GATEWAY TO PREP SCHOOLS: STREAMLINING THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THE NATION’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS PREP SCHOOLS

The Gateway to Prep Schools initiative is a common admissions portal overseen by a consortium of member schools which includes many of the best-known and most prestigious college-preparatory schools in the United States. The scheme was launched in 2010, steered by Groton School alongside peer schools including Deerfield Academy, Hotchkiss School, Phillips Academy Andover and St. Paul’s School. The consortium has since expanded to include many other nationally renowned independent schools that operate a similar, highly selective admissions process and offers a streamlined application system for prospective pupils.

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ABOUT

Making the decision as to which preparatory school is right for you can be a daunting process and many of the nationally competitive, leading college-preparatory programmes can have extremely intense application procedures and requirements. This is especially so for the elite cadre of boarding schools that have been the traditional feeder schools for the Ivy Plus colleges and universities (the famous universities of the Ivy League and a select few other institutions that are their peers), and the selective liberal arts colleges of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and their like, such as those members of the Selective Liberal Arts Consortium (SLAC), the Pennsylvania Consortium for the Liberal Arts (PCLA), the Seven Sisters (7S), the New York Six Consortium (NY6), the Five Colleges of Ohio (Ohio Five), the Five College Consortium (FCC), the Quaker Consortium, the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC), the Small College Consortium (SCC) and various other groupings.

This exclusive group of schools have long viewed one another as peers, most of them being primarily boarding schools or having a strong boarding tradition. Whilst they compete directly against one another in terms of attracting the greatest candidates, they also have worked together over many years to advance standards and to streamline admissions processes. This cohort of elite independent schools make every effort to ensure that the most capable and able pupils can easily find a home with one of their respective institutions, often on a needs-blind basis. The most famous of these schools are sometimes grouped together by admissions advisors and education professionals under such headings as the “Group of Seven”, the “Elite Eight”, the “Select 16” and, more recently, the acronyms “GLADCHEMMS”, “HADES” or “St. Grottlesex”. Some of these schools have formalised their relationships through the establishment of various consortia, particularly of note are the Eight Schools Association (ESA) and the Ten School Admissions Organization (TSAO) which include many of the Group of Seven schools and the Gateway to Prep School’s founding members and early expansion members. So too are many of the Gateway to Prep Schools also involved in other prestigious schools’ consortia such as Great Boarding Schools (GBS) and the Mid-Atlantic Boarding Schools (MABS) group.

Collectively, these schools form the traditional upper crust of American college-preparatory boarding schools and have been associated with America’s wealthy upper classes and the old money elite. This is an unfair characterisation today given the significant inroads that these schools have made to increase diversity and to apply their respective endowments to support needs-blind admissions or scholarships. A more accurate depiction of these schools would be that they are amongst the most challenging, rigorous and academically successful schools in the world, developing and deploying leading-edge technology and educational delivery models.

In Michael Useem’s often-cited study of corporate America (“The Social Organization of the American Business Elite and Participation of Corporation Directors in the Governance of American Institutions” [1979]), the various schools that comprise the Gateway to Prep Schools consortium were found to be amongst the most commonly listed schools in the educational backgrounds of the executive boardrooms of American commerce. A separate study of society weddings by Hatch and Hatch [1947] found that the schools most likely to have been attended by the groom included many of those that participate in the Gateway to Prep Schools organisation. Many of the commonly identified schools of Society brides identified by that study are also members of Gateway to Prep Schools.

However, whilst these schools were the traditional preferred choice for the American Upper Classes, the emergence of alternative schools of equal pedigree in other regions of the United States began to challenge their dominance. The surge in the population of major financial centres such as New York City, Chicago and San Francisco displaced the established social order and schools in these cities, often progressive day schools (particularly the NY Interschool consortium members and the founding schools of the Guild of Independent Schools of New York City), became the preferred choice for America’s emergent merchant barons and the new social circles within which they operated. In more recent decades, population growth has been more balanced across the United States, such that the cache of the Northeastern historic elite preparatory schools no longer carried the same weight outside of the region. Other college-preparatory schools in the Midwest, the South and on the West Coast had long-been the preferred choices for their respective communities and were beginning to compete for the same candidates as their East Coast rivals.

