<p>If you go into all three which would you choose and why? IF you were applying for FA, and only got a half scholarship to DA and PA??</p>
<p>i’d go to PA, only because i’m not a math-and-science sort of person and i can’t survive in rural settings.</p>
<p>but hey, good luck for stuyvesant! i have friends who go there and they say it’s pretty awesome.</p>
<p>Andover, I love the laid back, but still academically focused atmosphere.</p>
<p>Stuyvesant. Most definately. In NYC, with incredible opportunitits and activities…I envy you.</p>
<p>Just to make it clear, I’m not sure why so many people seem to think Andover isn’t incredible for math and science. We have a $40 million science center with college level 580 courses that cover the AP curriculum in two trimesters, and a math course catalogue that goes all the way up to vector function calculus… If you come here thinking you’ll breeze right through the math and science, you’re dead wrong.</p>
<p>TomTheCat, do you think Andover’s science programs are as good/better than, say, deerfield’s?<br>
Anyway, I dont know much about Stuyvesant, but I dont live in NYC so it isnt an option for me. Between Deerfield and andover, I would go with deerfield because of the community and resources for a smaller school. (thats why I applied there) Other people may prefer the larger, more urban enviroment, though.</p>
<p>i got into stuy but i chose to attend a day prep school it doesn’t even compare to the best prep schools in NYC (not including single sex) HM, RCS, Trinity, Fieldston, dalton.</p>
<p>honestly in is simply a matter of funding, class size, and the overall quality of the teachers. the funding in the new york public school system goes to improving the poorer schools and bringing their level and money doesn’t get put into the better schools. I had a friend at HM who transferred to Stuy. he got straight Cs at HM currently he is a B+ student at Stuy. A good public no matter how good can never even touch a good private school.</p>
<p>Definitely Stuyvesant. The reputation is incredible, New York is a great city (as you no doubt know). There are plenty of prep schools–only one Stuyvesant. Being among the cream of the New York City crop (a city famed for its smart people) is a pretty incredible place to be.</p>
<p>Endicott thats not how it work you take a test and if you terribly you don’t get in. they don’t take notice to a students grades anything else it only matters on how well you did on the test so theoretically a student with straight Ds can get in over a kid with Straight As. the best prep schools are way better than Stuy’s Ivy/MIT/stanford matriculation, average SATs. also some of my friends who attend Stuy and BX science say that a lot of the teachers are bad because A the private schools draw away all the good teachers, and teachers( who are not necessarily good ) who have taught for a long time get the Job over a teacher who might be a better teacher but is just starting out.
the best public in NYC is Hunter High school which i believe has the highest Ivy/MIT/stanford matriculation and the highest average SAT scores.</p>
<p>Cantelopemelon - I can’t say, I’ve never experience Deerfield’s science program. They did, however, outdo us with spending on their science center - it cost them a whopping $67 million. A NOTORIOUS overspend, as a matter of fact. They do have a planetarium, though. That’s pretty awesome. As for actual teaching, breadth of classes, etc., I’d guess they’re probably not quite as strong just by virtue of the fact that they’re smaller than Andover - they don’t have the kids to fill up multiple sections of post-AP and college level classes that Andover has.</p>
<p>But again, I don’t go to Deerfield. They’re a great, great school - relatively speaking, I’m sure their science program is very strong.</p>
<p>Personally, I would go to Deerfield. I love the whole preppy athletic vibe.</p>
<p>Endicott thats not how it work you take a test and if you terribly you don’t get in. they don’t take notice to a students grades anything else it only matters on how well you did on the test so theoretically a student with straight Ds can get in over a kid with Straight As. the best prep schools are way better than Stuy’s Ivy/MIT/stanford matriculation, average SATs. also some of my friends who attend Stuy and BX science say that a lot of the teachers are bad because A the private schools draw away all the good teachers, and teachers( who are not necessarily good ) who have taught for a long time get the Job over a teacher who might be a better teacher but is just starting out.
