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Reader comment on:
Brearley Tops Survey of Private Schools
in response to reader comment: Great survey, one suggestion to include more than one top school to minimize statistical error

Submitted by Patricia Fry, Feb 21, 2008 09:53

While the point of this article may have been satirical, it serves to reinforce the designer-label mentality of a lot of NYC parents when looking at both NYC private schools, and beyond. We are happy with a different experience. Neither of our children applied to Harvard, because it would have been a bad fit. One of them is attending art school, while the other is at a competitor of Harvard's. And, we withdrew my daughter's application to Brearley, after discovering how tightly-wrapped the program there is! My father, who is a full professor retired from an Ivy League university, treasured his days teaching at a selective midwestern college, and always recommended the intimacy of the college experience of a place like Haverford or Amherst over the large universities like Harvard, which are engulfed by the huge graduate-school infrastructure which surrounds them. It is the fit, and the quality of the four-year experience that counts for your child, not the ability to brag at the next Horace Mann-Collegiate basketball game!

Your readers should also know that Harvard has a big reputation for taking celebrity children, and a poor reputation for social life. Our school, which got a "B" on your list, sent every single graduate in the senior class to a desirable school that seemed in most cases to be a good fit--a list which included a variety of selective college and universities, and art schools, and only a couple of those who went to Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, Brown, etc. even applied to Harvard! Five went to Bowdoin--it is our school that deserves the A+, for effort as well as achievement!

