<p>D'yer, not surprisingly as he still relies on the outdated Bunkel Index, has missed out on Andover's latest diversity initiative which has reached out to aliens (mostly Mars and Venus) and various Earth based invertebrates. </p>
<p>Listed on their website under ASNLF's.</p>
<p>eh hem
its access, not excess
and while i will suffer from my starbucks chai latte withdrawl for a while, not to mention miss the 'excess' to CVS, theres a cute coffee shop by the veranda and a drug store, so it wont be too bad..</p>
<p>Face it, it ain't Starbucks.</p>
<p>You lose.</p>
<p>So I'm going to Deerfield this coming year, and I must say, I am surprised at how high SPS is being ranked. I was rejected but accepted by Deerfield, the only two prep school to which I applied, which strikes me as odd because Deerfield has say probably one of the lowest acceptance rates in the country (out of prep boarding schools of course), as opposed to SPS. </p>
<p>But from what I can gather, the list goes something like
1. Exeter
2. Andover
3. Deerfield
4. Hotchkiss?
5. Choate, SPS...
6. Groton, Milton, etc.</p>
<p>kwalsh- EXETER has a local coffee shop, bagel place, old-fashioned movie theater, quaint book shops, a scenic river (not to mention the docks w/crew)
(super walmart and mall available by transportion)
kwalsh is so ahb-viously a smurf :)</p>
<p>I don't count having a Wal-mart nearby as a plus....:)</p>
<p>having a wal mart is not an advantage since that company is everywhere. i think every school has one near by. i did not apply but heard that saint georges has a beach nearby. that is an advantage.</p>
<p>I think the poster was just trying to point out that CVS and Starbuck's are chain stores. I don't like chains much myself and tend to frequent smaller, privately-owned shops. So, yeah, the area around Exeter appeals more to me. I would never get a Starbuck's coffee. Green Mountain tastes better (and is about half the price).
Oh, and there is a CVS and a Starbuck's in the aforementioned mall.</p>
<p>You had to drive a ways from Blair to get to a Walmart, and, believe it or not, the presence of a close Walmart, Target or whatever is VERY handy for everything from a rug for your room to bookshelves, bottled water etc.</p>
<p>That said, it certainly wasn't high on the list of important factors in choosing a school!</p>
<p>TheoTyped: This I am sorry St. Paul's School turned you down. Deerfield is a fine school. But careful about the statistics you toss around. Both schools are in the 18-22% acceptance range. One year one is ahead, the next it's the other, with no clear trend. BOTH are some of the lowest rates in the country. If you look at a site like boardingschoolreview.com you will see that all these schools fluctuate over recent years in the same (most competitive) category. </p>
<p>As to your comment that "I am surprised at how high SPS is being ranked", the answer is simple. St. Paul's has: </p>
<ul>
<li>The best college admission numbers (Prepreview.com)</li>
<li>Higher SAT's by students</li>
<li>A slightly better educated faculty</li>
<li>More endowment</li>
</ul>
<p>Other factors like matriculation % and SSAT's vary from year to year. But college admissions and SAT's have St. Paul's ahead of Deerfield and St. Pauls has been #1 for quite a few years. HOWEVER, all of this is shades of gray. Deerfield was #2 in college admissions last year to the Ivy's + Stamford + MIT. Within those rankings there are subtle differences, like SPS having no students going to MIT and Deerfield having quite a few. And the differences are small enough to be irrelevant.</p>
<p>The 2008 list is as follows:
1. St. Paul's School (34%)
2. Deerfield (32%)
3. Milton (32%)
4. Groton (31%)
5. Middlesex (30%)
6. Andover (29%)
6. Exeter (29%)</p>
<p>So WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Hey, they are all great schools! As I said, shades of gray. But you certainly should not be surprised at how high SPS is being ranked . That is simply because they statistically come on the top on some important measurements. In sports, Id put Deerfield ahead of St. Pauls. Enjoy Deerfield.</p>
<p>But one of the problem with the above rankings is that they are IVYs and there is alot of pressure on students from other students, the school and parents to do IVYs.
If you look at US News top schools and top liberal art schools (eg Wesley) - you will get a broadening of your "top schools". Then look at number of advanced degrees faculty have, advanced courses taught (not just APs), etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
- Higher SAT's by students
[/quote]
Deerfield - SAT range (25th-75th percentile) 1880 - 2200
St. Paul's - SAT range (25th-75th percentile) 1900 - 2210 </p>
<p>Somehow, I'm thinking that 20 points in the low range and 10 in the upper is not making SPS a "higher ranked" school.</p>
<p>The endowments are about $50 million difference. Yet, they both award approximately $6 million annually in financial aid. </p>
<p>Deerfield has one of the best math/science centers in the country. St Paul's...well, we weren't even shown a science classroom on the tour - the building was just pointed out to us.</p>
<p>We all know kids who were accepted at one and not the other and vise-versa. The schools are building thier classes/school communities and at the same time looking for students for whom their school will be a good fit. </p>
<p>I feel like a broken record - a measure of the "best" school is different for everyone.</p>
<p>Theo I hope that you are well-rounded and enjoy Deerfield next year. My son is very enthusiastic to be starting in the fall and it was his top choice. He would not have considered St. Paul's.</p>
<p>As I said it's all "shades of gray", "they are all great schools" "and the differences are small enough to be irrelevant." </p>
<p>I tried to make it clear that ranking of schools of this caliber is an almost meaningless process. </p>
<p>I was simply trying to tell him that there is a reason why SPS is ranked "so high". It should not be a surprise. I did not rank them that is done by Prepreview.com. I am just reporting.</p>
<p>The decision process is impacted as often by one simple experiential difference on a tour, a comment by a friend, or the weather when you visited. Personally, I went to SPS, my brother went to Exeter, I have a nephew at Andover, a son at SPS and great friends and their children at Deerfield and every school you can list. All great schools. All great kids. End of analysis.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to put SPS down. It's obviously a fantastic school and, a stunning campus (like, whoa). I just didn't realize it was first tier, if you will. But obviously my research is quite belittled by ya'lls.</p>
<p>SPS has always been first tier, even back to the "ST. Grottlesex" moniker days. BUT I LOVE Deerfield and you will too. Just remember the school YOU attend IS THE BEST. Then, as you get older realize the differences are minute despite our efforts to rank, delineate, analyze and differentiate. Enjoy Deerfield!</p>
<p>id say phillips andover would be considered the best boarding school in the country in terms of prestige and college placement. I attended andover 2 years ago and I think very highly of the school.</p>
<p>prepdude2- do u go to andover?</p>
<p>I just scrolled through the thread a bit... It seems like Hotchkiss doesn't get enough credit among CC-ers! Why is that?</p>
<p>what about choate???where is it on the list???</p>