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09.07.19, 17:37 PM General Topics
63 replies
there is a private school in morristown that i'm thinking of sending dd to for HS. But really and i know this is wrong, the top (cum laude) kids are applying and getting rejected from the very top colleges. I know that sounds awful, and Wesleyan is great and all, but i can't help judging. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
General Topics 09.07.19, 05:37 PM Flag
 

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Yawn. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 05:41 PM Flag
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I'm sorry your daughter got rejected from Wesleyan. That sucks. There are lots of good schools out there though. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 05:49 PM Flag
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That’s not what she’s saying. She’s saying best school top kids go to is Wesleyan. BTW, I sent to to Wesleyan and got equally good education to sibling who sent HYP. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:05 PM Flag
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went [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:05 PM Flag
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Competition for college has outpaced the ability of the most desirable schools to keep up. It's not really news and it doesn't have any particular bearing on the quality of a prep school. It's just a different landscape. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 06:11 PM Flag
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No, wrong. Look at college admissions stats of top prep/ private schools. Routinely 1/3 Ivies, 1/3 top lacs, 1/3 highly selective though less prestigious colleges like Trinity, Franklin and Marshall etc. BC, BU. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:02 PM Flag
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And the legacy percentages? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:03 PM Flag
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Private school in wealthy NJ area will also have legacies; it matters , but strength of academics matters more, in terms of significant admissions from a prep school or lack thereof, year after year after year. And remember it is Legacy + Significant donations constantly increasing since graduation, that actually makes the difference, legacy but no or little donation ( which is a lot more common than you may believe) does not give a real leg up. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:20 PM Flag
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TT NYC schools don’t just have legacies. They have mega wealthy, mega connected legacies. Obama and Clinton are writing their recommendations and their friends are on the boards of Ivy League schools. It matters. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 11:47 AM Flag
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Um I think as an outsider you may be overstating the universality of this phenomenon even at NY TT schools, where most kids are just not connected in the way you have imagined. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 02:28 PM Flag
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This, your imagination has gotten way ahead of reality. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.09.19, 09:23 PM Flag
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Plus, if you are not an HYP etc. legacy for your DD, which it sounds as if you are not, irrelevant for you. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:21 PM Flag
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But Wesleyan is a top LAC. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:03 PM Flag
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Top LACs are Amherst Williams Swarthmore.. Wesleyan , Oberlin, just a tad below that, still very competitive, but not tippy top. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:16 PM Flag
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Wesleyan is quite similar to Amherst and Williams. Acceptance rates for all 3 range between 13 to 17 percent (amherst 13%, Williams 15%, Wesleyan 17%). Oberlin has an acceptance rate of 30%, so really not comparable to the other 3. My niece goes to Williams and knows people who were rejected from Wesleyan. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:40 PM Flag
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Not as prestigious. May be just as hard to get in , but we’re clearly talking snob value here not comparing academics. And those three are the ‘ best’ lacs for boasting purposes. Not advocating, not judging myself, just describing the boasting mom pecking order as observed. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:46 PM Flag
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ok, gotcha. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:36 PM Flag
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So QED, top colleges are not impressed by grads of this school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:28 PM Flag
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That's not true at all. Great LACs are classic feeders to great grad schools. It's almost the point. You don't come out of an LAC necessarily qualified to do anything in particular, you're just given lots of information and training in critical thinking skills. Mine went to Williams and he's going to Georgetown next. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:31 PM Flag
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Mixup-I was referring to grads of the Morristown high school OP is considering for DD that has poor college admissions record. Apparently colleges don’t think much of the academics at this high school, since admissions stats are consistently lackluster. Not commenting on merits of grads of all these exceptional colleges. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:49 PM Flag
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Yes. MoBeard is not a top private school. That’s why. And kids aren’t that stellar and little diversity. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:08 PM Flag
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I dont understand. Are you saying that top LACs are not top colleges? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:41 PM Flag
