2 VA, DC Schools In Top 50 Placing Students At Elite Universities

ALEXANDRIA, VA — There are all kinds of rankings of high schools in the United States, with Virginia and District of Columbia schools usually making a strong showing. A new ranking of which schools are funneling the most students to three elite universities ranks a northern Virginia school at No. 1 in the nation. (See the list of the top schools from both the Commonwealth and the District below.)

The new website, called PolarisList, now offers a new way to rank high schools, by the number of students the school sent to Harvard, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between the years 2015 to 2017.

PolarisList, founded by Harvard College alumnus Sai To Yeung, is his attempt "to demystify the education planning process for families across the country, and across all socioeconomic levels."

SEE ALSO: VA Has 103 Of America's Best High Schools In 2018, US News Says

In the site's methodology, Yeung explains why those three universities were selected to anchor the ranking:

We decided to focus on Harvard, Princeton, and MIT based on a combination of their selectivity and their accessibility to lower income students.

Selectivity is important to us because it means these schools have their pick of the lot when it comes to applicants. If a high school is able to send students to one of these three schools, it means that the school has created an environment to support high achieving students, whether it's in academics or extracurriculars.

Accessibility is just as important to us because we believe a college is only as good as its student body, and a student body is at its strongest when it encompasses a diversity of experiences. According to U.S. News and World Report, these three schools are among the colleges with the highest percentage of students receiving Pell Grants, which are most often given to undergrads with family incomes below $20,000. This means that these schools all offer generous financial aid that make it possible for all students to attend without significant burden.

The two Virginia and DC schools - one public and one private - that cracked the top 50 in the U.S. are Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria (No. 1 overall and No. 1 in Virginia), which sent 79 students to those three institutions during the period; and Sidwell Friends School in DC (No. 40 overall and No. 1 in DC), which sent 18 students to those institutions in the same timeframe.

At the top of the national list was Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria with 79 students sent to Harvard, Princeton and MIT during the period, followed by Stuyvesant High School in New York, which sent 71 students, and Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH, at No. 3, which sent 70 students. Rounding out the top five were The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J., with 63 students, and Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, with 62 students.

Top Virginia schools (private and public) based on how many students were sent to Harvard, Princeton and MIT:

• Thomas Jefferson High School (Alexandria), with a total of 79 sent to those three institutions
• Maggie L. Walker Governor's School (Richmond), 11 students sent
• Charlottesville High School (Charlottesville), 9 students sent
• The Potomac School (McLean), 7 students sent
• Collegiate School (Richmond), 6 students sent
• Langley High School (McLean), 6 students sent
• McLean High School (McLean), 5 students sent
• West Springfield High School (Springfield), 5 students sent
• Madison High School (Vienna), 4 students sent
• Flint Hill School (Oakton), 3 students sent

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Top Washington, D.C., schools (private and public) based on how many they sent to Harvard, Princeton and MIT:

• Sidwell Friends School, with a total of 18 sent to those three institution
• St. Albans School, 14 students sent
• National Cathedral School, 12 students sent
• Georgetown Day School, 10 students sent
• Maret School, 10 students sent
• Gonzaga College High School, 4 students sent
• Washington International School, 4 students sent
• Wilson High School, 4 students sent
• St. John's College High School, 2 students sent
• British School of Washington, 1 student sent
• Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, 1 student sent
• St. Anselm's Abbey School, 1 student sent
• The Field School, 1 student sent

Click here to visit PolarisList.

Also contributing to this story was Rich Kirby, Patch Staff.

Image via Shutterstock