<p>I have applied to Lawrenceville and St. Andrews, got into both, but am not sure if it would really change my chances. I like the public school I am in now and it has a very good reputation as one of the best in the state. I'm doing well with a 4.0, classical guitar, good ec's, French/ Spanish NHS, and 4 Ap's for my Junior year, and varsity crew (hoping that might give me a big boost up into college as long as i lower my erg times a bit), yet I think i would enjoy going to one of these Internationally known boarding schools, but is it worth it for the last one or two years of highschool?</p>
<p>Yes, Harvard says that they take most of their students from public schools. But most of those public schools are in rich or upper-middle districts - so that figure is quite misleading.</p>
<p>Ivies and top colleges do consider prestigious private schools to be better.</p>
<p>classicalguitar~
my response is one that repeats itself frequently around CC....do what feels right for YOU! we, parents and kids alike, can become so focused on collegecollegecollege, that the real issues of daily life go by the wayside. you sound right on target AND HAPPY in the public school you're in. does private guarantee harvard, or anywhere else...absolutely not! does the inference of wealth (by going private) get noticed by adcomms...yes. but your school is obviously competitive(my kids went to one of those...and are doing GREAT!), your stats look nice, and what about SATs? yet to come, i guess. take a good SAT prep class,ie,Princeton Review, and do really well. add community service as well, and you're on your way. don't forget the HUNDREDS of other awesome schools out there...stay open, and good luck to you!</p>
<p>Another thing to consider. Are you sure you're going to be able to keep your grades up if you go to Lawrenceville or St. Andrews? It doesn't help you to go to a more prestigious institute if you drop out of the top percentile in your class...</p>
<p>i mean i am at a great highschool right now in a very affluent area, we have famous names attending our school (Guggenheims, Roosevelts, Rockefeller etc...) i mean the kid in my homerooms grandfather was one of the chief participators on the manhattan project. So the public school i'm in now is very well respected in terms of public schools, but i'm just wondering if going to a private school just for my junior or senoir year would have any affect or would going there for one year make admissions officers scratch their heads and say, "Why did this kid transfer out a perfectly good highschool where he was doing great at?" potentially causing them to surmise some negative reason why i suddenly decided to uproot and move. idk, and as for what h-Bomer said about "Are you sure you're going to be able to keep your grades up if you go to Lawrenceville or St. Andrews" kids from my school with worse records than me have transfered and done fine there (if thats any indicator).</p>
<p>I'm about as confused as the potential admissions officers you're describing. I don't see why you'd transfer when you're already in a great school and happy there. I don't think transfering would help your chances, though I may be wrong.</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=6871042%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/search.php?searchid=6871042</a> </p>
<p>What do you care about whether or not it helps you get into college? Thinking about that should help you decide what to do.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that it might not hurt your chances. H and many other top universities have begun vigorously pursuing students from public schools and particularly from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. I was surprised when my D received a good deal of recruitment material from H since we live in a rural area with a HS that serves a largely lower-income population. I subsequently read articles that suggested that if a student's scores appear to be an anomaly for the zip code in which they're earned, they attract additional attention in the recruiting process and credit in the admissions process.</p>