I appreciate OPs eloquent perspective mainly because of the way PEA (and the other P school, not to mention a few others) are idolized and painted as the end-all/be-all when it comes to BS. And I have to admit, I’d like to shake some sense into the kid posters that appear to idolize these BS. Some seem to refuse to acknowledge there are any other schools of any credibility and god forbid one suggest PEA is imperfect. I agree that pinning this post is a good idea. If only to help future applicants to truly find a right fit by being as informed as possible about all schools and the realities behind some of their golden shrouds.
Question — Do the prestigious prep schools collude on admissions ?
I ask this because of the near unbelievable yield rate at some of these schools. As well, bear in mind that the Ivy schools and MIT were charged with financial aid and tuition increase collusion in the early 1990s (http://articles.latimes.com/1991-05-23/news/mn-3080_1_ivy-league-universities). Thus, there is precedence to believe that schools will share data to aid their common interests. Looking at the top Prep Schools in New England, it appears that many competitive boarding students will apply to many of the same schools (Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, Hotchkiss, St Paul, etc.) Of course, all schools do not view all students the same – but it would seem to follow that a stand-out gaining admission to Exeter would have a decent chance at Andover, etc. Yet 85% or so of Exeter admissions choose to go there. There is a similar number for Andover. Deerfield is not far behind at 66%. This does not seem plausible. Again, for another reference – my eldest applied to college last year. The top 20 students in the class applied to similar schools. One got into Cornell, but got rejected from most others. One got into Dartmouth, but rejected from all others. One got into Yale, but rejected from most others … and so on. Get the picture ? It is almost like the schools are colluding and deciding which student goes where. Why would they do this ? To increase their yield of acceptances.
Do the prep schools data cited above appear suspicious ? It would seem odd that Exeter would choose a group of which 85% would matriculate … and Andover would choose a mostly different group of which the vast majority.would accept their invitations. Logically, this does not seem to follow unless they share information. For a strong applicant, how would one manage such a situation ? Do you apply to less schools or make it perfectly clear to your top choice that it is your top choice.
Thank you !
@PrepNewEngland - do you think the official portals make it easier to share info? Couldn’t all that info be exposed or hacked into?
No one is more cynical or jaded than I am about this stuff…
@Center - the competition for “most cynical” award on CC is very impressive ! Can we nominate ourselves? >:)
I’d heard from several generation BSers plus a few educational consultants (who’d been in the business prior to computers) that the AOs from schools do call each other and get a feel for who is high on their lists, etc. but that is all hearsay…albeit from some possibly credible sources, but hearsay nonetheless.
I think we can and should! There can be more than one most cynical! :))
Probably should be its own thread… but I don’t buy into the adcoms being in cahoots with one another. IMO, what happens more is that students coming from private middle schools - feeders - have their applications managed by their middle school placement officers. These employees of the middle schools do know the BS adcoms well. Many private middle schools ask their students to rank the schools they are applying to. It helps in placing all their students. So, if Johnny indicates that he prefers Deerfield to Groton, he’s more likely to get into Deerfield and a waitlist or rejection from Groton. A side benefit is that it also helps the BSs to manage yield since a good 40-50% of the students are coming from private schools.
Additionally, many legacy kids only apply to legacy schools. I know several who put all their eggs in the legacy basket.
Also, where is the 85% yield ratio for Exeter coming from? Seems high to me. Numbers I’ve seen in the past have been in the 70s - still impressive… Are their stats to prove 85%?
ETA:
I’ll answer my own question. Here’s the admissions data from 2016. The yield for Exeter that year was 76% https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/facts.pdf
I’ve heard that at certain private high schools the college counselors act as gatekeepers of sorts and decide which student will go to which Ivy , , ,
There was an article about this in the New York Times several years ago: about the connected counselors and others at top private day and boarding schools with open lines to HYP etc
And we can speculate til the cows come home but none of us will ever know. Just like we speculated for 22 pages about whether or not Andover can be truly need blind. Going to get the popcorn…
Thanks for sharing. My understanding is that boarding schools help kids tolerate all possible stress in college. in 2015, I attended Cornell graduation and there were five empty chairs reserved for 5 students who would have been graduated on that day. They passed away before that date. There were about 10k people there and all mourned for them for 3 minutes. So I was thinking that Boarding School could fix this problem.
