Boarding School Confessions - Who Really Is Ivy Bound?

Remember, MOST students at ALL Ivies did NOT attend fancy prep schools. The days of boarding schools being feeders to the Ivies is long, long gone. What the boarding schools do well is prepare all of their students to hit the ground running at whichever colleges they attend. Understand, too, that you will need to be at the very top of of your boarding school class to be competitive for those very top colleges, and those boarding school pools are extremely competitive.

Totally this, but I would clarify that matriculation to any particular college or set of colleges should not be the goal. Go for the stellar high school education and you will be fine no matter where you land for college.

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If the only reason you are applying to BS is because you think it will make you a more competitive college applicant, that’s a very bad reason.

If you feel like BS will allow you to be a better version of yourself, then you will be better applicant as a result of that experience. You will be more likely to choose colleges where you will thrive and to have the tools to succeed there.

But done right, you will be a different applicant because of the experience, not the same one applying from a more prestigious high school.

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This. Going into BS, my kiddo had a bucket list that included “go to an Ivy league college.” As a senior, college “fit” became most important and she chose not to apply to a single Ivy.

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It’s definitely not the reason I’m applying I’m really drawn to PEA for a million reasons and would really enjoy the experience there. It’s just a worry that I’d be sacrificing some to go there

Pretty much everyone who goes to an Ivy/similar tier college from boarding schools like Exeter et al. would have gotten into those same colleges had they attended their LPS; it’s the person who makes the difference, not the school.

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From observing my kids, it seems that boarding school is somewhat like college for them and college is about the actually subject they want to study, which is bringing some “interesting” schools to the forefront. if you goal is law or business, then maybe ivy is useful. if you are interested in being intellectually stimulated and challenged at a younger age (and maybe risking not always getting that top grade), then maybe a more challenging high school would be for you. There are perfectly competent professors at both ivys and community college (and bad ones too). I think it’s easier to look at college in the context of your long range goals and not just a “win”.

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While listening to kiddo and friends from BS, it seems like they may be more tuned-into the culture and vibe of the campus….maybe they know what to look for?

Are you saying the college got all scores? We have this at one school this year - we’ve been wondering how in the heck did we send all the scores - positive we did not choose the option particularly since we are not even super scoring but was thinking we must have selected the wrong option.

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Yes - this happened at 2 schools because submitted scores for summer programs and university summer overseas programs for rising Seniors were submitted without us knowing.