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
I attended Brearley for 9 years before switching to Columbia Prep (and eventually to UChicago), and from personal experience, I... [MORE]	Former Brearley Student	Aug 29, 2008 17:33
This is ridiculous. Getting kids into harvard and ivies should have nothing to do with the rankings. Class sizes, dedicated... [MORE]	philip	May 3, 2008 16:50
You should be more concerned about the racism alive and well at these so-called "pedigree" schools. I'm sure most of... [MORE]	An Independant School Parent	Feb 14, 2008 13:20
...went to Regis. But so did I!! [MORE]	Regis '83	Feb 9, 2008 17:25
Your article fallaciously says,MONEY rules the world,and Harvard is the epi-center of that world. In printing such rubbish and judging... [MORE]	Grandma PSL	Feb 7, 2008 12:25
Did anyone else notice that the writer, Elizabeth Green, went to Harvard? http://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethgreen [MORE]	NYC Teacher	Feb 6, 2008 17:05
you claim 10 Regians (Regis HS) grads are attending Harvard in the past 3 years well, there are 9 in... [MORE]	kelly	Feb 6, 2008 00:28
one more reason not to take the sun seriously; and not to read it. [MORE]	college counselor	Feb 5, 2008 19:20
I fail to see the purpose this serves and what exactly this proves. Most student already know that the Upper... [MORE]	sc	Feb 4, 2008 20:33
Obviously this article is a ploy to increase readership or generate a "buzz" (where none is derserving). To attempt to... [MORE]	NYC Private School Parent	Feb 4, 2008 17:56
Many responses sound like sour grapes. Their children apparently go to one of those schools that didn't score well. [MORE]	Sigmund Fraud	Feb 4, 2008 23:39
Thank goodness our school is too small and insignificant to be in the survey. Our endowment is pitiful in comparison... [MORE]	mom4	Feb 4, 2008 15:50
Ramaz was included in the survey, yet Loyola and Sacred Heart were omitted. Yet Loyola got 3 kids in to... [MORE]	NYCparent	Feb 4, 2008 13:49
Regis and Sacred Heart belong on the list, as does Marymount. You mention 2 out of 3 in the accompanying... [MORE]	Anonymous	Feb 4, 2008 11:00
It is what it is, and facts are facts. It is true that the list of New York City Independent... [MORE]	Anonymous	Feb 4, 2008 10:20
The article basically said that you were in a good private school in New York if your school had money... [MORE]	EZE	Feb 2, 2008 15:37
... and most of these schools release a list of the colleges and universities to which the graduates matriculate each... [MORE]	Anonymous	Feb 1, 2008 21:27
I just so happen to go to one of the "D" rated schools and it is filled with brilliant people.... [MORE]	Marquessa	Feb 1, 2008 21:18
I go to an "A" rated school and I don't give credence to this article. I think that getting into... [MORE]	Anonymous	Feb 4, 2008 18:07
Six kids to Harvard is an "A" and 0 Kids is a "D". What a mockery. How does a kid... [MORE]	BA	Feb 1, 2008 16:54
As a Harvard grad and a parent of kids in private schools, I have to say this is one of... [MORE]	Harvard grad and private school dad	Feb 1, 2008 16:35
The number of students that a school sends to Harvard should absolutely not be a reason to choose a school,... [MORE]	Victoria Goldman	Feb 2, 2008 21:34
This has ridiculously narrow and snobby criteria. It is also insulting to the poorly graded schools who may have better... [MORE]	Dr. Lee W. Jones	Feb 1, 2008 14:51
This is an interesting survey, but I believe that all of these schools care and intellectually nourish their students in... [MORE]	Alfredo Kuilan	Feb 1, 2008 08:45
The author assumes that the entire purpose of a private school education is to ensure a students admission into into... [MORE]	Scott Forsythe	Feb 1, 2008 08:24
The "New York Sun Private School Index" is obviously a parody. How could anyone take this alleged "ranking system" seriously? [MORE]	Anonymous	Jan 31, 2008 23:29
Most famous and successful hollywood directors go to film schools, such as USC, Columbia, NYU and Stanford, some of the... [MORE]	Max and Natalie	Jan 31, 2008 21:59
Harvard is not even the number one school anymore, Princeton is. I know that a ton of kids from your... [MORE]	Sara	Feb 1, 2008 23:17
Let me begin by saying that there is no greater fan of the Sun than me. Always staunchly on the... [MORE]	Brian Rom	Jan 31, 2008 21:41
This has nothing to do with the schools themselves and just to do with money. It is gross and rude... [MORE]	Sam	Jan 31, 2008 21:20
To say that DWIGHT is on the same level as a school such as Nightingale is quite laughable. [MORE]	John	Jan 31, 2008 21:05
as one of the sudents that was given an extremely poor grade, i think you should have included more than... [MORE]	william stern	Jan 31, 2008 19:54
A complete waste of time. Another useless "survey." Why don't you take a survey of the kids who attend these... [MORE]	Slav a Hazin	Jan 31, 2008 17:11
Dear NY Sun,I am the President of the Guild of Independent School and I am writing to comment upon your... [MORE]	George Davison	Jan 31, 2008 16:09
What these rankings don't take into account is the disparity in enrollment in graduating classes amongst elite schools. Some of... [MORE]	Stanislaus	Jan 31, 2008 15:29
It's interesting to see schools reviewed, and sometimes the reviews tell us more about the values and assumptions of the... [MORE]	Peter Booth	Jan 31, 2008 15:18
Perhaps this analysis should have looked at offers of admission, not matriculations. Of students cross-admitted at H-Y and H-P, many... [MORE]	grb	Jan 31, 2008 14:40
What about the number of kids who get into Yale? Or Stanford? Or Cal Tech? Or Swarthmore, Amherst, Williams, Haverford,... [MORE]	Justin Warner	Jan 31, 2008 14:01
I have to say that as a New York Sun reader who's been a fan from the first issue, and... [MORE]	Adam Beckerman	Jan 31, 2008 15:23
To say you judge it on the basis of students getting into harvard and the schools net assets makes this... [MORE]	John	Jan 31, 2008 21:06
As a parent whose child attends one of the "A" ranked schools, I would be curious to know why some... [MORE]	Lisa Kohl	Feb 4, 2008 10:45
too harvard-focused. much broader circle of top-tier universities out there -- including ones with little applicant crossover w/harvard. [MORE]	NYC Dad	Jan 31, 2008 12:25
Letter grades in the city began with John Dewey High School in Brooklyn in 1970. Not sure what Bloomberg has... [MORE]	JC Clark	Jan 31, 2008 11:42
What study worth noting would use such a flawed system? The logic here presupposes that the other 91% of students... [MORE]	J H	Jan 31, 2008 10:41
the methodology is absolutely flawed. to judge a school soley on how many of its students went to Harvard and... [MORE]	anonymous	Jan 31, 2008 15:26
As a parent reviewing schools, this helps me cut through the spin perpetrated by students,alumni or parents of competing schools.... [MORE]	NYC mom	Feb 2, 2008 23:45
Interesting survey in that it takes into account each schools net assets as well as exmissions data. one can argue... [MORE]	thewiseking	Jan 31, 2008 09:24
Great survey! I would have included more than Harvard if the other top schools also have face books. That way... [MORE]	Anonymous	Jan 31, 2008 07:08
While the point of this article may have been satirical, it serves to reinforce the designer-label mentality of a lot...	Patricia Fry	Feb 21, 2008 09:53

Reader comment on:Brearley Tops Survey of Private Schoolsin response to reader comment: Great survey, one suggestion to include more than one top school to minimize statistical error

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Comment on Brearley Tops Survey of Private Schools

Reader comment on:
Brearley Tops Survey of Private Schools
in response to reader comment: Great survey, one suggestion to include more than one top school to minimize statistical error