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No. OP commented that a particular high school she is considering for her DD has poor college admissions; as evidence, she noted a top honors student was rejected by Wesleyan and she thought that was unimpressive. My comment was that if this is a common result at that high school (that even the top students can’t get in to top lac colleges, it’s probably a sign that top colleges do not respect the academics at this high school. That happens, and when it does, the high school needs to make a big public effort to upgrade its academics and then do a tour of top colleges alerting them to the revamp and trying to convince the colleges to give their applicants a second look now that standards have been raised. Then we got into a side quibble about which are the most boast- worthy top lacs. That was off topic, because the OP’s real point is that schools like Wesleyan are not accepting even the top kids from this particular high school. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:20 PM Flag
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Those are connected kids, though. You're giving the school credit for the accomplishments and relationships of the parents. Which might be true, but it has zero to do with the actual educational curriculum. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:17 PM Flag
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It has to do with the colleges perception of the academics at prep schools. Ask any admissions officers. Grads of Collegiate and Brearley are not more connected than grads of Spence and Chapin. But year after year, Br and Co do just a few HYPS spots better than S and C. They all do well compared to random other schools. But the difference between Br and Co and the others is small but consistent over many years, confirming colleges think these two are academically just that bit stronger than other TT SS NY schools. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:55 PM Flag
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Get a life please. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:11 PM Flag
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This is not arcane info. Anyone who grew up in NY and attended these schools knows this. It’s been true since the 80s. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 09:56 PM Flag
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Yes except back then Chapin wasn’t in the running, trailed N-B by a mile. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.09.19, 12:27 AM Flag
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Maybe half a mile. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.09.19, 02:34 AM Flag
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So don’t send DD there. Simple. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 06:11 PM Flag
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Whatever school you send your DD to, you need to evolve your expectations on college. If Wesleyan isn’t your kind of school fine but get used to the idea of similar ranked colleges, even if they have different styles to Wesleyan. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 06:20 PM Flag
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And I'm guessing you mean this get used to this rank as one that is not a shoe-in for anyone. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 06:35 PM Flag
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Just FYI, it’s shoo-in (as in the verb shoo), not shoe- in (as in Manolo). [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 11:04 PM Flag
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Ha! Thx! [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:59 AM Flag
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So here’s the truth: this means that the top colleges ( the ones rejecting these kids) do not think highly of this school. They probably have had some experience with its graduates in the past, may be quite some time ago, and found the kids to be poorly prepared for college. In turn, the school has apparently done nothing to upgrade its academics and then work on communicating that to colleges. Conclusion: don’t send your dc there if you are seeking top notch academics. For comparison, go to Collegiate ( NYC boys school) website and look at the exmissions stats they provide for last 5 years. That’s what college admissions stats look like where colleges value a school’s academics. Contrary to what one OP says, this has EVERY particular bearing on the quality of a prep school. And the verdict on the school you are considering is guilty of lackluster academics. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 08:21 PM Flag
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How old is your DD? Is she a brilliant kid now, who gets nothing but straight As, picks up foreign languages on her own, always does extra work, is years ahead of her classmates in math, so that you have needed to get her tutors with whom to do advanced academic work to keep her from being bored? Most important, do her teachers routinely comment with emphasis that she is the most brilliant student they have taught in many years? Because if not, no high school will change the basic nature of her intellect. And you would be foolish to be thinking of Ivies, Stanford MIT etc. as either attainable, or a good fit for her. If she works hard, Rutgers may be attainable, quite good among state schools, you’re lucky to be in NJ. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 08:57 PM Flag
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Sorry, but I went ivy and kids there were smart, but not smart in the way you're discussing for the most part. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:42 PM Flag
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Agree, but that is what HYPS are looking for in applicants, especially those from lackluster high schools. Just read this board, all about how nobody without a 4.5 average and 1580 sat plus some “hook” will ever get in to a top college. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:24 PM Flag
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^^^also, if you attended Podunk High School and you are HYPS material, that is exactly what your teachers will have been saying about you for years. I also went HYP, but from a top prep school (so had a realistic estimation of my academic level as smart but no genius); Met so many kids from random high schools across the country who were shocked and dismayed to find out that compared to their highly selected classmates in college, they were just academically average. Because they had all been tippy top of their high school class without ever having to study hard, praised as academic stars since 3rd grade, told by their teachers they were“best student I have taught in 20 years.” They arrived at HYPS fully expecting to still to be the smartest kid in the class. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:33 PM Flag
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Please. I went to a top college and the smartest kids there were the stars from small towns. Because they weren’t groomed from k like prep school kids it was all natural, obvious intelligence. The athletes were noticeably the weakest, followed by the super rich kids. Prep school kids as a lot were spoiled and didn’t work that hard. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:06 PM Flag
