Many apologies in advance but, after some research on this site, the threads on boarding school rankings are a bit dated.
I would be very grateful if the parents/current students, etc can share the most reliable rankings of boarding schools (top 15) in terms of traditional/long-standing prestige, academics and Ivy entrance.
Rankings from sites such as Niche seem completely off.
Thank you in advance.
Groton, St. Paul’s School, & Andover are seemingly always among the top 5 boarding schools for percentage of students admitted each year to the 8 Ivy League schools.
Ignore rankings and focus on fit. Nobody here will agree on rankings anyway.
Asking for the top 15 boarding schools in terms of Ivy admissions is reasonable and not up to much debate–at least among 10 or so that clearly are in the top 15.
Groton, St. Paul’s School, Phillips Academy at Andover, Milton Academy, Lawrenceville School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Choate-Rosemary Hall, Hotchkiss & Deerfield Academy.
OP: I just read the Niche 2019 ranking of the top 100 US boarding schools; the list & order seems reasonable to me.
Better to further refine your list by percentage of boarding versus day students, total number of students, whether or not the school has Saturday classes in addition to any specific factors important to you & your student.
Middlesex, St. Andrew’s School in Delaware, Concord Academy, Cate School, Thacher, Taft, Peddie & others all offer great educational opportunities.
Is that in that order? Thank you!
It depends upon the factors considered in rating the schools before any ranking is appropriate.
For example, rating & then ranking boarding schools for percentage of Ivy League matriculations is easy if given access to each boarding school’s senior matriculation list. Andover, St. Paul’s School & Groton are consistently among the top 5.
Lawrenceville & Milton Academy results need further refinement as many students are sons & daughters of Princeton & Harvard faculty & staff respectively.
@marvelcomics I would totally not rely on any ranking by a firm or CC member. Look really closely at the schools you are interested in attending. Look at what they offer and if it fits what YOU need.
There are many on this board who feel their school is in the top ten, and many who apply only to PEA and PA because they are the “best” ( which is laughable). Honest note, one of my kids liked one of them very much. That doesn’t mean it’s better than about 10 other schools out there.
At every boarding school, there are kids attending Ivy league schools if that is your goal. If you are looking for a specific club check carefully. My kid is very involved in a particular thing and when we clicked to find a contact person ( after acceptance) had to call the school. It is no longer offered!! Good thing we checked. So watch marketing vs. actual deliverables.
Most of the listings on some of the ranking sites are biased based on how they set up their criterion. One even has ads and the ads seem to correspond to the rankings.
My kids are top students and scored at the top end of the SSATs. They did not find all the schools listed above to be genuinely robust. Many were coasting on reputation. And some who seemed under the radar were actually quite robust. ( We needed math several years ahead in both cases so we kicked the STEM curriculum pretty hard). We have many friends whose children attend BS and they compare notes. Not to mention we remember those kids in grammar and middle school ( and some were strong students and some were not).
You must find a school that fits you. Not a school that fit someone’s grandfather 60 years ago or someone’s brother 3 years ago.
And focusing on Ivy admission alone leaves out many top tier LAC’s which many BS students prefer. Can you really compare acceptance at Williams to acceptance at UPenn? Kids like different things. Not to mention some schools are harder to get into than an Ivy ( MIT/Caltech).
Look at various lists and websites for what you think you might want to try in BS. Listen to what the head of schools say. Look at the marketing materials and underlying messages. Ask yourself if the people, admin and school feels like a fit. Doing exceptionally well at any BS is the goal that will ensure your success.
@Happytimes2001 : OP was pretty clear in his interests (basis for ranking). Your post would be more meaningful if you named names. And how in the world can one know how “robust” more than one or two schools are ? Which schools are “riding on their reputations” and how do you know this ?
As far as comparing an admission to Williams College-which admits about 35% ED–versus UPenn is easy. If you have reasonable numbers and want to attend Williams College, then apply ED; it is the best bargain in higher education for one who wants an LAC. Unfortunately, doesn’t work for the top ranked (Top 25) National Universities.
I did a study some time ago which took all schools ranked by US News into account for actual college matriculations at elite prep day & boarding schools over 1, 3, and 5 year periods. I recall Andover came out on top followed closely by St. Paul’s School and then Groton. Was surprised how far down one super elite finished, but that was the purpose of the study–to separate fact from fiction.
P.S. Some schools are sharing information about either admissions or matriculations to Ivies plus MIT & Stanford. My study just used matriculations because a handful of super students could have been admitted to multiple Ivies, MIT &/or Stanford and, therefore, been double, triple or quadruple counted.
