<p>Yes, having it in you doesn’t mean you get involved in after school clubs, having it in you doesn’t mean look into community service, having it in you doesn’t mean you can apy attention in a class with 45 people. Just because they have what it takes to succeed does not mean they will. BS helps them succeed, it leads them in the right direction and provides them with the opportunity necessary to explore themselves to the fullest.</p>
<p>Many kids need this. Many kids don’t. But you can’t say anyone who gets into HYPSM from BS could get in from anywhere else as well. It’s just not true.</p>
<p>Keep in mind there numbers are useless without knowing which of the accepted were legacies, URMs and recruited athlete. Andover and it’s peer schools have so many of these hooked candidates that it makes it significantly harder for a kid not in these categories to get into an ivy.</p>
<p>While they may send 30% to ivies plus, it’s never the top 30% by a long shot.</p>
<p>From DS’s school for class of 2012, which sent 30% to ivies plus:</p>
<p>I am with mpicz…your surroundings certainly can make a difference. Our public school system is weak…P-AC lives in the state I do…we don’t have IB here. They don’t even offer algebra in the middle schools in my area. There are no honors or accelerated classes at all at the middle school level, and the high school ones are quite crowded. My son is a very bright student and I could see him starting to slip a bit in 8th grade. BS reeled him right back in. It does wonders to be surrounded by other high achievers and to have instructors who are passionate about what they teach. Being part of a small group of students in a class is vastly different than being one of 40! in an honors English class. There just isn’t much school support for going above and beyond…it is popular here in the middle schools to teach to the middle 50%. I remember my son being reprimanded for reading further ahead than the assignment.</p>
<p>This is turning into a more interesting discussion. So it sounds like by sending your child to a boarding school, you are not increasing but decreasing his chance to going into HYPSM, because there are significantly more legacy students competing, and of course no matter how good a class is there is no way they all go to one of those schools (far from that I guess). So is the college conseling in these boarding schools doing a better job compared with the public shools and local day schools? Do the school prestige, reputation and long term relationships with some of best colleges (including its “feeder school” status a long time ago) help AT ALL?</p>
<p>Well in my eyes this is how it’s looking now for me as a sophomore about to enter BS. I’m a shoe in for 25, if I keep pretty good grades top 15, if any of my hooks help top 5-10, and if I get recruited for one of my sport 1-10. And then I have a legacy to 3 top colleges…I mean I don’t know about everyone else but I like my chances. I guess I can only look at it from my perspective though.</p>
<p>For a regular non athletic, no URM, no legacy kid…I still think BS helps get you into a top 10 if your grades can get you into top 15% of a top of the line BS. There are so many more hooks other than those 3 that can get you into a great college from BS. And BS gives you the opportunities and helps you develop those hooks, depending on how outgoing and passionate you are about whatever you decide to get into. In my opinion, the schools lay it all out there for you, just depends if you want to take advantage of it. Or you can stay in your dorm all day and complain when the passionate photographer with a freelance job on the weekends and average grades takes your spot at Yale.</p>
<p>I am totally with pan1956. One thing that correlates highly with SAT’s is SSATs. Boarding schools take kids with high SSATs and therefore they produce kids with high SATs. SATs are one element of elite college admission, but it stands in for the whole thing.</p>
<p>hmom5’s post backs up the pan1956’s point as well: that matriculation data is very misleading. Matriculation is not a good way to discriminate amongst the top 25 schools. It does tell you that your kid will be studying among other highly motivated peers.</p>
<p>For our family, it’s about the education, the social experiences, and the athletic and arts opportunities that boarding school provides.</p>
<p>hmom5: those numbers are depressing! Basically one regular non URM student got in…that is pretty shocking. do you mind saying which school this was for?</p>
