HADES or Harvard?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Let's say that you go to a good suburban school that sends around 5-10 people to the Ivies every year. You are in the top 5% of you class, and you are surrounded in a healthy, competitive environment. You apply to a HADES school and you get in. Would you accept not be the best, constantly get beaten down and out shined, and seriously jeopardizing your chances of going to your dream school for a great high school education? Or would you just stay at your public school and still be consistently challenged (and probably have a high academic ranking), as well as increase your chances of getting into that dream school? (The last part may not be always true, obviously you will need to work for it, but going to a school where not everyone is overacheiving and very intelligent will probably help you.)</p>

<p>I currently have this on my mind. I go to a good New England public school and the academics are certainly very challenging, so why not just save the tuition money for college and stay? However, a good boarding school has a wealth of oppurtunities and amazing people, and it's a shame not to miss out.</p>

<p>So... what do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>It’s a tough one. I think I would opt for a HADES…school just because high school are formative years and the amazing experiences you’d encounter at a top prep school including the rigor and diversity of a HADES school would be unparalleled. Not only that it’s a prep for life, not just college. Boarding and dorm life are very unique experiences. Teaching methods at HADES are also much better with small class sizes and seminar classes. A lot of colleges have seminar classes where it is discussion based so I think those who’ve been through the Harkness method are waaay more confident and articulate along with having the skills of debating points of view, etc. So HADES rather than Harvard.</p>

3

<p>One more for HADES, but it seemsto me that you’re leaning more toward the public school sunflower.</p>

4

<p>Haha, I have to wait and see first if I get in next year. :slight_smile: I’m pretty sure that I won’t want miss out on an amazing education at boarding school, but you have to consider both sides. I am probably leaning towards HADES right now, but things might change once I start high school in the fall… ? My sister went to a HADES school and she definitely agrees with above posts. She says that there were some amazing oppurtunities there (great guest speakers, going abroad with the dance troupe, brilliant peers) and she wouldn’t want to trade it for anything (although she struggled a bit there).</p>

5

<p>Why would you reject one of the best schools in the nation when you don’t know if you will get in to the college of your choice from a public school? Also, the boarding schools have great college councilors that can find you a great school that fits you that may or may not be an Ivy.</p>

6

<p>You may want to check out a discussion in the parent forum: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/737459-years-college-matriculation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/737459-years-college-matriculation.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The discussion is about whether going to a boarding school may increase or hurt your chance of getting accepted into highly selective colleges, but if you are doing great in your public school and are already convinced that you have a much greater chance to go to Harvard than in a boarding school, why change anything? Stay where you are and work hard. You’d save a lot time for yourself, and a lot of money for your parents and for your college fund.</p>

7

<p>Stay where you are.</p>

8

<p>I’ve read a number of interviews with HADES alumni to get some sense of how they feel, retrospectively, about their prep school experiences. There was one theme that was common to a number of those interviews, and it went something like this - “Yes, I graduated from Yale and got my MBA from Harvard Business School, but I got my education at Exeter.” </p>

<p>I’m paraphrasing there, and substitute Andover/St.Paul’s/etc for Exeter if you wish, but what I’ve written is true to what I read - and it made quite a strong impression on me.</p>

9

<p>My brother attended both Andover and Harvard. He is now a practicing physician, after attending UVA med school and serving his residency at Yale. When I approached him last year for thoughts and ideas about my son applying to the top BS’s in NE, he told me, for the very first time in his life, that he found Andover harder than Harvard. Challenged but excited by such info, my son applied to every HADES school (and has been, in turn, accepted by at least one of them and WL’ed at the others). So whether or not Harvard or some other Ivy school accepts my son some day as an undergard, he will be attending this fall a BS that, in the opinion of some, is tougher, more helpful, and more challenging than an Ivy League school.</p>

10

<p>I’ve found Andover to be much harder than Brown, albeit only through freshman year.</p>

<p>If your goal is Harvard, you probably want to stay where you are. If your goal is to be as well prepared for college as possible, HADES is likely the best option. And who knows what’ll happen; it’s not like you’re ensuring you won’t go to Harvard by choosing HADES. Money is a factor, though, and if the public high school is good enough for you, then it would be fine. It comes down to preference - there is no “right” answer.</p>

11

<p>I have also heard this sentiment expressed. In addition to top BS being more challenging, I have heard that the intellectual stimulation from peers is also greater at BS than top colleges. </p>

<p>However, it could all just be relative. I imagine that a bright kid coming from a good public into - say, Yale would have a similar experience as a bright kid coming into Exeter (or fill-in-the-blank) with challenge and stimulation. The BS kids get it earlier and perhaps because they are at a more impressionable age, they have a more vivid recollection of how that stimulation feels. In other words, perhaps Andover was harder because he was younger and Harvard was easier because he had gained so much from Andover. </p>

<p>BUT - I trust the opinions of toomb’s brother and others, however, simply because they experienced the contrast and I didn’t!</p>

12

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<p>Makes sense neato. I agree.</p>

13

<p>My brother probably did find Andover harder than Harvard because the gap socially, culturally, and educationally from middle school to high school was greater than the gap between high school and college. When he arrived at Andover, he had just come from a public school in a rural community in the middle of these united States. There was high contrast between that school and Andover, needless to say. For example, when he first stepped foot on campus at Andover, he wanted to start a bowling club. No, not a lawn bowling team with clean cut preppies donning white shoes and pressed white linen pants and shirts. No, he wanted his bowlers down at the local alley wearing mutli-colored pumps and silk shirts with the name “Strike Kings” emblazoned on the back. Not surprisingly, he never got his club off the ground. In time, however, he and Andover connected. Because my brother learned the ways of his new tribe at Phillips Academy, his days in Cambridge, MA were, relatively, a bit of a breeze. </p>

