students who they thought could do well at Andover. I hope this helps. There are opportunities as well to get tutors as my son and daughter learned to utilize the great resources available. Teachers wnd coaches will definitely challenge you but in the end, you will learn more about yourself than if you were never challenged. Congratulations again.
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Thank you so much for sharing this, I really appreciate hearing about your children’s experience. I’m relieved to hear that Andover has many resources. I think I am getting ahead of myself since I haven’t attended revisit day yet. Thank you again!
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Thank you for your reply! I go to a pretty rigorous online school and my schedule this year has been quite tight with nearly 4 hours of dance everyday (not including transportation), and each of my courses having around 4-6 hours of homework per week. Because my school is online, I don’t see my friends often, so I think part of my concern is also wondering how everything will balance once I am in a more social and structured environment.
I really appreciate your advice about being intentional with time and priorities, this is a skill I am still trying to develop.
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Thank you so much for this perspective. That kid sounds incredibly ambitious! This is one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Andover in the first place - to be in a community full of individuals that are both kind and genuinely passionate about their interests. I’m looking forward to seeing the environment for myself and getting a better feel for it; thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
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My child was a performing arts kid at a peer boarding school. You won’t be able to do four hours of dance every day if you attend Andover. I would say the max you could plan to devote would be two hours, and even that might be optimistic. More like 60 to 90 minutes a day dedicated to his performing art was doable.
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I have a friend who is able to get in 3 hours so I think that as long as you manage your time, well, 3 hours works.