<p>Curious what is everyone's thoughts/experiences on the following idea:</p>
<p>students from top prep schools, where it is much harder to maintain a stellar GPA, end up having a much tougher time during college admissions, where many universities (particularly public universities) weigh GPA as the most important component. </p>
<p>Has that been your experience?</p>
<p>I can’t say from from experience as my daughter is just finishing up her first year at BS.</p>
<p>But it is my feeling that if maxing her GPA was the goal, she could have just stayed at home an attended the local public high school where she would have likely been the valedictorian or salutatorian.</p>
<p>For our family (and I think for more than a few others), going to a rigorous BS is not necessarily seen as a means to an end, but rather an end in and of itself.</p>
<p>You have to also keep in mind that for quite a few of the schools regularly discussed here, the Admission people at all the “usual suspects” colleges/universities know that a B+ indicates a level of academic achievement well above a 4.0 at your average public HS.</p>
<p>That said, it has been argued on the forum that “if getting into a super selective college is your goal”, keeping a high achieving kid at home at a public school where he/she can be a standout may be a more effective route. Then again, does your local public high school send nearly 30% of the class to ivy league schools? Or over 50% to the 25 top ranked National Universities and 15 top liberal arts colleges according to US News?</p>
<p>[Boarding</a> School Stats : Matriculation Stats](<a href=“http://matriculationstats.org/boarding-school-stats]Boarding”>http://matriculationstats.org/boarding-school-stats)</p>
<p>Interesting data from the recent Andover Phillipian “State of the Academy - Academics 2012” poll</p>
<p>[State</a> of the Academy 2012: Academics | The Phillipian Online](<a href=“http://phillipian.net/articles/2012/05/17/state-academy-2012-academics]State”>http://phillipian.net/articles/2012/05/17/state-academy-2012-academics)</p>
<p>Andover hurt chances of top college 46.8%
No effect 15.4%
Helped chances of top college 37.4%</p>
<p>This is the first year in this annual poll that more students thought Andover hurt rather than helped chances.</p>
<p>The word is out, HYPMS can’t fill all its seats with PA graduates; saying it another way, not everyone from PA is going to HYPMS (or other same caliber college).</p>
<p>It’s great to have data, even if it’s a poll.</p>
<p>My theory is that with the explosion in apps to the top colleges, the advantages of the private schools connections to admissions officers is lower than in the past. Top universities would rather pick that interesting valedictorian from North Dakota high than yet another PA, Deerfield, etc. student.</p>
<p>I also think the grade compression at the schools hurts students. An A is a 4.0 and a B+ is a 3.33 - schools can dress it up but I don’t see the top universities buying the story as much as in the past. I don’t think HYPMS or others “adjust” GPAs to reflect the grade compression.</p>
<p>The other issue with looking just at %to HYPMS is that many of these students could be legacy or have other hooks that you average public school student doesn’t have. You have to factor those students out to get an apples-to-apples comparison.</p>
<p>I would think that top prep will never hurt your chances in admission because prep is a whole student kind of thing–mandatory sports, involvement, harkness–you are getting a three sport athletic experience or performing arts background going into the college process, as well as the ability to conduct yourself in an interview and in conversation. While it is true that HYP etc can’t and won’t accept everyone from the top prep schools, you are likely as a graduate to be giving yourself the best opportunity to present yourself at YOUR best and also maybe learning something about what YOU want in the process. Maybe HYP doesn’t offer (i know, I know, gasp) the best program in the subject you want to pursue anyway after prep school is over. But like I said, you will be able to put your best self after top prep, and that is never any kind of a disadvantage going into the college process.</p>
<p>@Lakeclouds-totally totally agree on the legacy/hook factor. Boarding and college! My school is filled with boarding school legacy sibs and alumni so when the announcements came out of who was going where, there were really no surprises. Those kids might not have been as academically advanced as some of the others, but there is a political nature of the process. They got in first, many very average in academics and sports. And don’t forget the large donors.</p>
<p>A friend of mine who went to Andover and then on to Harvard commented to me that any of the 20 kids Harvard rejected from Andover were better than anyone he met at Harvard as an undergrad. He remains bitter about this, as he feels his education at Harvard was stultified by Harvard’s insistence on diversity at the expense of academic quality. Many of his classmates there, he told me, were simply one-dimensional and shallow as compared with the the depth of talent and experience he had found at Andover. It is obvious that HYP have to put a lid on the prep school acceptances, but (at least anecdotally), when they do so they have to know that they are diluting the quality of their class It is harder to get into HYP from the prep schools. Still, one can’t assume that the 20 rejects would have gotten in had they stayed home. As most public school parents know, substantial “gaming” of GPA and ECs happen with the public system (drill team considered as “dance” and therefore as an “art” class subject to honors boost? The moms put that “fix” in long ago to give their dumb girls a leg up).</p>
<p>@P, <<the insistance="" on="" diversity="">> comment is hard to understand, since Andover does the same thing (as Harvard) with its admissions. Both institutions are “putting together a class” which will give the student body the best education, and therefore seek lots of diversity including geographic, gender, athletic, musical etc.</the></p>
<p>Actually, going to a top prep school such as Andover or Exeter would help your chances of getting into a top college such as Harvard or Yale. Colleges look toward these high schools as schools they know they can count on to produce good students. Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, etc. are all feeder schools to Ivy League colleges. Andover was actually started to be a feeder school to Yale. Yes, getting a high GPA is harder at these high schools, but the colleges know that, and they’ll respect you for going to a challenging high school instead of an easier one.
[Preparatory</a> schools & The admissions process | News | The Harvard Crimson](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1996/1/24/preparatory-schools-the-admissions-process/]Preparatory”>Preparatory schools & The admissions process | News | The Harvard Crimson)</p>
<p>Click on the link, it’ll help clear things up for you.</p>
<p>That article is interesting, but it was written in 1996–I think a lot has changed in college admissions since then. </p>
<p>RBGG: I agree that the game’s the same–but you could argue that the prep school has already done the work by “training up” a diverse crew of students in a way that will ensure their success at the Ivy League. Why pick the Native American kid from a Montana public high school when you could his twin from Andover? From that angle, why not keep the feeder schools feeding?</p>
<p>@classicalmama: I like you’re thinking, speaking as a parent of two kids now attending CHASED schools. However, I recognize that smart kids are everywhere. Not sure the colleges want “trained up” kids. I think they want a healthy mix of some trained some more raw. I think colleges feel they have a responsibility to find that needle in a haystack kid who has raw talent, but no opportunity, hence the draw for kids whose parents never attended college. </p>
<p>From a college info session run by our BS last year where some admissions directors from colleges led the discussions, it appears they want to find the “Native American” or other ethnic student who lives near a river and thru their intellect and curiostiy started their own controlled study on the mating habits of the striped tail beaver, without any help of a Siemens competition, and published a paper using naturally made paper from bark.</p>
<p>Redbluegoldgreen, are you serious about the last part?</p>
<p>HahaHahahaha</p>
<p>who knows, and who cares. Honestly, for most people who get in, going to boarding school is worth it. I know adults who have gone to prestigious prep schools then to Ivy League schools and say that their time at boarding school is more meaningful to them than their time at university. They say too, that they would rather have their children go to a HADES and a public or lesser university rather than a public high school and an Ivy.</p>
<p>The prep schools have long history of relationships. Take a look at the matriculation lists at the prep schools and you will see that they send their kids to the best colleges. Many of the complaints fail to take into account the the Philips brothers schools got every one into HYP back in the 50’s when the acceptance rates were 40%. Now that the acceptance rate is 11% at Bowdoin it is a different story.</p>
<p>The top colleges have not expanded their slots in decades. Yet the college population has tripled. Many school that were not that competitive 30 years ago are very much so now. Brown, Duke, Wake Forest were reltively easy to get into. Not any more.</p>
<p><it’s great="" to="" have="" data,="" even="" if="" it’s="" a="" poll.=""></it’s></p>
<p>Hmmm. But that PA poll was an OPINION poll, not based on actual data. It was based on a sampling of what various students <em>thought</em> – which means they brought in their own fears, aspirations and anxieties into their answers. I would consider that kind of data to be more muddling than helpful. I’d rather look at acceptance and matriculation data.</p>
<p>Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said, “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”?</p>
<p>@drj</p>
<p>John Phillips (Exeter) was the uncle of Samuel Phillips (Andover).</p>
<p>Doesn’t look like prep school grads are suffering too much at the Ivies. </p>
<p>[Top</a> high schools find admissions success - The Brown Daily Herald - Serving the community daily since 1891](<a href=“http://www.browndailyherald.com/top-high-schools-find-admissions-success-1.2553620#.UMf98Y5B8yE]Top”>http://www.browndailyherald.com/top-high-schools-find-admissions-success-1.2553620#.UMf98Y5B8yE)</p>