Name the most prestigious prep schools

Prep School Admissions
81

<p>admissionsrep,</p>

<p>i am an alum of one of the “elite 7” prep schools (i’m not going to disclose which one as i’ve already publicly stated my undergrad college / b-school - and i’d rather leave myself a certain measure of anonymity - any outside pressure for me to do so will be fruitless and i won’t budge on it.)</p>

<p>at any rate, i would agree that the elite prep schools can be devastatingly pressure-filled and can be detrimental to a student that is not prepared / does not have the proper support system. one is exposed to a very high level of competition at a very early age (particularly if one matriculates at the 9th grade level). you are surrounded by a high number of over-achievers and you are also exposed to a relatively high number of powerful legacies that have an enormous amount of support and resources that are only available to 0.001% of the general population.</p>

<p>so yes, an incredible amount of pressure to perform at a potentially very young age.</p>

<p>it is NOT a place for everyone. during my four years at boarding school, i witnessed my fair share of fellow students that “cracked under the pressure”, “burned out”, etc. they weren’t any less motivated or any less brilliant than those who “made it” - some were victims of circumstance, others just didn’t adapt, and others just didn’t shine / maximize their potential in this kind of extraordinary environment. on the flip side, i also saw my fair share of “underachievers” that ended up matriculating at HYPSM + Ivy who had no business getting such an acceptance other than the mere fact that they were lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in their mouths. is that fair? well, who said life was fair? better to start learning that lesson sooner rather than later.</p>

<p>that said, for an individual looking to be exposed to a place where the kids are highly motivated, self-aware, etc. it can be an incredible experience. an incredible learning experience. an incredible bonding experience. an incredible character building experience. an incredible confidence booster. an incredible preparation for college and beyond. an incredible growing experience. an incredible life experience. and on and on.</p>

<p>i had an experience which was on balance very positive. but some of my closest friends came away with a less than positive one. some didn’t matriculate into the colleges of their choice having made that “sacrifice” early on to come to prep school - and in fact, would have most likely achieved their goals had they stayed in public school. so yes, for some a very bitter experience indeed.</p>

<p>like anything else in life, you need to know what you want to get out of any experience, you need to manage your expectations (i.e. going to a top prep school is no guarantee for anything other than to say you attend a top prep school - whether your goal is to attend an Ivy - or otherwise), you need to know yourself (or your child) and how you (they) would fit in, you need to prepare yourself for the challenge, adjustment, transition, etc. </p>

<p>how do you know? you’ve got to do your “homework” - talk to alumni, talk to admissions, talk to faculty, talk to current students. basically, caveat emptor. you’ve got to due your due diligence and make an informed decision. you’ve got to understand all of the potential risks and potential rewards that may arise - noone puts a gun to your head to send your kid to a prep school. if you aren’t prepared for the potential consequences, than perhaps you shouldn’t go. simple as that.</p>

82

<p>No secret that I go to Andover, and I feel the need to speak up in favor of rigorous education for those who want and maybe even need it. At no time, including 9th grade, did I ever feel it was too much. I craved the kind of depth and rigor that I finally found there. There were some kids along the way that shouldn’t have been there. You kind of wonder what their parents were thinking. Though I honestly believe most of my peers would not trade their prep school years for anything. What we learned, the friendships we’ve made with students and teachers, the fun we’ve had. It’s hard to imagine having had it anywhere else because of how exceptional the company is.</p>

83

<p>Suze, I’m glad you posted what you did because even though I extolled the virtues of a character building school, this is not to say that the elite schools do not build character. Also, one of the greatest assets of any school is the strength of the student body. One of the things I always tell kids I’m doing college counseling with is that, they will be in class for about 15 hours a week, so a high percentage of their learning will come from, informal interactions with their peers. Selective schools have the ability to shape their student bodies in some very attractive ways that end up strengthening the caliber of the education that they receive.</p>

<p>I was recently with an Andover alum who went on to Williams and she was so dissapointed with the intellectual caliber of the Williams students because, she felt that Andover kids so clearly were stronger than the Williams kids and this impacted her learning environment in very palpable ways. Williams is no chop liver; we are not talking about, “everyones safety”.</p>

<p>As always, it’s about finding the right match for your kid. I’ve had some great conversations with a family I’ve become close to that transferred from the school I work at to Andover. The family absolutely loves both schools and feels that both schools are the best in the land at what they excel at, but the course offerings and driveness of the Andover student body was a very positive experience for this particular family. They loved the way that Westtown builds up a kids confidence and they loved the welcoming and family feel of Westtown, but a high school of 400 just can’t match Andover’s course offerings, vigor and number of faculty. Now, you give up something (perhaps a lot) when you go to school of over 1000 people in the way of “family feel” and sense of community, but there are some great strengths that come with the size and selectivity of an Andover.</p>

