Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:54
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Colleges have made it clear they want pointy individuals to make up a well-rounded class. So lots of kids with unique individual spikes. I think this is awful as it has led to kids specializing at super young ages when they should still be exploring lots of interests and I generally don't enjoy interacting with kids who seem to only be able to talk about one topic (and who will often drop that "passion" like a bad habit the day they are accepted to college). Schools have become overwhelmed by too many applicants so don't know what to do anymore. If they weren't forced to cater to USN&WR and all of its dumb metrics, as well as to the PC police (I like diversity a lot, but it has gone overboard), and instead could curate the class they truly want, it would be a lot easier. But that ship has sailed.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:52
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
First time poster long time reader. You said TT and Ivy alums wouldn’t act the way that obnoxious poster is speaking. Now you’re saying you met a ton of tacky TT alums who are rich. Which is it?
You also seem to say anyone who argues with you is lying about their background. There are tons of jerk athletes in any sport including squash and golf and tennis. I don’t see how you should assume he’s lying. You come off as unhinged when you bring Trump into it. You and that poster should meet up IRL and get romantic. Wear protection.
Another new poster. You are sad. You need a hobby. I think the responder went a bit overboard but agree with them that the anti-Scarsdale person is scary. This thread (and most of DCUM) attracts the worst of the worst. If everyone here was as important as they claim to be they would be doing better things with their lives. I took a break for a few weeks and came back and this is the first thread I checked. Garbage. The fact that a person like that is dominating the narrative and actually being defended is pathetic. I'm out. Peace.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:47
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
"The spike" is currently fashionable, yeah, who knows for how long. Perhaps, it's also a way to rationalize a push for a more diverse student body... I do get the feeling that after years of seeing thousands of stellar academics/test scores/music/sports/volunteering applicants, seasoned AO's just can't bring themselves to be excited about one more of those.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:41
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
The current theory is that very one-sided candidates do much better with Ivy college admissions than very well-rounded students. There are a lot of "well-rounded" kids (including class presidents and valedictorians from all over the country) but there are fewer strong candidates with a "big spike". Private college counselors who charge $100k+ for their services spend most of their time advising students on the most appropriate "spike".
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:33
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
My mom is a former Ivy admissions officer and she has always said the two kinds of kids they look for are 1) very well-rounded (which in her version means stellar academics / test scores and serious dedication to a bunch of extracurriculars) or 2) very one-sided (meaning that they're doing one specific thing at a nationally-competitive level).
I could definitely see "well-rounded" as a euphemism for "not really that exceptional at anything," but it can also mean "class president and valedictorian."
I could definitely see "well-rounded" as a euphemism for "not really that exceptional at anything," but it can also mean "class president and valedictorian."
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:24
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
First time poster long time reader. You said TT and Ivy alums wouldn’t act the way that obnoxious poster is speaking. Now you’re saying you met a ton of tacky TT alums who are rich. Which is it?
You also seem to say anyone who argues with you is lying about their background. There are tons of jerk athletes in any sport including squash and golf and tennis. I don’t see how you should assume he’s lying. You come off as unhinged when you bring Trump into it. You and that poster should meet up IRL and get romantic. Wear protection.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:19
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
Colleges, investment firms, and even country clubs don’t want super well rounded. They want personality and X factor. Scarsdale produces very milquetoast dweebs. That is why Scarsdale underperforms in matriculation despite posters here bragging about its SAT repeatedly.
On not wanting super well rounded - I could see the light leave the eyes of my Spence interviewer when i said i went to a large public high school.
OMG, I literally had a Spence interviewer say after DD's interview: "well, she is obviously very well-rounded" in the most unenthusiastic way imaginable...
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:09
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
Colleges, investment firms, and even country clubs don’t want super well rounded. They want personality and X factor. Scarsdale produces very milquetoast dweebs. That is why Scarsdale underperforms in matriculation despite posters here bragging about its SAT repeatedly.
On not wanting super well rounded - I could see the light leave the eyes of my Spence interviewer when i said i went to a large public high school.
Yep. You may think it’s desirable to be well rounded and a jack of all trades and academic subjects. Many in positions of academic and professional and social authority do not.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:06
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
Colleges, investment firms, and even country clubs don’t want super well rounded. They want personality and X factor. Scarsdale produces very milquetoast dweebs. That is why Scarsdale underperforms in matriculation despite posters here bragging about its SAT repeatedly.
