Tell me about sta for a…

[Anonymous]

Would be entering LS (don’t want to say grade just to try to maintain privacy)
Loves school, loves to learn, great test scores, advanced in math and reading (so, for him, we feel ok about the rigor they discuss, were he to be admitted)
Loves robotics, engineering, and coding
Likes sports, decent enough at them and pretty darn good at one or two, doesn’t live and die for them
Competitive, but not a perfectionist
Best friends are boys, but has friends of both genders
Family is politically moderate/left-leaning (kid too young to know or care)

We liked one of the virtual events we attended, but it’s just hard to get a feel (and yes, we know we have to get in, but we are trying to learn more about the schools we’re considering before we finalize where he will apply). Anyone have thoughts or experiences that might be relevant? Do you think STA would be a good fit? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

You described a kid who has a wide range of interests and does a lot of things well. How could he not fit in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You described a kid who has a wide range of interests and does a lot of things well. How could he not fit in?

Thanks. Just wondering in part because he's fine at sports, but that's really all (a couple pretty good many just ok or uninterested), has mixed gender friends right now, etc

[Anonymous]

Op, your son will likely be fine at any school, including STA. STA has a broad variety of boys. There is no one type. Your son will just have to figure out if he is ok with a single sex school.

[Anonymous]

The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

[Anonymous]

Yeah, $50K for elementary is just nutty. It's actually about $54K for the first year when all one-time non-refundable fees are thrown in. And next year is sure to be $2-3K more.
At least in high school you get far more for the same money: sports (coaches, trainers, etc), dramatic arts, music ensembles, etc. This is why almost every other private school charges less for elementary (but not STA).
But STA can do it because middle and high school admissions are such a long-shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

There are hundreds willing to do just this and only a handful of spots. Op- school sounds like a great fit but cast a wide net as there are many boys in your exact situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

That was not OP’s question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

There are hundreds willing to do just this and only a handful of spots. Op- school sounds like a great fit but cast a wide net as there are many boys in your exact situation.

Agree with this. I assume you're talking about grades 6 or 7. In our experience quite a few of the 5-10 spots they have in each of these years are filled by siblings/legacies/VIPs, etc. (sometimes even athletic "recruits")
There may only be 1-2 truly "open to anyone" spots in those grades. It's worth applying (someone has to get the spots) but keep expectations very low. We had no idea how long the odds at STA but they are incredibly long.

[Anonymous]

I think STA would be fine as long as your kid isn't a goth (i.e. really out there, blue hair, lip piercings, death metal kind of kid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

There are hundreds willing to do just this and only a handful of spots. Op- school sounds like a great fit but cast a wide net as there are many boys in your exact situation.

Agree with this. I assume you're talking about grades 6 or 7. In our experience quite a few of the 5-10 spots they have in each of these years are filled by siblings/legacies/VIPs, etc. (sometimes even athletic "recruits")
There may only be 1-2 truly "open to anyone" spots in those grades. It's worth applying (someone has to get the spots) but keep expectations very low. We had no idea how long the odds at STA but they are incredibly long.

OMG. Why can’t people just answer the question instead of the usual hard-to-get-in, wide-net yada yada yak? OP already said that they understand the kid needs to get in first and the issue of acceptance is not what they are here for.

[Anonymous]

I went to NCS and would never ever send my son to St Albany’s, or likely any all boys schools for that matter. Incredibly sexist atmosphere that was demeaning to women. As an ncs girl if you walked down the hallway, they would all stop and stare. If you were in one of their classes, they would stare at you, and often snicker when you commented in class. Sexual harassing jokes in the school publications, etc. Never, never, never would I send my son there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

There are hundreds willing to do just this and only a handful of spots. Op- school sounds like a great fit but cast a wide net as there are many boys in your exact situation.

Agree with this. I assume you're talking about grades 6 or 7. In our experience quite a few of the 5-10 spots they have in each of these years are filled by siblings/legacies/VIPs, etc. (sometimes even athletic "recruits")
There may only be 1-2 truly "open to anyone" spots in those grades. It's worth applying (someone has to get the spots) but keep expectations very low. We had no idea how long the odds at STA but they are incredibly long.

OMG. Why can’t people just answer the question instead of the usual hard-to-get-in, wide-net yada yada yak? OP already said that they understand the kid needs to get in first and the issue of acceptance is not what they are here for.

Probably because it's pretty pointless to wonder about fit (for a very typical boy like OP's) until you have a spot. I wish I knew this before I spent any emotional energy thinking through fit. "Oh yes! It would be the perfect spot for my sporty yet studious boy!" I honestly thought
it was a reasonable thing to hope for but the year we applied there was about a single kid (out of 10) that wasn't pre-connected in some way. Admissions as much told us after the fact and we heard the same from friends at the school.
The admissions office is super nice and down-to-earth and makes it feel like every kid has a shot. And they do... it's just very low. I wish we had known how low. We were pretty excited by the school and it turns out there really wasn't much of a chance of admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

There are hundreds willing to do just this and only a handful of spots. Op- school sounds like a great fit but cast a wide net as there are many boys in your exact situation.

Agree with this. I assume you're talking about grades 6 or 7. In our experience quite a few of the 5-10 spots they have in each of these years are filled by siblings/legacies/VIPs, etc. (sometimes even athletic "recruits")
There may only be 1-2 truly "open to anyone" spots in those grades. It's worth applying (someone has to get the spots) but keep expectations very low. We had no idea how long the odds at STA but they are incredibly long.

OMG. Why can’t people just answer the question instead of the usual hard-to-get-in, wide-net yada yada yak? OP already said that they understand the kid needs to get in first and the issue of acceptance is not what they are here for.

Probably because it's pretty pointless to wonder about fit (for a very typical boy like OP's) until you have a spot. I wish I knew this before I spent any emotional energy thinking through fit. "Oh yes! It would be the perfect spot for my sporty yet studious boy!" I honestly thought
it was a reasonable thing to hope for but the year we applied there was about a single kid (out of 10) that wasn't pre-connected in some way. Admissions as much told us after the fact and we heard the same from friends at the school.
The admissions office is super nice and down-to-earth and makes it feel like every kid has a shot. And they do... it's just very low. I wish we had known how low. We were pretty excited by the school and it turns out there really wasn't much of a chance of admission.

Sheesh no it's not. Everyone applying knows admission is uncertain but once you have admissions choices you have very little time to make a very consequential decision that will affect your child and family for years. So no. It's not helpful. There is literally not a single person exploring fit who doesn't understand that admissions is not guaranteed. They just want to do all their homework so they can feel good about any ultimate decision. And lots of people get in, you know. Not everyone gets rejected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The real question is does he have parents willing to fork over $50k per year? That’s the main criteria

There are hundreds willing to do just this and only a handful of spots. Op- school sounds like a great fit but cast a wide net as there are many boys in your exact situation.

Yup - try a few schools OP. Not a lot of spots are available