Commonwealth School in Boston

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
21

<p>As a current Commonwealth Senior, I figured I’d put down my input. As for the college issue, I think that self selection is important. Commonwealth is a school for smart kids, no doubt about it. But the majority of them aren’t really the Harvard or Yale type. I don’t mean that Harvard and Yale don’t like quirky kids or anything, but Commonwealth really just isn’t an ivies pipeline. If your plan for highschool is to get into the best college you can, I don’t think Commonwealth is right for you. There is a fair amount of grade deflation here (the average is probably a low B+, which isn’t that high from what I’ve seen given Commonwealth’s median SAT scores of a bit over 2100). So it is important for which school you apply to. Some schools clearly “get” Commonwealth. University of chicago for instance… Commonwealth has about a 60% acceptance rate there (I can look on our college thingy to check out the acceptance rate for the last 5 years), which is no slouch of a school. In general, Commonwealth is great for small, eastern, liberal arts schools who have heard of Commonwealth. I myself just got in ED to Haverford, a pretty good school that Commonwealth has a very high acceptance rate at (luckily my SATs were apparently high enough as my grades suffered from a few years of slacking off during highschool).</p>

<p>But that self selection is important. I am about to make generalizations here, and I apologize for that, but in GENERAL, people at Commonwealth aren’t quite the go getter, want to be super successful types that Harvard and etc are looking for. I’d say Commonwealth students are’t being groomed to go to the best colleges like many other kids in their SAT score range. People go to Commonwealth because they like Commonwealth. it isn’t a route to Harvard or Yale. If that is your end goal, and not the highschool itself, I bet there are hjighschools that could more efficiently suit your needs.</p>

<p>I have loved my years at Commonwealth. So did my brother, who attended a few years back. It is a really special place, I always experience a major culture shock going to a class say visiting my friends at a local public highschool, just because I am so used to such high quality class discussions and the like. Aside from the notoriously lackluster food (students love to go out in Boston whenever possible), I didn’t have a moments regret since accepting it over the other schools I applied to. </p>

<p>But it is true that Commonwealth students tend to not be the types being groomed for Harvard and Yale. Commonwealth students do go to both of these places, but Commonwealth isn’t the best place to set your child up for those places. This will sound hopelessly general, but the reason I think is really just the fact that Harvard and yale and commonwealth aren’t quite the same type of people. Commonwealth students are smart enough (again Commonwealth does very well on things like SATs, with a median over 2100, and level of classes, with basically every class offered being an AP), but aren’t quite devoting their lives to getting into a top name college like others would. To get into Harvard you obviously can’t just have good grades and good SATs, you need a complete package showing that you are one of the go getters, with stellar extra curriculars, a catchy hook, etc, stuff that takes a lot of preparation. </p>

<p>And yes, Commonwealth students are basically never recruited for sports. commonwealth’s sports program is not very good. I have no shame in admitting it, because Commonwealth student’s don’t really care about that. So that also has an effect, other schools get the set of people being recruited, and that just doesn’t exist at Commonwealth.</p>

22

<p>One thing to be aware of is that there are schools in Boston (and doubtless other cities) that use the Ivies as its own measure of success. It’s an easy statistic for lazy people to calculate.</p>

<p>One very fine place I know of (where my child applied and got in) actually has faculty meetings where the main question on the table is “how can we be more successful with Ivy League admissions?” Not excellent colleges, not the right colleges for the particular kids in the class. Ivies. Those 8. And they are successful at sending graduates there.</p>

<p>Another fine day school in the area is very proud of sending over 25% to Ivy League schools. The result, according to a few insiders I’ve talked to, is that the top third of the class gets a lot of attention. After all, they’re the ones that will keep the brand where it wants to be. The rest-- eh. I’ve heard a few real horror stories. For the record, my child waitlisted them, and they returned the favor. At which point, we let them know early on that we didn’t need the spot in the queue. The first choice was Commonwealth.</p>

23

<p>@Colonel I know this is an old thread but I just happened to stumble across your post, which is priceless. Particularly your statement that top tier elite universities seek the “kind of person, community member, teammate and contributor [devoted] to life away from self-interest.”</p>

<p>Surely you’re joking. Surely you don’t really think these admissions officers are fooled by the Kabuki-ritual, c.v.-burnishing exercises in community service (working in soup kitchens, etc.) that are forgotten once the admission to Harvard has been followed by fast-track position at a Silicon Valley internet marketing start-up? </p>

<p>Surely you don’t think these prep schools are concerned with character-before-resume? Surely you don’t mean to imply that hyper-competitive type-A prep schools are, in fact, more concerned with such matters of the heart–of ethics and of good citizenship–than such “lesser” schools as BUA, Commonwealth, etc.?</p>

<p>Quite frankly, yours is the single most fatuous post I have encountered on this message board. And that’s saying a lot!</p>