<p>Top ten is as following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Phillips Academy Andover</p></li>
<li><p>Phillips Exeter Academy</p></li>
<li><p>Deerfield Academy</p></li>
<li><p>Hotchkiss School</p></li>
<li><p>Milton Academy</p></li>
<li><p>Groton School</p></li>
<li><p>St. Paul's School</p></li>
<li><p>Lawrenceville School</p></li>
<li><p>Choate Rosemary Hall </p></li>
<li><p>St. Andrew’s School, DE or Cate</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ugh...I hate these lists. Why do folks feel they need to make lists ranking these wonderful schools? All these schools are great schools that will provide an academic challenge. They all have differences in settings, athletic and artistic strengths, size, traditions, etc. Research them and find ones that seem to be a good fit but don't try to rank them.</p>
<p>I don't know about others but I don't pay regard to the rank in these lists. I just like to see how all the different statistics fit together... All of these schools are just as great, I honestly just like to look at the statistics.</p>
<p>why must you do this? every school is diffrent. So Groton might be best for one student and Exeter better for another and someone else might be cut out for Deerfield. there's really no way to completely "objectively" rate them. they're like people.</p>
<p>While people keep saying that it is a crazy idea put talk about ranking, soem people keep posting their own ranking. I personally do not like ranking. But at the same time, there are some quality differences between schools. I think there are a few schools that are outstanding comparing to others without any question. But it is not easy to say school A is better than school B in general, and I tend to agree to fslzcl's list. All those schools are great and they are first rate. Even though they are not listed in the fslzcl's list, that does not mean that the schools are not good. It depends on what you are looking for in BS. I know some students go to less elite schools for many reasons such as FA, particular program of the school, distance from home, connection, etc).</p>
<p>I think that you can get a pretty objective rating by doing </p>
<p>SAT
SSAT
Acceptance Rate
Placement to Ivy + Stan + MIT</p>
<p>So if Andover had 94% SSAT's and that was the best of all boarding schools you would give it a 1 and so on. The lowest score would win.</p>
<p>Because SAT scores, SSAT scores, acceptance rate, and Ivy placement are what make schools the best...there are sooo many more factors to what makes the "best" school than those four.</p>
<p>Agree to hj0519!</p>
<p>The personal fit for the student and his/her family is the most important factor. If the fit is right, then the most will be attained from the BS experience. It may help a student to really excel and get into a great college. Whereas, a student going to a "tier 1" school (whatever that is) may not perform as well because the fit with the school was not great.</p>
<p>These are all incredibly prestigious schools. They always alternate, competing for the top places. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Although some ARE overrated and underrated.</p>
<p>...I know. It is all about what school fits best for each student, but that's not the question. The question is: What is the most elite school?</p>
<p>Of course the most elite school is not necessarily the best, because the best is different for everyone, but we are talking about elite here.</p>
<p>The most elite school or the most elitist? In terms of elite I would say HADES (a/e then the rest) then Groton, then Milton... Then the rest, these have been the ones that have been here since 1780s and on. Based on pedigree, though.</p>
<p>Agreed. A and E first and then D H SPS to follow. Groton might come before the others because it's pretty well known.</p>
<p>you could go by many different things for "elite"</p>
<p>Middlesex is the most expensive
West Nottingham is the oldest
Choate has the lowest acceptance rate
Exeter has the largest endowment
Concord has the highest average SAT score
SPS has the largest campus</p>
<p>*according to Boarding School Review</p>
<p>Elite doesn't mean much, though. Even in rankings, Milton, Groton, and SPS/Deerfield usually top them.</p>
<p>..Concord? I thought it was Groton, or Exeter, or SPS. :S <- for highest SAT score</p>
<p>Choate doesn't have the lowest acceptance rate...just though I'd through that out there.</p>
<p>Goodnight.</p>
<p>this is all what i got from BSR, im not sure if it's up-to-date.</p>
<p>Language is fascinating. I'm amazed at how the question became which school is the most elite. Unfortunately, I must disagree in that it was not the question. The question in the initial post of this thread was:</p>
<p>"Best Boarding Schools </p>
<hr>
<p>Can anyone tell me what they think are their 5 best boarding schools are?"</p>
<p>I suspect that it was the elitist perspectives of most of the posters that caused this seemingly straightforward question to evolve from best school to most elite school. </p>
<p>Sorry if all of you are disappointed, but I'm not the least bit interested in what's elite, and prefer to focus on what I consider best. I will never sacrafice what's best for what is considered elite. What's best will endure, but what's elite today may fade tomorrow.</p>
<p>^ yeah</p>
<p>I think Milton is two and Concord is five, pretty sure... I'll check BSR.</p>