New Poll Ranks the 50 Best Boarding Schools in the U.S.
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Boarding schools have a reputation for being prestigious. The academic institutions accept high-achieving students from across the county (usually after a rigorous screening process) and promise to prepare them for university success—perhaps even on Ivy League campuses. Most boarding schools offer a challenging academic setting with esteemed faculty and impressive extracurricular opportunities. They also commit to helping students build friendships, gain independence, and focus on personal growth.
It's true that boarding schools don't have the best portrayal on TV shows and movies (we're looking at you, Dead Poet's Society). But they actually aren't full of elitist students wearing tweed jackets and flaunting their family's money. Indeed, according to AcademicInfluence.com, a data-driven rankings site for higher education, boarding schools are becoming more diverse and geographically varied than ever before. And while they still cost a pretty penny, many students get some type of scholarship to attend boarding school.
To help students and parents interested in attending, AcademicInfluence.com combed through every boarding school in America and chose the best ones. Their rankings are based on the influences of faculty and former students, compiled using machine-learning data technology and artificial intelligence.
"Sending a child to a boarding school is a big deal, matched in significance only by a student's decision to attend," says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University. "Our ranking gives students and their parents a place to compare the schools they've heard about with ones that are new to them. The ability to compare more options helps everyone make a solid, well-informed choice."
More than 300 boarding schools exist across America today. These 50 made the list for best boarding schools 2021:
Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida
Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey
Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts
Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts
Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut
Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut
Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts
Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana
Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts
Fessenden School in Newton, Massachusetts
Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia
Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Maryland
Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine
Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts
Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia
The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut
Indian Springs School in Indian Springs, Alabama
Kent School in Kent, Connecticut
La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana
Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois
Lawrenceville School in Lawrence Township, New Jersey
Madeira School in Fairfax, Virginia
Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts
Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts
Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut
Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Missouri
New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico
Northfield Mount Hermon School in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts
Oak Ridge Military Academy in Oak Ridge, North Carolina
Peddie School in Highstown, New Jersey
Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts
Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire
Portsmouth Abbey School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island
The Putney School in Putney, Vermont
Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California
Shattuck–St. Mary's School in Fairbault, Minnesota
South Kent School in South Kent, Connecticut
St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.
St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey
St. George's School in Middletown, Rhode Island
St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts
St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas
Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut
The Thacher School in Ojai, California
University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Westtown School in West Chester, Pennsylvania
Woodberry Forest School in Woodberry Forest, Virginia
Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts