My child has been accepted at Milton Academy. I know that their matriculation rates to selective colleges is good and on par with other similar top schools. However I dont understand the impact of hooks on the matriculation rates to selective colleges. If there are parents or graduates of Milton who have gone through the whole college admission process this year/over the last few years could you kindly help. My real interest is in understanding the role of legacy/development since Milton has a long and rich history and URM since Milton has a relatively high percentage of FA at approx 35%. Many thanks,
I should add that I am thinking about these issues since I know upfront that my child will not enjoy any hooks. Hence I trying to understand the unhooked % in the college matriculation data at Milton.
I don’t understand the connection that you’re making between Milton’s “long and rich history” and its matriculation stats, or the connection between under-represented minorities and financial aid. In general, I’m sure it’s safe to say that – just as with any other boarding school – some number of Milton students got into the schools that they did at least in part because they had a hook at that school.
My understanding is that you are asking a “technical question” here, which is that specific to Milton who could share some insider info or stats not broken down and published by the school. I don’t think you will get any solid answers here, but you can try.
For a “philosophical debate” on this topic that occurred recently, check out the “top tier BS vs lesser known BS” thread on prep school parents forum. (sorry there’s a bit noise there)
Panpacific you are absolutely right that I am looking for the unpublished nuance behind the published facts reported by the school. It is a specific and technical question. Hoping that someone who has actually gone through the process at Milton may be able to help. And thanks for pointing me to the general discussion on this topic
I’m not understanding the question. Legacy/development at Milton will not help an applicant applying to a college. Legacy/development to the college will help if it is a hook to that college, regardless of whether or not the applicant attends Milton. If URM is a hook for the college, the fact that the applicant attends Milton will also not have an additional benefit.
Keep in mind, attending Milton, or any other prep school will not get one into a college; the student and the application is what will get him/her into a college. The experience at Milton will undoubtedly help enhance life experiences and that should come through in the application.
Soxmom you could be right that I am making some assumptions that may be inaccurate. Eg: My simple thought was that an institution with a long history will have greater incidence of legacy than newer schools like say Commonwealth/BUA.
I am going to make an attempt at simplifying my question since I seem to be confusing everyone.
My question is:
Milton publishes data on college matriculation. I can see the % of class going to say selective colleges - say top 10 colleges. I am simply trying to understand what % of students going to top colleges have hooks. Precision is not important. But I have no clue wether it is 30% of students going to top colleges have hooks or 50% or 70%. Hope I am clearer now. Thanks,
Who could answer that? Let’s see. Student A gets in elite A, B, and C. He’s a legacy in A, had an uncle attending B and no association with C. He chose to attend C. So should he be considered having a hook or no? Cause he might’ve just “inadvertently” stolen a spot from student B in college A where she is a legacy. Meanwhile, school A took student C who absolutely had no association with the school but happened to have very unique life experience (is it a “hook”?)
Let’s look at another case. Student D is legacy to elite A but he was also the winner of a national academic contest. Was he in because of his legacy hook or would he be in even without it? …
I think you are better off reading the “philosophical debate” thread and get entertained at the same time.
@flyingmunky – It is very clear what you are asking. You want to know how realistic is their matriculation rate to a top for a non-hook student. First, I think you should think about that if should has a hook to get into Milton that the student earned like an athlete or artistic ability that if it continues to grow then it will be used to get into the top schools. This type of hook to me is valid in their matriculation rates. However, the Harvard alum’s child that gets into Milton and then gets into Harvard due to legacy really shouldn’t be part of their reported percentage (not that you can break it out)
I have friends in admissions and college placement at Nobles and I can tell you that out of the 6 or 7 or so kids that got into Harvard one year 60% were legacy. So when Nobles reports that their matriculation rate into the Ivies is approx 35% (50% of that amount is probably legacy) thus the “average” student enter into Nobles only has approx. 15% matriculation rate into the Ivies+.
This is the data that people don’t realize makes the matriculation rates into top colleges extremely unreliable. If 20% of Milton, Andover, Exexter, Choates student body is legacy then it is very likely they are also legacy at a top college. In NYC there are many privates that will select lesser candidates for admission that are Ivy alums over others. It boosts their Ivy matriculation rates…
laenen yes that is exactly what I am interested in. We have an acceptance at Milton so at this point I am not concerned about getting into Milton but trying to handicap the next step ie. college admission. Your input on Nobles is the kind of information I am looking for, but specific to Milton.
Panpacific your examples are interesting. I would personally count student A as unhooked, student B is not in the matriculation data at all due to missing out, C is unhooked and D is hooked. But someone else may not count them such. Your scenarios do throw up the obvious follies in trying to simplify what is a fairly complex game. But for my purposes I dont need to be very precise. Just closer to 30/50 or 70% is enough for me. However I need to understand this specific to Milton.
Sorry. This information is not available. It would all be speculative. We were accepted at Milton as well and have looked at all of the available stats. In addition to the impressive matriculation into Brown etc there are 70% of students going to many ordinary colleges and universities
Forgive me to distract you yet again from your goal, but the point I was trying to make by those hypothetical scenarios is that the details you try to gather may not be as enlightening as you’d hope them to be. On the one hand, everyone that got in the tippy top colleges had something extra on top of academic credentials and a couple of ECs whether it’s considered a hook or otherwise. On the other, even if you can find out how many/what percentage of those matriculated into selective colleges have a hook, that hook may or may not be a determing factor, and it could just be a coincidence or in other words an individual might’ve got in without that hook anyway. It’s true that the matriculation data published don’t have the “nuances” but the picture with some of those nuances would only present another kind of distorted picture. Hope this makes some sense. (No worries that I will go on forever. I will stop here )
There are so many differences between Milton, Commonwealth, and BUA, if those are the ones you are trying to choose among, in the experience your child would have in high school. Why not focus on that, and not the impossible task of trying to figure out why Milton grads went to college where they did.
Panpacific your points are well taken. You are a deeper level thinker on this issue just like mass2020mom. I fully appreciate what you are both saying. Thanks.
I have friends with kids who attend Commonwealth and BUA now, and a friend with a BUA grad. They are both amazing schools and the kids are very happy with their choices and experience.
I think Center is struggling with the same issue as me. All the top prep schools have very comparable matriculation rates to top colleges but they get there in different ways. I am simply trying to compare to see what is a better fit for my child. We will sincerely try to engage with the whole platform offered by whatever school we end up in. And of course it is idiocy to go to a school for narrow motivations around just college counseling. We want development, engagement and values for our child. But there is also a certain reality to the whole process that we all learnt on Mar 10, so its best to go in with eyes wide open. I have been able to understand the situation at all our other choices primarily by speaking to recent graduates of the prep school or their parents. Somehow drawing a blank on Milton yet hence my question.
Maybe I am ignoring the most obvious lesson of Mar 10, that the whole thing is just a game. Put your best foot forward and see what happens. The outcomes are inherently unpredictable.
But at the same time it is a very important decision for our family so like any parent trying to be careful about it.
To Center’s point. There are a lot of ordinary colleges chosen from graduates of very expensive elite prep schools. I have trouble wrapping my head around spending $100 - 200k to go Bentley or Babson. For our family there has to be a goal in mind other than 4 years of wonderful experiences.
