All the schools I’ve found so far have generally low acceptance rates. Does anyone know any schools with good programs, staff, and facilities, but with average acceptance rates.
I think generally, most boarding schools will have great programs, staff, and facilities. What do you consider average? What kind of a community are you looking for? Academically inclined with a large student body and a variety of opportunities? A small, tight-knit community focused in one area of study? Etc.
I thought that a lot of boarding schools were dropping the SSAT requirement this year, due to Covid19
Acceptance rates are generally guesses by the way but here you go:
Lawrence Academy. 50% admit rate.
Cushing Academy 65%
Putney (?)
Worcester Academy 60%
There are a bunch that are 30’s:
Episcopal
Tabor
Millbrook
Brooks
Williston Northhampton
NMH
All girls or all boys schools.
The thing is, if you’re looking at the top 20, you’re going to have low admissions rates.
Acceptance rates are a function of supply and demand: there are only so many spots at any given school, and they cannot accept more students than that. (Well, they sometime do - calculating that not all students accepted will choose to enroll, based on historic yield.)
The majority of “Chance Me” posts seem to be by people applying to top 10 schools, with some “back up” school(s) that are still in the top 20.
There are many schools not in the top 20, or top 50 even, that offer ambitious students a quality education, even if they are “easier” to get into. Different people have different things that they are looking for in a private/boarding education.
Look far enough down on this list and you will find plenty of great schools that accept close to 50% (or more) of applicants:
https://www.boardingschoolreview.com/top-twenty-schools-listing/lowest-acceptance-rates
My kid - who goes to a super low admit rate school - had one terrible teacher last year. I went to a totally no name, not impressive school, and had all fantastic teachers. Partly it is luck of the draw!! There are bad teachers at every school, even the most impressive, we only admit 10% of kids who apply schools, and there are GREAT teachers at every school, even the we admit %70 of kids who apply schools.
Apply to a bunch, go to the one you like the most. You will get a great education if you put your heart into it.
You have to look carefully too. Some schools have a large legacy/athletic pool. Others are more of a mix. Some have a handful of kids with top scores and a bunch with lower scores to come out upper average. Some have really high SAT scores and some are lower. What’s really important is your trajectory. Do you care if the median SAT score is lower than your score? Or if the acceptance rate is low/high and you have a great time while there?
Don’t go to a school based on acceptance rates. One school my kid considered had a really low admit rate but then we spoke to someone whose kids had attended with a close connection and we learned the makeup and it wasn’t what we would have imagined.
At any BS, there will be really strong students and some really strong athletes ( some overlap); some kids from very unusual places and some kids with famous parents ( or hyper rich). The school has to fit YOU. If you find one you like, that’s great. In the real world, no one cares if you went to X or Y. For the most part, people don’t even know the names of these schools.
There are many schools that just consider your SSAT a part of the package, but look at it very holistically. If you are interested in a boarding school experience, dig deeper into the lesser known schools (some call them hidden gems). Take a look at Millbrook, Mercersburg, Proctor, Kimball-Union, New Hampton, Sheffield, Pomfret, The Gunnery, and also explore single sex schools.
One positive thing about the pandemic is that a lot of schools seemed to have stepped up their online “open houses”. Many of them are having virtual events already or in the next few weeks.