<p>Most prestigeous prep schools in US: Andover, Exeter, St. Paul’s and Deerfield. First 2 are bigger, have more diversity and are best known around the world, St. Paul’s has highest ivy admit rate and a lot of really rich kids. Deerfield is preppiest and has the most European royalty.</p>
<p>Here are the Top 10 </p>
<ol>
<li>Andover (MA)</li>
<li>Exeter (NH)</li>
<li>Milton (MA)</li>
<li>Choate (CT)</li>
<li>St. Paul’s (MA)</li>
<li>Deerfield (MA)</li>
<li>Hotchkiss (CT)</li>
<li>Taft (CT)</li>
<li>St. George’s (RI)</li>
<li>Middlesex (MA?)</li>
</ol>
<p>First Tier
Exeter, Deerfield, Andover, St. Pauls</p>
<p>Second Tier
Lawrenceville, Choate, Hotchkiss</p>
<p>Third Tier
Groton, Milton, Taft, Kent</p>
<p>AceRockolla: How familar are you with the preps? As someone who’s been to a prep school, grew up in a CT town where half the kids go to prep schools and had a ton of friends go to prep schools, I can say, with some confidence, that your list is waayy off. Here’s where you went wrong: </p>
<p>Milton is definite “first tier”, Taft is definite “second tier”, Lawrenceville is definite “third tier”, Deerfield is “first tier/second tier” and Choate is definite “first tier.” Other than that (half the list), you’re okay.</p>
<p>Andover, Exeter, Miss Porter’s School for Girls, Western Reserve Academy, the Children’s School in New York, and basically a host of schools in New England</p>
<p>Me, my immediate family, and the family before them all went to prep schools in new england. i’m pretty familiar. my list is pretty dead on, with the people im around and myself.</p>
<p>Another born-and-bred Nutmegger who has to totally disagree with Choate being considered “third tier.” I’ve never heard anyone suggest anything close to that. Choate is one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Taft you can bump down, but Choate and Hotchkiss are right up there.</p>
<p>Long story, but I (nearly) was offered admission at Pomfret, Woodstock, and Kingswood-Oxford. Never bothered with any of them. I also could’ve gone to Avon Old Farms, but I never even remotely considered that possibility.</p>
<p>Oh hey, someone mentioned Miss Porter’s. I always forget about that one. One of the few schools around here whose students I actually like! (Along with KO.)</p>
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<p>What criteria are you using in your ranking of these schools? If you look at SAT scores,you will find that Groton has the highest average SAT scores of the schools with over 50% of the students boarding (according to BoardingSchoolreview.) It has long been a school of quiet excellence.</p>
<p>Funny you would selectively mention Groton when several other schools have the exact same score…kinda funny.</p>
<p>Groton is up there, but Miss Porters, are you kidding???</p>
<p>when it comes to assessing the prestige of preps aren’t they?? Old info and anecdotal tales…hmmmmmm bit of a problem at Groton and St. Pauls recently but I don’t see those mentions here.</p>
<p>St. Albans is definitely up there. I think the two Bush brothers and Al gore went there.</p>
<p>AceRockolla: I’m curious as to where you and your family went. You’re one of the few people I’ve ever who has Deerfield in the upper echelon of prep schools sans Choate, its archrival. Admittedly, I did go to Choate (which I can attest to being one of the toughest schools in the country), but the fact that you don’t have these two schools on par suggests a bias at your end as well. A second question on your reasoning as well… </p>
<ul>
<li>Why so down on Milton? Some of the smartest, hardest-working kids I know go there, and it’s tied with both Andover and Exeter in the highest SAT category (with Choate, Deerfield and St. Paul’s all in the second tier), and is tied for first in the acceptance category as well (this is probably due to the fact that it is K-12, but it also reflects the incredible number of kids who apply to such a “small” school.)</li>
</ul>
<p>what about Loomis Chaffee</p>
<p>JPS: Both St. Alban’s (and Georgetown Prep, which is probably superior) are incredible schools, but they can’t match any of the NE boarding schools in terms of endowment, academic and athletic resources and applicant pool. That’s probably more due to their significant day student population and Maryland-exclusive applicant pool than any failing on their part.</p>
<p>Edit - Alwaysfaithful: Loomis is more along the lines of “lower second tier.” It’s a great school, with solid athletics and academics, but the campus isn’t as nice and it just can’t compare to some of the other, bigger preps in terms of academic talent. It’s a great school, but it doesn’t have the admissions “pull” that a Andover, Exeter, Milton, etc. would have.</p>
<p>Admission to the top preps has in recent years approached the difficulty of admission to college. Legacy, development and diversity. The top schools have endowments to rival the Ivy schools and in some cases admits stats similar. To discuss the most prestigious and the top are like considering that you will get into Harvard because you want to. Nice thought but not always practical. While the names can be thrown around the discussion for a student who is soliciting information is more appropriately the difficulty of gaining admission and perhaps financial aid.</p>
<p>Well, typically, the bigger preps all have around 30% of kids on financial aid. That number is lower for a homogenous prephouse like Taft, but the variation is minor. </p>
<p>And the admit rates are all brutal. But play to each of the school’s reputations - if you’re a solid athlete with subpar grades, Loomis or Deerfield will probably take you. If you’re a math nerd with a subpar sports record, Milton will probably take you. If you’re well-rounded, you’ll be a lock at Andover, Hotchkiss or Exeter. And if you’re really strong in one subject, and only average at others, you’re looking good at a place like Choate. If you don’t fit any of those categories, or are applying to a school that doesn’t cater to your “type”, it’s a crapshoot. Just like the Ivies.</p>
<p>Exeter has built up a huge math program with Mr. Feng including the Olympiad Champion…and many other stellar showings. The team is excellent and I would recommend any math geeks to look at Exeter and to inquire of the math team there. A large cohort exists for math geeks.</p>
<p>CT343, if you look at past posts on this forum or suze’s own post on this thread, you’ll see that the top 4 are generally reguarded by many as st pauls, andover, deerfield, exeter. my dad and sister both attended exeter, but i chose to break away from the mold and go to a prep school in pennsylvania. eh, i also really think you’re really offbase in your prep school perspectives. deerfield has something like a 20% acceptance rate, and, while it is a very athletic school, requires high academic achievement to get in. lawrenceville is also an elite school you don’t seem to be very high on. some consider the school in the same tier as the top 4. i can see why, as evern though its not in new england, still gets nationwide recognition. Choate’s a great school too. I just don’t consider it as great a school as the four sister schools mentioned before.</p>