Best High Schools for Great Colleges

<p>Hi again =) i just wanted to know what are some good high schools (esp boarding) that would help me prep for good colleges: not necessarily ivy league cuzz i know there r tons of colleges out there that r not ivy but r perfectly good. bbbuttt-- my dream is to reach yale law school;;so anything relevant? haha thxxx</p>

<p>Most prep schools that are mentioned on this board (MAPL and TSAO, along with a few others) will prepare you for the Ivy League. Keep in mind, it is often harder to get into the Ivy League from a prep school, because you are competing with the kids from your school.</p>

<p>if you want to get into yale law,</p>

<p>-do not go to a top prep school/high school (if you're asian, unhooked, etc.. if you're a billionaire legacy who won the world juggling championship, be my guest)
-start saving up so you don't have to apply for financial aid (or have your parents put aside $400,000.. perhaps $350,000 in a mutual fund or something.. but inflation, the rising cost of college, etc..perhaps half a million, without counting trivial expenses like food and water)..so, work the maximum a 13 year old is allowed to work per week, and don't spend any money.
-do things you're good at, not that you enjoy (1+ sport, 1+ art, 2+ non-native languages), and make sure you "get credit" for every minute of community service you do..have someone make a log of every time you pick up a piece of trash or grace a homeless person with your leftovers.
-mold your life to an unknown admissions officer's ideals.. you'll have to guess what to do on this one. just think of what this random person in new haven values in life. think hard.</p>

<p>PS, although you haven't entered high school yet, it's not too early to start studying for the lsats.</p>

<p>I'm presuming you're joking, blairt. If not, then you're scaring me, and you're incorrect.</p>

<p>Blair, are you OK there??</p>

<p>Boarding, while ANY of these schools will prepare you for college (some people say that the education they get at top schools is better than the education they get at some Top 10-15 colleges), they won't necessarily get you in.</p>

<p>Blair is not joking, and pretty much right on the mark. I went to Yale (graduate school), and came from a public HS. It seems that you have the best chance being in the top of your class, no matter what school you come from, and of course that is much harder at these selective BS's. I still live in the area, and am affiliated with Yale, it is very selective, but you can do it! Work hard, and most of all enjoy your work.</p>

<p>It's just that blair's statements sound very exaggerated.</p>

<p>You certainly have a better chance of being at the top of your class from a lesser school, but strong pvt schools have a much larger % of their grads enrolling in top unis/LACs. At D's day sch (all girls), approx 40% of the class qualifys as NMS semi-finalists. Fully 25% of each class enrolls at HYP; in a "bad" year 4 may go to Carleton or Oberlin instead of Pomona, Swarthmore, Amherst or Williams. </p>

<p>Those numbers are hard to beat, especially these days when colleges are passing over girls for less-qualif boys.</p>

<p>No, I understand about being at the top of your class and extremely excellent academics. Of course you would need that for Yale Law School. What I presumed she was joking about was the need to "do things you're good at, not that you enjoy" and the things around those lines.</p>

<p>And the part where she said you should mold your life to an unknown admissions officer.</p>

<p>Do anyone know about Williston Northampton? Is it a top one? What's it's rank?</p>

<p>there are no ranks. do you like the school? then it's number one.</p>

<p>I know that there is no rank but i meant that is it in the same group with Choate or some other top schools?</p>

<p>Williston Northampton is not normally included on a list of the most competitive boarding schools. I someone who sends her daughter there (who is bright), and she is happy with the program.</p>

<p>To Blairt and everyone else: i understand that even if i ever do get into places lyke choate,,,it would be extremely hard to get into the top 5% of the school- almost impossible..but i think that as long as i keep up a stable and high grade there, any college will acknowledge it,, knowing that it is so competitive to reach the top 5% of top BS like choate,,,,</p>

<p>and as for yale,,i'll worry bout it later,, i guess,, after i get the whole boarding thing settled,,i'm just really worried cuz so many applicants have much better backgrounds than me, and are almost all korean >< weird,,,</p>

<p>nns91- </p>

<p>To say Williston is not normally included among the most compet boarding schools is a gross understatement. Williston is well below Taft (bottom of the top tier or very top of the second tier) and for years was below NMH (not so sure about that now w/ NMH's financial problems; they had to sell and close one of the campuses a couple of years ago).</p>

<p>At best, I'd say Wiliston was middle third or bottom 40% of the second tier schools. Also, I believe that Williston is currently suffering from "brain drain" as the stronger students in its middle school (day students, many of whom are "faculty brats" from the Five College area) opt for more compet high school prgms (primarily Deerfield).</p>

<p>PM me if you want more info.</p>

<p>bgoaler-</p>

<p>My point was that if you attend a very compet school (Deerfield, St. Paul's Groton, L'vlle, etc.) you don't have to be in the top 5%! At D's day sch, which admittedly was far more compet that even the top boarding schs, 25% attend HYP - - not Ivys, but those 3 schs (HYP). And 85-90% of the class
enroll at other Ivys, top 20 colleges or top 10 unis. Even the 4-6 girls in the bottom 10-15% rarely do worse that top 50 LACs.</p>

<p>hhmmmm so as long as i get into a great BS,,,i won't have to get into top 5%,,,i'll just get into a good college if my SAT score's fine,,,hmmm that MAKES SENSE!!LOL i feel so stupid haha</p>

<p>nyc - I don't believe your NMH comments are entirely accurate. They consolidated campuses because of fiscal responsibility, not problems. Every other school that merged in the earlier 70s closed a campus after the merger. For a variety of reasons, it took NMH 30 years longer to come to the same conclusion. Also, I wouldn't consider a school investing over $100MM in campus improvements as having financial problems.</p>

<p>hi :]</p>

<p>i am a freshman in high school and i want to do everythin i possibly can to get into a good college. i am going to a 5a high school and i hav about 3000 kids to compete against. i will take any advice i can get :]</p>

<p>Even w/ finan problems, a school that clusted facilities (arts, labs, athletic fields were primarily on one campus or the other) would have to spend money to replicate facilities lost when it closed one campus. The schools would also have to construct new dorms to replace housing form the closed campus - - that or cut enrollment.</p>

<p>As for school mergers in general, I have no first-hand or anecdotal info regarding the what happened 30 yrs ago when Choate merged w/ Rosemary Hall or The Williston Academy for Boys merged w/ The Northampton Sch for Girls?). But I do have a wealth of info (first- and second-hand) regarding NMH. The current NMH parents of my acquaintance use the ther "financial probs," as do NMH students and recent alumni of D's acquaintance. </p>

<p>Also, "fiscal responsibility" is often code for "fin problems." (or an atempt to avert financial catastrophe around the corner).</p>