<p>i agree that labels are misleading. i get confused when i read about elite private schools because i don't know what schools they are talking about is there a cut-off?
also a poster hit it right on the mark when s/he wrote about busy parents who can pay sending the kids to private school. i see that so much at the private day school we go to. they can have the nanny drop the kids off at a safe school and since they're paying for it the education must be better! i tutored several kids in math during the day whose parents spent little time with them during the week and weren't so much interested in what the kids did month to month as in the iowa schore at the end. ( like the poster said a gardener=a nice lawn).</p>
<p>Why people criticize other parents for sending their kids to prep school? If parents have money and want to send the kids to good schools then this is their choice? I see hypocrisy that many parents (Not all) want to send kids to go to Ivy League but do see a problem with prep schools? Parents who want to would like to send their kids to Ivy League should not criticize prep school parents. Similarly prep school parents do not need to ask public school parents why they did not send their kids to prep school. Everyone has a choice to make and live with it. </p>
<p>By the way, thank all the rich prep school parents for letting my kid go to prep school on nearly full aid.</p>
<p>The entire decision process as to where to send your child to school is very complex and as individual as the child itself. But I often see my peers never even thinking about sending their kids public schools.</p>
<p>Private schools are the best choice for some kids and public schools are a best choice for others. My S's best friend's family sent one S to public school and one to private prep school and they both ended up at Ivies. They made the right choice for each kid. </p>
<p>But look at the whole picture. That is my point.</p>
<p>Every elite school is different and will give the students different advantages at different schools. My school seems to send an above average amount of kids to Princeton; I have friends at other schools where barely anyone gets into Princeton, but many get into Brown. Very elite religious schools often sends tons and tons to Georgetown, but a small amount get into Ivies. One cannot make a blanket statement about prep schools, assuming that if the tuition is a certain amount or more, all the kids at all those schools have great chances at Harvard. </p>
<p>Much of the tradition with elite schools stems from the people involved, ie the alumn of a certain Ivy who is now headmaster of such and such school, or if many on the board of trustees at, say, Penn, also serve on the board at XYZ Boarding School. </p>
<p>I don't understand why people act so stunned when it seems that so many kids, percentage wise, get in to Ivies from prep schools, and lesser amounts from public schools. The simple truth is that tradition often trumps, well, everything else. These east coast boarding schools are chock full of wealthy alums and influential figures, and sadly, I think many Ivy league schools would rather just give a spot to Alistair Cunningham IV who parties, drinks, plays varsity lacrosse, and has decent grades than Ms. Fabulous with no Clout from Somewhere that is Not the East Coast, no matter HOW great she is. These Ivies have to keep up appearance and keep a certain amount of the student body elite, period.</p>
<p>"period."</p>
<p>CityGal, much of what you say is perceptive and valid, but you ended with a "period" too soon. Another very good reason for the excellent college admissions record at top prep schools is that schools such as Andover (the one I know best) accept highly qualified applicants (based on grades and SSAT scores, as well as recommendations) and then give them a top flight education, with excellent faculty, small classes, and high expectations. Students at preps ALL play sports. They ALL participate in extracurriculars. And they ALL benefit from guidance counselors with the time and expertise to place them in a best-fit college. Yes of course elite preps attract wealthy and influential families, but they also admit and offer full aid to the children of moms who will never bequeath a library.</p>