Prep Vs. Public?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I am curious what the consensus is for sending a child to a prep school (day or boarding) vs. leaving them in the public school system. I have a son who is very bright and takes all enrichment courses in middle school. He gets straight A's. He gets 100's on his tests and does not really study for them. The local school system is not the greatest (ranks in the lower half of my state). The high school does not have a lot of AP courses compared to the better public schools. My wife and I actually looked into relocating closer to my work in Princeton so they could attend some of the best schools in the state. Unfortunately the housing market is awful and we took the house off the market. He is an above average athlete, who really excels in wrestling (competes at the highest levels). Do people think that Prep schools better prepare a child for college and is it worth the extra money. I have heard people say the money you spend sending a child to a prep school will come back to you in scholarships for college. Some Prep schools are very expensive and even more than most colleges. Is the education that much better? I know someone who teaches at Peddie School and he said you should not let the money scare you as there is often money available. I really want to do what is best for my son and give him the best chance to succeed. He has actually taken the initiative to look online to see what are the best colleges for engineering (he is only in 6th grade). </p>

<p>I can not really find any data to compare private to public schools. In NJ you can compare public schools as the have a very detailed school report card that breaks it all down well (dollars spent, test scores, amount of AP courses, student to teacher ratio, etc.) There is no information to compare to parochial or prep schools. For example there is a school near us, St. Augustine Prep , how does it stack up vs. the local schools? How does it compare to other private schools? I have no idea and can not seem to find any data that compares them. Again I would appreciate anyones opinion and advice about this.</p>

2

<p>This is a good link that gives some data:
The</a> Truth About Boarding Schools</p>

<p>We think it IS worth the money we have spent (and will spend).</p>

3

<p>In order to make an informed decision, you need to get an idea of the number of students who apply are accepted and not accepted at the type of colleges you have in mind for child from the public and private schools you are considering. If their top students are not getting into the top schools except for a rare exception here or there, unless your child has something super special, it is not likely to happen. With some prep school, however, it is very difficult to assess the acceptances and separate the special applicants (legacies, development, celebrities, athletes, URMs). You need to look at what scores and grades are getting rejected at the schools rather than accepted. </p>

<p>My opinion is if your child can do as well gradewise in a rigorous prep or public school as he could in his current school, he has a definite leg up in selective college admissions. How well prepared you child is for college level work is a big deal for these adcoms, and a school with a good track record in preparing their kids does reap admissions benefits from top schools. On the other hand, many kids do not do as well grade wise at these schools, because many of these schools have tough, tight grading curves since most of the kids are tightly packed in ability level. You are not going to get that bell shaped curve as there are going to be many top students and few if any bottom feeders. Many of these schools do not weight grades. </p>

<p>A good place to start is a big book (can't recall the name) that is a guide to the private schools in the US, similar to a college guide. It gives average SATs and the names of the colleges where the kids at a particular school tend to go. The web sites of private schools often have a college list as well. If you see a school where 25% of the kids are going ivy, and very, very few to non selective schools, you can see what the level of those kids are. '</p>

<p>A good private school will tell you, however, that you should not be placing your child in this environment with your main goal being the most competitive college. It is for the better education, being with a more homogenious group of student (learning and interests). It can well be to your child's detriment to go to such schools. I know many kids who got into Boston College's Honors program, for instance, from less than stellar schools, and less than top of the line courses, but high grades and the threshhold gpa. I also know kids who applied that same year and were shut out of the honors program because they have, say a 3.5 from a very rigorous school because that gpa looks meager compared to some of those 4.+ averages. The same goes for scholarships. You can argue till you are blue in the face, but given the same SAT score, a B average at Super Prep does not an A average from Public School make. Also the competition for club officer positions, and other top roles in the student community can be much more competitive at these schools where so many of the kids are striving for highly selective colleges. You can easily look rather ordinary among your peers and even downright underperforming. The kids who tend to get a real advantage in selective college acceptances by going to prep schools are URM and athletes. A number of those kids may not be prepared enough for a top school to feel justified accepting them if they came from a mediocre highschool, but coming from a school with a solid reputation for well educationg their kids, often takes care of that problem.</p>

4

<p>Since he's just in sixth grade now, you may find that the housing market recovers and you have the choice about relocating before he gets to high school.</p>

5

<p>Obviously, this is a very complex question and there is no single way to answer it.</p>

<p>First, you should be aware that a majority of the people on this board are either prep school students or parents who have sent their kids to prep school (or people currently going through this process). In other words, we have already wrestled with this issue in our own minds and come down in favor or prep-schools - at least for our children/ourselves.</p>

<p>Second, at least in some areas, IMHO you can say that an elite prep school is objectively better than a middle of the road private school. The prep school's facilities will be superior (better gymn, classrooms, labs, theater, library, etc.). Some campuses rival those of small colleges. The breadth of courses is also going to be much greater. Also, because these schools can be, and are, highly selective you will have a larger number of bright, motivated, talented students. This means the courses themselves can be more rigorous and demanding. Finally, the non-academic opportunities you will have as a student are much greater at most prep schools (particularly the larger ones). They will offer a wider variety of sports, clubs and extracurricular activities, potential for travel, etc.</p>