@Publisher There are many factors which go into the “perception” of prestige. For some, it’s fancy building, for others the oldest school or the school with the oldest traditions. For others, it’s how many classes there are or how the many Olympians or Senators have gone there. For others it’s personal.
We used many factors to discern what was important to our kids (and us) as family. Everyone would have different factors. For us, privileged name was a negative( I am a 3x Ivy grad so don’t put much store in a name unless the person is also solid). And I also hate logos on clothing! Traditions, while nice to have were less important than curriculum. For us, we needed at least several years beyond Calc, we also needed to have a robust curriculum that could support kids who were 99% ers. There are many BS BTW, which have excellent curriculums. Some are flexible in their approaches for kids who want to take classes outside the normal bounds. Some are not ( more linear). This is the way we’ve always done it type. Not better or worse, just something to consider. We also looked at optional courses. We also looked at various sports our kids are into. And met the coaches.
We also looked at how do the school weigh the student. Is academic excellence the penultimate measure, is balance, are athletics important. Does the school have awards ( one didn’t) and do they believe in SAT’s, APs and all the other factors. How about art and music and theater. Do students win national awards? How many? Are the programs well run?
We checked matriculations VERY closely. Actually in the beginning, these were very important to us ( maybe even the top factor). They quickly became less relevant for two reasons. 1. Our kids would likely have a much better chance of IVY league acceptances out of our top public school ( sending about a dozen each year) and 2. The Ivy acceptances were often not what they appeared. Some had tons of sports kids. You could feel at many BS that there was not a level playing field. Some were filled with uber-wealthy legacies. When we visited for games some teams weren’t into sportsmanship and some were great . So, a pause and thoughts were given as to how everything would impact the educational experience as well as the college acceptances. No issue if it’s a meritocracy based on grades and achievements. Otherwise, it’s a negative factor. Some schools had large numbers of kids, some very few so that also is a factor. (You cannot compare 300 per year vs. 75-100). Also proximity matters.
One school we visited was very far below par ( you mentioned it). One was solid academically and it came down to the wire (kid chose another school) I don’t want to mention the names of the various schools as they are all a fit for someone. And things vary from year to year as well.
Honestly, every kid can do very well at BS if they have good fit-which is essentially the easiest path to good college acceptances. The name of the school is less important than the experience of the kid. In fact, I think many kids are being pushed by their parents to go for the name and they end up in the bottom half of the class. It’s sad really. My kid has had tons of kids in classes whose parents are pushing them into the top classes, the kids can’t keep up and they drop down ( bruising their egos and confidence in the process).
My younger one is looking now and given all factors, it will be the same process. And we’ll talk it out based on acceptances and what is needed As a family, we are paying for BS to get a great HS experience. We will pay for COLLEGE/U to get a great college experience. Looking at BS as a lens solely for college acceptance isn’t the path we took ( nor would suggest). And honestly, it’s becoming more difficult to gain acceptance to some colleges. So since we are not going to be donating a building, we focused on BS for BS.
@marvelcomics We had the same experience when we looked for a list of the best schools. One list was very old ( I think it was Forbes) and the others weren’t well thought out. The best thing you can do, IMHO is talk to the parents/kids at various schools and get their insight. Listen to what they say about their school. Each school is so unique. There are many people who think their school is the best and that is great. But there are many great schools out there. Kick the tires hard. There are lots of factors you should consider before you chose the BS you will attend. Best of luck.
Thank you everyone for the feedback. Very helpful indeed. I totally agree fit is super important and finding out more about the schools is paramount. However, sometimes, it is so difficult to gain a meaningful insight to schools in a two-hour school visit to determine the right “fit”. As many threads/comments indicate in this forum, so many of these schools are interchangeable when it comes to strong academics, athletics, ECs, locations, etc. They are generally all very good. We also don’t live in the New England area and, thus, revisits are difficult. That is why sometimes inexperienced parent like me would turn to a “reliable” ranking to assist in the decision making process (almost as a swing vote).
We are now currently waiting for the school-decisions during this application season which is literally in the next few weeks. I pray that my DC will secure some options. If only one school accepts, then the decision will be simpler: to go or no go.
Have a wonderful week ahead.
I think about so many of these schools like Olympic teams. Which one is better, gymnastics, track and field, or swimming? It’s not to be dismissive about quality, but they are so different and what each kid needs is different.
