Customer Reviews

The Best Private High Schools and How to Get In, 2nd Edition

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Don't know Paulies from Exonians? For the family without a boarding school tradition, this book is the best guide for beginning the boarding school selection process. Like other school guides, the author provides statistics (tuition, median SAT scores, etc.). What distinguishes this book from the rest is how the author manages to capture the essence, the feel of each school. After visiting several boarding schools listed in the book, I found the climate of the schools accurately matched the description in the book. The author also includes in each school synopsis a brief profile of the type of student who would do well at the school. While the book won't tell you which school is best for your child, it will help you narrow the choices to a manageable number.

As someone who knew little about America's top boarding schools, other than that my son wanted to attend one, I found this book very useful. I've now visited 10 campuses and their "feel" is accurately summarized in the book. Perhaps because he is lawsuit-shy or needs to preserve good connections with the schools, some of the author's criticisms are watered down, and a little reading between the lines is needed. I'd peruse this in tandem with Petersen's guide, which is packed with stats that this book lacks. But "The Best" was our primary resource and it served us well.

The book has some useful information, but it is heavily concentrated on schools in the Northeast. For example, the best private high school here in San Francisco Bay Area is not included. It doesn't have some vital statistics that a parent would look for,like the % of graduates that go to colleges, and which colleges the graduating seniors are accepted or attend each year. The information on most schools seem to come straight from the brochures from those schools. Little detail or school specific information is included.

Basically not worth buying. Can spend a couple of hours checking it out in a library or in a Border's Bookstore.