Breck or Blake school? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: public school, vs, statistics)

[Gldnvlly502]

+1 for Breck. Blake has historically worked hard to be well-ranked in simple interview-based "best school" rankings. If you look at the criteria by which schools are chosen for these rankings it is clear that there is little more than interviews of parents, students and teachers. Of course they like their school! Breck doesn't do any of this so, historically, Blake has ranked higher in certain rankings. That said, to anyone in 2017 who visits both schools it will likely be immediately apparent that Breck has considerably stronger academics, much more experienced teachers and facilities that are similar to those of the best colleges. I may be wrong but I believe that many years ago Blake and Breck were more comparable than they are today.

To Ben1515 above, that's hard to say. I think that more of the difference stems from the fact that class sizes and Blake and Breck are smaller so students get more attention. We considered a public school where the teachers were quite wonderful. We would have happily sent our boys there if Breck wasn't an option.

[cathedralhill1]

Blake does actually have some objective criteria on their side. This year's list of National Merit semifinalists show 10 for Blake and only 3 for Breck (2016 was similarly lopsided with 17 for Blake and 6 for Breck). Being a National Merit scholar is a ticket to the best colleges, and it looks like Blake is providing its graduates more opportunities. I will also add that the large, wealthy suburban powerhouses like Edina, Wayzata, and Minnetonka have even more.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by cathedralhill1

Blake does actually have some objective criteria on their side. This year's list of National Merit semifinalists show 10 for Blake and only 3 for Breck (2016 was similarly lopsided with 17 for Blake and 6 for Breck). Being a National Merit scholar is a ticket to the best colleges, and it looks like Blake is providing its graduates more opportunities. I will also add that the large, wealthy suburban powerhouses like Edina, Wayzata, and Minnetonka have even more.

Those public schools are all considerably larger schools. I suspect that the percentage of National Merit scholars at Blake and Breck (using just upper school attendance) are higher, but I'm open to being proven wrong.

[cathedralhill1]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

Those public schools are all considerably larger schools. I suspect that the percentage of National Merit scholars at Blake and Breck (using just upper school attendance) are higher, but I'm open to being proven wrong.

Wasn't trying to argue about Breck and Blake vs. the public option--only pointing out that the aforementioned public schools have loads of success as well, following up on the earlier posts.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by cathedralhill1

Wasn't trying to argue about Breck and Blake vs. the public option--only pointing out that the aforementioned public schools have loads of success as well, following up on the earlier posts.

Since you put them in the same post and context, the question becomes how much is "loads of success" at these public schools compared to the elite private schools? Academically, they are really in different worlds.

[cathedralhill1]

I'm not really sure why you want to be nasty to me about this. The general consensus on this thread seemed to be that Breck was the far superior school to Blake, and I just wanted to point out that by this particular measure it wasn't. At the same time (and this was my mistake I guess, but the issue had been raised), I also was pointing out that some of the suburban schools also produce a large number of National Merit semifinalists as well (Minnetonka 17, Edina 13, Wayzata 18). Yes, larger schools, but not schools you have to apply to and pay to attend. I'm not really sure how the top students at any of these schools are really living in such different academic worlds.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by cathedralhill1

I'm not really sure why you want to be nasty to me about this. The general consensus on this thread seemed to be that Breck was the far superior school to Blake, and I just wanted to point out that by this particular measure it wasn't. At the same time (and this was my mistake I guess, but the issue had been raised), I also was pointing out that some of the suburban schools also produce a large number of National Merit semifinalists as well (Minnetonka 17, Edina 13, Wayzata 18). Yes, larger schools, but not schools you have to apply to and pay to attend. I'm not really sure how the top students at any of these schools are really living in such different academic worlds.

I was not being nasty to you and am very sorry if it came off that way. My only point was that comparing the number of high achievers lacks context when a school like Wayzata HS has over 3,400 students while Blake has 1,400 K-12 and less than 1,000 in their upper school. I am not sure how that being is nasty but if you were offended I apologize.

[binghop]

Originally Posted by cathedralhill1

Blake does actually have some objective criteria on their side. This year's list of National Merit semifinalists show 10 for Blake and only 3 for Breck (2016 was similarly lopsided with 17 for Blake and 6 for Breck). Being a National Merit scholar is a ticket to the best colleges, and it looks like Blake is providing its graduates more opportunities. I will also add that the large, wealthy suburban powerhouses like Edina, Wayzata, and Minnetonka have even more.

I hear you on this, but there is nearly no diversity at all at Blake. Have you ever been there? Breck puts dramatically more emphasis on diversity and, as a result, may accept more students who have not had the same educational resources as Blake coming in. How does this lack of diversity effect kids? (just a consideration in a changing world) It is my understanding that Breck is restructuring and adding significant resources to their college counseling program with the sole focus of boosting college matriculation. Going by the one National Merit stat (for now) that you present, yes, Blake looks pretty good. Going by virtually any other it seems pretty obvious that Breck is very very hard to beat and produces kids who are extremely bright and well-rounded.

[binghop]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

Since you put them in the same post and context, the question becomes how much is "loads of success" at these public schools compared to the elite private schools? Academically, they are really in different worlds.

Agree here that it's hard to compare, particularly with Breck. Academically also it's harder to for many of the public schools to compare with Blake. From a facilities, diversity and overall "what kind of kid has come out at the other end" standpoint, I'd suggest that some of the public schools around MSP may produce more well rounded students than Blake. That's just my humble observation. Cost being even "little" object, I would never pay $25k for Blake over public. Again, just me...

[OneTimeSEALover]

Originally Posted by SlyFrog

Are you freaking kidding me? I work with several people whose kids went to Breck and Blake. Their kids are all in Ivies now. So are their friends. It wasn't because I just happened to hit a random statistical bubble - those schools are great.

(Not comparing them with SPA, which is also great, just suggesting that to say that there are public schools that are better academically is making an implication that I think is grossly misleading.)

A family we know had two sons who graduated from Southwest. One went to Harvard the other to University of Chicago. And even South High School has had a surprising number of National Merit scholars. So the local private schools are oversold. The only real argument I can see for them is that street gangs don't have members attending some of these private schools. That single fact might convince some parents to pay the extra for the private school.