And while it’s tempting to focus on Ivy matriculation, for the vast majority of students, the big question is how well do they do with a smart kid who may not be exceptional? My kid had a classmate whose sister went to a “name” school. They both ended up at the same (very good) college together and it was the “best” one they both got into.
This is about a high school experience- where your kid lives for 4 years, who their friends, classmates, and teammates are, who they become. An orchid needs a different climate than a sunflower. When you have your options, @marvelcomics , people with experience can give you feedback and help you weigh your options against your needs.
@Happytimes2001 : My list is not based on prestige. It is based on actual college matriculations for each school.
What is most important to one family may not be to another. The OP asked about college placement and I answered on that factor alone.
While the OP also mentioned other factors, they are not as easy to answer. Quite often, however, “prestige” has been attempted to be measured by size of endowment combined with elite college placement, yield rates among prep boarding schools, and various other factors.
We all agree that “fit” is most important. But what if the school that is the best “fit” does not accept the applicant. Plus, it matters how a family defines fit. Some use opinions of friends and neighbors, others use objectively verifiable measurements. Nevertheless, it often comes down to a few acceptances and affordability.
But college matriculations absolutely do not tell the full story. I know of a boys school that has an impressive ivy matriculation list. But every one of those kids is a high level athletic recruit. If you just looked at the list, you might think sending your son to the school gave him a shot at those tippy top schools. You might not realize (since the school isn’t terribly academically selective) that without athletics, your son would have pretty much zero chance of getting into a top 20 school.
OP, make every effort to attend revisit days, the differences between schools will be much more apparent, and fit will be much more clear.
lol Yes there are certainly posters on CC who unreasonably champion their chosen school but I think most posters realize that these schools are all solid and the difference comes down to personality.
There are certainly some schools, like Thatcher, which so obviously fit or don’t fit your kid. Many of the other schools seem awfully similar though.
I thought revisit days would be like a lightning bolt the first time around. In the end I realized that my junior had narrowed the list so much before applications that the schools she ended up revisiting were VERY similar and awfully hard to distinguish. She had a gut reaction (somewhat based on kids she knew getting into some of the schools) and chose according to her gut. With my son this time around I knew it would all seem the same to me. The schools he got into seemed pretty much interchangeable to me. I liked some things at one better and some things at the other. In the end he also made a choice based on gut reaction. Both my kids would probably have done very well and loved any of the schools they got into.
@cinnamon1212 : Agree that college matriculations often do not tell the whole story. That is why my project evaluated the matriculations of the entire graduating class, not just those who matriculated at the Ivies plus Stanford & MIT.
Even so, I was & am able to break out the schools which placed the most students at any particular school or at any particular group of schools such as Ivy League schools.
I think that it is important and healthy to look at “fit” as a two way street.
Initially the family & the applicant assess “fit”, then the experienced admissions professionals make their determinations as to which applicants are the best fit for their particular school.
The process can be unfair as what is needed to build a complete class may result in an applicant who is otherwise a great fit being waitlisted or rejected. Sometimes lack of remaining financial aid funds results in a great match getting waitlisted or rejected. The process is not perfect, but nothing is when human judgment is involved.
@cinnamon1212 well said. If the model is skewed then the answer isn’t going to be relevant.
@one1ofeach Wow. We found all the schools we visited ( up to about 10 now with various kids) to be very different. We looked at suburban, rural and city. Big and small and even lumping them by size or region etc wouldn’t make them feel the same to us. They all had a particular vibe. None of the schools were totally interchangeable even the ones that looked somewhat similar.
Having visited even more schools now due to sports, I feel like there is a wide range of experiences out there.
@Happytimes2001
As I said my kids weeded out the variety before applying. So once they applied and were accepted revisit days were hard as schools were very similar.
I certainly did not mean to imply that all BS were the same. Just that revisit day is not always instructive if you’ve chosen a very narrow focus when applying. My kids did not need to cast a wide net and so did not apply to the usual number of schools.
I think it can be misleading to look at schools’ matriculation lists. I don’t believe that in most cases the school a student attends (at least with schools at the level discussed here) appreciably changes his or her college acceptance chances. And unless a student is a real outlier (academic, athletic, artistic), most schools discussed on this board will meet his or her needs. So what really matters - and what differs (if subtly) from school to school - is the culture and the people a student encounters. I enjoy rankings, and I pay some attention to them (depending on how they weight factors important to me), but when you make your final choice, base it not on rankings but on where you believe your child will be most at home.