<p>On another note, I’m eager to see how the stats change in the near future. Our west coast state is in an even more severe fiscal crisis than most and I predict that the continuing decline of our public system will affect acceptance to private colleges. As it is, no one from our community was accepted to Brown this year, in spite of an increase in applications. How can a student with huge classes and few to no electives compete with someone from a prep school? It may well be that with smaller endowments and more financial need prep school acceptances go down too, but it would be interesting to track who applies and from where in the next few years. I still hate sending my daughter across the country, but I couldn’t live with myself if I made her stay in her current school – the best regional public high school in a system being decimated by budget cuts.</p>
<p>Thanks, Lemonade1! It’s good to hear of strong colleges which aren’t Ivy +SM. </p>
<p>I’d also be interested to know how high school preparation correlates with eventual graduate study.</p>
<p>WCMom,
Graduates are not compared to other schools but to their own. For most elite colleges, they have member of adcom that is responsible for a certain area of the country and they know that area and the schools well. In fact, some would argue, your son’s chances are higher than those from prep schools as NOT compared to prep school kid.</p>
<p>ps. Several of the top PSs in the country are in the west coast.</p>
<p>Lemonade.
I agree with you. Many colleges - Univ of Arizona, U of Illinois, U Tenn all have the same attributes. (However, very few of the Nobles teach undergrads at those schools as compared to Stanford and Harvard where they do).</p>
<p>My point is that is whether an education at Exeter or Stanford “better” than an education at “a lessor” college or private school. The answer is “probably not” - esp for the good student with the exception that the elites might stimulate some to higher goals.</p>
<p>Wow, don’t mean to be rude, but I have to say - some of you are really <em>obsessed</em>. That said, numbers are numbers, though how you interprete the numbers is another story. Unlike some of the pessimists predicted, Andover has actually done a decent job in college placement this year. A partial matriculation list is here: <a href=“http://pdf.phillipian.net/2010/05212010.pdf[/url]”>http://pdf.phillipian.net/2010/05212010.pdf</a></p>
<p>Havard has increased by 1 since. Although the Ivies+SM rate is still 30%, I’m more impressed by the number of graduates attending schools like Amherst, Washington U at St. Louis, U Chicago, Georgetown, etc. Acceptance (and more so matriculation) to a specific school fluctuates from year to year naturally, so don’t be - again <em>obsessed</em> with a few colleges. The bottom line is that the majority of PA graduates end up in excellent colleges, more than ready to take on the challenges in colleges and beyond.</p>
<p>It looks like matriculation to Brown and Dartmouth and Yale are up for PA, and Harvard, Princeton and Cornell are down…with Ivies + SM down overall. I’d be a little concerned that matriculation to Harvard and Princeton (the two top schools in the country) are down. Maybe just an off year?</p>
<p>Deanlist, What is the size of Andover 2010 graduating class?</p>
<p>@redbluegoldgreen: The Princeton numbers are back to normal after an uncharacteristic 2 year spike. This doesn’t seem particularly troublesome. '11, which is stronger as a class, will better show if this is a trend or not.</p>
<p>@pulsar It’s something like 290; likely a bit smaller if students left during the year. Most international students return to their own countries rather than apply to colleges, as well.</p>
<p>293, to be exact.</p>
<p>There have been slightly more Harvard admits than Yale admits. It so happens more students chose Y over H this year.</p>
<p>There seems to be two trends: incoming classes each stronger than the previous one and increasing difficulty in placing students in the top ten. Like a swimmer fighting a strong current. Initially it is a standstill and then the current starts overwhelming the swimmer. The result will be to force the swimmer back to the shore Unless something changes.</p>
<p>I am not a pessimist. It is easy to abuse others while being anonymous. In fact what I am saying is that an excellent effort by the faculty and the students is being weakened by a mediocre administration that is blind to the changes in the weather. The Andover grad of 2010 is being poorly served by the current administration which is more intent on marketing the myth and raising money. While money is certainly green, what is immediately needed is professional advising starting from the freshman year and a more caring attitude to the average boarder. The number of boarders dropping out or being asked to leave is shocking and the clear difference in the performance of dayschoolers and boarders in terms of GPA as well as college admissions is evidence that the school’s residential policies as well as advising need to be intensively re-examined by the Trustees.</p>
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<p>Elaborate please. Do you know the actual attrition rate? (I’m not challenging you; I just think it is important since my d will likely apply.)</p>
