From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 6

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger wrote the following about the U.S. power elite’s private school educational system:

“…Day students make up 20 percent of the student body at…such highly selective schools as Choate, Lawrenceville, Taft, and Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. At Groton, Deerfield and Phillips Exeter Academy, day students make up more than 10 percent of the student bodies…

“…Graduating seniors from the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., go on to Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard and…Stanford University…The Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey…sends its graduates to Harvard and Columbia…Iona Preparatory School…regularly sends graduates to Cornell…and Yale…”

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 5:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated how even the prep school students in the U.S. power elite’s private school educational system who don’t score very high on their SATs have apparently still been admitted into certain prestigious U.S. colleges during the last 20 years:

“…20 of the 43 members in a recent graduating class at one of America’s finest private day schools only scored in the 500-600 range in the verbal SATs—well below the 800 maximum possible score. But…those kids with SAT scores in the 500-600 range are now attending such colleges as Duke, University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore…”

“Chances are that you and your child will be amazed…by the magnificent facilities at most…private schools. They’re far better than at most public schools—better even than at many colleges…

“…Even with a scholarship to pay for all or part of the tuition, there are heavy extra costs at a private school—clothes, because many private schools have dress codes, which can often add $250 to $500 a year to total costs…Aid from private schools is…limited…Status and snob appeal…are all too often the motives of some parents who send their children to private schools…

“…Independent private schools…have an average student-teacher ratio of 9.8 or one teacher for every 10 students. In sharp contrast, the average public school has a student-teacher ratio of 17.4, or more than 50 percent more.

“And that’s why…parents send their children to private schools—especially independent private schools…”

Unger also indicated how some of the prep schools in the U.S. power elite’s private school educational system differ from most U.S. public schools:

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 4:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated from where the U.S. power elite’s undemocratic private school system tends to select its student body:

“…Unlike public schools, private schools can pick the kids they want…Now that may sound elitist to some…Most private schools limit their enrollment…

“…There are a lot of private school children from extremely wealthy families. About one-third come from families with annual incomes of more than $100,000 [in 1999 money]…More than 16 percent of the kids at private schools in America are students of color, including…Asian-American…students. Foreign students make up an additional 3 percent of the student population at independent schools…

“…The prestigious Lawrenceville School, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, near Princeton, reaches outside the community to draw children…Its student body includes children from about 20 nations. In Lakeville, Connecticut, at the Hotchkiss School, a famed preparatory school that sends about one-third of its graduates to Ivy League…colleges,…10 percent are foreign nationals. At…Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, half the seniors go to Ivy League schools each year…About 10 percent are international students…”

From Harlow Unger's `How To Pick A Perfect Private School'--Part 3:

In his 1999 book, How To Pick A Perfect Private School, Harlow Unger indicated how the preppie graduates of the U.S. power elite’s private school system undemocratically occupy a disproportionate number of leadership positions within U.S. society:

“…Although students from private schools represent only 12 percent of all school children in the United States, they fill 40 percent of the seats at the most selective…colleges. As they become adults, they fill a disproportionately large number of leadership positions in business, finance and government as during their higher education. More than 10 percent of the chief executives of America’s 1,000 largest corporations, for example, graduated from just four universities—Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford…”