<p>You’ve named the highly unusual of the species, most prep schools have nowhere near 40% on aid. I am a trustee at one and we take a close look every year.</p>
<p>I did a bit of research and I stand corrected. We are very lucky to be at a school that is so generous with aid. Most of the top schools are in the 30%-35% range, though, with a few between 35 and 40%. Only 6 or 7 were above 40.</p>
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<p>LOL…that made me laugh :)</p>
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<p>Schools like NMH are more “generous” with aid than some very top schools because they need to “discount” to fill the class. This is also true in the college world where you see expensive private colleges that are not at the top “discounting” for more and more students.</p>
<p>But…the op was talking about Exeter and Andover specifically who do continue to have high percentages of aid, particularly need-blind Andover. In addition, many of those top schools were in the 40’s just a year or two ago. </p>
<p>I am not certain what you mean by “discounting”. I do know NMH was overenrolled this year. They have several named grants that don’t even come out of their endowment.</p>
<p>How does HYP look at the kid who attended Exeter/Andover/St.Paul on a scholarship and originally is from Idaho (or any other underrepresented state)? Is such a kid going to be considered as a kid from Idaho or a kid from Northeast? Is there going to be any differentiation at this point or are they all looked upon as elite prep grads?</p>
<p>You are from your home address. In your essay and elsewhere find a chance to talk about where you are from. And to the general question, No going to one of these schools will not hurt your chance of getting into a super competitive college. BUT it is not like it was 50 years ago when you just breezed into Harvard. Those colleges are meritocracies, but the boarding schools are now mostly meritocracies too. If you go to an ‘elite’ boarding school that is no longer sufficient to to get into an ‘elite’ college. But it does not hurt.</p>
<p>Also realize there is a self-selective nature to it. If you have good grades, a special skill, good SSAT’s and are admitted to a competitive boarding school, the chances are you will graduate with good SSAT’s, good grades (at a Very difficult school) and more skills. You will be in a position to look at the competitive colleges.</p>
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Do you have any info about the percentage of going to HYPS from those on prep school budgets? I think that 1/3 of students at HYPS are from private schools simply because they have the proofs of willing/able to pay HYPS. Nothing more than that, nothing to do with quality of the students.</p>
<p>^^I believe the majority of students are admitted on their merits, not their finances.</p>
<p>What really sucks is the not so amazing prep schools, not Exeter or Andover</p>
<p>My school is a prep school but not amazing. Sends HYP every other year. if you consider MIT, Stanford, then basically every year</p>
<p>But now schools are not really gonna look at us cuz they want the best from the best prep school and otherwise from the unders…</p>
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My question was that if you are on finaid in prep school, what is your chance to get into HYPS? My S was Valedictorian from elite prep school. He did fine on SATs and APs, but so did many kids from public schools with the same records. The reason he got into two of the HYPS was simply because he showed that he could pay the school, nothing more than that.</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters…the college counselors at my son’s prep insist that the Ivies truly are need blind. I know our school sends kids to Ivies who are on full fa. Also, if your son was valedictorian from an elite prep, then of course he was admitted because of his credentials. Come on, valedictorian at an elite prep trumps valedictorian at most public schools. Why do you say that money is the sole reason your son was admitted?</p>
<p>If your son was at the very bottom of his class at the elite prep and you not only could afford to pay, but could afford to give millions to the school, then I would say the money factor was involved.</p>
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<p>Not really. I don’t think that he was better than the number one kid in my local high school. If you want the kids who excel academically, as I am in New Jersey, none of the prep schools here can trump the powerful magnet schools here. For example, if you look for the USAMO qualifiers – about 20 kids in New Jersey each year – 15 are usually from two public schools: West Windsors and Bergen Academies, and none from any prep schools. Out of 70+, I believe, Harvard got from New Jersey in 2008, only one from those two schools. I don’t believe the kids in prep schools are better, except my S, :), and strong evidence that the rich kids can continue to pay college is the key why HYPS or other schools get them.</p>
<p>Top private schools do have higher rate than public school for sending students to ivies.
But, if you are unhooked and your public high is top ranked, then you might have more chance to get into tier 1 colleges if you stay at public.</p>
<p>ewho, I think the key is “most public schools.” Top magnet schools are pretty different; obviously you’re going to be a pretty impressive HYP candidate whether you’re a valedictorian at Exeter or at Stuy, and probably more so than a valedictorian at an average public high.</p>
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I tried not to answer the original question, as it was not quite valid. I can say the same thing that the valedictorians at the best public schools trump the valedictorians at most private schools. </p>
<p>I had a list for all the kids Harvard got from New Jersey for the class of 2012. To my surprise, they got enough from the schools with average SAT scores of 1500s, and they got nobody from Dalton.</p>
<p>^^Well, yes, but you were referred to the prep school as “elite”; I took that to mean one of the top tier schools. At those schools you can be in the top 50% of the class and still have no problem getting into an Ivy.</p>
<p>I think that I was mainly talking about HYPS, not ivies. For ivies+MIT+ Stanford, Dalton (10th) has 32%, Pingry (13th) has 26%. My local high school has much lower rate, but they sent 20+ to ivies last year.</p>
<p>Without question elite prep schools are still a boost. granted, not as much as they used to be. Legit, admissions officers would call up HYP and tell them who was coming. That is not a joke. But even now, with college as competitive as it is, there is still a huge advantage. Case and point, Duke and Dartmouth consist of 45% private, 5% parochial, and 50% public schooled students. Considering the bulk of the applicant pool is publicly educated, I’d say there is a huge leg up.</p>
<p>source btw is school packets I got when I applied. I’m not looking online, but I’m sure you can find it.</p>
<p>And seriously, it feels like everyone went to rich prep schools at Duke. Its almost unreal how much money goes through these schools.</p>