Anonymous
12/04/2025 20:54
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Buckley seems very easy to get into. Like Avenues not sure about St. Bs.
Interesting. Is that recent? Would’ve never guessed that about Buckley.
Hmm... St. Bernard's is not easy to get into. A couple years ago, they had almost no spots left after legacies. I know several people who got into Collegiate but not St. Bernard's. St. David's and Buckley are probably similar to the average of their peer girls' schools (Spence, Chapin, Sacred Heart, Nightingale). These boys/girls schools are *mostly* the same crowd. The girls' schools have a slightly wider pull, since they are k-12, but they also admit more kids. Most applicants do NOT get into Buckley or St. D though.
How competitive is Allen-Stevenson compared to those three and how does it compare socially/culturally/academically?
Allen-Stevenson and Browning are usually considered a step below Buckley and St. David's academically, and are probably easier to get into. I'm not sure if they admit more than half of applicants. Allen-Stevenson is more progressive / less structured than the other boys' schools. When I visited, it was very loud and chaotic. I bet it's a lot of fun for the right kind of boy, but it was too much for me.
Aren’t St. David’s and Allen-Stevenson pretty similar in terms of admissions difficulty? I’ve seen a lot of families get into both and then choose between AS and St. David’s in either direction.
Browning, on the other hand, doesn’t seem very popular at all, even though it’s a K–12 boys’ school in Manhattan. I’ve never seen a kid get rejected from Browning. Do you know why that is?
Anonymous
12/04/2025 17:51
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Chapin and Spence feel about equal to me!
Honestly, the cultural differences between Spence and Chapin are much bigger than the academic ones, so even if you do think Spence is a tiny bit more academically rigorous, that probably shouldn't be the thing that makes you pick one over the other.
(both worlds better than Fieldston though)
What are the cultural differences? What about Brearley?
I am curious as well. I hear Chapin is the warmest out of the three. Spence is glitzy. Brearley is strict and most academic.
Anonymous
12/04/2025 16:36
Subject: Best private schools in NYC?
How about Dalton? I heard it’s progressive also.