Our child is in middle school at a tier 3 school. They are doing well, probably at least in the top 10% of the class based on grades and feedbacks from teachers.
Their school’s college matriculation is okay, but no where near what TT schools have. So we are thinking of applying out to TT schools for HS. Child got great scores in ISEE practice tests so should have a decent shot at TT schools. We are just not sure if this is the right move… For parents with HS kids at TT schools, how do the new students perform compared with continuing students? Do they do well in college admissions? |
TT schools have tons of legacy and donor. Don't be fooled by their results.
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This. The other year Dalton had 9 go to Harvard: every single one of them was connected or huge donor in some way. |
If their ISEE scores are good you should consider taking the SHSAT as well - if anything it's a bit easier than the ISEE (I'd rate it closer to the ISEE Middle in terms of question difficulty), and plenty of kids from good private schools end up going to the specialized high schools because they're free and full of smart kids. And of course they do extremely well for college admissions. |
OP here. It seems that almost 40% of their graduates go to ivies. Hard to imagine all those are legacies/ donors… but it’s TT so maybe most of the students are legacies? |
My kid moved to TT in ninth. The incoming kids are all superstars, and I expect they will do well. Many of the new ninth grade parents seem wealthy and connected. |
You'd be surprised ... |
Yup. Maybe Cornell, Penn admits are unconnected, but HYP from all these TTs are overwhelmingly connected. Notice they don’t really send many to MIT? MIT doesn’t care about connections… |
That’s where our T3 kids go! Two largest among the ivies. |
Some people advised us if we don’t have Harvard legacy or are Jewish to not even try Dalton. Is it true? |
*”or aren’t Jewish” meant to say, meaning they only love Jewish families. |
My DC is at HM for high school, coming from a progressive K-8. He's doing really well there, but I don't think his college prospects would be any different at any other NYC private. He has a couple of hooks along with strong test scores, and HM in and of itself doesn't really offer an edge beyond those things for a student like him.
It's worth touring other schools if you seek a better fit for your DC, but don't expect attendance at a TT school to open doors to colleges that wouldn't otherwise be open for your DC. Also, the academic pressure at TT high schools can be intense, and you really need to consider whether that would work to your child's detriment. |
Op here. Thanks for sharing your experience. Sounds like HM isn’t going to help with college admission prospect. Our school is k-12 so we don’t have to move. I guess the question is what we gain by moving to a TT. |
For some kids, it may be a better fit. They may need more challenging academics, or maybe they want a different social experience. I can speak anecdotally of one DC who switched to TT from another K-12 where they felt the culture in the high school was somewhat anti-intellectual--i.e., it was considered uncool to care about grades and academics. |
How did your child find the transition from a progressive school to a more traditional school? Thank you for sharing. |