Which prep (boarding) schools do you find the most prestigious?

Status
Not open for further replies.
#16
paris5 said:
there are 8 ivies, but not 8 direct feeders.

harvard -- exeter, st. mark's, groton
yale -- andover
princeton - Lville
Click to expand...

Yes, I know there are 8 ivies. I happen to currently go to one of them.

The feeder schools I'm talking about are seriously called ivy preparatory schools. You can read about simple facts here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Preparatory_School_League

If you do some googling on each school, you'll sooner or later see that each one of these schools has amazing placements into the ivy league schools.

The fact that there are 8 of them is just a mere coincidence.

I also did not know about these until some investment bankers told me about these schools that they're sending their kids to so that the kids can easily get into ivy league schools and become investment bankers.

P.S. Actually, what quality is most important to you?(respect, exclusivity, eliteness, etc..)
 
#18
maryjulia75 said:
P.S. Actually, what quality is most important to you?(respect, exclusivity, eliteness, etc..)
Click to expand...

I couldn't careless about respect, exclusivity or eliteness. What's more important to is that the school properly prepares my son for a good college. This includes a long list of AP and IB courses, and educators that care about the students.
 
#22
paris5 said:
of andover and exeter, which do you think is more prestigious and well known?
Click to expand...

do you go to one of those? honestly, to choose between those two is like splitting hairs. if i had to choose, i would say exeter is a little bit more prestigious in my mind.

maryjulia75- those schools are all nyc schools. while they're all good schools, they're not really boarding schools as students don't live on campus. it's mostly just city kids and people who are within driving distance of the schools. they're not of the classic new england prep boarding school variety. a lot of ibankers probably send their kids there because they are new york based.
 
#23
socalgem said:
I went to a very good private school instead of an elite boarding school. And my children go to a good private school as well.
Click to expand...
me too. i think it depends on what is best for your child. i went to a good private school (very small, argyle house) and then to a catholic girls school at a sisters of mercy convent. both were incredible schools and set me up for a great university place.
 
#24
azaelea said:
do you go to one of those? honestly, to choose between those two is like splitting hairs. if i had to choose, i would say exeter is a little bit more prestigious in my mind.

maryjulia75- those schools are all nyc schools. while they're all good schools, they're not really boarding schools as students don't live on campus. it's mostly just city kids and people who are within driving distance of the schools. they're not of the classic new england prep boarding school variety. a lot of ibankers probably send their kids there because they are new york based.
Click to expand...


Oops, I didn't read that OP was asking about boarding school. Yes, the students don't live on campus. Even though I'm still a long way from having kids, I want to send my kids to one of those schools. The investment bankers who told me said that there is this "inside secret" that the ivy league colleges have a minimum number of kids they want to accept from these ivy-preparatory schools.

In all honesty, although andover and exeter are very good schools, I'm not sure if the schools that I mentioned are less good. Although they have a good number of people going into the ivy league, the records indicate that the ivy-prep have the same amount of students or more entering the ivy league. I think people know andover and exeter is because there are a lot of presidents or president relatives going to andover and exeter.

If looking at it from the stand point of tuition, Dalton (ivy-prep) is more expensive than Exeter and Andover.
 
#25
There is no such thing as a "feeder school" any more. Ever since the dawn of financial aid and affirmaitve action, the "feeder" has lost access to a given college soley because of its feeder status. It is harder to get into an ivy league (or Oxbridge, NYU, BU..) school from a top private school. Why? Because your peers are all brilliant, talented in a number of sports and arts, well connected, etc. You're not competing against the dumb jocks or the stoners at your public HS -- you're competing against violin prodigies, published novelists, rowing champions, and internationally acclaimed math whizzes who go to your school. The ivies do not want to take the entire graduating class of A/E -- about 330 students. That would be 50% of their incoming freshman class (1,200) if they accepted both... not to mention Groton, SPS, SGS, etc.... so, they pick the top 20/30 of each (usually)... that means only 1 in the 11 brilliant kids (already hand selected from self selecting admissions pools of 1 in 5.. so 1 in 55 of the brightest kids in the country) will get the letter from Harvard. You have to compete against your own classmates for a spot. They are NOT feeder schools. You have a much better chance of going to an Ivy from your local inner city public school.

That being said, a lot of kids from day schools transfer to boarding schools when they can because of the opportunities. Exeter has an endowment of 1 billion.. Chapin and the others have 70 mil endowments... the boarding schools have 500-2,000 acres and 150 buildings and 60 interscholastic teams and whatnot (not to mention an alumni network of 80,000).. this is why the kids from NYC go to prep schools.
 
#28
I went to one of those top schools mentioned for two years and hated it!! Quality of education was excellent (obviously) but most of the other kids were irritating to the point they were sickening. I transferred to a regular ole NYC public school much to the horror of my parents and turned out just fine. :graucho:

I still keep in contact with my old boarding school buddies.

My daughter attends prep school in NYC. It's a great school with a hefty endowment, fabulous teachers and numerous activities. I don't think I want her to attend boarding school though. I'd miss her :sad:
 
#29
paris5 said:
There is no such thing as a "feeder school" any more. Ever since the dawn of financial aid and affirmaitve action, the "feeder" has lost access to a given college soley because of its feeder status. It is harder to get into an ivy league (or Oxbridge, NYU, BU..) school from a top private school. Why? Because your peers are all brilliant, talented in a number of sports and arts, well connected, etc. You're not competing against the dumb jocks or the stoners at your public HS -- you're competing against violin prodigies, published novelists, rowing champions, and internationally acclaimed math whizzes who go to your school.
Click to expand...

i totaly disagree with this. i know people whos parents have paid for the best eduction there money could buy and they have no talens or achievements at all. just because your parent pays for you to go to a great(and expensive) school DOES NOT mean you will be talented and clever.
 
#30
I went to all girls boarding school. I graduated 2 years ago (2006).

All this stuff about how "elite" boarding school is kind of a myth. A lot of people have a very skewed version about this whole "getting into Ivys because you went to certain school"...

It is harder to get into an ivy league (or Oxbridge, NYU, BU..) school from a top private school. Why? Because your peers are all brilliant, talented in a number of sports and arts, well connected, etc. You're not competing against the dumb jocks or the stoners at your public HS -- you're competing against violin prodigies, published novelists, rowing champions, and internationally acclaimed math whizzes who go to your school.
Click to expand...

This is true. Colleges are no longer like "Hey! You went to Exeter! Well, then, your dorm room in Cambridge is waiting for you!"

It is NOT the school that gets you into college. Some parents just don't get that..esp at my school..they would flip out if their kid didn't get into a certain school, saying things like "Well I pay over $30,000 a year and you can't even get my daughter into Duke!" and yelling at the college counselors. Well hey, if your kid spends her afternoon drinking a fifth of Jack, smoking a bowl and flunking out of her classes, what do you expect? If you go to a good school, and take advantage of the oppurtunities, apply yourself and work hard you will get into a good college. It's not the school that gives you placement into college its how hard you work and if you seize the right oppurtunities.

I loved boarding school..I love my friends, the teachers, the campus, EVERYTHING. It was seriously one of the best experiences of my life..I was afraid to go to college because I didn't think it could get any better (luckily, it did! :smile:). But really..boarding school is not as comfortable as everyone thinks....We had strict rules and could barely do anything on the weekends..the school was way stricter than our parents! The food generally sucks, classes are ridiculously hard, you get homesick a lot, etc. But all in all, its a good experience. Not for everyone, though. Boarding school isn't the right fit for everyone, neither is all girls chool. Now..all girls...thats a whole 'nother story!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top
Back