Although I might argue that any school which rejects more applicants than it accepts doesn’t have an acceptance rate that is “so high,” I understand that the question is “compared to similar schools.” Here’s my wild speculation: Tabor hasn’t caught on in China yet.
Here’s what I know: 1/5 of applications at the school I teach at are from China. International students (from all nations) make up less than half that percentage of our student body. These impressively low admit numbers have a lot to do with an individual school’s popularity with international (particularly Chinese) applicants. We have just been “discovered” by overseas consultants, and the dramatic rise in applications has helped us post a sudden drop in Acceptance Percentage. Did all our kids suddenly get a lot smarter? Did our school get cooler? Did my faculty colleagues and I get better at our jobs? Nope, we just got some name recognition in a population where applications are on the rise. (and if you think I’m slagging off the kids from China; I’m not. I have many International students in my sport/activity/classes/advisory/dorm and they are great kids)
But boarding schools are mostly chasing American Domestic, Athletic, Full Pay kids. There are not increasing numbers of those kids in the applicant pool, making their acceptances more likely than the percentages released by the school.
This is why I grit my teeth when CC kids act as if “acceptance rate” is a reliable measure of school quality. It hurts schools like Tabor where there are plenty of smart kids and great teachers. The same goes for the schools outside New England.