<p>PM me if you don’t want to state very strong opinions on a public forum. That is completely understandable.</p>
<p>How different are the performances of dayschoolers and boarders?</p>
<p>Some of the boarders being asked to leave are asked to leave for problems such as drugs, alcohol, or leaving the state without permission. I believe '12 lost quite a few freshmen, and '10 is the smallest class I can remember.</p>
<p>When I was a student, the average GPA of day students vs. boarders was roughly 4.8 vs. 4.7 out of 6.0. The difference is probably more notable at the top, though, where the percentage of day students making Cum Laude and winning the graduation awards are disproportionate to their population.</p>
<p>I must argue, though, that the classes aren’t getting stronger and stronger. '08 was a weak class except at the top. '09 was an amazing class (the best in recent memory). '10 was average. '11 will be strong. I hear '12 is not a great class. Andover’s benefit is not that it prepares one for top colleges (it only does to a certain extent), but that it’s harder than these top colleges. It is a very stress inducing environment, and not everyone is suited for such an environment.</p>
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<p>I’ll shock you. Of the frequently mentioned “top ten,” i.e., Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn, MIT, and Stanford, I would have reservations about any of my children applying to 5 of them. </p>
<p>I can also well believe that a student would choose Yale, Dartmouth, or Brown over Harvard and Princeton.</p>
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<p>Agree 100% I can also see a student turning HYP down for more specialized schools like CalTech or Julliard or even a state school with an extremely strong research program in the student’s major.</p>
<p>Kids turn down Andover and Exeter for smaller, but wonderful, schools all the time. I don’t see why it would be any different for colleges.</p>
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I didn’t apply to Harvard because I liked Brown better, I definitely would have turned down Yale, and between Princeton and Brown, I was leaning towards Brown. There are reasons for students to like certain colleges. For me, the Open Curriculum trumped everything (not to mention that my friends at Princeton are, pretty much on the whole, unhappy with it).</p>
<p>I believe only 1 Andover student turned down Yale this year. It generally has the highest yield of the Ivies from Andover, as it’s the closest in style to Andover.</p>
<p>The OP asks “Does Prep School help college admission chances??” Based on my experience with our PS I’d have to say an unequivocal “yes.” At our PS the college admission process is largely a high stakes do-it-yourself project. The guidance counselors (note I didn’t say college counselors) – spend very little of their time on college counseling and in fact are largely ignorant of the range of choices available to meet the needs of their students. They typically steer the kids to the local state and community college options and appear shocked if you mention an out-of-state school (why would you want to venture outside the borders?). The role of the PS guidance counselor as regards the college admissions process is largely administrative (e.g. compiling the paperwork – transcripts, recommendations, etc.). You’re not going to get one-on-one strategic advice about the best fit for your child because they have too many kids assigned to them and they are ill-equipped to provide valuable counsel. That’s the depressing reality which is why we are looking at boarding school options. One of the biggest differences between boarding schools and public schools is the role of and qualifications/experience of the college counseling staff. Of the top 10 in last year’s graduating class at the local public high school – I believe seven went to the state college (which has an abysmal 40% graduation rate in four years). You can’t tell me that was the best option for all those kids.</p>
<p>Exactly! I just posted on the other thread too and forgot one thing - my son is applying to colleges he never would have, had he not been at prep school. His mind is opened up to all new possibilities. And as WellMeaningDad says - the student/counselor ratio is MUCH MUCH lower so the process itself has to be better. Some high schools I know of have 3 guidance counselors - and it’s not only their job to split the 400 kid senior class, but they are the academic counselors for everyone else too. TIme is really split.</p>
<p>D1 did the same. Hated school. Went back to PHS and has done well. People who say x% of BS get into top colleges. - comparison of equal grades at most PHS is the same.</p>
<p>There are advantages to each. eg. BS dont have Bands or Varsity Dance Squads. She placed top 10 nationals in Dance. Most BS dont have golf fo girls. Golf is the number one (nonfinancial based)college scholorship for girls</p>
<p>You guys talk about BS and PS like you talk about School A and School B. You gotta stop that. A few PS’s (even the non-magnet) in affluent neighborhoods around the country have better college matriculation than many lower tiered BS. You are not only comparing apples with oranges but comparing a tiny apple with a huge orange.</p>