<p>I feel bad for some kids at the elites because often their ambitious parents send them to preps with an expectation of an elite college acceptance and I’ve seen too many kids internalize these expectations and feel like failures when they don’t measure up, but this is not a criticism of the school, but of a sector of the parent body that is drawn there. I’m sure the vast majority of the parents are great parents who just love their kid and want the best education they can get for their kid.</p>

84

<p>this past year I applied to preps. Andover (21% accept rate) and Brooks School (not as well known but 38%accept rate) as day student. I was waitlisted. Tough process. I did good on SSAT(92%) and interview,ec’s, recs. BUT my grades were pretty bad, downward trend. o well. ANdover was pretty damn awesome too but I’m happy at my day private school also. I was thinking of reapplying, but I think I;ll just stick it out at my current school instead. GOOD LUCK to anyone who is applying in the fall.</p>

85

<p>GreenDay</p>

<p>Whether it’s fair or not, as soon as those of us in admissions see someone scoring in the 90%+ (independent school norms and not national norms) the expectations are raised for that kid. The colleges do the exact same thing. Anyone who thinks their 1450+ (old scale) and C+ average is going to get in off of their testing is in for a rude awakening at any selective school. Sure, there is the occasional kid who has something ignite in him or her later in life and then the grades become commensurate with the scores, but that is the exception. I can think of a kid like that we had at Westtown who had over 1400 on his SATs in the 8th grade, but had a very medicore transcript until the 11th grade when something he clicked. This student ended up at a selective IVY, but that is very very rare for a selective IVY to not blow a kid out of their pool off 9th and 10th year grades that are rather mediocre.</p>

<p>Most admissions reps see SAT (or SSAT in the case of boarding school) scores as a reflection of your innate ability. When a kid with high scores and modest grades shows up, our committees (and we are the norm and not the exception) immediately tag this kid as an underachiever. One of the things you always want is the right academic tone in the classroom; this makes underachievers often dead on arrival unless their are compelling, extenuating circumstances.</p>

<p>I once had an appointment with someone high up in the Prep for Prep organization and he told me that the one lesson he has had to learn over the years is, it doesn’t matter how smart someone is, if they are not motivated, there isn’t anything we can do to give them heart.</p>

<p>I’ve been studying the correlation between the SSAT and grades for the last four years and I think the public would be shocked to see how poorly test scores predict grades and how effectively, grades from a rigorous school predict grades.</p>

<p>I have so much respect for Bates and the leadership role they played 20 years ago in going to optional testing. Within the last month, Knox college and Holy Cross have joined Bates in making SAT scores optional. </p>

<p>The problem with high testing is that it doesn’t measure: motivation, discipline, organization, persistence and creativity and these are some of the essential traits that produce high grades and quite frankly, success in life.</p>

<p>Most of the kids that we accepted with a high testing modest grade profile, almost never have grades that one would think their testing would produce.</p>

<p>Greenday, you may have been the exception, so this isn’t a knock on you, but I thought I’d explain why high testers with modest transcripts are usually denied or wait listed.</p>

86

<p>Keystone is good.</p>

87

<p>Admissionsrep,</p>

<p>Thank goodness that my daughter was one of the ones from a small public high school who got accepted over someone from an elite prep school background. She did not have the opportunity to attend an elite prep school nor are there any private high schools in our entire county. In fact, her SAT I scores were not as high as those of most of her college classmates. What she did have to offer her university was a genuine, innate desire to learn and succeed (as evidenced by her h.s. class rank and AP/SAT II scores), plus the acquired ability to get along with anybody from any race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. </p>

<p>I’m glad that the admissions office recognized her positive attributes enough to give her an opportunity to attend an elite college. And, too, I’m happy to report that she has not had a single problem academically. In fact, her GPA and class rank are within the top 5% of her class.</p>