On not wanting super well rounded - I could see the light leave the eyes of my Spence interviewer when i said i went to a large public high school.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 11:00
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
Colleges, investment firms, and even country clubs don’t want super well rounded. They want personality and X factor. Scarsdale produces very milquetoast dweebs. That is why Scarsdale underperforms in matriculation despite posters here bragging about its SAT repeatedly.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 10:52
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Strongly disagree. I know tons of super well rounded, cultured, interesting Ivy grads from the burbs. And a lot of rich but ignorant, low class, tacky alums of TT schools.
Making broad generalizations like this is showcasing ignorance. Assume this post was by the anti-Scarsdale faux squash fan.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 10:33
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Similar SAT scores (assuming that’s true) does not mean similar student populations. The non financial aid students at TTs will be better socialized, resourced, and have better careers down the road than their suburban counterparts. They have more access to the fine arts and will make a bigger impact in college and beyond.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 10:25
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
I found a handy chart of Westchester school district average SATs on a realtor's website:
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
https://houlihanomalley.com/westchester-high-schools/
What leaps out at me about this is the range - from 1413 in Scarsdale to 1229 in Rye Neck (still considered one of the better ones) to 1023 in Tuckahoe or 900 in Yonkers. Low-to-mid 1200s is also where the top districts in Connecticut land. Roosevelt - often considered the best GenEd high school in NYC - averages around 1360, and the SHSAT schools range from around that number for Brooklyn Tech to 1500 at Stuy.
My argument would be that while Scarsdale and Edgemont and Chappaqua and Armonk don't technically get to counsel out or turn away anybody any more than Yonkers does, the wealth and educational attainment of their towns' populations is such that it effectively functions as a form of screened admissions; "buying a house in Scarsdale" is a very different filter than "getting your kindergartener into Horace Mann" or "getting your 9th grader into Bronx Science" but they all end up producing pretty similar student populations.
(which raises some interesting larger questions about the value / selectivity of private schools in general)
Anonymous
01/31/2026 10:24
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:A troll who has helpfully given us the means to identify them in future discussions in this anonymous forum, because due to some unspecified past trauma they get absolutely furious when people talk about Scarsdale
It’s really not nice. DC has nicer suburbs than NY.
Disagree. Maybe equal but not better. But a topic for a different thread.
Chevy Chase is way more tasteful than Scarsdale, and that doesn’t even address the residents of both. Chevy Chase has better country clubs, too. The accents in Scarsdale…..
Again. Why the obsession with Scarsdale? Lots of other nice suburbs in NYC. Though I will tend to agree that Chevy Chase is hard to match as it is a very nice suburb and has better proximity to the actual city than most NYC suburbs do. A better comp for Chevy Chase is somewhere like Bronxville.
Still trying to figure out what this has to do with the thread topic, but anyhoo...
Scarsdale is unpedigreed and uppity. Towns like Bronxville, Greenwich, and Darien have better residents and sense of place in the pecking order.
How to say you're anti-semitic without saying you're anti-semitic...
Throw in chappaqua then. Muncher nicer town than Scarsdale and a “good public school,” whatever that means.
Anonymous
01/31/2026 10:17
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:A troll who has helpfully given us the means to identify them in future discussions in this anonymous forum, because due to some unspecified past trauma they get absolutely furious when people talk about Scarsdale
It’s really not nice. DC has nicer suburbs than NY.
Disagree. Maybe equal but not better. But a topic for a different thread.
Chevy Chase is way more tasteful than Scarsdale, and that doesn’t even address the residents of both. Chevy Chase has better country clubs, too. The accents in Scarsdale…..
Again. Why the obsession with Scarsdale? Lots of other nice suburbs in NYC. Though I will tend to agree that Chevy Chase is hard to match as it is a very nice suburb and has better proximity to the actual city than most NYC suburbs do. A better comp for Chevy Chase is somewhere like Bronxville.
Still trying to figure out what this has to do with the thread topic, but anyhoo...
Scarsdale is unpedigreed and uppity. Towns like Bronxville, Greenwich, and Darien have better residents and sense of place in the pecking order.
How to say you're anti-semitic without saying you're anti-semitic...