sparky wrote:I'm wondering how I can prepare my elementary school sister to Andover or Exeter. I was always stressed out due to the competition in a magnet high school, and I hope my sister has a better secondary school experience. I want help send her off to the Lower School and then the Upper school if possible. I talked to my parents and they seem to be positive about the idea, as the district they are moving to next year isn't the best. How should I help my sister go about this?

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:I'm wondering how I can prepare my elementary school sister to Andover or Exeter. I was always stressed out due to the competition in a magnet high school, and I hope my sister has a better secondary school experience. I want help send her off to the Lower School and then the Upper school if possible. I talked to my parents and they seem to be positive about the idea, as the district they are moving to next year isn't the best. How should I help my sister go about this?

Why do you have so much influence on your sister's life? What makes you so certain that she wants to leave home? How old is she now and how old are you? That will depend on how we answer. For example, the answer would be different if she is in second grade versus eighth grade.

Although I don't know all the facts, personally I think you should back off. Not your kid. How would you like it if an older relative told your parents how to raise you? Don't you think sister has any say on where she wants to go to school?

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

She doesn't really care about school to be honest. Smart and a good student, but not really caring about the future ahead in high school.

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

She doesn't really care about school to be honest. Smart and a good student, but not really caring about the future ahead in high school.

What does she think about boarding school?

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a troll OP. You didn't go to Princeton...you can't write. I call "English as a second language".

Anonymous wrote:
I think it's heartwarming that you are so carefully considering your little sister's academic path.

However, you need to inform yourself a little more.

Re: chances of getting into an Ivy.
Please know that colleges have quotas for high-performing public and private schools, so the mere fact that a student is in an excellent school will not necessarily improve her chances of going to the Ivy League. She will have to compete against really excellent students. If she goes to an average public school, and her family background is such that she is an excellent student compared to the rest of her cohort, then she will stand out and have a much better chance of being selected. Do you see? There's a strategy here.

Re: competition and pleasant school experience.
I know students in MCPS magnets, and the atmosphere is not unpleasantly competitive. There will be significant academic pressure in ALL excellent schools, be they magnets, or the top-ranked publics, or the best privates. That's because they're populated by families who care deeply about academics, period.

Re: Ivy selection now vs years ago.
It's a lottery, OP. You are probably a recent grad, and it's wonderful you went to Princeton, but admission rates are so low for the non-million-dollar-donor, star athlete, or legacy (parent-child, not sibling), that you can be extraordinarily gifted and accomplished and still not be admitted. Harvard rejects more valedictorians than it accepts, due to lack of seats.

So... please remind yourself throughout this process that your sister can live a highly successful life, with all the trappings of wealth and intellect that you would wish for her, without an Ivy League degree.

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

She doesn't really care about school to be honest. Smart and a good student, but not really caring about the future ahead in high school.

What does she think about boarding school?

Ambivalent. Again, she doesn't give a crap really about her academics. The type of student that happens to be "naturally smart." I'm a bit worried about that though.

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

sparky wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does your sister think?

She doesn't really care about school to be honest. Smart and a good student, but not really caring about the future ahead in high school.

What does she think about boarding school?

Ambivalent. Again, she doesn't give a crap really about her academics. The type of student that happens to be "naturally smart." I'm a bit worried about that though.

So she doesn’t care about staying home vs boarding at school?