<p>I was reading the Boarding School + Good Grades = Elite College thread, and they made it sound like it was better to go to a public school and be the best, than go to boarding school and be good. Which is true?</p>
<p>I think someone mentioned in that thread that " you shouldn't have the mentality of going to boarding school to go to a good college". There are plenty of kids from public schools who go onto the most elite colleges. Most 8th graders choose boarding school for the experience. Sure a private school may help you mature more and challenge you more which may help you in the long run with college, but thats not the point of private schools. I am choosing to go to a private school because I know i would enjoy life better there. Priceless opportunities, relationships, and experiences that I wouldn't get with a public school.</p>
<p>A good college doesn't promise a happy life</p>
<p>But back to your actual question...</p>
<p>In my opinion its about where you feel you would fit in. Would you rather be top of the class in your public school, or just average at a private school? Either way is fine as it is your personal opinion. People just need to get over the concept that good bs = good college = good life.</p>
<p>"Would you rather be top of the class in your public school, or just average at a private school?"
Am I to infer from your remarks that the "top of the class" in a public school is equivalent to the "just average" at a private school?</p>
<p>If you consider that the student body of the top boarding schools are comprised of the very top of the public school pool, then statistically; yes, top at PS would equal average at BS. Boarding schools aren't so much big ponds as they are stocked ponds.</p>
<p>As someone once told me, you have a higher chance of getting into a good college from a less competitive school (if you are at the top), than if you were in a competitive, well known school (and you weren't at the top).</p>
<p>Truly, it all depends on the student. Some students will do MUCH better in a focused, challenging environment. I KNOW my son has the potential to be a the top of his public school class, but I also know that without being challenged and structured, he would not rise to that potential. I know that for HIM, he will be much better at an Indpendant School, and thus, it will absolutely increase his chances. It really all depends on the child.</p>
<p>If what you're trying to figure out is how to trick the system, here's the answer: Find a good boarding school that's not in the Northeast. This month my school will have close to 50 college reps visit. That may not seem like a lot to Exeter but that's almost one college rep for each member of the senior class and they are having to travel 90 miles from a convenient airport with no other places to recruit within 60 miles. Why? While I'd like to believe it is our stunning students (and I do), it's also because colleges want geographic diversity and we are their best hopes of achieving that.</p>
<p>This rule also holds as you continue along the track. Rhodes Scholarships are geographically distributed and you can be sure that you have a better chance of getting noticed if you are an outstanding student at one of the 13 Arkansas institutions of higher learning than if you are at one of Pennsylvania's 57.</p>
<p>I mean this somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I do not suggest that this is how you choose your school. I attended a college I could have easily gained admission to from my local public school. The dividend was that I came to that college with a different level of ability to get the most out of my education than I would have had I stayed in a less challenging atmosphere with less motivated peers and teachers.</p>
<p>sbergman wrote: The dividend was that I came to that college with a different level of ability to get the most out of my education than I would have had I stayed in a less challenging atmosphere with less motivated peers and teachers. </p>
<p>BINGO! motivated peers</p>
<p>My son says, regarding his public middle school, "There are some smart kids but they don't seem to care about learning anything. Mostly, they're just grade grubbers. Nobody has any intellectual ambition."</p>
<p>
[quote]
BINGO! motivated peers
[/quote]
Double BINGO!<br>
We took our son out of the public elementary school for several reasons, one of which was that it was not "cool" to be smart. In 4th grade kids asked each other "did you do your homework?" The independant day school had kids (and parents!) who wanted to learn - no one asked "did you do your homework" because OF COURSE YOU DID. Nothing else was acceptable - to both teachers and peers.</p>
<p>sbergman,</p>
<p>Your Rhodes comment is a bit misleading. It is true that the Rhodes competition is done by districts. There are 16 districts across the US. Only two districts, #3, New York, and #16, California, are single state districts. In addition, an applicant has the choice of applying from his state of residence OR the state of his college. So a kid from Arkansas attending an Arkansas college may well be competing with a kid from Arkansas attending Harvard. In fact, this year's winners from Missouri attend Caltech and Columbia.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies! Personally, I think I’m much better suited to a competitive environment. I think that I would improve to be much better at a good boarding school rather than a public school (so top of class in public school, but in the right environment instead of just being an average student, I think I would improve to be a better than average student, if that isn’t too confusing). Also, I’ve never found the comment about being smart “uncool”. I’ve never actually had a problem with that, so can someone clarify? If, say, I go to a boarding school on the East Coast, but my permanent address is in SoCal, where am I actually from? (If that makes sense…) My dream school would actually be MIT or CalTech (the latter being easier because polytechnic is practically a feeder school into that university) because I’d like to major in bio-mechanical engineering. I’m kind of confused about all the Rhode Scholar talk. Can someone please clarify that as well? I think I’ve covered everything. So is the overall answer that going to a boarding school would reduce my chances of getting into an Ivy League University?</p>
<p>MIT and CalTech are not part of the Ivy League. The Ivy League is a sports league, and consists of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. </p>
<p>MIT and CalTech are leading, national schools. They aren't part of the Ivy League, however, and their admissions criteria may be different. I think to have a chance at either MIT or CalTech, a student has to show very high aptitude and interest in science and math. I don't think that attending a boarding school would necessarily increase your chances at either. Winning a science fair with a really interesting, well-thought out project would.</p>
<p>I would also add Johns Hopkins and Gerogetown to the" ivy status just not ivy " group. I would reccomend a private school over a bs, which is now what I am pursuing. I talked to an Top 15 University Admissions Officer and they said that they love to see kids taking the iniative to further their education. One of the perks about private school is that you can also have more volunteer hours as you can drive and plus it costs less.</p>
<p>Cost is not a problem, I just want to have the best possible education. (Was considering Le Rosey, but seemed kind of far.) If going to a boarding school does not increase your potential of getting into a good university, but instead lowers it, why do people go?</p>
<p>Why do people go?! As you said, to get the best possible education!</p>
<p>But wouldn't the best possible education be at the best possible university? Wouldn't it be better to sacrifice a great high school education for a grade university education?</p>
<p>Not if you are unprepared for it</p>
<p>Hmm... Thank you for all the replies, but recently my literature instructor clarified something for me. That going to an elite school but being average is like saying, "I'm middle of my class at Harvard." Whereas being at a public school is like saying, "I'm top of my class at a community college." and the various variables in between. Therefore, I think that I will pursue boarding school admissions, and take it from there. Also, I've decided that even if going to a elite school can lower your chances of an Ivy League, or Ivy League status school, it still may be better in the long run, as it can prepare you for the future: developing your social skills, academic skills, etc... One thing that I've heard boarding school helps you develop is study skills. So, I think the pros much outweigh the cons. Once again, thanks for all the answers, they've really helped me better grasp all the advantages and disadvantages of a private/boarding school.</p>
<p>^^ I completely agree with your post.</p>