Are we doing a disservice with the commonly mentioned Boarding Schools?

Prep School Admissions
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<p>I don’t get it. Really I don’t, but perhaps I’m being naive . . .</p>

<p>“School X offers a dozen courses beyond BC Calculus.” Well, nifty, but good luck finding a college that will give you credit for those high school math classes, no matter how advanced they are! </p>

<p>If you’d really be bored to tears without those classes, then maybe School X is right for you. But if you can’t find anything to interest you other than math, then I question whether you’re School X material in the first place!</p>

<p>“Graduating from School X almost guarantees you admission at College Y.” Well, nifty again. But unless you’re planning to get a job directly after graduating from College Y, I don’t really see how that fancy college name is going to help you particularly. You’re more likely to be applying to graduate school after you finish at College Y - and I’m guessing that grad school admissions committees look at a lot more than the name of the college you attended. Several decades ago - when college graduates often went straight into business, that fancy name probably made a huge difference. But today? I don’t think so.</p>

<p>Ethics, integrity and communication skills are more likely indicators of future success than a degree from a big name college - and if you think the HADES schools own the patent on producing adults with those qualities, then I’d suggest you think again!</p>

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<p>“So any NON GLADCHEMMS of comparable status?”</p>

<p>Shushugah-
Your argument is circular. You’re asking us to list high status schools outside of a list of school selected on the basis of status. What many here are talking about is QUALITY, not STATUS; in particular, that the highest status school to which a student can be admitted may not be the best school for that student. To take your situation as an example, I believe you’ll find that many, many schools offer post-BC calc maths on a individualized basis. In many cases this means meeting with a member of the faculty one on one and getting more attention that you might in a class of half a dozen students. What may be most valuable to you is a school with not only a strong math program but a strong compulsory junior year writing program as well. (Not slamming your English skills, just using this as an example because you admitted it as a relative weakness.)</p>

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<p>A colossal waste of digital ink! Is this really necessary? To claim Andover is the one and only is ridiculous and to take pains to prove otherwise is not so wise either. Just saying…</p>

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<p>If you only want to learn rigorous math and become an IMO gold medalist, come to Asia. Our school has 3 winners in 6 years. (roughly)</p>

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<p>Good point DAndrew…I’m out!</p>

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<p>Shush: Just for the sake of argument…why not focus on the school that could help with your weaknesses, rather than cater to your strengths? No prep school is going to let you take only math and science; weak writing skills will seriously affect success in two-thirds of your classes. </p>

<p>Realistically, how many of those advanced math/science classes will you even be able to take? The purpose of any prep school is to prepare a strong, well-educated generalist; a student who wants to specialize should consider a charter school or homeschool.</p>

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<p>I think the thread has drifted away from the OP:</p>

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<p>On the positive side of things, there are now many threads on CC which do cover a variety of schools.</p>

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<p>Yes - I know (since I know many of you now, off list) that not everyone picks on status. But you would be surprised how many OTHERS in that pile do. They insist that Exeter and Andover are the only choices they will accept (or consider) without thinking that several thousand other qualified applicants think that way too.</p>

<p>(and yes - Exeter has the largest secondary school library. Thanks Hopeful2010. If I had a say this year you’d be in like Flinn! :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>But my comment still stands. If the same high ranking students all rush to apply to the same top tier schools, it leaves a “hole” or a “gap” at other schools. Take 30%+ students may not mean the academics are poor - it may mean they had a shallower pool to choose from because the hype drove students to bypass them in favor of those ranked higher.</p>

<p>I’ll admit I was influenced by ranking too when my D set out to investigate program and we chose accordingly. But a interesting discussion with some BS Adcoms clued me into how many choices there really are that go unnoticed. Frankly, until my D applied to BS I thought they were all like Exeter. Back in the day there was no easy means of comparing traits for except campus visits during sports events.</p>

<p>People today don’t know how lucky they are to have the additional resources. However - those resources can also sometimes lead to the wrong conclusions.</p>

<p>I often wonder what the “road less traveled” might have been even though I’m happy with our own outcome. Still I’m pretty proud I went to Exeter. I’m fond of saying we’re #1 except on days when they’re playing Taft. At which point I’m forced to switch loyalties and yell “expelliarmus” at my alma mater’s team. :-)</p>

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<p>I want to thank everyone for their analytical thoughts, and foremost I want to apologize for inciting a few people, about Andover. A god school will focus on both weaknesses and strengths, for me personally that would be writing and math respectively. I’ve made several comments, that even I myself would not agree to, because I wrote them as concise and short form as possible. For example, I agree the success of a students or a school are not determined by the Ivy league they go to, let alone any Ivy League, or how many courses they take or awards. There are more things to a person than academics, such as character, confidence, social skills and the other traits that are hard to “quantify”. </p>

