<p>Our public school sends 1-2 kids/year to HYPSM out of a class of 150. This year they are athletes. A girl basketball player to Yale and a male state champion swimmer to Harvard. Another neighboring school had a wrestler go to Stanford. All qualify academically and at least one is full pay. I think you are overestimating the number of freshman spaces at these schools compared to all kids who graduate HS each year. Also if I remember correctly only 60% of Yale’s enrollees qualify for financial aid. Given how generous Yale is with financial aid that’s a lot of very rich parents and their kids may be at elite NE boarding schools. Looking at the T shirts being worn by seniors in college decision pictures, the expensive private schools around here aren’t doing much better than our public school. Maybe more Davidson’s, Vanderbuilt’s, UVA and Dukes, but not HYPMS. The struggling economy has also convinced some parents with fairly high incomes that the state flagship is not a bad idea. If all your equity evaporated in the housing crash, you’re less likely to shell out 50-60K a year just for bragging where your kid goes.</p>