<p>So what does this tale show? If no Andover, there probably would have been no Harvard for my brother. But, more importantly, if no Andover, my brother, if had somehow entered Harvard, would probably have struggled there and, maybe, never would have attended med school or had become a doctor. </p>

<p>So, what was more important: Harvard or Andover? For my brother and, I think, many others, the answer was because there was Andover, there was Harvard too. But even if Havard doesn’t follow Andover, whatever does follow will be better, more often than not, because of Andover.</p>

14

<p>Yea, I don’t think there will be a consensus on whether prep schools help or hurt students in attending a top school. It really does depend on the person…And even if it won’t necessarily help you get in, it definitely will help you wherever you end up.</p>

15

<p>Toombs61 your post is right on!!:)</p>

16

<p>A few months ago, I read a very similar debate on the MIT board. The OP wanted to know whether it was better to go to MIT, get a lower GPA, and possibly not get into as prestigious a grad school, or to go to the local state school, get an excellent GPA, and get into one of the top grad schools in the field. There was one comment in particular that stuck with me. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was something like “If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t sit around for four years hoping it would happen again. I’d cash in while I could.” Obviously, this is not a perfect analogy, but it’s essentially true. Assuming you’re offered a place at HADES, you could either cash in now for a world class high school education, or you could hold out for Harvard in exchange for a perceived marginal increase in chances for admission.</p>

<p>The probability of getting into HADES or Harvard is very low. The jury’s still out on whether applying from HADES helps or hurts admissions to top schools, but either way the difference in percentage is quite low. Even assuming it hurts admission, I think a HADES education more than covers the drop.</p>

<p>If nothing else, I say go to HADES because you’ll be kicking yourself in a few years if the Harvard letter comes back with an unfavorable decision.</p>

17

<p>Let’s back up for a minute. Sunflowersuzie, your question is one of the perennial topics of debate on CC. As you asked,

, I will point out that the conversation has raced past the potential show stopper. </p>

<p>For the next decade, at least, I venture to say that every applicant to private high schools must discuss financial matters with their parents, before dreaming of attending a prestigious private school. </p>

<p>If your high school sends 5-10 students to elite colleges every year, offers a challenging course load, you are certain to be in the top 5%, and financing your education through grad school would place a burden on your parents, then you would be a fool to leave. </p>

<p>Yes, the big name boarding schools have amazing programs, and the experience of leaving home transforms many students. However, this is high school. The elite colleges have set up their criteria for admission to encourage diversity–which means that they have elected to limit the number of students they’ll accept from top prep schools. The college prep curriculum restricts a student’s choices. Even if a top school offers 7 languages, so what? You can only take one, or two. You can do that at a good suburban school. </p>

<p>The economic meltdown has changed the game. Could you accept attending a top flight boarding school, and not attending college? Many students are reportedly looking at state schools more favorably. You may not be able to get into a state school, given the rising competition, particularly if your state reserves a certain number of spaces at each college for deserving graduates of in-state public high schools. Leaving the public sphere also limits the number of scholarships you may receive, as some are limited to state public high school graduates.</p>

<p>What do you want to do when you grow up? If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, a research scientist, or pursue an MBA, you must budget for grad school. Finally, loading on debt to go to big-name schools is a perilous practice. I have classmates from college whose adult life only began after 35–and their debt load was small in comparison to some present-day graduates.</p>

18

<p>Tapper7 and Periwinkle’s comments, seemingly very different, are actually both valid. They simply stated two sides of a coin from different perspectives. If you don’t need to worry about the money, and you can actually get an offer from one of the top BS, declining the offer JUST for a marginally potential no garantee advantage in getting into H is senseless. However, if you do need to worry about money, which many of us do especially nowadays, then stay in your good quality public high school where you do very well and will have a good shot for top colleges - don’t even start the process of applying to BS. You’d spend a lot of time and application related cost and end up confusing and frustrating yourself.</p>

19

<p>I think it’s unfortunate that the focus of this discussion became which route gets you into Harvard better, rather than which route gives you a better education and better preparation for life at a high level. In addition, there are two categories of kids for whom the cost factor is not so important - those who, for whatever reasons, can afford to pay the $40+K/year without whimpering and those who can/will qualify for full financial aid. At some HADES schools, I believe those two categories make up a majority of all students.</p>

20

<p>Mainer95, I agree that the focus on Harvard (and other Ivy schools) is unfortunate, but it’s a persistent goal for many posters. Every summer a new crop of hopefuls come on the board, and they’re frequently focussed on the big name colleges. I choose to think that it’s a sign that they’re young, and don’t know much about the world. On the college side of CC , many colleges have very active message boards, as high school students have seen more.</p>

<p>I should add to my post, though, that if your public school doesn’t offer a college prep curriculum, you will need to supplement its offerings. In my opinion, a “good suburban public school” should offer four years of language study, four years of English, math at least through AP calculus, and four years of science study, preferably physics, chemistry, biology, each subject culminating in an AP course. Study the school’s list of courses. If there is a community college nearby, or an extension school, you can supplement lacks in your high school, although it may take some effort.</p>

<p>It isn’t necessary to attend a top boarding school to prepare yourself for college study. As the news gets worse and worse for towns and states, though, public schools will bear the brunt of the cuts, if only because they’re such a large part of the budget.</p>