Nonetheless, it was those schools across New England and the Mid-Atlantic which had established the college-preparatory school model – a hybrid of the early Puritan academies of science, technology and modern education (famously demonstrated by Andover, Deerfield, Exeter and Milton) combined with the British “Public School” ethos adapted by early Anglican and Catholic boarding schools in the region – especially the so-called “St. Grottlesex” schools.

The various Gateway to Prep Schools’ members are the embodiment of this archetypical rigorous American college-preparatory school model which came to be emulated by their many rivals across the United States. They offer academic programmes, athletic programmes and co-curricular programmes that many small liberal arts colleges and far exceed that offered by most American schools. They share close relationships with the nation’s top colleges and universities and have a successful track record of placing students into the most selective tertiary institutions in the world. Furthermore, these schools have endowments and alumni lists that are on par with many of the nation’s top liberal arts colleges. Indeed, such is the size of the funds available to many of these schools that many operate a needs-blind admissions policy with some 40-50% of pupils attending on full financial aid packages. This has allowed the schools to become academic powerhouses, operating highly selective admissions policies. Furthermore, this has ensured that the schools have significantly increased representation from minority backgrounds and differing wealth demographics. Similarly, many of the Gateway to Prep Schools members and their peers are the primary beneficiaries of external scholarship funds and diversity promotion associations that seek to identify capable scholars and secure them a place within these schools. Many of these schools also participate in the Prep 9 Consortium and its associated Prep for Prep programme, alongside other similar schemes, including: A Better Chance (ABC), Reach Prep and the Wight Foundation (WF). Whilst the consortium was initially confined to the Northeast, it has since expanded over the years to include many of the finest schools on the West Coast, across the Midwest and in the South and includes members in Canada too.

These schools also share close relationships with a select cadre of elementary and middle schools which have a legacy of feeding pupils to these schools, particularly the members of the Elementary School Heads Association (ESHA) and the Junior Boarding School Association (JBSA), as well as a number of renowned day schools in New York City, Boston and across New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Two members of the JBSA are also members of the Gateway to Prep Schools consortium – Cardigan Mountain School and Fay School. JBSA member, Eaglebrook School is a former Gateway to Prep Schools participant. These feeder schools are famously excellent in supporting their pupils in preparing for admissions to many of the Gateway to Prep Schools but for pupils at other schools the process can be daunting, onerous and complex.

Identifying the right school often requires undertaking a substantial volume of research, aptitude and academic testing, visits, interviews and attendance at admissions fairs to meet with school representatives. All of this has to be managed whilst prospective pupils are still studying and, as is typical of the calibre of pupil accepted to these schools, taking part in a broad mix of extra-curricular activities and initiatives.

Preparing for applications is a challenging endeavour and many pupils are forced to limit their applications to a select few preferred schools, who often have differing admissions criteria, processes, deadlines and approaches. As such, some of these pupils were not getting to meet schools which might have been a better fit for them. Similarly, pupils who might have had their application rejected (perhaps due to oversubscription, several similar candidates or failing to meet diversity requirements) may not have applied to other, equally prestigious, preparatory schools that may be able to accommodate them and would have accepted their application.

The Gateway to Prep Schools institutions recognise the complexities and challenges faced by applicants and, especially, by the highest calibre candidates. Thus, even though these schools compete directly against one another to attract the best candidates, they have identified the need to harmonise the process to ensure that capable students are afforded a place at one of their respective institutions.

