Reply to St. Andrews Episcopal school and rigor

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[quote=Anonymous]           Agree with 22:15 that most families/kids who like St. Andrew's for the reasons stated by the poster in 22:05 probably prefer to focus on good liberal arts schools.   A recent list is included in a few prior posts --from some most selective to some less selective .  There are still usually anywhere between 1-3  students per class on average who go to an ivy or equiv. per class if that’s really one’s goal.

My advice to the poster in 22:05 would be to take a pat on the back for selecting a school where it sounds like your child is happy, doing well, and that as a family you feel is a good fit.   If your child is happy and a very strong student, then he/she will probably have as good a shot at his/her first choice school from St. Andrew’s  -- even if it’s an ivy – as he/she would at other privates.     We should remember that the majority of students at the most selective universities are from public schools, and even though some privates may place many more students  at elite colleges each year, it is not at all clear that it is because of the school they are coming from rather than because the particularly students had very high SATs, grades, APs, extra-C’s etc. – part of the screening process of who attends a school in the first place (and don’t most students at Big X schools still attend colleges outside of the ivy league?).    While a Big 3 school may carry added “cache,”  it also carries more internal completion for limited slots to the ivy’s, and there are only so many kids that one college will take from one school even if many more are qualified.   My gut tells me you don’t see as many SAES kids in ivy’s because of the diverse makeup of the class (discussed above in thread) and not because of the curriculum, in addition to the preference for smaller LACs than research institutions among many families  because they like the feel of St. Andrew’s, and because there may be more non-need based aid available at some of these schools.   But if your child can pull high SATs, does well in the most challenging classes, and puts up the other extra-c’s that the most selective schools want to see,  past placements suggest she /he will do just fine wherever he/she wants to go.     Not sure what grade your child is in presently, but earlier posts talk about rigor increasing in high school depending on course selection (actually, while there seem to be different approaches at different schools, my sense is that this is also true at some of the Big X schools).
  
         On the other hand, if he/she moved somewhere and for any reason isn’t  happy -- leaving friends,  not playing on the team he/she wants,  any trouble fitting in socially, etc. -- you are taking a chance on the change impacting grades, school involvement, etc. which will make for a less attractive college candidate.   So based on the limited info in your post, I would stay the course.    If your child wasn’t doing well, had major social issues at school etc., then a change would be easier to contemplate.

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