<p>On this website I see that the top boarding schools are so revered, yet almost all of them are ranked behing the tt day schools in NYC according to Peterson's Prep, Worth, and WSJ. Trinity, Collegiate, Brearley, Chapin, Spence, St. Ann's, and Dalton are all in the top 10 of Peterson's. I find this interesting.</p>
<p>I don't think that the popularity of boarding schools here is a commentary or popularity contest that expresses the view that NYC day schools are inferior. The reason this board gravitates to just a few schools is a function of the population being geographically diverse which, in turn, makes national boarding schools a common denominator.</p>
<p>There have been threads here about NYC schools. A couple people discuss things for a while...as most of us sit on the sidelines because we can't relate what's being discussed. That's not a measure of disrespect.</p>
<p>The most well-known boarding schools are relevant and known quantities to most participants here...they're not necessarily revered, and certainly not revered to the exclusion of schools that most people from across the U.S. don't know much about and don't have reason to learn more about them.</p>
<p>Having grown up and worked in the shadows of Manhattan's skyscrapers I know that it's an odd experience for many New Yorkers, but NYC day schools make for extremely provincial subject matter.</p>
<p>I see your point, and thought it was well said. But, when someone inquires about the best prep schools in the nation, I wish the list were somewhat accurate.</p>
<p>I also think that, on this forum, when people talk about the best "prep schools", they mean the best boarding prep schools.</p>
<p>With this, as with all questions related to elementary and secondary education, we must keep our focus on the children's best interests. The National Association of Independent Schools is and always has been opposed to the ranking of schools. The "best" school — public, parochial, or independent — is the one that uniquely meets the needs of each particular child.</p>
<p>In the independent school sector, each institution, in its mission statement, defines its own objectives: the kind of program and campus culture the school provides, and often, the qualities that will help a student to succeed there. These schools were not created from one mold. They have different missions, offer different grade ranges, curricular emphases, pedagogical approaches, and extracurricular programs. Some schools are highly competitive by design, others intentionally create a nurturing atmosphere in which certain students will thrive; some focus on the arts, some on mathematics and science, others on outdoor education. Different schools offer programs for different types of students — bright students with learning differences, the gifted, students of average ability, children who face particular challenges.</p>
<p>Independent schools are to be judged, through their rigorous accreditation processes, according to what they individually set out to accomplish. Ranking such wonderfully different schools against one another misrepresents the institutions, misleads consumer-minded parents about the factors that should be considered in the complex process of choosing a school, but most importantly, can hurt children. Ranking elementary and secondary schools is a de facto labeling of vulnerable children and adolescents and is inherently wrong.</p>
<p>Ranking of schools encourages a destructive competitiveness, leading institutions away from offering rich alternatives and toward a stultifying sameness. It is a disservice to the schools, concerned parents, and children, and therefore, to our society.</p>
<p>petersons.com</p>
<p>EDIT: Where did you get the rankings? And what were the schools judged on?</p>
<p>Also.. people around the world recognize the names Andover, Exeter, and Choate, but may not even know you're talking about a school when you mention "Spence." So, in the vein of silly rankings and useless prestige, I believe that boarding prep schools win.</p>
<p>Certainly top day schools like Horace Mann rival the best boarding schools in terms of faculty, classes and matriculation data. It really is simply a difference of experiences, much like comparing a primarily residential college with a commuter college. Both setting can offer superb academic and extracurricular experiences. The key is the fit for the individual student, not some arbitrary ranking or "useless prestige".</p>
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<p>blairt, I don't believe being more recognizable has any bearing on any ranking I've seen. The rankings have all been based on SAT scores and exmissions to the elite colleges. In terms of prestige, I have to disagree. Names like Brearley, Dalton, Horace Mann, and Chapin are pretty recognizable.</p>
<p>The latest list was Peterson's Prep Review. The criteria was exmissions to HYP, MIT, and Stanford.</p>
<p>Certainly top day schools like Horace Mann rival the best boarding schools in terms of faculty, classes and matriculation data</p>
<p>there's one thing that top NYC day school cant put up a fight against most of the top boarding schools, the resources...find me a day school with more than 300 million in endownment...</p>
<p>"In terms of prestige, I have to disagree. Names like Brearley, Dalton, Horace Mann, and Chapin are pretty recognizable."
