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[quote=Anonymous]On a hurricane day with my office closed, I took a look at this site to see what was going on. From looking at a few of the entries here, it seems that many posters are trying to engineer an Ivy League acceptance for their son. As an STA parent with one graduate and one still there, I think there are some realities of the place that you need to know. First, the real attraction of the school is the quality of the students. Good teaching is just not guaranteed at STA. In fact, if your son gets the wrong teachers, it can undermine his transcript and his college options. So, if you are looking to engineer the Ivy League outcome, beware. If the outcome is less important than the experience of having truly bright classmates and mostly good teachers and coaches, then STA might be a good fit. Know that your son will be squeezed like a sponge at STA. If he is a good athlete, then he will have many chances to contribute to the  teams. Despite the jock reputation at STA, there are not enough athletes to cover all of the sports. How some of the coaches turn out competitive squads on a regular basis is really quite an accomplishment. On the college front, please know that the admissions process does not bring out the best side of the school, the boys or the parents. It is tense for the boys, who know that their peers and all of the parents will judge where they go to college. This makes the process of picking a school quite daunting. If your son does not elect to follow the traditional path to the Ivies or the Little Ivies (for whatever reason), be prepared to deal with some issues from the peers as it is a very competitive environment, especially when it comes to college selection. Given the cost of the education, it is not surprising about the competitiveness. If there is one parting comment, I guess it would  be this: Try not to let the STA processes overwhelm your kid and you to the point that the childhood/parenthood experience is adversely impacted. Have fun and don't worry about trying to solve the formula for your kid's success. Provide the opportunities and let the kid develop the will and confidence to set his own course. Good luck.[/quote]

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