Boarding School Rankings

<p>Golf clap for SharingGift…</p>

<p>I think the most helpful way of ranking is to produce multiple rankings each with one metric. People can choose the one they care about, or a combination of a few or all. The metrics that CAN be used for ranking are endowment, endowment/student, admit rate, yield, retention, class size, faculty/student ratio, percentage of faculty members with advanced degrees, percentage of students on financial aid, number of students on financial aid, average amount of grant for boarders, average grant for day students, percentage of students who are minority, average SSAT scores, average SAT/ACT scores, matriculation rates of HYPMS, Ivies + MS, top 25 universities/top 15 LACs, top 50 universities/top 25 LACs, distance to a major airport, distance from the town center… All data will not be available for each school but consider what’s available is what the school wants you to know (go figure). You now have a quick easy way to draw a shortlist based on stats. You then go visit and evaluate those non rankable factors and find your fit. Obviously, some people will never even look at rankings, but for others some types of rankings can be helpful in certain situations.</p>

<p>Note: I am not trying to avoid the motive of “feeling good” behind the ranking practice, which is actually a major driver for rankings. It’s just there’s not much to talk about in that respect. I’d rather focus on the practical use of rankings.</p>

<p>Just to throw another stat/ranking into the mix, a formerly active poster created a site a few years ago. The data is dated, but I think accurate.</p>

<p>[Matriculation</a> Stats](<a href=“http://matriculationstats.org%5DMatriculation”>http://matriculationstats.org)</p>

<p>^Unfortunately, that data is approaching its 4th birthday.</p>

<p>As I noted. But still interesting to play with, especially for the HYP+M/S or bust crowd.</p>

<p>^mountainhiker - what do you do with a school’s debt, e.g. PAA’s roughly $100mm and announced plans to issue another 40 in the coming months? Or pledges receivable? How about CPI hedged deferred gifts from donors under the age of 70, such that the amounts are excluded under CASE gudelines? Do you adjust the endowment values for that? Should I care?</p>

<p>Let’s move from the balance sheet to the income statement. How about schools with l operating surplusses, i.e. (Undiscounted Tuition+Endowment Draw+Annual Fund)-(Total Operating Expenses+FA expense)>$0. Maybe we need a Tuition Value ROI! Should I care?</p>

<p>How about attrition - or better said, retention? How many 9th grade matriculants graduate? Or how many alumni graduate from the college to which they first matriculated? Should I care? </p>

<p>What about the # of Vi neyard Vines ties worn at commencement, or the number of Bread not Bombs stickers on the Volvo wagons at Parents Weekend? Or the number of sophomore/Form whatever Insta picks from the Whitsundays over Spring Break? Should I care?</p>

<p>Should I?</p>

<p>I just want to know what the Whitsundays are.</p>

<p>Let’s muck this up even more… Has a comparison been done correlating marketing budget with acceptance percentages? In this day and age, perception is often equated as reality. If a school is perceived to be the best, it can be argued that it will received a higher number of well qualified applicants which should result in higher metrics over all… In this scenario, it’s the applicant pool that is driving the higher ratings among equally great schools. </p>

<p>In chatting with a board member of a fairly well know Mid Atlantic School that is well regarded for academics as well as a great soccer program. The question was posed about the lower visibility and higher acceptance rates. His response was, “did I ever consider it might be by design” which makes sense, this school as well as several other really great institutions have a fairly high percentage of Legacy students. If a school was not up to par, that would not be the case; this could be another set of metrics to look at in the rating game. </p>

<p>Matriculation to the HYPMS, how is this being view? Some of the larger “high end prep schools” tend to attract a greater number of wealthy families one could reason. A lot of scholars would desire to attend one of the Ivy’s (and might even be accepted) but simply cannot afford it. A good college consular will look at the financial viability and steer the student towards a school that would not only be a good fit but affordable. It all comes back to the common question raised in statistics classes, “where did you get the data and how was it derived”?</p>

<p>This is spiraling upwards! Admire your cojones, Walnut.</p>

<p>The thing is, not everyone who chooses the acronym schools only for the sake of having a higher chance at Ivies+. Maybe he prefers to be surrounded by a stronger body of fellow students (which rankings might reflect). Fit is arbitrary and should not be used to strictly base your decision on–in fact, the more well known schools are usually so diverse that your kid, if he chooses to enroll, will sooner or later find his niche. </p>

<p>Another question: why should one take pride in picking a hidden gem over an acronym?</p>