<p>@classicalmama, again for sake of argument, why does one have to take a course only and if only a college will accept credit for it. There’s nothing wrong with learning a subject for the sake of it, however you do bring a pragmatic point that taking these courses leaves me with two options. Either I can repeat these courses in most colleges, since few accept AP’s let alone Other classes for extra credit, my second option and this seems the most lucrative and several friends of mine are doing this, is to go to top tier colleges like MIT, who who allow the option to skip several years of math. My good friend is skipping two years there, since he studied quite a bit on his own. </p>

<p>What’s wrong with using a BS instead of a “charter school” anyways? Some BS’s are more general, others are more specialized, and some may be general BS’s with different kids who fit different interests. I personally am fascinated by mathematics, physics and political science. Some BS’s and some Colleges are able to accommodate that. </p>

<p>The whole status issue is famous one, and equally applies to colleges as well. For me personally, I admit status is not the most important thing, but at same time it’s not a bad thing either. For example, if Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, SPS, Choate, NMH (and fill in any other “status” school), would not be in the rankings and prestige that they are in if people didn’t know about it, and it’s BECAUSE it has this evil thing called status, that it becomes so competitive, and attracts _____________ (Fill in the blank, because I do not want to be accused of being conceited, but think of something positive whether it pertains to sports, academics, or any other desirable criteria). Is it naive or silly for me to obsess over one high school with a sub 30% chance of acceptance? Probably, and there are many other schools that would fit me, and as the saying goes “You can’t go wrong with any of them”, but every single one of those schools that was compared to Andover was another GLADSCHEMM and in response to the OP that started this whole discussion, I do NOT think we are doing a disservice to the students applying. The recognize this is a BS forum, and undoubtedly the most popular (for whatever reasons) BS’s to discuss will be various members of GLADSCHEMM. Are there other criteria and schools, for other needs or preferences? Sure thing! But most of the people here myself included who are asking for schools that fit certain qualities and needs, those are the GLADSCHEMM schools. Previous posters suggested to me other schools asides from Andover, but all of them are well known schools, hence disagreeing with the OP. </p>

<p>I riled up a few things, and I apologize again, and I wish to keep this toned down, before any hurt feelings or ill will towards anyone else or myself, arise.</p>

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<p>shush: Agreed. My point was simply that even though schools like Andover and Exeter offer many, many advanced math and science courses, they’ll also limit the number that you can take because they have so many other “generalist” requirements–English, history, religion, foreign language, arts, etc. When you’re looking at the school, it makes sense to look at the graduation requirements as well as the course catalog; plan out the four years as if you were actually going to attend the school and see how many of those courses you’re salivating over you can actually take. And keep in mind that blasting through math and science classes won’t make those rigorous humanities classes any less rigorous, mandatory, and downright painful if that’s not your natural bent.</p>

<p>Exeter, for example, has a wonderful list of English electives–but they can’t be taken until spring term, senior year. If my kid was passionate about and looking to cram in as much advanced English/writing/literature as possible, I’d ignore national rankings and send him somewhere else. (Which, I hope, gets me back to the OP’s thread.) :)</p>

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<p>Right on, classicalmama,</p>

<p>People often forget to look at the school that best serves “their” needs. Not every school is best for everyone. Which is why we do a disservice by focusing on commonly mentioned BS’s. I sometimes talk about other schools I know and get roundly dismissed - mostly be students but also by some parents on the board who are overly impressed with “status.” You know the ones - they grieve harder than their kids when the rejections roll in.</p>

<p>Someone who would be “middle of the pack” at Exeter or any other HADES school might be a star with a lot more flexibility at a different school.</p>

<p>Put it this way - my daughter has done way more at Taft in one semester – and they have been extremely flexible about accommodating her interests and skills – than Exeter would have been. She’s at her best when she’s multitasking and they make room for it. In fact her performance increased when they figured out how she “rolls.” But it meant 100% of her time is filled to the brim and she’s loving the challenge. I think Taft is bringing out her potential in ways I couldn’t have imagined.</p>

<p>Parents and students should look for fit (academically, socially, potential to expand beyond a set of fixed criteria and curriculum requirements) when choosing. Status means nothing if you’re unhappy or stuck in a box that doesn’t suit you. So look beyond the viewbook. Recruiting materials are not always synonymous with reality.</p>