Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think St Albans prioritizes boys from private elementary schools - I think STA is looking for boys who will stay through graduation and families who are committed to private school early demonstrate they value paying all that money for the private school experience. Further, STA knows the curriculum, teachers and culture of these places. Wouldn’t you listen to the opinion of someone you know first-hand than someone you don’t know? Same with coming from Beauvoir. They really know those kids because they came from the Close.
But don’t take that to mean that these boys are not deserving. They often are great students who achieve a lot of success at STA. Another poster mentioned that they like certain public schools more than others and this is in the same vein. They have seen students succeed and add to the community from these schools so they too seem like a known quantities.
Bottom line, there are many more qualified boys than slots. There are deserving boys who are not offered admission, certainly. I am glad there are so many private schools in the area and hopefully one of those other phenomenal choices worked out for your kid.
We of course they prioritize boys from private schools, esp BVR. That’s called a hook. Schools those kids fit the mold because the ones who don’t have already been counseled out (lovely phrase) and the parents have money and one or two of the other hooks. That’s what they build a class on. That’s the business model.
Get you kid into a k-8 early when merit does not count and they’ll get that private school bump. A k-12 (and BVR+NCS/STA counts) is even better; they can coast through US.