<p>Periwinkle: am guessing walnut hill means the Whitsunday Islands…</p>

<p>The “pride”, Converge, was not in the cleverness of the picking, for everything here is all hindsight. Son applied to three within geographical limits, got into two, and was waitlisted at the only acronym in the area. That was fine, fully understanding that the acronyms have more qualified students than they have spaces for. That’s precisely why we applied to the other two excellent (and “second tier”) schools. Got into both, visited yet again (altogether several times for games, events), and made a decision that certainly was about how the child felt one school was speaking to him in appealing ways that the other wasn’t. A year and a half later, we realize that we have great pride in what he has accomplished at his so-called second-tier hidden gem, and that this has happened because it was in fact the best fit of all three schools. I feel comfortable saying that because, even though we cannot know what would have happened at #2, or #3 acronym (if admitted), the current school’s differences are what we find ourselves valuing. A smaller size, most importantly, has meant the most, including the opportunities for experiences that would have been unavailable at the larger schools. For some kids, fit really will be more critical than for others, who might flourish anywhere, acronym or not, large or small. </p>

<p>Let’s agree to be grateful that this country has a myriad of boarding options to suit so many different needs of so many individuals. Loads of acronym-able kids either can’t be admitted to those ten schools, for space, or choose not to go for a variety of considerations. That’s an inconvenient truth, in my book, especially the legions of FA applicants who are fully qualified for the top ten but essentially get shut out because these schools still need to meet budget with 50+% FP. (Secondarily, I consider that geographical diversity at the top schools is also a factor which applicant families should be very cognizant of, e.g., how many boarders does Deerfield want to accept from metro Boston.)</p>

<p>How does endowment and acceptance rate = better schools. A lot of those ranked in the top above are in the NE and much “older” schools with richer student histories. The NE has a greater history of kids going to boarding schools. They are also “closer to home”</p>

<p>If you look the Midwest, more kids apply to Western Reserve which few kids from the NE do. If you look at elite college acceptance, Cate is in the top few. If you look at swimming, you get a totally different list, of you look at humanity programs, Asheville is in the top. Horses: Cate and Asheville, etc</p>

<p>Thisonekid: last I looked, Stanford Law school was “ranked” higher than Harvard.</p>

<p>I prefer a “Philadelphia Lawyer.”</p>

<p>^Princess: if he used U.S. News and World Report, which is the most popular list, you would be mistaken: [Best</a> Law School Rankings | Law Program Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings). When was “last you looked”?</p>

<p>Top law school (this year tied). [Top</a> 2013 Law School Rankings](<a href=“http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html]Top”>Law School Rankings)</p>

<p>Above the law: [The</a> ATL Top 50 Law School Rankings 2013 « Above the Law: A Legal Web Site ? News, Commentary, and Opinions on Law Firms, Lawyers, Law Schools, Law Suits, Judges and Courts + Career Resources](<a href=“http://abovethelaw.com/careers/law-school-rankings/]The”>Top Law Schools 2022 - Above the Law)</p>

<p>A lot of schools are starting not to “reply” to US News due to its methodology (and other schools “cheating”</p>

<p>Above the law looks at things like jobs post school</p>

<p>For those who want to use rankings to help them narrow down their list or get a sense of relative strengths of different schools, boardingschoolreview has a nice feature you may be interested in. You may check one or more metrics and sort the schools accordingly thus creating your own rankings! Granted, some of the data posted there is a little outdated, but if you are using it as a screening tool it may be good enough. Just keep in mind the number 9 you see may be a number 8 or number 11 after all.
[Sort</a> Boarding Schools by Key Criteria | BoardingSchoolReview.com](<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/school_ranking.php]Sort”>Sort Boarding Schools by Key Criteria)</p>

<p>Can anyone suggest websites that are similar to BSR (boardingschoolreview) but with more up to date information. I have encountered several inaccuracies with BSR - particularly application deadlines. Or is BSR the prep school equivalent of US News?</p>

<p>I’m also finding the advanced search criteria annoying as it isn’t possible to filter results in the same way as e.g. The College Board’s College Search Tool (which is excellent).</p>

<p>I’m a little late to this process so any help would be greatly appreciated :)</p>

<p>Seren
Make a list of what you are looking for</p>

<p>We did a lot of our initial searching and screening on TABS:</p>

<p>[Boarding</a> School Browser - The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS)](<a href=“http://boardingschools.com/school-browser.aspx]Boarding”>http://boardingschools.com/school-browser.aspx)</p>