@cungen I don’t imagine boarding schools will help cure depression…perhaps only exacerbate it…
About college counseling at top boarding schools—one of my colleagues is faculty at one and they described a disturbing communication with a scholarship student of color who was strongly discouraged by the college counselor from applying to Harvard. This student decided to apply anyway, ED, after much anguished thought (and talking with my colleague) because they valued the advice from the counselor so highly.
The student was accepted. My colleague believes that counseling at this school predetermines
whose applications they want to “back” at the expense of less well connected/influential students. It’s shameful.
I always assume there is a lot going on that I don’t know about and will probably never know about. This applies to most areas of life. 
Just another comment about oft cited application totals, admittance rates and yield: the widespread use of Gateway/SAO, as well as the Common App for colleges, has decreased admittance rates over time (by artificially goosing application numbers.) The more people that apply to 20 or 30 schools (because they can do so more easily now with technology) to schools with the same relative number of slots makes the schools look increasingly harder to get in. Not that they aren’t due to overwhelming numbers of applicants but it makes the hook or bucket that much more necessary. And the value of said hook is then part of the college application process.
This has been going on forever- it’s not new. My nephews went through that sifting process- a decade ago- they were told by college counselors where to apply and a limit on how many colleges to apply to. But this happened at Bronx Science as well as L’ville. If you are @ a top ranked school, where the graduating class is heavy with exceptional applicants, expect to have a top ranked group of students within that class applying to the same schools. A group students all had very similar stats, but different hooks. My nephews were told not to apply to HYP. They were also told not to try for Stanford because three other boys were applying there. They did ok at Duke and Georgetown. A boy we know from our school applying to BS a few years ago was told which schools not to apply to because they already had saved a place for another boy. Later on, similar scenarios have emerged applying as an athlete to college.
A college friend who went to Andover in the 1970’s described this “sifting” process to me - he told me the interesting part was how they even crafted the “safety school” list. An elderly friend of ours who attended an elite BS ( insert lockjaw accent here), told us that in the early 1960’s, when his prep school was all male, the counselor sat the boys down and basically told them which college was a “good fit”. Envision Thurston Howell III telling you and your classmates the colleges they will aim for in your behalf, connections, and ones worth their own reputation to fight for on your behalf (“Gilligan, you are not a Princeton man”).
I would seriously doubt there is any collusion going on. There may shenanigans going on the private middle schools but to do so at the AO office of every major BS would be tough. I imagine they can get a great read on each student based on essays and legacy ( among other factors). When you throw in sports, they can ask directly ( a coach) or call the school. Most kids are wise enough to list their first choice in the essay portion. There are many kids who get into multiple great schools and for good reason. They have ridiculous accomplishments relative to their age. I personally don’t think this indicates they will be the best at HS graduation. Seems to be more of a factor of the parents prepping them earlier in EC’s with impact. I would definitely not tell my kiddo they are colluding. Would make the suspense even worse.
I would expect college counselors at prep schools to help sort the applicants out-to say, in effect, you are free to apply to college x but realize you aren’t one of our top 4 applicants for that school and we think it likely they will be admitted before you, for whatever reason. That feedback is honest and helpful, and students are free to craft their list as they wish accordingly.
All good points above…as far as BS “fixing” a problem with death due to depression, drugs, or bad choices…I don’t think that is realistic, nor is it what they are there for.
As far as collusion, it is interesting to see both ends of the spectrum being voiced…I don’t think there is a conspiracy theory in play (and believe you me, I am one of the most bitter & jaded on the planet–ask any of my colleagues that know me…@Center & @Golfgr8, I could win the cynicism prize, if the right topic was presented 
). However, anyone who doesn’t believe there is communication and collusion at play is wearing rose-colored glasses. That type of behavior is present in our government, in top companies of every industry, in the world of acting, and especially in sports, even down to the little league level…it happens in everyday life in all aspects. This is something I’ve talked to my kids candidly about, because it is a fact of life to some degree in almost everything they will do and they need to know there are ways to deal with it graciously and even overcome it. And if it is not obvious that it happens in BS now, it will be when your DK gets to their beloved BS…trust me. DS has already commented several times about how there are some kids at his school that obviously had an extraneous factor putting them there.
Ok, soapbox put away…going to watch DS’s game on YouTube and sip my chai…lol