What's the most elite and exclusive K-12 School?

[Anonymous]

My original statement was "smarter kids than you would find at a top public school" and I stand by that statement with regard to my original 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My original statement was "smarter kids than you would find at a top public school" and I stand by that statement with regard to my original 5.

Define “top.” A public school that measures IQ like Hunter, then maybe. Scarsdale High? No, two dozen plus NYC privates would run circles around that student body.

[Anonymous]

None of the other types of top school have exmissions percentages like the NYC top tier. None. I mean Regis, Scarsdale, Hunter, Rye, Stuyvesant, whatever. Many of these are similar to NYC 2T.

You can decide the reasons arent legit like size of class or full-payors or legacy, but the stats if you compare will not show that any school matches the NYC top 7-8.

[Anonymous]

Exmissions are not a particularly good measure of intelligence, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of the other types of top school have exmissions percentages like the NYC top tier. None. I mean Regis, Scarsdale, Hunter, Rye, Stuyvesant, whatever. Many of these are similar to NYC 2T.

You can decide the reasons arent legit like size of class or full-payors or legacy, but the stats if you compare will not show that any school matches the NYC top 7-8.

Their average SATs are public information. Hint: they aren’t as good as Trinity or HM. Especially Scarsdale on that list. It’s free and based on residency. You don’t think there’s loads of dunces in the town?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How many TT schools do you have to apply to in order to have a reasonable chance of getting into one? What if you applied to 8 or 10, would it be likely you get into one?

Assume full pay.

Sorry, but there aren’t 10 of them; this is a bit like asking how many Ivies you have to apply to to get into an Ivy. If you lower your standards you can probably get your kid in somewhere, but only a handful of private schools have smarter kids than you would find at a top public school.

Trinity Dalton Collegiate Riverdale HM St B Chaplin Spence Brearley St Anne. That’s more than ten. Now go nitpick about how Riverdale or St Anne isn’t TT

This is exactly 10.

But a boy cannot apply to Brearley, Chaplin, or Spence. And a girl cannot apply to Collegiate or St B. So one applicant cannot apply to 10 TT schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How many TT schools do you have to apply to in order to have a reasonable chance of getting into one? What if you applied to 8 or 10, would it be likely you get into one?

Assume full pay.

Sorry, but there aren’t 10 of them; this is a bit like asking how many Ivies you have to apply to to get into an Ivy. If you lower your standards you can probably get your kid in somewhere, but only a handful of private schools have smarter kids than you would find at a top public school.

Trinity Dalton Collegiate Riverdale HM St B Chaplin Spence Brearley St Anne. That’s more than ten. Now go nitpick about how Riverdale or St Anne isn’t TT

This is exactly 10.

But a boy cannot apply to Brearley, Chaplin, or Spence. And a girl cannot apply to Collegiate or St B. So one applicant cannot apply to 10 TT schools.

Add NBS Buckley st David’s grace friends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How many TT schools do you have to apply to in order to have a reasonable chance of getting into one? What if you applied to 8 or 10, would it be likely you get into one?

Assume full pay.

Sorry, but there aren’t 10 of them; this is a bit like asking how many Ivies you have to apply to to get into an Ivy. If you lower your standards you can probably get your kid in somewhere, but only a handful of private schools have smarter kids than you would find at a top public school.

Trinity Dalton Collegiate Riverdale HM St B Chaplin Spence Brearley St Anne. That’s more than ten. Now go nitpick about how Riverdale or St Anne isn’t TT

This is exactly 10.

But a boy cannot apply to Brearley, Chaplin, or Spence. And a girl cannot apply to Collegiate or St B. So one applicant cannot apply to 10 TT schools.

Add NBS Buckley st David’s grace friends

Is Friends really up to par academically? Have heard parents grouchy about having to pay tuition and also get their kids tutors especially in math, as compared to other schools. Community seems nice but is it too loosey goosey?

[Anonymous]

I've posted here a few times about our awful experience with Fieldston, and I have to say I think it's kind of hilarious that even amidst all of the desperate barrel-scraping to come up with a list of 10 supposedly top-tier schools, nobody has mentioned them yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've posted here a few times about our awful experience with Fieldston, and I have to say I think it's kind of hilarious that even amidst all of the desperate barrel-scraping to come up with a list of 10 supposedly top-tier schools, nobody has mentioned them yet.

We get it, you had a bad experience at Fieldston. But it’s also true that there are a lot of families who are very happy there with well-adjusted, smart kids without the "pressure cooker" environment of some other TTs. Like many schools, they went through some mixed years around COVID, but judging by outcomes alone (their exmissions so far this year are extremely strong), it’s hard to argue they don’t belong in any “top 10” conversation today.

[Anonymous]

Their full exmissions last year were decidedly middling and I've seen nothing to suggest a sudden improvement, but at any rate I mostly just thought it was amusing that nobody mentioned them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

How many TT schools do you have to apply to in order to have a reasonable chance of getting into one? What if you applied to 8 or 10, would it be likely you get into one?

Assume full pay.

Sorry, but there aren’t 10 of them; this is a bit like asking how many Ivies you have to apply to to get into an Ivy. If you lower your standards you can probably get your kid in somewhere, but only a handful of private schools have smarter kids than you would find at a top public school.

Trinity Dalton Collegiate Riverdale HM St B Chaplin Spence Brearley St Anne. That’s more than ten. Now go nitpick about how Riverdale or St Anne isn’t TT

This is exactly 10.

But a boy cannot apply to Brearley, Chaplin, or Spence. And a girl cannot apply to Collegiate or St B. So one applicant cannot apply to 10 TT schools.

Add NBS Buckley st David’s grace friends

Is Friends really up to par academically? Have heard parents grouchy about having to pay tuition and also get their kids tutors especially in math, as compared to other schools. Community seems nice but is it too loosey goosey?

We looked closely at Friends and were fine with the academics, and my kid is more math/science focused. We liked some parts of the curriculum more than others but overall had no major issues. The use of the Bible as the core text for freshman English seemed odd, but not a deal breaker. Community was good but not great. Again - not ideal but not a red flag.

Exmissions are fine. At schools at this tier, you need to focus on the top kids, who get into very good schools. They don't tend to have the depth of top schools like the TT ones, but if your kid is a very strong performer, they will do fine, and in fact, it is better as your kid isn't jockeying with every single other kid for Ivies - they will likely have a happier HS experience. Though your worst case scenario from somewhere like this is definitely worse.

[Anonymous]

Idk, 7 to HPY and 8 to other ivies, plus many others to the likes of MIT, Duke etc seems pretty acceptable to me at this point in the cycle. For comparison, take a look at Trinity's 2026 exmissions account, it's objectively weaker so far.

[Anonymous]

Last year I believe their HPY total for the entire graduating class was 2, so if they have a random good year it doesn't necessarily mean a trend; based on my kid's former classmates they'll be lucky to even get 2 with that cohort.

[Anonymous]

(but Trinity seems snooty and insular and generally unpleasant, so if they're having an embarrassingly bad year then cheers to that)