<p>As a boarding school alumnus, whose friends and siblings have attended more than half the boarding schools mentioned in this thread, I can say that it is ridiculous to attempt to rank these schools. Furthermore, no one has actually provided any evidence to support their “rankings” or “tiers”.</p>
<p>I suggest anyone who is interested in the topic read “Preparing for power: America’s elite boarding schools” by Peter W. Cookson. The book provides plenty of perspective on the schools mentioned in this thread, and actually has some intelligent analysis regarding the “prestige” of these schools.</p>
<p>Uhhhh…I know a number of people who have fled Exeter because they hated it there and are much more happy and intellectually challenged elsewhere.</p>
<p>“The dean of admissions at Exeter told me point blank (after I enlightened him a bit about the design of the New SAT) that the SSAT’s were the most important factor used in admissions. I could give many other examples of the like.”</p>
<p>In contrast, at Milton where I used to go I knew people who practically failed them (got very low scores…I know, I know, you can’t fail the SSATs) as well as people who aced 'em. So may I venture to say it depends on the place?</p>
<p>I’d say people give Exeter and Andover way too much credit because I know while they might be considered the best they are huge (as large as your normal public school) taking away from one of the best parts about a boarding school, the small size/community feel. I don’t think they have that community feel. Also, on a similar note, I’d recommend anyone to Taft, Avon Old Farms, Deerfield, Choate, Loomis, or Miss Porter’s. They are great schools though Avon and Porter’s seem to get little credit because they are single sex. Loomis also gets less respect then Choate, Taft, and Deerfield but in reality its not much different. It has a great campus and strong academics as well as good athletics (just not Football).</p>
<p>Hi, I am a new member here. Does anyone know which one is better among Pingry, Delbarton and Newark Academy in NJ? I am looking to day school or day/boarding mixed in NJ.</p>
<p>How about Lawrenceville and Peddie? 2 great schools. Also, isn’t there a good day only school in Princeton?</p>
<p>Thos in the boarding school community generally agree the most competitive schools to get into are, in order, Deerfiele, St. Pauls’s, Andover and Exeter. Close behing are Choate, Hotchkiss and Groton. St. Paul’s has the highest ivy matric%. Andover and Exeter are both just over 1000, hardly huige. St. Paul’s, however, has 2000 acres and a huge course catalogue for under 500!</p>
<p>“I’d say people give Exeter and Andover way too much credit because I know while they might be considered the best they are huge (as large as your normal public school) taking away from one of the best parts about a boarding school, the small size/community feel.”</p>
<p>Exeter has a little more than 1000. Totally a community feel…you know everyone.</p>
<p>the commonly accepted top three are Exeter, Andover, and Lawrenceville, but for a list of schools that do best with college placement, wall street journal did a survey recently: [url=<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html]WSJ.com[/url”>WSJ.com]WSJ.com[/url</a>]
the top few are nyc private schools, and all in the top 15 are private, but many of them are day schools. The boarding schools in the top 20 are exeter, andover, groton, milton, lawrenceville, and probably another couple that i don’t know of. Only 3 out of the top 20 are outside of NY, NJ, MA, or CA. The top 20 list is:</p>
<p>Collegiate School (NY)
Brearley School (NY)
Chapin School (NY)
Polytechnic School (CA)
University of Chicago Lab Schools (IL)
College Preparatory School (CA)
Trinity School (NY)
Phillips Academy Andover (MA)
Delbarton School (NJ)
Phillips Exeter Academy (NH)
Milton Academy (MA)
Groton School (MA)
Winsor School (MA)
Lawrenceville School (NJ)
Kent Place School (NJ)
Hunter College High School (NY)
Crystal Springs Uplands School (CA)
Rivers School (MA)
Saint Ann’s School (NY)
United World College-USA (NM)</p>
<p>^Yeah, you got them. I would have expected Phillips (Andover) to be actually higher. Mmm. Boston Latin isn’t as high either. I’m really surprised Daewon Foreign Language School (South Korea) is not up there, actually. Most of the kids from that prep school are fluent in not only English (I’d say most or at least half have lived in America) but in other foreign languages. They attend the most prestigious universities, and the school’s average SAT score is close to 2200. Hmm, interesting, but I think the list is pretty accurate.</p>
<p>“The commonly accepted top three are Exeter, Andover, and Lawrenceville”</p>
<p>Really? Commonly acknowledged by whom? Lawrenceville? Good school but I’ve never heard it mentioned as a very top school nor is it thought of as one on the prep school board here. </p>
<p>I get that a lot of people think Andover and Exeter are tops, but not one of these 3 schools has top college placement compared to many other prep schoosl. Andover and Exeter are the largest among the boarding schools and have long been open to the broadest range of students so are best known. But there are many smaller preps with better college placement, which in professional circles is how they’re ranked.</p>
<p>There are several NYC, Boston and LA day schools among others who have better placement than the top boarding schools.</p>
<p>Ehoss - when quoting an article, it is helpful to understand and lay out the criteria used by that article. That WSJ article has been flamed in many circles, including among the boarding schools themselves, because of the criteria used. The WSJ article considers only eight - 8!!! - schools when compiling its ranking. These are the 8 chosen: Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins. Using such a small group of schools will definitely sway the rankings. For example, Lawrenceville looks higher as it has historically sent a lot of students to Princeton - Princeton faculty kids, proximity, etc. </p>
<p>Where are other excellent schools like Yale, Dartmouth, Amherst, Stanford, Brown, UPenn, etc. ? The WSJ didn’t even consider them in their rankings so I say the rankings are total bunk!</p>
<p>From the WSJ chart referenced: Weekend Journal looked at the freshman classes at eight top colleges – Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins – and compiled a list of the students’ high-school alma maters. The survey ranked the high schools based on the number of students sent to those eight colleges, divided by the high school’s number of graduates in 2007, limiting the scope to schools that had senior classes of at least 5</p>
<p>When I was at L’ville there were day students who’s parents were Princeton Professors & employees. These kids usually ended up at Princeton which is a 10 minute drive away. That would certainly skew results in L’ville’s favor.</p>
<p>I think the Wall Street Journal (considering they are mostly a fiscal publication) will target schools with good Business programs. That being said, I may be wrong, considering certain top business programs (namely Wharton) are not included.</p>