Having just completed our family’s first (and I hope only) round of prep school admissions, we found that the advice of casting the net widely and looking for hidden gems only of partial help. The advice is great. The problem is that the hidden gems to which my DS and his friends applied have, seemingly, come into their own, and are now visible and increasingly selective. The 2016 data aren’t yet out, but we’ll soon have some indication whether schools that admitted 30-45% in past years have become more selective in this ‘most competitive year ever’.
Also, it is certainly worth repeating something we didn’t fully realize or think about - those admission rates are calculated on the data for applicants at all grade levels. The admit rate for juniors may be less than 10% (an SPS AO told us his guess was 8% for junior boys this year) while it is over 50% for 9th graders. So if you are applying as a junior (or as a sophomore to a school that doesn’t have a substantial jump in the class size from 9th to 10th grade), to be safe, one needs another strategy: perhaps to search out schools that increase class size for the year for which you’re applying or consider less competitive schools that admit over 50% of applicants. The down side, is that many such schools, often very nice schools, with great teaching, nice campuses, supportive environment, diverse students, etc., also often have smaller endowments. So if you have substantial financial need, you get the admit, but can’t accept (pushing the school down in the conventional rankings).
I wonder: is it time for an update of the hidden gems list?..and greater clarity on which schools of those gems can still be sought out and treasured? Northfield Mount Hermon and Westminster, for example, were both on the prior list but both had record years for applications. Ideas of which ones are really hidden gems would be welcome!
For reference, the old list is at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1130908-hidden-gems-lesser-known-prep-schools.html. (If there are more recent lists, and this call seems redundant, just provide appropriate links.)
Note that we visited Hebron and found it a hidden gem, almost never mentioned here, but with a range of academic offerings at various levels (from very small AP classes to classes tailored for those still mastering English), a good mix of students, beautiful athletic facilities, pleasant administration…definitely under-rated on this forum.
" If you believe a school should be added, it’s up to you, a la Wikipedia, to write the entry and then republish the list."
