<p>My child was accepted as a day student at St Mark's. We all loved the school. Any color / thoughts on the day student experience at St Mark's?</p>
<p>I'd classify St. Mark's as a top tier school. It's not in the small HADES group but its stats (SSAT scores, admit rate, % of teachers with advanced degrees, etc.) certainly place it right up there.</p>
<p>I more or less agree with you Pa.Pa that Westtown and St Andrew's Fla. are more regionally focused schools. But both of them are looking for kids from all around the country, and international students and both schools will back up their offers with financial aid to the right applicant.</p>
<p>I also agree with the poster who said that financial aid is not always found in the greatest supply at the top 5 prestige schools. We have had countless posts from people who got large amounts of aid to smaller, less well endowed schools because they had a great fit.</p>
<p>Getting information about Exeter and Andover is an important function of this forum, but we should also be opening each other's eyes to more possibilities. Over in the college land section of college confidential ;) many parents caution each other about the dangers of "falling in love with a dream school." If you think it's the only one for you, you stop being receptive to the rest. Oh, go read it if you want to read about more heart break.</p>
<p>Like Daddy Warbucks said, I wish that CC could support conversation about lesser known schools. I have two more girls besides my daughter at St Andrew's (DE), and neither of them are going to A or E.</p>
<p>I agree with many of the wise comments above about the less famous schools that can provide a happier match for many students, even top-scoring ones. My favorite one (just because I am familiar with it) is Dana Hall, a girls boarding and day school in Wellesley, MA that offers a top notch education and wonderful environment.</p>
<p>I like Saint Mark's School.</p>
<p>Check the threads:</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...light=mark%27s%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...light=mark%27s</a> </p>
<p>This is the thread posted by oldprep a while ago.</p>
<p>I've posted on St. Mark's elsewhere. I have a child there now. I am thrilled with St. Mark's. It's a great school. I went to one of the elite academies, and wanted something smaller for my child. (My school was incredibly cutthroat, and although I went to an Ivy League school after graduating, I wanted something that wasn't so cold and impersonal for my child.) St. Mark's is small. The academics are excellent. Although I note that Groton has a stronger academic reputation, I don't necessarily see the basis for that. (I note, for instance, that in Boston Magazine's September 2006 rankings, St. Mark's and Groton are statistically in a dead heat.) St. Mark's college placements are considerably weaker than Groton's however. I think St. Mark's college placement office is actually one of the weakest institutions at the school. It's a quirk of the school. But if you do well at St. Mark's you will have no problem going to an elite college, particularly if you have a "hook" -- as many preps do. St. Mark's facilities are first rate, although at times a bit dowdy in comparison with other schools. The whole "school under one roof" concept is also rather unique. </p>
<p>St. Mark's has a rather intense institutional culture, I guess partly because it's arguably the most "WASP-y" of all the elite Ivys. You can get more info on that by going to the St. Mark's entry on Wikipedia, which gives you a good idea about the nature of the place. I would recommend St. Mark's without reservation to anybody, now that my child has been there a while. You can't easily compare it to the other St. Grottlesex schools, however. It's a quirky place. St. Paul's is twice the size; Groton is perhaps the school most like St. Mark's, but Groton is so much better known among middle class kids. Middlesex is kind of jockey and there's a weird vibe to the place. St. George's struck me personally as a bit of a party school and I thought was just a little too "precious". (The whole "dragon" thing is a bit over the top for me, but I am a Yankee.) I think if I could make one negative comment about St. Mark's, the students tend to be so self-assured that they don't take college admission seriously enough, and the counseling office fails at fighting to persuade its students to apply to elite schools, and fails at persuading elite colleges to take Marxians. On the other hand, I think there is no prep school in the United States, and I include Exeter and Andover here, that has produced more illustrious alumni in terms of its relatively small size. It's the St. Mark's paradox. Why are the alumni so successful when they have such a tough time, over the last two decades, getting into Harvard?</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to a smaller school with financial aid. I came to this site looking for some information but since she didn't apply to the top schools I haven't found much.<br>
This is a great topic. Maybe some of us can come back next year and help with our experiences at other schools.</p>
<p>One of the newer threads has this info. about the kids that Andover accepted (the info. is directly from the school):</p>
<p>"Overall, 451 students, or 16.6% of this very talented applicant group, have been admitted. This is the lowest admission rate in the history of the school. Academically, most of our admitted students rank in the top five percent of their class. The median SSAT total score is 94%."</p>
<p>So out of the 2,700+ applications they received, only 451 have been granted access. I'm sure they left out a ton of unbelieveable kids who will succeed wherever they go. This just shows how tough it is to get into this school (I'm sure the stats for Exeter are similar). By all means try to get into these schools, but also have some schools in mind in the likely event you're turned down. </p>
