<p>I wanted to echo the others who have disputed the notion that attending BS "reduces" your chances with the ivies. </p>
<p>There are over 25,000 public high schools and over 10,000 private high schools in the US -- that's over 35,000 superachieving valedictorians in the college applicant pool each year. Granted that not all of them are applying to the same schools, and that a variety of factors, including demographic issues, are significant to an applicant's chances, the reality is that most public or private high schools will send no students to an "ivy" league caliber school in any given year. </p>
<p>Whereas there are a number of well regarded public schools (typically in more affluent suburban areas) that regularly send some students to the ivies each year, unless you're among the very top students at one of these schools, the odds are very low (not impossible, but very low). A prominent BS automatically improves your odds just by the sheer number of students these BS's are able to send to the elite colleges. Yes, it's more competitive and any given student will have a harder time standing out among a large number of equally qualified, highly motivated BS students that have already been through a highly selective admissions process. But colleges understand that, which is why each of the ivies will accept students from these schools in the double digits.</p>
<p>I grew up in a blue collar suburb with a high school of about 1000 students that had sent 2 or 3 students to an ivy in it's entire (50 year) history. My siblings and I all went to BS (on FA) and we all went to ivy schools. There is no doubt in my mind that attending BS was the most important factor in our college acceptances.</p>
<p>There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing whether or not to send your child to BS. The myth that it hurts your college chances shouldn't be one of them.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, I don't think attending boarding schools would hurt anyone's chances at Ivy Leagues. The most competitive boarding schools send at least 5+ kids to each of the Ivy Leagues annually. But to do well on the college admissions process, you need to be at least in the top 25% of your class (normally) which, in a boarding school environment, is extremely hard since most of your classmates are just as motivated, intelligent, well rounded, and talented (and in some cases--have connections to lots of great colleges) as you are. As long as you do very well in your boarding school, you will basically get into a very good school, including Ivy Leagues.
But if you know you will just be an average kid in the middle of your class, I think you'd better off going to a less competitive public school knowing that you'd be the top 3%. This way your chances at Ivy Leagues would be a lottt higher.</p>
<p>Dragonreborn is correct. Your chances of an IVY are greater if you are at the top of your PHS than if you are the bottom of your BS</p>
<p>I have served on the admissions committee of Stanford and currently on a medical school one. If I have a kid from Harvard, Yale, etc who is not at the top of his class (assuming he has not taken quantum mechanics, etc) and I have a kid from timboctoo community college who has taken rigourous courses and is at the top, the latter will be accepted.</p>
<p>The advantage of a BS is that you will be among bright kids who encourage you to study rather than play which is the same advantage of an IVY vs timboctoo.</p>
<p>I had Arther Kornberg teach biochemistry and he was a terrible teacher. My friend had a great teacher at a state college. I think mine was better as I read the text and learned the material and asked Kornberg questions of "why". But the bottom line is, my friend is as good a surgeon as I am (and making more money as he does plastic surgery, but that is another story).</p>
<p>
[quote]
But if you know you will just be an average kid in the middle of your class, I think you'd better off going to a less competitive public school knowing that you'd be the top 3%. This way your chances at Ivy Leagues would be a lottt higher.
[/quote]
I think that is the point. Many of us are saying that while our kids certainly have the potential to be in the top 3% at the public school, they wouldn't be - no challenge, no engagement, etc. Without the structure, challenge, interest, etc of boarding school, MY kid would be middle of the class public school kid with the potential to be near the top.</p>
<p>Being in the middle at a good bs is still better than being in the middle at some public hs though. It's only our own anecdotal evidence (my son's experience), but it's good enough for me.</p>
<p>I would agree that being at the top of your PS class is better than being at the bottom at any BS. However, I don't think that's a very relevant comparison here. The point is to find the range at your particular PS where kids get admitted to the elite schools and the range at whichever BS you are using as a comparison and determine which is more likely for your child to attain.</p>
<p>Assuming "ivy" admission is all that you care about, is your child more likely to finish in the top 1-3% of his PS or in the top 35-40% at AESD? I can guarantee you that the top students at many PS would never even be considered for admission without truly standout credentials.</p>
<p>How well-prepared are you going to be for that Ivy you might get into out of your public high school? Will you be as good a writer as you would coming out of a prep boarding school? Will you have had classmates pushing you to debate concepts and take on new challenges? Will you have close relationships with teachers who will encourage you to pursue new fields and help you determine where your real interests lie? If the answer to these questions is "yes", then maybe you have a public school that is different than most. I know the experiences my kids had at boarding school went way beyond anything they would have had at our particular public school (except they didn't get to go through metal detectors...), and these experiences prepared them in ways that are not quantifiable.<br>
There are a lot of public school kids who manage to be at the very top of their class and get high SAT scores who decide they "want to major in finance and be an investment banker". Do they have any idea what an investment banker does or what economics really IS?? Maybe at boarding school there is a lecture series where business people come in and actually share career information and paint a picture of what different fields of study really involve.</p>
<p>Of course, if you want to go for the experience (gain academic challenges and independence, learn from your intelligent and motivated peers, connect with teachers who care about you), then BS is a def. choice. But if all you want is to get into an Ivy League, I would say again that it's better to stay at a competitive public high school. Let me tell you something about boarding school kids who go to Ivy Leagues and other top schools. Most kids who got in have connections (either double/triple legacies to Yale or got recruited for Harvard for sports). I have met many such kids who got into top schools because of these connections, despite their grades being mediocre and in some cases, below average. Unless you're very very smart and stand at the top of the class-say 10% with absolutely no connection, then you might likely get into a top school. Otherwise, kids with no connections and average grades will most likely get into a good, but not their dreams like Princeton or similar schools.</p>
<p>I know of two top students who graduated from one of the best PHS's in our district, LAUSD. Both girls were maxed out on AP classes, one with a music hook, both with awesome EC's and top 1% SAT's in the state. They are devastated that they were rejected from their top choices. Their only admittances were to the UC's, including Berkeley. They spent the last four years busting their rears to fulfill their dreams of going east to college, and were completely derailed. In their group of very studious white girls, not a single one got into her top choices. Both parents are regretting their choices to stay in public. On the other hand, my niece from Webb, a friend of both girls, got into all her choices except one, waitlisted at Brown.</p>
<p>ace,
wait a minute. Berkeley is rated equally to the "Ivys". My nephew was toward the top of his class at Exeter and did not get into the Ivy's.</p>
<p>I know that Berkeley is highly rated. I just find it sad that these very bright girls did everything right to reach their dreams of an East Coast college experience, and it still wasn't enough. One of the parents is affiliated with a very prestigious private school, and she didn't want her child to be what I've seen termed a "facbrat." Hence, she went to public.</p>