Through the establishment of a common admissions portal, the Gateway to Prep Schools members have been able to substantially streamline the applications process for prospective students. The system allows candidates to monitor admissions deadlines and see which schools are still accepting applications and which schools have closed their admissions windows. Candidates can create a single profile with a uniform presentation of academic transcripts and related admissions material which can be used to apply to several schools at once. The member schools’ admissions officers are also able to view the candidate profiles thus allowing them to reach out to any outstanding applicants directly. Candidates are further able to identify alternative peer schools to their preferred institution and to access useful information and resources to better inform their applications. Another key feature of the Gateway to Prep Schools system is the common notification dates allowing candidates to assess their application status and to make decisions on offers with ease.

Unlike other schools’ consortia, Gateway to Prep Schools does not organise common admissions fairs or campus tours for its members. To the extent that the respective member schools carry out such activities, they do so independently or through other groups in which they are members. Likewise, the association does not organise any other activities or initiatives on behalf of its membership. Nor does Gateway to Prep Schools facilitate discussion of admissions policies, entrance criteria or tuition fees amongst its members or more widely within the independent school sector. It is exclusively an admissions portal designed to make the entrance pathway easier and more transparent for potential applicants.

The Gateway to Prep Schools’ members include a broad mix of institutions offering education from middle school to upper high school. Many offer a postgraduate year programme to support students seeking to enrich their educational experience and enhance their college applications. Most of the member schools have a boarding programme but some are day schools or accept day pupil admissions. Similarly, most of the member schools are co-educational but there are also single-sex schools for boys or girls, many of which are members of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC) or the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS). All of the Gateway to Prep Schools participants are accredited members of a nationally recognised accrediting body and are licensed in their respective regions by the appropriate independent schools commissioning body. They are all members in good standing of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). A significant number are also members of The Heads’ Network and / or the Heads and Principals Association (HMA). Some of the schools with headmistresses are also aligned with the 1911 Group (formerly the Head Mistresses’ Association of the East). Those with boarding programmes are also accredited by The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) and many are also members of regional and national boarding schools consortia, including the Junior Boarding Schools Association (JBSA), the Small Boarding Schools Association (SBSA), Maine Boarding Schools (MBS), the Texas Boarding Schools Association (TBSA) the Western Boarding Schools Association (WBSA) and the Western Connecticut Boarding Schools Association (WCBS). Most of the schools, particularly those with boarding programmes, are recognised and recommended by the Parents League of New York (PLNY). Some of the schools are similarly endorsed by the Parents’ Independent School Network (PIN) or the Parents Council of Washington.

A number of the Gateway to Prep Schools participants are also members of national associations of leading prep schools such as the National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP), the Network of Complementary Schools (NOCS), the Centre for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE), the Folio Collaborative, and the Independent Schools Experiential Education Network (ISEEN). As some of the world’s leading schools, many of the Gateway members also participate in exclusive associations of international leading schools such the Global Connections Foundation, the Global Education Benchmark Group (GEBG), the Global Online Academy (GOA) the G30 Schools, the Leading Schools of the World (LSW), Research Schools International (RSI), Round Square and the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA).

Whilst the Gateway to Prep Schools system makes applying to your target school a whole lot easier, we would still recommend that you take the time to carry out your own independent research and to ensure that you are fully prepared before you embark on your application and begin your admissions journey. You should begin your preparation well before the admissions deadline including undertaking the requisite programmes of study and engaging in a broad range of  co-curricular activities. There are also many great schools which do not participate in the Gateway consortium which should not be overlooked and you would be wise to speak with your school’s guidance counsellors and independent admissions consultants (where possible) to best plan your strategy for targeting the right school for you.

If you would like to learn more about the Gateway to Prep Schools consortium, you can find their contact details below or you can speak directly with your preferred member school as listed below.

If you attended one of the schools listed below, please do share your experiences here to help inform prospective parents. Any specific insights or details that might give a better picture of life at such a school would be very welcome. Similarly, if you taught at any of these schools, we would be very keen to hear about your experiences.

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MEMBERS

CHOOSE LIST VIEW FOR A SIMPLE LIST OF ALL LISTED SCHOOLS. ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN SELECT SCHOOLS USING THE MAP BELOW.

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FORMER OR LAPSED MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES

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