Anonymous wrote:Why does acceptance rate to a private school even matter? All that should matter is whether it's the right school for your kid--and if he's able to get in, great!

Because no one wants to waste time applying to a school with a negligible change of acceptance. If some schools are truly ultra selective, it makes no sense to waste time and energy and put your kid through the ringer only to be rejected and have to go public.

Anonymous wrote:Why does acceptance rate to a private school even matter? All that should matter is whether it's the right school for your kid--and if he's able to get in, great!

Unhelpful.

Why does acceptance rate to a private school even matter? All that should matter is whether it's the right school for your kid--and if he's able to get in, great!

Anonymous wrote:Beauvoir boys have an accept rate of 8O+% at 4th grade. That’s going to skew the numbers some.

If you have a NCS kid, will it be easier for her sibling to get into St. Albans? Does it treat as a sibling? Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Think about it this way:

Andover's acceptance rate is 13%. They pull from all over the country and the world, and are one of the most coveted private high schools.

Aside from some kindergarten classes, where there are simply very few slots, I can't imagine day schools in this area--even the best ones--having an acceptance rate that is that much lower than a top independent boarding school.

My guess is that you have a few schools that hover around 15-25%, and then the rest are significantly higher.

That's fine; acceptance rate is simply NOT a proxy for excellence. UChicago had a very high acceptance rate before they started accepting the Common App, simply because they had a self-selecting applicant pool. As soon as they started taking the Common App, their acceptance rate plummeted and people started talking about how great the school is. The school didn't change; the number of applications did.

OP here. I'm not interested in acceptance rates because of prestige, but for practical planning for my children. And while acceptance rates are fuzzy predictors at best, the difference between a 7% acceptance rate and a 30% rate are huge when it comes to figuring out where my dc can realistically go to school.

Yea. Another bash-STA thread to pass the time in quarantine using numbers no one can possibly ever see to make up a story that gets the usual suspects out posting nonsense.

Beauvoir boys have an accept rate of 8O+% at 4th grade. That’s going to skew the numbers some.

Think about it this way:

Andover's acceptance rate is 13%. They pull from all over the country and the world, and are one of the most coveted private high schools.

Aside from some kindergarten classes, where there are simply very few slots, I can't imagine day schools in this area--even the best ones--having an acceptance rate that is that much lower than a top independent boarding school.

My guess is that you have a few schools that hover around 15-25%, and then the rest are significantly higher.

That's fine; acceptance rate is simply NOT a proxy for excellence. UChicago had a very high acceptance rate before they started accepting the Common App, simply because they had a self-selecting applicant pool. As soon as they started taking the Common App, their acceptance rate plummeted and people started talking about how great the school is. The school didn't change; the number of applications did.

9th grade at STA has a very low acceptance rate, think single digits. Other grades however, have a much higher acceptance rate. It is FAR easier to get into STA in lower school or middle school. I know a lot of kids who were admitted those years who would never be accepted for 9th.

There’s probably no more easily manipulated statistic than Admission rate.

The school can manage this number by aggressively encouraging applications including from those who have little chance of being accepted. No one is ever told they have only a slim chance or that they probably won’t get the financial aid they would need as the school makes every attempt to maximize the number of applicants.

Another bit of sleight of hand is determining who exactly is an applicant. Does this include anyone who was interviewed? Anyone who visited the campus? Don’t laugh. As dishonest as this seems, I have seen numbers of applicants inflated by slightly changing the definition of Applicant. Keep in mind, there are no standard definitions and no one who can dispute the numbers given by the Admissions people. And they have every reason to do this including how their department is viewed internally and how “exclusive” their school is seen to be.

The higher acceptance rate suggested here is more likely to be correct. These schools serve a very narrow
slice of the population. Not that many people are qualified, can afford it and want to go.

Do as you please and believe what and who you want. But, I put little stock in these numbers.

Well, all the privates are about to get less selective because no one will be able to afford them after the law firm layoffs.

Columbia’s acceptance is around 7%. Cornell 12%. St Albans’s college acceptance isn’ t that great. A good student might get into Kenyon or UChicago.

Anonymous wrote:Judging from the kids at Beauvoir, NCS and St. Albans, admissions can’t be that selective. The whole exclusive thing is a myth created to separate fools from their money..

I don't think 25 to 30 percent is THAT selective, ultimately. That's equivalent to a low tier Little Ivy acceptance rate.

Judging from the kids at Beauvoir, NCS and St. Albans, admissions can’t be that selective. The whole exclusive thing is a myth created to separate fools from their money..

I don't think these stats are readily available, yet this is the percentage quoted in Business Insider's list of selective schools. Given it's the only source I've ever encountered, I question its veracity.

True or not? And would that statistic roughly apply to NCS and Beauvoir as well? Seems high...