Can any of the graduated Prep school kids or their parents tell us where they ended up in College? We are on the Prep school path. When I attend events and listen to other applicant parents talk I am always curious where these kids end up in 4yrs. Can anyone share? I also ask because I wonder what the college search process is like away from home. When kids are living at home parents are involved, but at boarding school the destination is worked on by the child and school counselor? Just gathering info as we navigate the application process. I appreciate any info shared.
Each school should be able to provide you with its college matriculation data. Usually you can find it on their websites.
I was very involved in my D’s college application process even though she was thousands of miles away at BS. it varies by parent, child, & school.
I agree that the best way to see where BS students end up going to college is by searching the web.
We chose BS for the wonderful environment & education and not as a path to the Ivy League. D is now enrolled in an equally suitable LAC where she continues to thrive.
DS is a currently a senior and in the midst of applications. It has been a combination of college counselor and parents working through the process.
I have a junior in BS and we are ramping up the college search in earnest. We toured several colleges when DS was home last spring (Spring Break) and summer. The tours will continue when we pick him up for Thanksgiving and then again over Spring Break 2017. The school hosts college application/search events for parents during parents weekends and on the days students get out for breaks. Many colleges come to campus and the college admissions counselors meet with students in groups and one-on-one.
DS got great support in the college process from BS. WE had a dialogue with his counselor throughout, bUT he and the CC handled everything. Could not have been happier with the process or outcome.
Just so you know, as you are looking at college matriculations for any school, many kids will be making decisions based on FA, etc., and their decisions may not mirror yours. YOU should pick a school based on what it can offer your child for the next 4 years, not the 4 after that. IF it’s right for the first 4 years, they will be set to succeed in college, wherever they end up.
Our son chose the military.
Because so many other variables that affect on colleges’ admissions, and students’ choices, it is practically unuseful to select a boarding school based on it’s chance for sending a kid to a top college.
I would focus on getting the best education that I can afford, and my child can do well on the long term. By doing well on the long term I mean she can do well without having horrible time with too much stress. Only after that, while not damaging that, I would work on increasing admission chances for top college.
The biggest boost on admission is, after all, how accomplished and developed the child is. So it makes sense to focus on that.
I find matriculation data not meaningful enough. Because it does not provide enough information on details on each child who went to a top college. Did he have a hook, etc etc.
Our College Counseling Office at our prep school said that the majority of seniors apply to the same 21 schools. Just as you’d expect. The list includes all the top ivies and LACS. Others include match schools based on Naviance data.
@preppedparent , ours was almost the opposite.! MOST apply to highly selective schools, and most go to them, but of 143 kids last year, they chose 98 different colleges. ONE of the unintended consequences of great diversity - diverse ideas about what a good college was!
@gardenstategal, that’s terrific! Different strokes for different folks! There are so many great options out there, it’s too bad that the ivies have become almost synonymous with perceived success. We do have a saying at our BS, “the students make the school,” not the other way around.
We’ve had lots of nieces and nephews go through the college application process and the best advice I’ve heard is that finding the right college is NOT about a prize to be won but about a good match being made. When we were looking at boarding schools our focus regarding college placement was less on matriculation data and more on the support given to students during the process. And honestly this was one of the factors that concerned DH and me much more than it did DC.
Matriculation data (as @SculptorDad said) is absolutely useless and can be very misleading without more information which will never be provided. Athletes, development, legacy, and diversity hooks are a huge component of that data as it pertains to Ivy League and the like.
I agree with previous posters. Don’t get caught in the prestige game. Looking at the matriculation data from some of these schools will impress you.
However these boarding schools are quite good at picking students who then will go onto elite colleges. The main reason is that they pick students much in the same way that colleges do. A good portion of each class is filled with hooked kids (development, legacy or sports). The rest are typically high testers and academically strong.
Going to a boarding school without a hook might actually be harmful. Especially if your child sinks to the bottom of their class.
So bottom line: just try to find a school with the best fit. Everything else will fall into place if your child is successful academically.