<p>One boarding school that is excellent that doesn't get mentioned here is Blair Academy. Their college matriculation in order from 02-06 is:
Boston U
George Washington
NYU
Penn
Cornell
Lehigh
Columbia
Colgate
Georgetown
Brown</p>
<p>Can you argue with that?</p>
<p>My son goes to Blair, and it is a wonderful school -- certainly worthy of consideration. If it were in New England, it would be very competitive. If you have any questions about it, feel free to pm me or ask on the board. </p>
<p>I haven't seen the final matriculations for the class of '07, but here is what the Headmaster said in a recent letter:</p>
<p>"Our seniors this year have, with few exceptions, done very well in college admissions despite the most competitive environment perhaps ever. Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, Williams, Wesleyan, Trinity, Colgate, Barnard, Bowdoin, Davidson, Northwestern, Texas, Michigan, Chicago — all grace the Class of 2007 list (some with several admits) and many more schools besides. As is the trend for Blair, students who have excelled in our arts programs enjoyed success applying to special programs: one senior got into University of Southern California’s film school, while two others got into New York University’s Tisch School, one for performing art, the other for film. In short, a strong year for a fine Blair senior class."</p>
<p>Blair is an absolutely gorgeous school too. Kids can miss a lot by only looking at a few select schools. It's what you make of it that counts.</p>
<p>Blair never gets mentioned here?????</p>
<p>If you did a bar graph and charted the number of mentions for the so-called "top 5 schools" as the first bar and then made a bar for the number of times Blair gets mentioned next to that first bar, and then tried to fit the first bar onto your computer monitor from top to bottom, then you probably couldn't see the bar representing the number of Blair mentions.</p>
<p>That would apply to a lot of schools which really do never get a mention here.</p>
<p>it's in new jersey so it doen't get the recognition like new england schools do. But it has about the same academic standards(just a little less) as the New England schools.</p>
<p>Its the same problem with much of the schools in the MAPL league bball22. I'm a graduate of Mercersburg Academy (PA), and its definitely a struggle to try to get the word out on CollegeConfidential. I'm sure its the same for schools like Western Reserve Academy (OH) , Culver Academies (IN), Cranbrook Schools (MI), the Hun School of Princeton (NJ), The Hill School (PA), etc. as well.</p>
<p>Mercersburg has great academics and its college matriculation over the last 5 years has been quite good.</p>
<p>Amherst College
University of Chicago
Colgate University
Bucknell University
Cornell University
Georgetown University
Boston College
Johns Hopkins University
Princeton University
Duke University
Vanderbilt University
Harvey Mudd College
University of Pennsylvania
Washington and Lee University
College of William and Mary
Columbia University
Yale University
Brown University
Davidson College
New York University</p>
<p>"Can you argue with that?"</p>
<p>I am not saying that college admissions should be used to compare how good schools are, but see, blair's matric list's order and hotchkiss' (just my familiar example of the frequently mentioned schools) matric list order, it's pretty much the opposite. Blair has the less competitive colleges at the top, while obviously they have some admits at the most competitive colleges, the number is not as high as those who goes to MCC (most competitive colleges)</p>
<p>4 year numbers (03-06) :
Georgetown University - 28 (somehow so many of our kids like gtown we have 13 heading down to DC this year, that's about 8% of our graduating class)
Bowdoin College - 21
Cornell University - 20
Yale University - 18
Middlebury College - 18
Harvard University - 17
University of Pennsylvania - 17
Duke University - 16
Williams College - 11
University of Virginia - 11
Davidson College - 11
Princeton University - 10
Amherst College - 10
Boston College - 10
Vanderbilt University - 9</p>
<p>i might have missed some because I have to do the list in order but you see the point, but i do agree it's the person that makes the difference, not the school, and you can have a great education at mercenberg or blair as you would at andover, exeter, choate, hotchkiss and such</p>
<p>Jesus, Joseph and Maria -- stop already. We get it, Hotchkiss is a a great school, and every kid at Hotchkiss is a great student and a great athlete, and every kid at Hotchkiss goes to a great school, and our endowment is greater than yours, and the campus , well it's just great and well, we're just great.</p>
<p>We get it, I swear, you have to believe me, we get it. Hotchkiss is great.</p>
<p>that wasnt the point....however, i could see why someone related to salisbury could be bitter :p</p>
<p>bearcats- one of the BEST things about Blair is that it isn't all about where kids are going to go to college. Blair focuses on education, intellectual development, social and athletic development and having a strong moral community. Each kid is carefully evaluated and the best college choices are chosen for application. It isn't about everyone reaching for the coveted Ivy. In fact, my son disregarded some advice he was given at Blair to choose Williams (or another LAC) and now he is unhappy with his experience at Penn. The Blair kids are happy at Vassar, Indiana, USC, UTexas and a huge range of schools. It makes for a nice student body where not everyone is aiming for the same colleges.</p>
<p>and i m sure that's the same thing at my school.. I think I can use myself as an example who chooses Michigan Ross over Wharton and Columbia and my college advisor fully supported me.
i think if there is a boarding school that does not "focuses on education, intellectual development, social and athletic development and having a strong moral community. ", the astronomical tuition would be a real rip off</p>
<p>Well, what can I say. You got me.</p>
<p>Oh, what was the point, other then (once again, ad nauseum) telling us all how great Hotchkiss is. It's great, I tell you -- look at all this great money, and fancy new great buildings, and great AP's, and great colleges. I've got great lists and great stats to prove it!</p>
<p>Blair has THE prettiest campus. I just don't know how any other campus could ever match it. It is PRISTINE.. it's absolutely pristine.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lobsterlu.com/images/njpc/370603.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.lobsterlu.com/images/njpc/370603.jpg</a>
<a href="http://pix.epodunk.com/NJ/nj_blairstown01.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://pix.epodunk.com/NJ/nj_blairstown01.jpg</a>
<a href="http://www.buntingandlyon.com/img/nj-blair-acad%20(3).gif%5B/url%5D">http://www.buntingandlyon.com/img/nj-blair-acad%20(3).gif</a></p>
<p>I especially like where John' Insley's statue is.. the steps and the waterfall, and the quaint little shops. Very nice.</p>
<p>And the Dean's Hall (I don't remember the actual name) with the tile floors and plaques and everything.. nice & timeless.</p>
<p>Seriously, it could not be prettier. And they have a biotechnology course.. not bad, esp. when you consider the size of the school.</p>
<p>BTW, the big news on campus is the recent purchase of another 100 acres and another building project with a focus on athletic facilities and a new student lounge. Here is an excerpt from a Headmaster letter:</p>
<p>"Finally, the big news this spring concerns the beginning of a significant construction phase for Blair, beginning in April with site work, landscaping, and installation of new fields, new tennis courts, and a new track on the northwest portion of our significant acreage. Once that is started and after the school year ends, the construction process moves to our current athletic buildings and will include new facilities — a new fitness center, a new wrestling room, two new basketball/multi-purpose courts, four additional squash courts — and significant renovation, converting exiting athletic space to a modern student activity space. This part of the plans include a new bookstore, college counseling office suite , and a new snack bar, recreational area, and informal social/study space. The projected completion date for the outdoor facilities is this fall and the new construction/renovation should be open in January, 2009."</p>
.gif%5B/url%5D%22>http://www.buntingandlyon.com/img/nj-blair-acad%20(3).gif</a></p){kind=link}