<p>many prep school students enter with straight A's, and alot fewer continue with A's once they enter prep school. Maybe your d will be one who continues with straight A's. Let's hope that the colleges/ universities understand the rigorous grading system that many bs have. I believe this is the case, however, the larger state universities may be more formalaic, and it is concievable that you can be rejected from a large state uni and get into an ivy school. Would you agree?</p>
<p>This is just my opinion from experience. Being in a competetive environment and having almost more work than one can do.......you quickly learn your strength. If you are pouring in the hours and getting the grade you desire/need it quickly becomes apparent that more reward comes from the class that you love, put less work into and get a greater reward. It makes one play to their individual strengths! I'd say that many/most kids at BS could be getting top GPA but the one thing you learn is that the all A philosophy.....is not always the priority. To be in sports, clubs and other activities is sometimes more rewarding than the additional hours required to get the incremental increase in GPA. Pouring effort into a subject you don't love, get less pay off from.....it makes the B not such a problem. It is a balancing act......excel and do the best you can at some subjects and with the effort you are willing to make do well in the other. I think adults call this maturity.</p>
<p>Most of the kids who go to these schools get a high enough GPA anyway & high enough standardized test scores to get into most public Us anyway. Most prep schools do submit a profile which shows the rigor of their schools. </p>
<p>The GCs at our school haven't mentioned any problems getting our kids into public Us, tho the coursework at the HS is very rigorous.</p>
<p>Interestingly, just came home from the open house at the school today. The teachers assured us that they can give ALL kids an "A" if they deserve it & there is no "curve" they have to fit the kids to or ratchet up the work because the kids are so bright. For example, the kids in the AP Econ class last year got 31 "5"s & 3 "4"s; he's expecting this year's class to do even better!</p>
<p>Was very encouraged, as usual at the open house. The teachers are truly amazing and really love teaching; makes it worth the tuition to me to have them convey that enthusiasm for learning & teaching to the kids. I didn't have the same impression from an open house I attended at a competing school, nor for many of the open houses I went to when my kids were in public school.</p>
<p>What hazmat mentioned is definitely one the largest factors in GPA averages. Many times it's just more important to feel good and do something you are passionate about instead of pouring all that energy into the books. You do however have to make sure that you are only doing that to a certain level bc you don't want your class performance to drop too much.</p>
<p>Looking at this list, I noticed they have Nobles and Greenough School as a bs. Hmm, I believe only about 9 percent are boarders. N and D should be in the day school category.</p>
<p>i go to a private day school.. most of our grads end up going to private colleges anyway.. about 95% probably (the other 5% being public). i've been told over and over again by the teachers at my school that colleges definately take into account how rigorous the HS is (and SAT/AP scores show it too).. colleges know the top HSs so As and Bs from a great HS is just as good if not better than straight As from a bad public school. this may be the case moreso with private colleges than publics though.. im not sure?</p>
<p>As per the prep review, which imo is a bit outdated, here is their top ten</p>
<p>St. Pauls
Milton
Groton
Andover
N and G
PEA
Deerfield
Hotchkiss
Middlesex
Lawerenceville</p>
<p>Others: Choate, #11, Taft, #14, Loomis Chaffee, St. Andrews (De), NMH, and Cranbrook are #15, Concord Academy, MPS, Emma Willard, and Peddie #21.
I would remove N and G because they are really a day school. I believe I'm correct regarding N and G.</p>
<p>Sorry, I missed a school that was ranked #21. St. George's School. I guess I better also mention the schools in the west. Thacher is #12, Hockaday is #13, Webb is #15, Cate #20.</p>
<p>If your kids are good enough to get into those prep schools, then would you consider an early entrace college program?</p>
<p>Like the Simon Rick's College (spelling?) eral entraqce program?</p>
<p>I'm going on my first school visit in a few days and I'm so excited! Does anyone have any advice about it? </p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>Also make sure you have a short list of questions to ask the Upper Class head regarding their academics & other areas that you're passionate about. Look at the matriculation rate and if there's a concern then pose a question about it. Find out how long the College Counselor has been there because some schools reputation cannot compensate for an inexperienced College Counselor. Instability at that position can be a problem. Ask about future plans to enhance the physical plant and look at the endowment for the school to get an idea if the plans have the resources behind them to make it happen. These qestions will impress upon them that you're a serious informed candidate.</p>
<p>wow hardstyleprep, those seem like questions the parents should be asking!</p>
<p>for incoming freshman questions about the student's favorite sport, EC or subject seem appropriate. also...what currrent students like best about the school, what they find the most challenging aspect of BS life, what the applicant can do to prepare for BS....what particular traditions the school has seems to draw out the admissions officer too!</p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>HardStyleprep......you humor me w/ the remark about "counselor".....at most BS there is an entire department......with support staff that is called "college counseling". I know there are smaller/larger BS but to hear a reference to one just made me throw my head back and howl. I am not laughing at you but at the mental image of getting all the BS kids into the selective schools using one counselor. Trust me a large part of the BS experience is excellent college counseling....and a complicated school profile to attach to every application. It is all there but you will have to be a statistics junkie to pull it out!!</p>
<p>Hardstyle, you'd be seriously deranged to ask those question at a top boarding school. They have multiple counselors. They publish lists openly showing where grads were accepted. At a top boarding prep (Andover, St. pauls's, exeter, deerfield) more that 35% go to ivies. This is also true of top NYC day schools and top day schools in other major cities.</p>
<p>Is anyone applying to private middle schools (5th grade) in the Boston area? We are and I have found the information on acceptance rates very difficult to come by.</p>
<p>prepparent, where did you find the global ranking list? Can you post it?</p>
<p>catg, here is the site. prepreview.com</p>
<p>Hockaday (in Dallas) is not a boarding school. There is a small boarding community at the school- largely internationals. It is primarily a day school. It is a wonderful school, but do not consider it a boarding school.
Do not overlook the other MAPL schools (besides Lawrenceville and Peddie). Hill, Blair and Mercersburg are awesome- not quite at the academic level of the schools usually mentioned here, but good choices.</p>
<p>Is there an alternative website to prepreview.com? It seems like I'm supposed to buy the ranking charts on their site.</p>
<p>Momofwildchild, I agree regarding Hockaday. As for the Mapl schools, Don't sell them short, They are all every bit as good as the other schools. I think this thread is a bit biased toward the NE schools. Blair, Lawrenceville, Peddie, and Mercerburg are all elite schools. Academics are second to none.</p>