<p>Keylyme: We do have IB here in the public system and it is great but the class size is still very high at 30-40 students. One of my sons is in a similar program at public school. My other son has a scholarship at a private school and the class size is from 20-30. Just that size difference has an impact on the level of attention each child gets. Additionally almost every child is trying to excell. So I can only imagine how great it is in prep school with classes of 10-12 students. It is hard to fade into the background in that size of class. I think the surroundings definitely do make a difference.</p>
<p>If the sole objective is admission to HYPSMGWA a really motivated talented UNHOOKED kid is better off at a solid public school where he or she can really but really shine in relation to peers than at an elite boarding school. There are vast opportunities for growth at our public schools. The preps just want you to believe that they are a ticket to the high life. They are not. They just attract a lot of talented and hooked youngsters and that gives them glossy stats.</p>
<p>No matter how strong a student is at our public high school, it is rare for even one student to go to an Ivy (or any prestigious college) in any given year. All of the grades are inflated…even the “college prep” classes are weighted. I think the highest GPA one can get is 6.75 or something ridiculous. Half the class doesn’t even go to college. It is not an environment conducive to bringing out the best in anyone. To make matters worse, this year’s budget was not voted in…so they are making more cuts.</p>
<p>Keylyme,
Any kid who is motivated and talented enough to get into HYPSMGWA without a hook from Andover can do it just as well from a good public. If few kids from school xyz go to HYPSMGWA it is because few kids at that school have the talent and the motivation and the genetics and the stimulating environment at home. The National Enquirer rather than The New Yorker is on the coffee table.</p>
<p>Yes…from a good public. I was just pointing out that there are plenty of not so good publics. And don’t forget…not every child has that supportive life at home. There is a population for whom bs definitely increases their shot at a top college.</p>
<p>Well yea without a hook of course, but how many students get into HADES with out some sort of a hook. If you don’t have a “hook” why would they want you? A hook is much more than legacy and URM. A kid without a hook wouldn’t have made it to Andover in the first place. If you get into HADES, they think that you are or they can make you into IVY league material. Or they wouldn’t even accept you in the first place.</p>
<p>While many people on CC say matriculation doesn’t matter…from 95% of the parents/students, matriculation was the first thing that caught their eye. Especially outside of New England. And these school want to keep those stats up.</p>
<p>And keylyme is right , some people can’t get past problems in their own household. Doesn’t matter how much “they have in them”.</p>
<p>I guess our differences are not about whether these schools can provide good quality education, including well rounded development oppotunities and individual attention, but rather whether it would increase a child’s chance of getting into a great college (to avoid leading into a discussion of what’s a great college, let’s say HYPSM). I am interested if the college counseling in these schools are better at what they are doing so they can send a kid who “makes the cut” into one of those schools while all things equal this kid may not be able to get in if he’s in a public/local day school. Of course, this is just one piece of puzzle. Anything that makes BS a better place in college placement at all? As from what I heard in this thread, it doesn’t do anything more than what you’d get in a public school in this respect? Is it true?</p>
<p>Keylyme, I agree that kids in poor schools may not get into Ivy colleges, I do understand what you are saying. But the matriculation metric is not useful for deciding between schools of similar caliber. That is why I hate the endless questions about Milton v Choate.</p>
<p>The bigger problem for the kids from the bad school is that when they are accepted to an elite college, they are not prepared academically and do poorly. This happened to me. I was the first person from my miserable school to go to a top University. Although I had always considered myself a math/science person, I could not compete with the better prepared peers. It was very difficult.</p>
<p>^^^Very true. You need much more than perfect grades and SSAT’s to get into the most competitive schools. You need…a hook! Full pay also helps.</p>
<p>My son’s coach was talking with me a few days ago about which colleges my son might be interested in. My son’s “hook” is a sport. Coach thought Dartmouth might be a good fit. I did not know if son’s GPA and SAT/ACT would be high enough (haven’t tested yet…just a sophomore). Coach said, don’t worry. The hook makes a big difference. (My son is not a bad student, btw…takes very challenging courses at bs…just high gpa).</p>