NICHE 2025 Rankings

Prep School Admissions
21

poorly

22

Good one
can’t argue that

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23

I have huge respect for Groton. It’s FDR’s alma mater. Beautiful campus and outstanding students.

It clearly is among the very top prep schools in the nation and deserves to be ranked in the top 5 but I would put Andover and Exeter ahead of Groton

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24

Niche rankings are not that useful, especially for these schools. The comments can sometimes be helpful as they might point you to what you might want to ask about/explore further. Or perhaps not – as they may be the voices of a handful of disgruntled parents or kids.

As with anything, it depends on what matters to you, and rarely does that align entirely with the methodologies used by the folks doing the ranking. Even on something that seems quantifiable, like diversity, depends on how you define it.

I have used Consumer Reports on many occasions and have opted for something other than a top pick for any number of reasons valid to me. And they aren’t even ranking “soft” attributes! Schools are much harder!

I wouldn’t get hung up on these. Just another source!

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25

Roughly speaking, comparing Groton to schools like Exeter and Andover is like comparing Amherst or Williams to schools like Duke and UChicago. Doesn’t make a whole heck of a lot of sense.

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26

I could not agree more.

When US News ranks colleges and universities, it’s able to break apart liberal arts colleges from research universities.

But despite the amazing variety of independent schools that exists today, there are too few schools of comparable quality for a “large school” list – given how large PA/PEA are relative to others. And yet precisely because of that amazing variety, it makes no sense to compare all of the “top” schools in a single list without filtering and categorizing them by various factors.

This is why this site is constantly telling students and parents to look beyond the usual suspects. It’s always good advice, though I doubt how often it’s heeded. The constant talk of Niche rankings and which “top 5” school should be ahead or behind another distracts students and families from digging in and finding out which schools best deliver the education and experience that they’re looking for.

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27

Something to keep in mind: US News changes their criteria every year so that the college rankings change. That gives movement to the rankings. Without that, there would be no reason to purchase US News. I don’t know if Niche changes the rankings on purpose, but they do have an incentive to do so.

Groton is a great school, but it isn’t for everyone. That’s why I agree with many of the comments here. Groton is a great school if you want a small community with a lot of structure (a.k.a. strict rules). They are on the kids hard. Some kids will thrive in that environment (I would have). Other kids would thrive more in a larger school with more relaxed culture. Still others will do best in the full preppy experience with formal attire in class, or a school with morning religious services. The key, as one admissions officer told me, isn’t to find the best school but to find the right school, and that will be different for different students. The Niche rating alone could be unhelpful if it nudges a student towards the wrong school.

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28

Does anyone know if these rankings matter to the boarding schools in question? At many colleges and universities, rankings matter to administration, boards of directors, alumni, admissions offices and marketing departments, parents, and students. I suspect the same might be the case for certain boarding schools and stakeholder groups.

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Yes, the rankings do matter to these schools and their constituents. They influence who chooses to apply, whether to apply at all, and even serve as a KPI for marketing, boards, and leadership. These rankings alter the behaviors of prospective students, including full-pay international ones. It is a virtuous circle for some schools and a vicious cycle for others. They matter.

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30

The boards I have worked with do not pay attention to Niche rankings.

They do pay attention to a lot of metrics and they benchmark against peer schools, but generally with more accurate and targeted data.

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31

not questioning your experience, but what does it mean to work “with” a board? I have sat on the boards of 2 private high schools (1 boarding and 1 day) and am not familiar with that role.

32

Hired as a consultant as well as having board experience.

33

thanks

34

This years rankings make no sense! Last year seemed to be a bit more accurate. Peddie plummeting from 19 to 61 seems bonkers considering academic achievements of the students, and one of the highest endowments of any high school. Where do they even get their info??

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