88

<p>Suze, your derisive treatment of Miss Porter’s is entirely unjustifed. I know I have an inherent bias, speaking as an alumni, but I feel more than qualified to defend the school speaking as a student who transferred to the school from Harvard-Westlake (considered by most to be the top prep school in California) and who is now on route to Harvard Law (having deferred admission for the year). Miss Porter’s is (as mentioned by admissionsprep) considered to be one of, if not the, best girls boarding school in the country. Accordingly, the school is attended by some of the brightest students in country (often who, as in my situation, come from families who preferred the all-girls option over the larger coed schools). The academic community among these top students is extremely competitive and the coursework equally as rigorous as if not more so than some of the coeds (at least from what was said by students who transferred in from Hotchkiss and Deerfield. The top 20% of the graduating class tend to go on to colleges of their choice, such as the 6 admitted to Brown University alone (for example) last year. Porter’s has tremendous resources available to ensure truly talented students can go anywhere they choose, but it is nevertheless a girls school and thus has a naturally less competative admissions pool. The school does an admirable job pushing more average students to acheive and the lengths they go to in order to ensure that they go on to highly reputable and truly suitable colleges or universities distinguishes Porter’s from many, or even most, other prep schools. While I admit that Porter’s does not quite match the top coeds from a statistical standpoint, I hardly think the idea of Porter’s being among the top schools is laughable, rather quite appropriate given the school’s prominance in its field and the fact that it, like Andover and Exeter, sees some the best and brightest pass through its halls each year.</p>

89

<p>The best boarding school is definately Deerfield Academy. It has a great community, lots of ecs to do, strong in sports and everyone there knows when to study and when to have fun. Basically the best place to go if you want to have fun and study.</p>

90

<p>I am the mother of an 8th grade girl who is very seriously considering applying to prep schools for next year. Right now we are ONLY considering girls’ boarding schools, so your input on Westover, Emma Willard, Miss Porters, etc., was very interesting to me. My daughter visited all 3 of those schools this summer and liked each one for different reasons. Why would Emma Willard not be on your top list? Is it the caliber of girls? or other reasons? Thanks in advance for your input!</p>

91

<p>Oops - I meant to make these questions for Admissionsrep. Sorry</p>

92

<p>jedwards, why only all-girls schools? I would recommend many other boarding schools, most notably Andover and Exeter.</p>

93

<p>Well - we’ve given this a lot of thought and right now believe that an all girls school provides more opportunities for a girl to lead and become her own person. In addition, we believe that it takes some of the strain off of young girls as they proceed through middle adolescence and try to figure out where they fit in the world. We also believe (hope) that studies show that all girls schools produce strong, compassionate, accomplished young women who have had lots of opportunities to just stay ‘GIRLS’ a lot longer, without the daily worry of clothes, boys, makeup, dating/not dating. Of course, girls still will think about and want to be around guys (my d likes going to school with guys actually - but, if you ask her, it’s mostly because they are goofy, funny, sometimes outrageous, etc.). But, day in/day out, we think that girls can develop intellectually and emotionally in a different way when they are in a girls school. We’ll see and are open to other opinions.</p>

94

<p>Everyone has their own views, jedward. personally, i think that andover/ exeter/sps are the most prestigious, but exeter was a real pressure cooker and <em>almost</em> everyone on my tour wore glasses, on the other hand sps had a lot of athletic looking people so…</p>

95

<p>how bout Lawrenceville?</p>

96

<p>I go to an “elite” prep, (at least as elite as they come in Florida) and didn’t even bother applying to the top Ivy’s because my 4.3 doesn’t compare with the top 5% or so in my class. The Reason. I truly took all the toughest courses in the school – including all the ones the kids at the absolute top of the class avoided. By the end of the junior year, I completed Physics C, Calc BC, AP Chem, etc. and got more than my share of A-s,(but always 5 on the AP exams) and even a couple of B+s in high school. The straight A+ kids who were encouraged to apply to Harvard, Yale, Princeton EA (science majors-no less) all hang together in AP statistics, while I hump it out in multi-variable calc with the only other four srs. in the school, brave enough to take it.</p>

97

<p>While it’s very easy to get caught up in which school is most “prestigious,” we are trying to focus on the best environment/school for our d. In other words, not only prestige, but which one offers a challenging but warm environment that’s not a pressure cooker but allows the student to develop wide interests and confidence and other attributes that will carry her through life - not just carry her to an Ivy league college. Teenagers today need time to grow up, I think, and not JUST focus on getting into college. To develop their dreams and personal goals and character. That’s what we’re looking for and hoping to find in a good all-girls school. Our d is a highly gifted child, but we want her to concentrate on much, much more than her brain, as I’m sure most everyone on this board does too.</p>

98

<p>It depends on your philosophy for your d’s future I guess…</p>

99

<p>I heard that Peddie was a great prep school on the east coast</p>

100

<p>How is Peddie, awin422, and are you applying there?</p>