<p>"In his 1961 annual report, the school's rector assured alumni that he hadn't introduced meritocratic admissions standards: 'We have not sought to comb the country for the very ablest boys attainable nor have we used scholarship funds to entice the unusually able boys to our school.'"</p>
<p>This has what to do with today?</p>
<p>blairt, that was in 1961. Think about what has happened since 1961. Vietnam. Iraq. The Civil Rights movement. Sorry, but I think this is kind of silly. So many things have changed since then; a close-minded statement made by a rector in 1961 should not reflect badly upon an excellent school in 2007.
I'm curious, though; why do you think St. Paul's has absurd and mercurial admissions decisions?
P.P. (Post Post :D) When do you revisit Exeter?</p>
<p>That's just shocking.</p>
<p>Someone needs to write a stern letter to SPS and tell them it's high time they started to admit females!</p>
<p>Yes, but still. That was only 40 years ago. After many major civil rights movements. And after (and during) a social revolution. Andover accepted its first scholarship student in 1891 or something. Same with Exeter, and a host of others. It just goes to show.... (along with: Exeter has 13% legacies and SPS has 40%).</p>
<p>ah question: anyone know of ANYONE who got into SPS for 11th grade?? (imean w/ their "we only accept 10 new juniors" or whatnot...) 0.o</p>
<p>While I do not fully agree with what you are saying, I think I do see what you mean; I have heard that St. Paul's founding was more centered around educating aristocracy and the very wealthy than Andover and Exeter. It may still have that tendency, if only slightly, since history can have great influence on a school. If you want to, I would be very interested in hearing what you have to say on this subject, so please most your thoughts on this. Also, I wasn't sure if I understood: Are you saying St. Paul's decisions are absurd because of their high number of legacies, or were you responding to something else?</p>
<p>Actually, Andover accepted its first scholarship student when it opened, which was in 1778, not 1891. They have always had scholarship students. I am curious what other schools have shared that tradition, and where you can find those statistics about legacies (they would be very helpful in that paper I'm writing). I was under the impression that, aside from Exeter, it was a pretty unique part of their history.</p>
<p>Hmm.. I was pretty sure their first scholarship student was a Japanese boy who met an Andover alum on a ship. And then the first black student to go to Harvard went there as well. Whereas, SPS didn't even have jews or catholics 100 years later! That was the contrast I was making..</p>
<p>The contrast works either way, I suppose. On my revisit day on Wednesday they spoke about their longtime commitment to excellence, and mentioned that they had had scholarship students since their founding.
Can you tell me where you got the statistics about legacies? Sorry to bother you about it, but I would like to include them in my paper. They're very interesting.</p>
<p>SPSstudent noted that.. also, if you go bakc in the archive, i posted a thread titled "interesting SPS article" or something.. and i think they mentioned how SPS is known for legacies. Would be extremely useful for your paper. Written by an alum who didn't want to send his kids there.</p>
<p>Thanks. :)
When did you revisit Exeter? I went on Friday. By the way, thanks for posting that "Why I chose Exeter" post. I'm getting close to final hour now, and I still haven't decided. :D</p>
<p>omg pretty! you haven't decided yet?!?!?! well let's put it this way.</p>
<p>If you want harkness tables and dr. lovemeister, go to exeter!</p>
<p>if not, go to milton or andover!</p>
<p>& most importantly, follow your instinct!!!!</p>
<p>I'm not sure you could really call any school's admissions decisions "absurd" with an acceptance rate around 20%. It's probably even lower for 11th graders.</p>