Best private schools in NYC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us. Are the private schools so much better that it’s worth paying or are they only marginally better?

Weird about Dalton - they have 90 spots - and I thought they were one of the few private schools that does not lean so heavily on sibling policy.

[Anonymous]

Private school will just have way more resources then Hunter.

I think if you get in to Hunter, go for it. You can always transfer to a private school if it isn't working for you. The private school kids won't be as cognitively gifted as the Hunter kids on the whole, but they will be better at the softer skills (which ultimately is probably more important in life). Depends on what your ultimate goal is.

Just make sure your kids is very verbal / outgoing for the Hunter exam.

[Anonymous]

NP here. It seems as though people know which "tester" to choose for Hunter. Has anyone heard this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us. Are the private schools so much better that it’s worth paying or are they only marginally better?

Weird about Dalton - they have 90 spots - and I thought they were one of the few private schools that does not lean so heavily on sibling policy.

I don’t think that info is correct re Dalton. My child got in last year (and is in K there now). We had no hooks. There are definitely more than 5 others in the K class who were also unconnected and not minorities, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us. Are the private schools so much better that it’s worth paying or are they only marginally better?

Weird about Dalton - they have 90 spots - and I thought they were one of the few private schools that does not lean so heavily on sibling policy.

I don’t think that info is correct re Dalton. My child got in last year (and is in K there now). We had no hooks. There are definitely more than 5 others in the K class who were also unconnected and not minorities, etc.

Thanks, that's what I have thought. I have heard places like Trinity, Brearley, Spence can have limited spots because of connections (I think someone told me either B or S had 10-12 spots leftover after legacies, sibs), but never heard the same for Dalton.

How is K going for your Dalton child? Do you like the school thus far?

[Anonymous]

It would be hard to game the testers. The school gives you a list of four or five. You know their name, office location and date/hours of availability. You can call only one at a time. You can’t interview all of them and decide who you like best. I think most people pick based on what times they are available or on location. From the list I got only one had morning availability. My child is much better in the am so that’s who I picked. The chances that anyone will know something about the four testers assigned randomly seem low. I got the impression that there are hundreds of testers and that they don’t stay consistent year over year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. It seems as though people know which "tester" to choose for Hunter. Has anyone heard this?

The tester thing is only for lower school entry. We're dealing with pre-K kids here. These are only open to Manhattan residents.

For upper school entry, it's a straight forward test. Open to any resident of NYC.

[Anonymous]

The lower school is now open to residents of all five boroughs. They changed it a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. It seems as though people know which "tester" to choose for Hunter. Has anyone heard this?

The tester thing is only for lower school entry. We're dealing with pre-K kids here. These are only open to Manhattan residents.

For upper school entry, it's a straight forward test. Open to any resident of NYC.

They have since removed the requirement for Manhattan resident, it is NYC resident now.

Link: https://www.hunterschools.org/elementary-school/admissions/procedures

For Upper school entry, it is invite only for taking the test based on meeting their criteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Thanks, that's what I have thought. I have heard places like Trinity, Brearley, Spence can have limited spots because of connections (I think someone told me either B or S had 10-12 spots leftover after legacies, sibs), but never heard the same for Dalton.

Have you considered Horace Mann? Seems like the easiest to be admitted without connections.

[Anonymous]

Horace Mann scared me. The education and campus can’t be beat, but it seems like the most pressured of all the pressure cookers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us. Are the private schools so much better that it’s worth paying or are they only marginally better?

Weird about Dalton - they have 90 spots - and I thought they were one of the few private schools that does not lean so heavily on sibling policy.

I don’t think that info is correct re Dalton. My child got in last year (and is in K there now). We had no hooks. There are definitely more than 5 others in the K class who were also unconnected and not minorities, etc.

Thanks, that's what I have thought. I have heard places like Trinity, Brearley, Spence can have limited spots because of connections (I think someone told me either B or S had 10-12 spots leftover after legacies, sibs), but never heard the same for Dalton.

How is K going for your Dalton child? Do you like the school thus far?

It’s been really great! My kid loves it and has made friends. Most of the other parents we have met seem nice and normal. No complaints (yet) - we are happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I said, I didn’t grow up here and am learning about the schools as I go so I probably dont know what I’m talking about, but shouldn’t Hunter be easier to get into -
at least for an oldest kid? At the stronger private schools, it seems like there aren’t many openings after you knock out the seats reserved for siblings, legacies and other connected kids. At least at Hunter your kid can compete for every seat. Someone told me that last year at Dalton there were only six seats for kids with no hooks. No idea if that’s true, but it’s clear that a lot of spots are spoken for before admission season even kicks off.

My real question is should we even consider Hunter. We are a comfortably upper middle class family so we can pay the full private school tuition for both of our kids but getting free tuition would be meaningful for us. Are the private schools so much better that it’s worth paying or are they only marginally better?

Weird about Dalton - they have 90 spots - and I thought they were one of the few private schools that does not lean so heavily on sibling policy.

I don’t think that info is correct re Dalton. My child got in last year (and is in K there now). We had no hooks. There are definitely more than 5 others in the K class who were also unconnected and not minorities, etc.

Thanks, that's what I have thought. I have heard places like Trinity, Brearley, Spence can have limited spots because of connections (I think someone told me either B or S had 10-12 spots leftover after legacies, sibs), but never heard the same for Dalton.

How is K going for your Dalton child? Do you like the school thus far?

It’s been really great! My kid loves it and has made friends. Most of the other parents we have met seem nice and normal. No complaints (yet) - we are happy.

Love to hear it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Horace Mann scared me. The education and campus can’t be beat, but it seems like the most pressured of all the pressure cookers.

Yes,I feel similarly.

[Anonymous]

Having recently been through the college process a one of these TT schools, it's quite clear that the excellent college admissions at my kid's school is not reducible to legacy status, donors, URM etc.

It may be more true for HYP specifically, which have gotten so hard to the point that nowadays it almost seems like you have be both an absolute top student AND a legacy to get in from the top NYC privates. But even so, there are many more HYP legacies either not getting in, or encouraged to apply elsewhere, and many of them (and others) end up at great schools where they have no legacy.

The most significant thing about these schools's placement is the percentage of students going to top schools (including the LACs of course). If you look online it seems that Brearley is probably in a class of its own in this respect both in terms of the percentage going to HYP and to this broader groups of top schools. It goes beyond even the top half of the class.

That said, it's a self-selective crowd and these schools can be pressure cookers. So it's not clear that a student who is thriving at a T2 or T3 school should switch or that doing so will have such an important impact on college admissions. And of course, it easy to get obsessed with college rankings over fit, when the rankings matter far less in life than might be suppose.

Another thing to keep in mind is how early admissions gamesmanship has changed things. Certain colleges (like U. Chicago) have shown themselves willing to admit larger numbers of NYC students who apply early, and so you have students who are steered to these places and never even find out where else they might have gotten in.

That said, from what I've seen, the less risk averse kids who end up in the regular decision round seem to do great as well.