<p>I was struck by what one of the applicants on this thread wrote. She had only applied to A & E and was rejected by both. She wasn't going to boarding school because if she couldn't get into "the best" she was OK staying home. Fair enough. But will this reasoning translate to her college search? If she can't get into Harvard or Yale will she forgo college altogether? </p>
<p>Just as there are Amherst College, Middlebury College, UVA, Michigan, etc. out there in the likely event an Ivy League school isn't in the cards, so are there many wonderful boarding schools which compare to HADES.</p>
<p>annamolly: which school did your daughter get into? I bet people (maybe even those looking at just this thread) will know about it.</p>
<p>This isn't meant to single you out in any way, but, generally speaking, it seems like parents are reluctant to post where their kids are going (or thinking of going) if it isn't one of the HADES/Groton/Middlesex schools. I'm not sure why this is.</p>
<p>If you only apply to top colleges you can get screwed over and go to community college. If you don't get into a top BS you can go to public school or your current private school...which isn't bad. And also Exeter and Andover aren't the only top BS's, there are probably anywhere from 5-10 that are nearly impossible to get into.</p>
<p>Nevermind didn't see that second post.</p>
<p>She got into Dana Hall. I'm just reluctant to post anything personal. I'm afraid to jinx it somehow.</p>
<p>Just the school name is fine. I know some people who've had their daughters attend Dana Hall and I've only heard good things. You can't do much better than this school. Low admit rate (below 40%), small classes, almost 70% of teachers with advanced degrees. And it's in the lovely town of Wellesley to boot. </p>
<p>I have a daughter and when it's time I'm sure we'll look at the "Big 3" of DH, Miss Porter's and Emma Willard (although Troy, NY might be too far for us). Did you look at these school's as well?</p>
<p>annamolly -- please stay on the board and help next year's group of students. When I first came on the board three years ago, the only BS I had ever heard of was Andover. If it hadn't been for this forum, my son would most likely have only applied to a few top schools (which weren't a good "fit", by the way) and would currently be attending his local public school. Instead, he applied to 9 schools (of which only one was a "top 10" school), was accepted at 7. He is loving his freshman year at NMH -- he couldn't have made a better choice!</p>
<p>While there are many kids (and parents) on the forum who play the "Andover/Exeter or bust" game, there are many who are open to suggestions and really listen to the information that is provided. I have been happy to recommend NMH to others on the board (as has laxtaxi, keylyme, hellosunshine, Linda S and others) and I can bet that your information about Dana Hall will encourage other young women to apply next year.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D!</p>
<p>Thanks, DH was the only all girls boarding we looked at. I've talked to some people who attended boarding schools and they all said the same thing, to look at small schools close to home. That's what we did.<br>
Still waiting on financial aid for another school but I'm pretty sure she'll be going to Dana.</p>
<p>Congratulations Annamolly, on your daughter's acceptance to Dana Hall! It isn't an often mentioned school, but frankly that seems to be a very common occurrence. The Winsor School (also all-girls) is almost never mentioned, neither are Concord Academy, Nobles or BB&N. When my daughter was looking at schools a couple of years ago, she applied to 7 schools (some of which are often mentioned here at cc) and chose Brooks School, which gets no press here; which has been a terrific experience for her. Just because a school is enthusiastically touted by others, (I don't mean to offend anyone) doesn't mean that it is the right place for one's own child. </p>
<p>So, all the best with Dana Hall!</p>
<p>I only applied to groton because its close to home and one of my friends was also applying, and I don't want to go to school really far away. </p>
<p>I'd have to say, Lawrence Academy is another one of those schools you don't see much information about around here.</p>
<p>I'm so happy to see Dana mentioned (especially as I was singing DH's praises a few posts above annamolly's). Lovely, lovely school that brings out the best in girls. </p>
<p>I think Winsor, BB&N and others don't get mentioned because as day schools they just aren't a possibility for most kids. Those of us in greater Boston are spoiled with excellent day and boarding schools (in addition to many fine public ones!)</p>
<p>All of these comments have been helpful, thank you very much.</p>
<p>Not knowing about this board or other prestigious schools earlier (I live in Seattle, WA) I applied to only Exeter as a senior and I was wait listed, although I don't have much hope.</p>
<p>Any advice on prep schools which I can still apply to? (I'm a qualified student, at least I wasn't rejected :) </p>
<p>As in, what are the top prep schools that I could still apply and get into as a full-pay student?</p>
<p>hmm good question... you have to look for schools that have rolling admissions.</p>
<p>None of the HADES + Groton Lawrencville Mx milton and Choate have that ... To be honestly don't know a top tier school that does. But you can still go to one of the schools i mentioned for a PG year. I know that Hotchkiss and Exeter offer PG years.</p>
<p>I think we, CCers, apply to great schools mainly because we can get in to them! I applied to Groton, Andover, Exeter, Middlesex, Hotchkiss, Governor's, Brooks, and SPS.</p>
<p>I was accepted everywhere except waitlisted at SPS. I made sure that I had a couple safetyish schools (Gov's, Brooks) and the rest were just huge reaches!</p>
<p>Always shoot for the best. If you don't think you have a good chance at HADES then lower tier schools are great! Gov's and Brooks are awesome! But if you have a good shot at the best then.... go for it!</p>
<p>One student's safety is another student's fantastic "fit"! My S applied to 4 schools that don't get much discussion here but would all be terrific for him. Luckily, they all agreed and we couldn't be happier.</p>