<p>^ What happens if you go to a top prep school, but don’t make good grades?</p>
<p>Of course, being valedictorian from top prep school is more impressive than being even in the top 10% from some random school, but if the adcoms think your amazing, it’s probably not because of where you went to high school.</p>
<p>kraykool wrote: “People from top privates DO have an edge in admissions, but not to the extent that they once did. An important point is that colleges look for future successes to grow the school’s name, and these private school kids are often ambitious and well-connected.”</p>
<p>It’s more than that. These prep schools prepare students much better than <em>any</em> public, with maybe a handfull of exceptions across the country. The students must test in, so the population is already select college smart. Then they compete against each other for four years… with the best facilities, best teachers, constant competitive reinforcement, cover much more material than is covered in public school A/P courses, get more 1-1 feedback which is a much more efficient way to learn, etc.</p>
<p>The adcoms know that these schools graduate students highly prepared to handle competitive selective college workloads. With public school graduates, it’s all about potential. It’s as big a difference as Triple A baseball vs. the big leagues.</p>
<p>these comments have <em>nothing</em> to do with which school will give a person a better chance of gaining an acceptance to the HYP quality schools. An argument can be made that a public school student of equal intelligence and drive to that of a private school student has a better chance of standing out… if guided properly.</p>
<p>As I mentioned above, I attended both public and private HS, and college.</p>
<p>“People from top privates DO have an edge”
yes, of course they do–a guy at exeter who’s ranked last still has a chance at harvard</p>
<p>the only people who don’t have a chance at Harvard are the ones who don’t apply…</p>
<p>Why do these private schools have a higher amount of % of students get into HYP? Because they attract so many intelligent students.</p>
<p>My point: These intelligent students would be just as successful if they enrolled in a public school. Driven students will flourish in any environment. The reason that I have problems with these statistics is that it seems to support the inaccurate statement that going to these “highly ranked schools” will automatically increases your chances of getting into HYP.</p>
<p>Sockpuppet makes a good point about causation. While interviewing for my HYP alma mater, a student asked me about successful matriculants to Med school versus other colleges – I pointed out that because my college was already extremely selective, their pre-meds were exceedingly successful. But that couldn’t be directly related to the college – more that they were some of the best students in general.</p>
<p>“Why do these private schools have a higher amount of % of students get into HYP? Because they attract so many intelligent students.”</p>
<p>Yeah, but there is more to it than that. Thomas Jefferson is a magnet school, and they’re only like #75 on the list. They are typically #1 or #2 in the country in the number of students who make USAMO (3rd round of the US Olympic math team tryouts.)</p>
<p>Because those students would be more math/science oriented, it would make more sense for less of them to go to HYP and more go to schools like MIT, Cal Tech, Stanford, etc</p>
<p>I feel kind of obliged to defend private school. Everything everyone has said on this board so far applies to four or five students in my grade; i.e., they are rich, snobby, preppy, only accepted because of their wealth. Everyone else in my class, I think, is motivated and talented.</p>
<p>As far as WHY people enroll in private school, I can only speak for myself, but I went to a TERRIBLE public middle school that intentionally put “intellectually motivated” (smart) students with students who were unmotivated or slower at learning in order to “level the playing field.” I was definitely being held back by this policy (essentially anti-tracking). So I went to private school after a year. I decided to keep going to private school for high school because I had made friends and was happy.</p>
<p>My school is in the top ten only offers 7 AP classes, and most (I would say 90%) students are only able to take two or three due to how our schedules work. My friends in public high school can take 7 or 8 AP classes, but they and I both agree that my non-AP classes are more challenging than their non-AP classes.</p>
<p>This is just my experience.</p>
<p>Heh, my school is on that list.</p>
<p>LOL HOW IS GILMAN #27. I personally deem this list epic fail.</p>
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<p>The two schools do send a respectable number of students to good schools every year, but Stuy’s class size hovers around 800, doesn’t it? Thus, that makes it rather difficult to achieve a high percentage.</p>
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<p>You can still end up at a top national university or liberal arts college.
You won’t be as well off as your peers, but you’ll still be far ahead, what, 90 percent of the rest of the nation.</p>
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<p>That’s not an accurate stereotype of for private schools. It better describes boarding schools.</p>
<p>Goddammit, I knew I should’ve gone to Poly (#18). My school is, unsurprisingly, not on the list. Oh well; less competition, right?</p>
<p>wow this list is really old, this was “valid” when i was applying to prep school 4 years ago!</p>
<p>my school is a public school in florida, it is one of the worst around. it recieved a grade of “f” by the dept of education in the state of florida. around here we jus try to keep kids off the streets, learn english, and graduate, much less go to HYP. but despite this, i might get in to HYP so its proof that school isnt everything. btw i know its bad grammar in this post but i CAN write when i feel like it . lol</p>
<p>None of these schools is in my state.</p>
<p>I am shocked that some people pay $25,000+ to attend high school. idgi</p>
<p>Central Texas/Public School (#whatever..doesnt matter)/ sends about 5-6 kids to top Schools every year. I believe it depends more on the drive of the students than the prestige of the school to be successful in college and the long run. HS rankings are a waste of time.</p>
<p>Do private school kids really think that their curricula are more challenging than the most rigorous public tracks? That’s not the function of a private school. I think most “headmasters” would admit as such. The reason Daddy pays $200,000 for Tommy to go to private school is to get individual attention, teachers with impressive resumes, and connections to top-tier universities. Sometimes it is to get a better education, sure, but you can’t convince me that private is always better than public. For example, I don’t exactly see private/magnet SATs higher than public SATs in the chances thread forum. How are all these inferior public school kids scoring 2350+ with merely a tax-funded education?</p>
<p>Post #62 is particularly eyebrow-raising, especially in light of how down-to-earth private school students are supposed to be. I’m not even trying to bash anyone here, I don’t mind private school-ers. I just think people have some really severe misconceptions.</p>
<p>THAT IS WRONG - MY BROTHER GOES TO HORACE MANN AND THE TUITION IS 30,000 + A YEAR… (i go to collegiate)</p>
<p>Check your stats man… tssk tssk.</p>
<p>milessmiles - I can only speak for the public and private schools attended by members of my extended family:</p>
<p>Public suburban high school - very good
Private Catholic High School - very good
Private prestigious high school - excellent</p>
<p>The ave SAT from the prestigious school is more than 120 points higher than the two very good schools.</p>
<p>The coursework at the private prestigious high school is close to college level… not the case with the other two schools. Not even close.</p>
<p>I would imagine that non-prestigious private schools are not any better than the two very good schools I mention.</p>