Why do most private schools now require laptops?
February 13th, 2010 | 
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I opened this blog to help anyone who is preparing for his SAT.
I remember myself when I started - I was so lost and in such a panic.
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I get the need to access information quickly, but other than that I don,t understand why a student would need their own machine if they attended a private day, or boarding school. I am a Freshman this incoming year, and am considering attending boarding school next year or the year after, as a Sophmoore, or Junior. All the school I am currently looking at require laptops.
Can someone fill me in on why they mainly require them? It seems as though (throughout what I have read, and heard,) that they mainly serve as a distraction in the classroom, with students IMing and searching the web/playing games when they should be focused and paying attention. Don’t get me wrong I love to do it too while at home, but it just doesn’t seem suitable for a place of learning. It also bothers me that test scores from students who have switched from public school to private school, their state and national scores have dropped significantly.
Laptops have their place and I can see the benefits of having one at school, when not improperly used.
Can anyone explain? (Feel free to share experiences if you would like.)
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so they dont have to waste paper and so you can get the info alot easier.
Like what the first answer said, you can get project home works easier if they required the web, tests and quizzes probably will be done online and grading will be faster..
i am at a public school, this year they will give all of us a laptop.. im not sure do we have to buy them or rent them but ill see in 3 weeks when school starts..
i know that our laptop has a strike software that will block alot of websites that is not suitable for school, and you cant really download anything so IM isnt accessable..
I don’t know why. The top prep schools (about 40 – 50% national merit recognized seniors) in my area do not require them. At my son’s prep school, the kids can bring them if they wish, but they tend to bring them once a week if they need them for something specific. The school is more college-y than other high schools, meaning less *rules*, electronic stuff isn’t as monitored as it is at many schools. Even so, no required laptops. (And all the kids have them anyway, macs are a popular 8th grade grad present.)
I’m glad my son won’t need one for 9th in Sept, because reading a computer all day is really hard on the eyes, not good for vision at all. It doesn’t seem to impair the kids, about 50% national merit recognized, top SAT scores and college matriculation.
You’ll probably have an easier time being admitted to 10th than 11th. Generally the only time there are openings in other than 9th are due to someone leaving/moving. (Although a few boarding schools seem to have a number of openings in 10th.) And sometimes good private schools are hesitant to take students in 11th unless they are coming from a similar private school.
I don’t know where you get that about students from public schools having higher standardized test scores than at private school. Maybe you’re not understanding the norms and stanines and how they work. When my son took the ERB at his private K – 8, if one scored a 7 stanine normed to private schools, it would be an 8 or 9 normed to suburban public schools, and a 9 normed to public schools (national). 9 is the highest stanine. Sometimes a 6 stanine normed to private school would equal a 9 at a public school. So the private school kids scored significantly higher overall than public school kids, even at the top (suburban) public schools. So a kid that goes to public schools and gets 9 stanines, would get 6 or 7 stanines for the same scores in private schools, because the scores are so much higher.
Also, from knowing about the ISEE and SSAT, no comparison.
Good luck!