Our experience with elite prep schools is that a LOT of admissions slots are given to legacy students and students whose parents are likely to be large donors to the school. Then there is likely a diversity slice and some athletes -- and a few slots left for everyone else. We applied to the top K-12 school for our kids in another city, and both were rejected (one with a 160+ IQ...) -- we heard from someone later that there were TWO slots in the kindergarten class that did not fit one of those criteria I listed above. A ninth grade class may have more slots, but it is still fewer than you think if you are "unhooked". Hate to say it, but this is good preparation for applying to the very top colleges -- there are a lot fewer slots for unhooked kids there than the colleges like to admit, too.
