5 Elite Private High Schools

If you want to start making your child's college education plans early, one great option is to put him or her on the elite private high school track. Top prep schools often provide a better education than local public schools, and can also make the transition into college much easier. What's more, they undeniably increase the odds of getting into an elite college. In the following, you'll learn about five of the best private high schools in the country.

Horace Mann School and Trinity School

Situated in the Bronx, Horace Mann is one of many elite private schools in New York City, with Dalton and many others standing as peers. Part of the Ivy Preparatory School League, Horace Mann houses the sons and daughters of New York's elite. Forbes currently ranks Horace Mann as the second best prep school in the country after New York's Trinity School, an Upper West Side private prep school that boasts a student/faculty ratio of 6 to 1 and sends 41% of its students to an Ivy or comparable school.

Phillips Academy

Among the elite New England prep schools, Philips Academy stands out as a top option, assuming you have the legacy to get in. The school is located 25 miles north of Boston in Andover, Massachusetts and is known for its secret societies, which have long been outlawed but are still known to exist in dark circles.

Harvard-Westlake and College Preparatory

These two stand out as the best elite high schools on the West Coast. Harvard-Westlake is in Los Angeles and enrolls 1,600 students between grades 7-12. Forbes currently ranks Harvard-Westlake as the 12th best prep school in the country, and nearly half of all students are National Merit Scholars or Semifinalists. The College Preparatory School or CPS is located in Oakland, California and is much smaller than H-W, enrolling between 300 and 400 students at any given time.  The school is known for a strong focus on technology and for getting its graduates into top colleges and universities.