<p>Stats at the top girls schools (Brearley, Spence, Chapin) are way better than Dalton's - - often over 30% of the class makes Nat Merit semi-finalist.</p>
<p>And middle-class kids do attend (ever hear of need-based aid?).</p>
<p>Legacy bumps admission rate as does development opportunity. These two alone would bump the calibre of school Dalton kids apply to....and their success in gaining admission.</p>
<p>I guess since this is a 5 year spread, it doesn't seem all that surprising.</p>
<p>Others have said it, but just to reinforce the point:</p>
<p>These kids are highly qualified candidates for the top colleges. It's possible they could do even better, but for limits on the number of kids from a particular high school that a college will accept.</p>
<p>Getting accepted to some of these top NYC private schools in the first place is probably as competitive as applying to many top-tier colleges. The kids have top stats. Many come from families living in the single wealthiest zip code in the entire nation, which never hurts endowment-builders. And a vastly disproportionate number of these kids are legacies.</p>
<p>There's rich kids at every private school. I think snobbery would be a bigger factor</p>
<p>Most students at Dalton are Jewish, and are more attracted to Ivies and certain other schools like Michigan and Wisconsin which have been used as backups for decades among NY Jews.</p>
<p>Spence is above Dalton in the NY society pecking order (coming from a guy whose dated girls from both schools).</p>
<p>Here is Spence's list:
Princeton University (13)
Harvard University (12)
Cornell University (11)
University of Pennsylvania (9)
Yale University (9)
Columbia University (8)
New York University (8)
Dartmouth College (6)
Duke University (6)
Wesleyan University (6) </p>
<p>Note a larger prevalance of elite private colleges than Dalton..no state schools here.</p>
<p>When I lived there, Brearly did better than Spence. But there are 8 -15 schools that are all really great, each in their own way. I thought that Dalton was among the most selective, but I could be somewhat mistaken.</p>
<p>Hey monydad thanks for at least pointing out the fact that having $$$ and social contact doesn't negate intelligence.......the students are well prepared as they should be from a top high school.</p>