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Should School Rankings be a Major Factor in Selecting Boarding Schools? School rankings have their merit—they help determine which institutions are performing well in terms of many different things, depending on the criteria each listing or ranking is based on. This said, rankings should not be your only basis when it comes to picking out the best school for your child. While these numbers do offer a good insight as to which schools are good in a particular area, selecting a proper school for a child should be based on several other criteria and factors that address your child's needs. Additionally, the school rankings those are accessible to the public are oftentimes, unofficial, which makes accuracy a bit questionable. Remember that every school is unique and since rankings are mostly about comparing certain characteristics and data, they might not be as reliable when you are pitting a specialized arts-based school against a highly academic school, especially in terms of curriculum. This is why, it is important to weigh your prospect schools based on the strengths of their programs instead of simply looking at the numbers. Other common criteria that go into boarding school rankings include the number of students, AP courses taught, tuition costs, educational philosophy, and a lot more. It pays looking into each criteria or category individually instead of readily crossing out low-ranking schools without first examining their strengths and unique features. When selecting a boarding school for your child, the right fit should be an important criterion to look into. This means that you should find a school with an environment and a set of programs that will help maximize your child's potential—something that no listing or ranking can immediately point you towards. It helps if you have an ideal school in mind or at least a list of things that your child wants in a school or you want your child to have in a boarding school. Choose a school that is the closest match to your ideal school so your child can develop his or her potential to the fullest. With the help of reliable online resources, you can easily search for excellent boarding schools and institutions where you can send your child to, whether you are looking for a good private school in the US or a prestigious boarding school in the UK . Find a website that specializes in different kinds of educational institutions in different parts of the world to make sure you have the best choices at hand. About the author: This article is written by Margaret Kos, CEO of Best Boarding Schools Worldwide . Best Boarding Schools is a full-service educational service provider. They are guiding students and their families as they seek educational consulting advice to search for best international boarding schools. They contact the families with guardians all over the world. They
