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[quote=Anonymous]Before I went to grad school, I worked in the admissions office of a very competitive liberal arts college. While this isn't an Ivy, I think it gave me some insight as I start the search for my kids' private school.

The bottom line is that people on this board have an unhealthy focus on the Big 3 or Big 5 or whatever. If your reason for sending your child there is that you want them to get into the best colleges, you are stressing far too much. The large private schools in the area don't have a substantial advantage over one another when it comes to college admissions. I know I know you have a story. But I am telling you from experience - when it came to school quality, we looked at factors like the percentage of students who went to college from the last year's senior class, and at almost all of these schools that was 100%. It is a substantial advantage over even the good area public schools, but not over any of the college prep-focused privates. You may see more kids from the most elite private schools get into Ivys, but that has far more to do with them (and perhaps their parents) than it does their school.

You might have non-college reasons for scrambling to get your kid into the top private school in the area - friends who attend, near your house, you like the course offerings, etc. I'm just saying that if your kid does not get in, this will not have a huge impact on their college chances. For my kids, I'm focusing on the schools that are the best fit for their personalities, and are somewhat conveniently located, etc. [/quote]

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