<p>Third, due to their academic rigor and the fact that BS students are used to being on their own, organizing their study time, etc. I feel that they are generally better prepared for college than their public school counterparts.</p>

<p>However, having said all that, you still can't say whether it's better to leave a kid in public school or send him to BS. It depends on the kid. It depends on the parents. It depends on what's important to you. Some kids will not do well in a BS environment and would be happier and do better at home. (This does not mean that the kid isn't extremely smart, won't do well in college, or is in some way inferrior to the BS kid, but rather that they would be happier at home, would rather be one of the top kids in their class, may do better in an environment where you as a parent can supervise them more closely, etc.) </p>

<p>Similarly, it's tough to say whether BS really improves your chances at a top college (if that is even important to you). There's already a lengthy thread on this question, and in my view I think the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no. Although boarding schools certainly get a larger percentage of their students into top colleges than most public schools, it is also a lot harder to stand out at BS than at a middle of the road public school.</p>

<p>Finally, as to whether it's worth the money - that depends on your individual circumstances and your priorities. If you're Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, sure its worth the money, what else are you going to spend it on, another jet? At the other end of the spectrum, if you qualify for full financial aid it's also a pretty easy decision. Most of us however fall somewhere between these two extremes and it ultimately becomes a question of what you're going to have to give up to pay for BS for your son or daughter.</p>

6

<p>If your son continues wrestling at the highest competitive level availalble to him, you should look at Blair Academy in Blairstown, NJ. They have what is probably the strongest wrestling team in the country, and I am guessing that a strong wrestler who is also an academic all-star would be of great interest to them. You should have him meet with the wrestling coach who can also tell you about wrestling college recruiting. Admissions can tell you about financial aid.</p>

<p>1000 posts!</p>

7

<p>Boardingschoolreview.com and privateschoolreview.com are good starting points to research schools but, the information can be outdated.</p>

8

<p>If you are looking for good college admits, spend your money on SAT prep classes and summer enrichment programs. If you are looking for more academic challenge for your child, consider moving to a better public school or day schools. If you would like your child to be well prepared for college and to have experience before college in making new friends, living on his own, and budgeting his time well even when mom and dad aren't around, I'd consider boarding school.</p>

<p>Since his interest is engineering: An engineering professor at Cornell once told me that his best students were smart rural kids from public high schools in upstate New York because those kids had real experience not just book learning. When something broke at home, they figured out how to fix it. He said those kids made the best engineers, not the kids who were schooled well but had never held a part-time job or had the opportunity to take apart a radio.</p>

9

<p>If he loves wrestling, I would second the comments about Blair. The only warning is that their wrestling program is so competitive that even star wrestlers can fall by the wayside. It is not at all unheard of for a Blair kid to win the National Prep championship one year, and not earn a starting spot the next year, because someone better came along. At most competitive high school wrestling programs winning that tournament as an underclassman would make someone team captain and a star. At Blair, it is too routine to stand out.</p>

<p>Great a sport as it is, the contraction in wrestling programs means that it is of limited help in college apps, since not that many places have teams, and the scholarship money is limited as well.</p>

10

<p>In part, you answered your own question when you wrote that your son gets all 100s on his tests without studying for them. An appropriately matched prep school is worth every tuition dollar invested, in my opinion. For wrestling look at Blair Academy and at Blair's opponents. Visit Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. Have your son take the SSAT exam to evaluate what level of prep school academics he is ready for.</p>

11

<p>If you do decide to look at prep schools in New Jersey, you should look at Peddie and Lawrenceville. They are extremly good schools and your son sounds like a kid who would be able to get in and thrive at a school like those two.</p>

12

<p>For a strong wrestling program and a solid prep school experience, you might
want to consider Brooks School outside of Boston. A recent grad just won
the National wrestling title, capping a wonderful high school career in a very
competitive league.
Harder to help with whether boarding school is worth it. Yes, the costs are
considerable, but it's hard to imagine having any regrets. The educational
bar is set quite high and most kids seem to love the experience, making
friends for life and being extremely well prepared for college. I wish you
and your son the best of luck as you embark on the journey.</p>

13

<p>One of my young friends, who is at Trinity College, told me that the students she knew who'd been to independent day school or boarding school were so much better prepared for college than kids out of public school. She herself is a public school graduate, but the daughter of a education-professional administrator.</p>

<p>My parents sent me to prep school (day) to get me into a more challenging environment where excellence was expected and not something to hide. Essentially they elected to spend college savings on my high school. I think it was worth the money -- although I ended up at our state flagship uni rather than an LAC or Cornell which would have been my dream school.</p>

<p>There are certain kids who will benefit more from the education dollars at the high school level than at the college level. And some of those kids may then qual for merit dollars at the college level. If we had magic crystal balls it would help -- because everyone's mileage is varying on this one!</p>