Prep school reputations.

<p>Didn't either the Hill '05 or '06 class have a lot of kids kicked out? I apologize if I'm wrong, but I thought there was some kind of alcohol or drug issue that a bunch of kids got caught up in. Tough year with the Blair football death, too.</p>

<p>I have not heard anything regarding The "Hill", I know SGS may also have had an issue. Over time, all bs will have their issues, don't you think?</p>

<p>momofwildchild, please clarify, you don't mean to say that the Blair football death had anything to do with drugs or ?. This was an untimely death, not related to any ????????? correct?</p>

<p>I'd like to put this out there to the recent graduates of the top northeastern boarding schools at Ivy League schools. It used to be the case that you needed to be a graduate of a top northeastern boarding school to partake in the activities of some of the exclusive organizations at Ivy League colleges. Eg: The Final Clubs at Harvard, Senior Soceities at Yale, certain Eating Clubs at Princeton, and some fraternities at the other Ivies. Is this still the case?</p>

<p>prepparent, it does seem reasonable to expect any school (boarding, day, public) to have some issue at some point in time. Did you hear something about SGS in particular?</p>

<p>The death of Kurt Socha, the Blair football player was the result of a hard hit during the Blair/Hill football game at Blair. It profoundly impacted both schools. </p>

<p>Yes, there are issues with drugs/alcohol at almost all schools-boarding or otherwise. However, every now and then there is an unusual number of kids who get caught with one or the other.</p>

<p>TieDye, I heard something to the effect that they have a rep of exiting many students. For what reason, I'am not sure</p>

<p>Interesting. Thanks, prepparent.</p>

<p>TieDye, At one point, wikipedia had a negative blurb at the SGS site regarding a nickname of some sort that was related to the large exits. Of course anyone can put anything on wiki..... I actually called SGS to inform them of the negative blurb. Within 45 minutes, it was removed. I happen to think that SGS is very good bs and undeserving of "THE BLURB".</p>

<p>I don't know about other places, but Exeter recently went sort-of-need-blind (ish) so that will probably bring more applications.</p>

<p>qxcvz, your comment reminds me of the story about the girl who is partially pregnant. You either are need blind or you're not..........
There must be some explanation behind the "sort-of-need blind".</p>

<p>i'm pretty sure they are not completely need-blind. though they probably wont hesitate to accept a poor but perfect student, most likely they still pay attention to a few students whose parents would be able to give a handsome sum to the school, or would increase their list of well-known alumnis (like the son of a senator of texas, for example, or the daughter of an oil morgul)</p>

<p>Sort of need-blind doesn't really exist, but I think qxcvz meant it in terms of starting need-blind admissions without making it official. Well, now it's official. Exeter had been working for a number of years to get to a point where financial need was a minor consideration. As I understand it, they were finally able to ignore financial need when making decisions this year, and will be continuing with this next year, making it the first official need-blind admission year.</p>

<p>There was an article in The Exonian, the school paper, saying that 2006-2007 was the beginning of the need-blind admission for Exeter. If you need the exact quote...</p>

<p>Quote from 'The Exonian,' June 11, 2006 in an article entitled "PEA Offers Need-blind Admissions in 2006-07"</p>

<p>"The Exeter Initiatives fundraising campaign made visible returns this spring, as the Admissions Office was finally able to admit applicants regardless of financial status.</p>

<p>'We were able to admit every financial aid candidate we wanted, and it felt great,' Director of Admissions Michael Gary said."</p>

<p>senioritis42, reading what you have written, it reads to me that they were able to admit all candidates need-blind. Does it say to you that they will be need -blind from now on?</p>

<p>Sorry, but yes, A LOT of Hill kids were expelled this year because of the alcohol/drug problem. Our headmaster actually had a really honest talk with everybody in the school. I don't really want to go into detail . I don't know about other prep schools, but at Hill, pretty much everyone in the guy's sophmore, junior and senior dorms can get drugs whenever they want.</p>

<p>Taiwaneseterror, how many students is "A LOT"? I'm sure that all schools face such issues from time to time. Hill is really a fine school, I'm sure they will not only learn from this incident, but will also grow stronger and better. Taiwanterror, what year are you at The Hill School?</p>

<p>prepparent:
I am confident that Exeter will continue to be need-blind mostly because of the following...
Exeter started addressing financial aid and admission policies being insufficient with a fund-raising program called "Exeter Initiatives." It has raised millions of dollars, and the endowment was also increased. The school is testing the waters, and the main criterion for continuing to be need-blind was that there be more money available for the next admissions season, as costs have increased. Well, there's significantly more money available, even since April, and certainly more so than we the attempt began in February.</p>

<p>From an article in the Boston Globe (April)...</p>

<p><a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/18/costly_boarding_schools_offer_more_aid/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/18/costly_boarding_schools_offer_more_aid/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"Phillips Exeter Academy, for example, has increased its aid by 18 percent for the next school year so it could admit all students regardless of income. If the school can continue to afford to foot the bill for its neediest students, administrators vow to remove a section on the admissions application that warns students that qualifying for financial aid can decrease chances for admission. They say they consider the next few years a test of the new approach at the school, where tuition, room, and board next year is $35,000.</p>

<p>''We are not discriminating against financial aid students this year in the admissions process," said Rick Mahoney, Phillip Exeter's director of financial aid. ''We couldn't say that before in years past."</p>

<p>I suppose, upon contemplation, that it's misleading to say that they're need-blind, given that it's only as of the most recent admissions cycle and not official yet.
It looks, though, as of now, that they'll be able to foot the bill. Given this, I'm confident that even though it may not be an official policy yet, the trend of need-blind admission will continue next year.</p>

<p>Senioritis42,thanks so much for the info on exeter FA. It certainly sounds like they are on the right track.</p>

<p>is what you need to allow it to get so far out of control. That's terrible!</p>

<p>"administrators vow to remove a section on the admissions application that warns students that qualifying for financial aid can decrease chances for admission."</p>