<p>Hello. I am wondering if public school grads are accepted into top prep schools and into HiddenG.?
Does anyone knows percentages Public vs. Private?
Thank you.</p>
<p>I don’t know percentages, but absolutely yes, public school kids are accepted at many prep schools, including the most selective ones. However, you may be at a disadvantage because most public middle schools are preparing their students to enter the local public high school and provide no support for the prep school application process. Therefore the public school student and family must research and drive the process by themselves.</p>
<p>Public middle schools do not care about prep school matriculation stats, so there is no incentive to help place kids well. Getting public school teachers to complete the letters of recommendation before deadlines can be challenging, because it is simply not a priority for them, and the process is not streamlined, as it probably is in private middle schools. Public schools provide no information, guidance, or preparation for the SSAT, in contrast to private middle schools. In general, the curriculum at most public schools leaves kids less prepared for the SSAT, relative to the curriculum at competitive private middle schools.</p>
<p>My child is in public middle school, and I have no first hand experience with private middle schools, but I’ve been told that the latter provide a lot of support for the prep school search and application process, much like high schools (both public and private) provide college counseling as kids begin the college search. This is a great advantage for private middle schoolers, imo. But you are starting early - that’s great. It’s a long and involved process. Good luck, if you decide to go for it!</p>
<p>thank you, Honorary Mom!
We have to decide between accepting 2-tier (not top, but good) private middle school or go public MS and use funds for tutoring.
Provided that he will have very good grades and scores , will HADES still choose private school graduate over public, (all other criteria equal : EC, sports etc)?
I am very new here.</p>
<p>I have two sons who went to public middle school and both are now attending very strong academic BS so it is very possible. Honorayamom is partially correct about public middle schools but it totally depends on your school, the teachers and the guidance department. We spoke with the guidance counselor at the beginning of eight grade and discussed what we were planning and why. I agree that you need to stay on top of the teachers for letters of recommendation (LOR) but my friends at private school say the same thing with respect to LOR for their kids. Maybe we were lucky but the teachers at our public middle school were very supportive and one teacher even took time to help teach our sons how to interview.</p>
<p>Can’t speak for “HADES,” but many of the top students in the last few years at Choate came from public middle schools. In our experience, the schools were fine with filling out the forms and sending on the transcripts. Maybe that’s a New England thing. I personally know at four current students at Yale and four at MIT who came to prep school from public school and did just fine.</p>
<p>Vanilla, honestly I think that all else being equal, a prep school may take the public school kid over the private school kid, because they are looking at what the student has done relative to the available opportunities. Private schools usually have a lot of opportunities available at the kids’ fingertips, while public school kids often need to be go getters to achieve.</p>
<p>Alleybox, I am so jealous of your public school experience! VERY different from ours!</p>
<p>Honoraryamom thank you! I think the key for us was understanding early in the school year that prep school was going to be an option and letting them know. To be honest some teachers had no clue about what a boarding school admissions process was like but they did help and wanted to learn. Since that time, at least two -three students apply to prep schools every year. I think it also helps that we live in CT where there are a plethora of day and boarding schools. I agree that the earlier you start then more time to plan and get teachers to help. The guidance counselor was just as happy as is when our sons were admitted to BS.</p>
<p>Alleybox, neither of my children who attended our public middle school have ever met the guidance counselor. The GC here seems to function as support only for kids with special ed, psych, or behavioral needs. My kids don’t have those issues, so effectively, they have no GC. We had to get the school report directly from our poor, harried, overworked principal. We do have a couple of kids go to prep school each year, but most go to one of two nearby relatively non-selective day schools. Our middle school is familiar with their particular application processes, but that’s about it. Nobody seemed to know anything about any other prep school.</p>
<p>So back to Vanilla - clearly it will depend on the particular middle school!</p>
<p>I know one kid from public middle school who got in to the best boarding school. BS does not give any disadvantage to public school grads. Provided that they have equally good SSAT, GPA and EC, etc, there is no reason for any top BS to select private school grads over public. </p>
<p>As someone said above, the diasvantage should be that the public middle school’s priority is NOT send their students to prep schools and so there s no established support system for the prep school application process. </p>
<p>If your child needs test prep, you can use tutor, etc. That is not an issue at all except for extra cost. (I would say it is not cost, but investment) </p>
<p>Getting recommendation and transcript from the current public school - it may depend on how supportive a teacher or school admin people would be. If you established good relationship with the schools, it will help a great deal. I wish you all the best!</p>
<p>I am a public school grad who got accepted to a HADES, another top tier and a fabulous hidden gem! That said I have really supportive teachers… But my point is that it is definitely possible and public schoolers should not be discouraged</p>
<p>I went to a public middle school and (for my freshman+ current sophomore year) attended a public high school. I just got accepted into a HADES school for next year. Private school students do have an advantage, but with independent study ( either by themselves or with a tutor) it is more than possible for your child to get into a top tier school. Good luck.</p>
<p>There are lots of public school kids in the elite BS</p>
<p>Our son at Exeter came from public middle school and grade school. The school was definitely NOT set up to help with the paperwork, but was happy to do so when we asked. Principal of 20 or so years had not had a kid go away to prep school that she could recall, just a few to local private day schools. Teachers were really happy to write recs and tickled that they had a student applying and then ultimately going.</p>
<p>I am a public school grad and was accepted in a hades school and hidden gem for my sophmore year so it’s definitely possible. I didn’t have the best SSAT score, but as long as you show your work ethic, what you have to offer, and put your best foot forward then you will be fine.</p>
<p>I go to public middle school and I was accepted into Peddie, which is probably not a hidden gem but nonetheless. My SSAT was 82, which is above their average.
I was the complete driver of the process, and yes, getting the teachers to write the recomendations was a pain. I gave my math teacher the form in September and he didn’t turn it in until the day before the deadline! But other than that, it was fine. They do not drive the process at all, though.</p>
<p>My D went from Midwest public school to Exeter. People wondered why she was being sent to reform school.</p>
<p>I find it odd that anyone would think otherwise. Public school grads also get accepted to the Ivies and top LAC - in large numbers.</p>
<p>I think the bottom line is that there are public school grads at the best boarding schools. It does depend on how much you work with your teachers and the gc or principal. If they do not have a clue, which is common, then it is up to us as parents to work with our child to work through the admission process. It is possible with diligence and persistence. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I went from a public middle school to a boarding school mentioned here with some degree of frequency back in the 90s and there was no issue with it then. When I got there at the start of freshman year, not one person asked me where I went to middle school (or cared).</p>
<p>Groton News claims they saw an increase in the number of kids coming from public schools.</p>