<p>mpicz’s comment is certainly worth considering; one really can’t give appropriate statistics to definitively answer this. To do so, we’d have to compare nearly identical students at BSes and PSes and see their results. I personally did not get into YP from a boarding school, but the top student at the public HS was accepted to Harvard. I know I would have been near the top, but I can’t say if I would have been at the very top of that PS, nor do I know what activities I would have had - certainly my hooks would not have existed - I would have completed AB Calc as a senior as opposed to BC as a sophomore, I wouldn’t have been on a math team, and I wouldn’t have excelled in Latin, since it wasn’t offered. However, my public high school was below average. If I had gone to Boston Latin or Thomas Jefferson, I’d have had these opportunities too, and I’d be unsurprised if my college results had remained unchanged.</p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that generally at my public school, the counselors recommend all the top students go to GW (not the right fit for everyone, certainly). With that sort of guidance, fewer of the top students apply to what we think of as stronger, more selective colleges. I’ve read somewhere (maybe even on this thread?) that the percent accept rates for most of the top schools in the country (students from the school accepted over students from the school applied) are roughly the same as at many public schools, it’s just that many more students apply at BSes. If the number of students at PSes applying went up, some of the difference (probably not all, but some) would likely go away.</p>
<p>But that’s just me rambling and thinking about the choices I’ve made in life to get to where I am and wherever I’ll end up.</p>