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Reading comprehension fail. Your post does not even address the same point the op was making, let alone refute or contradict it. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 02:24 PM Flag
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Yeah, I hear you, but the Board is wrong about that. It is true that if you want to get in without a hook (like extracurriculars and/or sports and/or family name) then you better be off the charts smart (whichever school you're coming from). But if you have have one of the aforementioned extras, you don't need to be a genius. Where I was, there was a small minority of true geniuses and a big sea of very smart kids, some of whom came from public and others who came from privates. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:42 PM Flag
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But I will say that even with a hook, getting in is a big crap shoot. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:49 PM Flag
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Yes admission to any specific school is way more of a crap shoot than it used to be, mainly because schools manage acceptances to generate impressive Yield Statistics. But getting in to at least one of a correctly targeted tier of schools is actually no more unpredictable than in days of yore. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 11:42 PM Flag
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Responder from above. Agree. Although the added statistical noise from the managed yields means that a small percentage of those kids will get unlucky and not match in the correct tier. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 12:55 AM Flag
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Yes agree, that used to happen exactly NEVER. Now it does pop up here and there with unfortunate and unfair regularity. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:23 AM Flag
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Well you’d never know it from this board where people act like you need 1580 and perfect grades to even have any shot. They read SAT scores form admitted students which is way off. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:07 PM Flag
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Yes that’s what we were saying: you’d never know it from this board. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 02:24 PM Flag
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IME, the most important thing is where your DC has a good fit and will be happy. I did not go to a "very top college" but it worked out more than fine, I loved my college, was able to go to a great grad school, and made 2MM+ last year. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:01 PM Flag
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This. Other than snob value of the name, who cares. You worked hard and made a great life for yourself. Brilliant! [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:38 PM Flag
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villa walsh? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:12 PM Flag
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Oh it’s a private Catholic school? That might go some way to explain poor exmissions- colleges may expect applicants will choose a Catholic college (especially if historically many do so choose), so less likely to accept and ruin the college yield number. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 11:10 PM Flag
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Just checked website- OP is right, these exmissions (listed by year from 2015) are truly appalling. Only spend money on this if for deep religious commitment- it may be perfect for that. Be surprised if local public in this wealthy area doesn’t do at least as well if not better on college admissions. Yikes! [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:13 AM Flag
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If you are going to send your DD to private school for social reasons (although Villa Walsh, kind of sounds like a downmarket British seaside resort), then your choice is clear and that’s fine. But if you are trying to find a school that will get DD better college access, doesn’t sound as if this is it, so why waste the money. Not as if it’s a nationally known school like Exeter or Groton that will look good on her resume forever no matter where she goes to college. Have you checked their SAT score averages, compared to your local public? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 09:34 PM Flag
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One word: Lawrenceville. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.07.19, 10:43 PM Flag
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This. OP, if you’re this worried about exmissions, just apply for your kid to be a day student at Lawrenceville. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 04:35 PM Flag
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MKA and Newark Academy are considered better than Morristown Beard. Also what about Pingry? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 12:02 AM Flag
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Is Catholic school less expensive? Maybe she just can’t afford Lawrenceville or similar? Or maybe dcs scores are to low to get in? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 12:21 AM Flag
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Yes, much, much less. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 01:13 AM Flag
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mka is trash [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 02:45 AM Flag
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OP, no need to tell us, but ask yourself what type of schools you and DH attended. Most schools if they have changed since then ( and some have not) have only become more selective than they were in your day. So start thinking of schools like your own for your DC, and research current admissions standards there. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 03:09 AM Flag
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If it’s Morristown Beard then it’s because the school is not an academic powerhouse. Kids get in there who couldn’t get into Pingry, Newark Academy etc. But kids seem to like it. They used to have good remedial program. No AP classes. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.08.19, 12:56 PM Flag
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Morristown Beard? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 09.09.19, 09:56 PM Flag
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