the best public in NYC is Hunter High school which i believe has the highest Ivy/MIT/stanford matriculation and the highest average SAT scores.</p>
<p>It’s absolutely true that entrance to Stuyvesant (and Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, et al) is based on one test on one day. To more or less quote the Stuyvesant principal from this past fall’s open house “I don’t care if you have a 98 average or a 37 average. I don’t care if you have a perfect attendence record or are a truant. All I care about is if you score high enough on that test. And if you do, you’ll be offered a seat here next fall. And if that happens, I suggest you take it.”</p>
<p>I’d also have to agree that Hunter is somewhat more selective than Stuyvesant. It is significantly smaller and because it selects students at a different age (entrance is at K and 7th grade), it has less competition for the best students.</p>
<p>I’m not so sure, though, about your analysis of the teachers who are there. One thing to note is that the NYC public school system generally pays better than the NYC independent schools.</p>
<p>*If you go into all three which would you choose and why? IF you were applying for FA, and only got a half scholarship to DA and PA?? *</p>
<p>There’s no absolutely right decision here. You’ll have to make this one on your own because the analysis of the relevant factors is different for everyone. But to help you along a little bit:</p>
<p>1) Money - Is half FA enough to make the prep schools viable for you and your family? FA awards do not necessarily correspond to your family’s true need. Only you and your parents can decide how affordable the school really is with whatever FA award you receive.</p>
<p>2) Leaving home - Your family structure and relationships will change irrevocably. Is the idea of separation thrilling or chilling to you?</p>
<p>3) Your particular interests - Are the particular academic interests that are most important to you addressed adequately in the curriculum? Look over the course catalogs for each school. What about your extracurricular activities, such as sports or others? Make sure that the school has them.</p>
<p>4) Other intangibles - Does the environment feel right to you? Don’t underestimate that “gut reaction” to the place. It’s more important than you think.</p>
<p>There are probably some others that I’m forgetting right now, but hopefully I’ve given you some useful direction.</p>
<p>I really don’t want to get into this discussion. The elitism surrounding the elite college application process is bad enough, let alone that surrounding selective high school admissions! The one thing I will say is that you can’t compare Stuy to Andover or Deerfield. Stuy is not a private prep school; it’s a specialized science school. It has thousands of kids and it’s not at all affluent. The vast majority of kids are the middle-class or working-class and live in Brooklyn or Queens. This is not to knock Stuy; it’s a phenomenal school with great students and I personally have a lot of friends there. But it’s simply unfair to compare that to elite and elitist prep schools like Andover, which have small class sizes, extraordinary tuition, and phenomenal endowments and resources. If you want to compare Andover to a school in Manhattan, compare it to Dalton or maybe Collegiate.</p>
<p>I really don’t want to get into this discussion. The elitism surrounding the elite college application process is bad enough, let alone that surrounding selective high school admissions! The one thing I will say is that you can’t compare Stuy to Andover or Deerfield. Stuy is not a private prep school; it’s a specialized science school. It has thousands of kids and it’s not at all affluent. The vast majority of kids are the middle-class or working-class and live in Brooklyn or Queens. This is not to knock Stuy; it’s a phenomenal school with great students and I personally have a lot of friends there. But it’s simply unfair to compare that to elite and elitist prep schools like Andover, which have small class sizes, extraordinary tuition, and phenomenal endowments and resources. If you want to compare Andover to a school in Manhattan, compare it to Dalton or maybe Collegiate.</p>
<p>This comment is rather unhelpful. A student facing a real world decision is asking for some helpful advice and your answer is “I’m sorry, there’s no way to compare these schools.” That’s just nonsense. Of course there’s a way to compare these schools and in fact, you’ve made some of the comparisons yourself in the above paragraph.</p>
<p>My son, and a number of his friends are currently attempting to make these decisions right now. NYC independent school decisions were sent out last week and Stuyvesant decisions came out a few weeks ago. One boy is making the Stuy/Horace Mann/Collegiate/Riverdale decision. Another is making the Stuy/Dalton/Collegiate decision. Another is making the Dalton/Bronx Science decision (to throw another selective NYC public school into the mix). One girl is agonizing over Spence and Lehman (an NYC public school whose admission is decided by the same test as Stuy, et al but which specialize in the humanities). Many others are making similar decisions.</p>
<p>As parents of these children, we see the many advantages of the wonderful private schools but also realize that if our children want to attend one of the excellent selective public schools here in NYC, they will learn many valuable life lessons that are unavailable at the private schools here or at the boarding schools.</p>
<p>There are bad teachers in prep schools, too. And don’t forget, people who teach in private school get paid far less than public school teachers and don’t require the same credentials. I went to boarding school, too, and I loved it, but I don’t think the education is any better, ultimately, than a top high school–big classes and all.</p>
<p>Endicott,that depends on where you are from.</p>
<p>Maybe in NYC the public schools are just as good, but i am from another major city and it is just not the case here.</p>
<p>I am willing to let my d go to bs and miss watching her continue to grow to give her the chance of a lifetime</p>
<p>for some parents/kids it is either bs or no traditional high school at all</p>
<p>we have tried one year of big city hs—my d rather go to college than go back to this school
( she does have the sat scores to attend)</p>
<p>*Maybe in NYC the public schools are just as good, but i am from another major city and it is just not the case here.</p>
<p>I am willing to let my d go to bs and miss watching her continue to grow to give her the chance of a lifetime</p>
<p>for some parents/kids it is either bs or no traditional high school at all*</p>
<p>In NYC, like in most cities, the public school system in general is, to put it politely, not so good. But, because the NYC public school system is so huge, there are certain pockets of it that are able to rise far above “not so good” to the point of “really, really good”. Stuyvesant and a handful of other schools (Hunter, Bronx Science, Townsend Harris and a handful of others at the high school level - and let’s not forget La Guardia, once known as PA and featured in the movie Fame) provide deserving students with an excellent education at a very affordable price. Every year there are students who choose some of these schools over Trinity, Horace Mann, etc… with the price of tuition not being an issue.</p>
<p>I got you …</p>
<p>We are here in Chicago, and we have the “selective enrollment schools”, 7 great hs, and my d tested in…but not for a 2 hour ride each way each day, thus no time for EC’s because i work evenings and am a single parent.</p>
<p>Private schools here 20K just aren’t an option, plus we still need transportation</p>
<p>Right now my d spends 2.5 hours/day on public transportation and doesn’t get home until almost 10p</p>
<p>Knowing what I know now…i would not have become a teacher and be forced to live in the city—go figure–lol</p>