More Local Students Accepted Into Top Colleges, Universities

The number of students being admitted into the top colleges and universities has nearly doubled over the past five years at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, according to school administrators.

“We are very proud of the fact that an ever-growing number of our student graduates have been accepted to some of the most highly competitive college and universities in the country,” Head of School Vincent Downey said.

The school is the Coachella Valley’s only independent, non-denominational preschool through 12th grade private school.

Some 45 percent of graduating seniors were accepted into top tier schools, as defined by BARRON’S.

Seniors have received acceptance letters from many schools, including Duke, Boston College, Stanford, Brandeis, Tufts, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Northwestern, Georgetown, USC, NYU, UC Berkeley, Hamilton, Dartmouth,  UCLA, Pepperdine and UC Davis.

“This accomplishment is outstanding, particularly when only 34 percent of graduating seniors in the State of California and 28 percent in Coachella Valley graduate high school with the academic eligibility required to attend a four-year college or university,” Downey said.