outside the northeast bubble, they are not as recognizable as top BS, specially internationally</p>
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<p>Bearcats, what impact does this larger endowment have on the students attending these schools? The endowments of the tt day schools in NYC are fairly large and the facilities are incredible. The exmissions to the top universities are better at the tt NYC day schools. Isn't that more important? There is such a proliferation of students at the elite universities and top liberal art colleges from the NYC day schools, children of international business leaders, famous politians, celebrities, etc, attend these tt day schools, so these schools are very well known both nationally and abroad. These are the best schools in America, of course they are at the highest level of prestige.</p>
<p>Yeah, but first of all...this is not the "Most Prestigious Prep School Board" so I'm not sure what you want from the global audience that visits this board. Shall I sign an affidavit that NYC has day schools that are as excellent as the top schools discussed here? Okay, I'll do that.</p>
<p>But that won't change the fact that what happens in the world of NYC day schools is irrelevant to me and anyone else who doesn't live within commuting distance of those schools. And that's a busload of people...particularly considering this is the World Wide Web and there's a worldwide audience of applicants and parents for whom these schools just mean nothing.</p>
<p>They could be the best or the worst and, either way, they're going to struggle to become part of the discussion here because people don't come together on this forum from around the world to go on at length about schools that are too remote for them.</p>
<p>Again, I think the disconnect here stems from a NY-centric perspective that makes it difficult to see that day schools -- even day schools in NYC -- are as remote as day schools in Billings, Montana for purposes of this board. No matter how prestigious or awesome they are...who cares? Some, but not many.</p>
<p>and most students at top boarding schools come from more than 30 states and all parts of the world. You wont be exposed to such diversed culture at top NYC day school.
I have been to horace Mann before, the facility is nowhere close to being half as good as that of hotchkiss'. Why? Boarding schools are not in the cities. We have more land, we also have more money to build the buildings. Most BS beats the crap out of NYC day school in this aspect.</p>
<p>D'yer Maker, you made this point earlier, and I acknowledged that it was a good one. My original point was when someone asks "what are the best" or "what are the most prestigious" prep schools in the nation, I would like to see a more accurate list. When the question is what are best boarding schools, I understand limiting the list to bs.</p>
<p>I don't agree with you at all, bearcats. The boarding schools have more land, but have you seen the Anneberg Library in Chapin, or the black box theatre in NBS? When you have NYC as your backdrop, land is so irrerevelant. Students visit the MET, Guggenheim, United Nations, etc. In addition, the school body is so international now in the tt schools. In Chapin the incoming k class came from countries like Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Estonia, Russia, England, Japan, Korea, Greece, etc.</p>
<p>"what are the most prestigious" prep schools in the nation, "</p>
<p>"In addition, the school body is so international now in the tt schools."</p>
<p>I think I would know better than you do on this two. I lived in Hong Kong and Texas all my life before coming to hotchkiss. Speaking of prestige, if you say andover and exeter, a lot of people would know what you are talking about. If you say Chapin, Dalton, no one knows what the hell you are talking about. Same thing in texas.</p>
<p>and what gives Peterson's Prep, Worth, and WSJ the right to rank high schools? what gives them the credibility? They are all profitable companies, not academically revered associations.</p>
<p>and i state my experience being in hong kong and texas not to say NYC day schools are not as good, just saying..since it does not pertain to most people around the globe, they just dont give a crap..and that's why they dont get the prestige...</p>
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<p>I don't think you and your limited experience qualifies as a credible litmus test. I think people around the nation note that JFK Jr. attended Collegiate and Browning, Jackie Kennedy attended Chapin, Hiltons attended Spence and CSH, Bloomberg's daughter attends Spence, Ivanka Trump Chapin, Katie Couric, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Tish, Diana Ross, Gwenyth Paltrow, Vera Wang, the Hearst family, the Getty's, Rudy Guliani, this list can go on and on, but I think you get the point. If you don't think the world takes notice on where these people send their children to school, it's going to be obvious that the fact you attend hotchkiss is overiding your sense of logic.</p>
<p>Bearcats, I would also like to note that the rankings from all 3 publications were based on SAT scores and exmissions list from the universities not the High Schools. There is nothing subjective about these lists. And, believe me maybe in your circle from Texas they wouldn't know the NYC day schools, but in the power circles they do.</p>
<p>I see your point, Shannyc, that NYC day schools offer the diversity and worldliness of the top BS. Actually, bearcats made me see the light when he noted how Hotchkiss has kids from around the world, etc. So, in that regard, my comparison to an awesome day school in Billings, MT was off the mark.</p>
<p>But I stand by my main point that, for a worldwide audience, day schools anywhere will find a limited audience who think they're relevant to the conversation -- without any judgment as to their prestige, etc.</p>
<p>As for the list of people you claim send their children to these schools, I'm not persuaded that that's a commentary on anything more than the fact that they probably have the best security of any schools in the U.S. I'm pretty sure that seeing the Blackwater USA logo at the gate provides at least as much cachet for these parents as high Ivy matrics. </p>
<p>Unless you're saying that Diana Ross and Gwenyth Paltrow and Ivanka Trump Chapin are not just celebrities enamored of their own social standing and that none of those things get in the way of their judgment and research and decisionmaking when it comes to selecting the best schools for their children -- which you haven't said -- that list of names doesn't help make your case. </p>
<p>I just went from feeling contrite for not realizing how NYC day schools can draw a worldwide student population every bit as diverse as Hotchkiss to realizing that schools that have to make security accommodations for that "A" list of celebrities probably sacrifices much in terms of real-world experiences in order to preserve the level of insularity that those parents treasure above almost anything. I'm not willing to concede that those celebrities' judgments speak to academic excellence of a school or even academic prestige.</p>
<p>But keep it going, this is interesting. I'm all ears.</p>