Best Prep Schools

<p>I'm new to this, what is the top 10 list of best prep schools in the U.S. ?</p>

<p>Hotchkiss</p>

<p>Andover</p>

<p>Exeter</p>

<p>St Paul</p>

<p>Choate</p>

<p>The Hill</p>

<p>Loomis Chaffee</p>

<p>Taft</p>

<p>Lawrenceville
Deerfield</p>

<p>There really is no “best prep school.” The best prep school is the one that is best for you. Although some of the POPULAR choices that applicants usually apply to are Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, Groton, Choate, etc.</p>

<p>Does anyone here know anything about Boston University Academy? Pros? Cons? Thanks…</p>

<p>commonly brought up is ‘HADES’</p>

<p>Hotchkiss
Andover
Deerfield
Exeter
St Paul</p>

<p>Just out of curiosity, what percentage of students get into like top 10 US News schools?</p>

<p>@tortioise
BUA is a very good school. I didn’t apply there because the commute is horrific from my area, I know someone who left after his freshman year to go to Sparhawk. It is extremely small, only like 190 students total. It has great academics.</p>

<p>One measure of a top **prep school<a href=“=%20college%20preparatory%20school”>/B</a> is the percentage of its graduates that continue on to a top university. I like this website’s ranking, because it does not fixate on HYPMS (Harvard-Princeton-Yale-MIT-Stanford) which comprise only a small sample of excellent universities. </p>

<p>[Boarding</a> School Stats : Matriculation Stats](<a href=“http://matriculationstats.org/boarding-school-stats]Boarding”>http://matriculationstats.org/boarding-school-stats)</p>

<p>Click on the columns in the table to sort the data.</p>

<p>The top BS, based on >50% matriculation into strong universities:
St. Paul’s School<br>
Phillips Academy (Andover)<br>
Phillips Exeter Academy
Groton School<br>
The Lawrenceville School<br>
Deerfield Academy<br>
Milton Academy<br>
The Hotchkiss School<br>
Choate-Rosemary Hall<br>
Middlesex School<br>
Concord Academy
St. Andrew’s School (Delaware)<br>
Webb Schools (CA)<br>
The Thacher School<br>
The Taft School
Cate School
United World College - USA<br>
Peddie School<br>
Episcopal High School (VA)
The Loomis Chaffee School
St. George’s School</p>

<p>Awesome resource. Thanks!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Hilarious!</p>

<p>Belated reply here - BUA is a great school. It’s small and young, so it is not widely known. It is also a day school, not boarding. Very rigorous academically, and yet not at all the pressure cooker than some NE prep schools can be. There is no limit to what a student can do - and BUA kids can and do take courses at all levels at BU.</p>

<p>These are mostly top boarding schools. The top prep schools, matriculation wise, are not boarding (not in the top 10). The NY and Boston private and exam entry schools top the Forbes list, and Thomas Jefferson in Virginia, and some state math and science academies are great too.</p>

<p>By selectivity these are the most selective schools
[Boarding</a> Schools with the Lowest Acceptance Rates - Boarding School Review](<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/lowest_acceptance_rates.php/sort/1]Boarding”>http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/lowest_acceptance_rates.php/sort/1)
by no specific order ( all being <25%)</p>

<p>Cate School<br>
Choate Rosemary Hall<br>
Deerfield Academy
Eagle Hill School
Georgetown Preparatory School
Groton School
Happy Hill Farm Academy
The Hockaday School
The Hotchkiss School<br>
Lawrenceville School<br>
Middlesex School
Milton Academy<br>
Peddie School
Phillips Academy Andover<br>
Phillips Exeter Academy
The Taft School
The Thacher School
THINK Global School</p>

<p>Boardingschoolreview.com have many rankings in different categories e.g. SAT scores, SSAT scores, Diversity</p>

<p>^list is incomplete.</p>

<p>A lot of the placement stats for these schools reflect the pool of kids admitted rather than the value students get from the school’s themselves. Most of the kids would get into the same sort of colleges if they attended a strong public HS. The edge, if any, is slight.</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that the cost of these schools is as more or more than a top university.</p>

<p>@LakeClouds: That said, you’d have to do some pretty fancy shooting to convince me that my daughter is getting less out of her boarding school experience than she would had she attended our local public HS.</p>

<p>@ Lakeclouds - interesting idea</p>

<p>The idea that prep schools add little to the matriculation statistics/life success of their students have been discussed frequently on these boards.</p>

<p>Frequently cited arguments against prep school

  1. unless you are in top 10% of class, a recruited athlete, a major donor , a URM or a legacy, chances of admission to HYPMS are no better than staying home. You would actually have a better chance being a star in local public school. I think the statistics strongly support this - admission to HYPMS is not a reason to go to prep school, (see current thread “are HADES the HYPMS of prep school” on the parent’s section of prep school admissions)
  2. Students who “almost” make prep school (high on wait list) do as well in college placements and most measurable rankings of achievement as those that attend prep school. This also appears statistically well founded.</p>

<p>Frequently cited arguments for prep school

  1. most students who attend are happy they did, thus many send their children (legacies)
  2. great teachers, smart interesting peers, activities that suit the individual, opportunities that may not be available locally. In short, FIT
  3. at well endowed schools, the majority of students receive financial aid. At Exeter for example, room, board tuition and books are free to families with income under 75,000 dollars. Andover has excellent financial aid and need blind admissions. Other schools are up there too.</p>

<p>I don’t think you can discount the “life learning” that kids receive by going to a boarding school. At the right school, they should:

  • be expected to “stretch” themselves in multiple areas (academics, arts, athletics, relationships with peers and adults).
  • be in a supportive environment where it is safe to try, and fail, and try again.<br>
  • learn to be responsible, and learn to be independent
  • have caring adults in their lives to serve as mentors, who are NOT their parents</p>

<p>I may be a minority on this board, but in many ways I feel that our children’s high school years are the most critical years in determining their future success in life. Of course college matters, too, but we believe the investment we’re making now is ultimately the most important one.</p>

<p>^^ Agree completely. High school is more formative. Social, life, academic and physical habits become ingrained. I, too, prioritize the boarding school investment over the college investment (not that the latter is unimportant). When people on this site talk about boarding schools, there is less discussion about the school’s ability to impart a set of values and more about statistics. Stats are a valuable way of comparing apples to apples, but less of an indicator of a school’s ability to produce a human being that is honest, kind and reliable - one that I’d want by my side in hard times. Among the top 25 schools “statistically,” I’d wager that some are way better than others at graduating good people, not just well educated people.</p>

<p>It would be interesting to try to quantify your comments in some meaningful way. Anecdotally, I can say I’m thrilled Loomis is sinking money and time commitments into the creation of a new Center for the Common Good!</p>

<p>[School</a> Creates Center for Common Good](<a href=“School Creates Center for Common Good”>School Creates Center for Common Good)</p>