The 16 most selective boarding schools in America

Location: North Bethesda, Maryland

Endowment: $20 million

Acceptance rate: 23%

Enrollment: 492

The oldest Jesuit school in the country, Georgetown Prep focuses on helping each student build a strong mind, body, and spirit. The all-boys school provides ample opportunities for growth — in and out of the classroom — through numerous athletic teams, student publications, and extracurricular clubs, including speech and debate, chess, and student government.

Location: Wallingford, Connecticut

Endowment: $318 million

Acceptance rate: 23%

Enrollment: 865

Choate Rosemary Hall celebrated its 125th anniversary last year by ramping up its commitment to innovation. The school, which requires its students to bring iPads to class, dedicated a new mathematics and computer-science building that's LEED Gold-certified and home to Choate's award-winning Robotics Team and i.d.Lab — a tech-packed facility for creative thinking and innovation. There's also the Kohler Environmental Center, where juniors and seniors can enroll in the yearlong Environmental Immersion Program that combines sustainable living, study, and independent research.

Location: Hightstown, New Jersey

Endowment: $326 million

Acceptance rate: 22%

Enrollment: 542

An average class size of 12 and a 6-to-1 student-teacher ratio allows Peddie School to give each student individual attention and academic support. It pays off: The most popular college destinations among recent Peddie graduates include prestigious schools like New York University, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and Cornell.

Location: Watertown, Connecticut

Endowment: $236 million

Acceptance rate: 21%

Enrollment: 594

The Taft School's volunteer program, sustainability initiatives, and Center for Global Leadership and Service support the school's motto: "Not be served but to serve." Students have the opportunity to graduate with a "Service Diploma," which asserts a second-language proficiency and community-service experiences abroad. In the last five years, graduates matriculated to top schools, including George Washington University, Georgetown, and Cornell.

Location: Lakeville, Connecticut

Endowment: $362 million

Acceptance rate: 21%

Enrollment: 598

Students at The Hotchkiss School hail from all over — 35 states and 34 countries, in fact — and can venture back into the world for a semester abroad in France, Italy, China, Spain, or one of Hotchkiss' domestic destinations. During school breaks, students can also participate in shorter, faculty-led tours of places such as Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, Kenya, and elsewhere.

Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey

Endowment: $320 million

Acceptance rate: 20%

Enrollment: 816

The Lawrenceville School is defined by its House System: a living situation for boarders and day students where each of the 18 dormitories represents a subcommunity informed by grade and gender. The houses often compete for academic and athletic honors and have individual traditions like sports games and community-service events. Lawrenceville is committed to its Green Campus Initiative, which includes a 30-acre solar farm that covers 90% of the school's energy needs.

Location: Milton, Massachusetts

Endowment: $268 million

Acceptance rate: 19%

Enrollment: 700

Students at Milton Academy narrow down their schedules from a wide range of courses, choosing between everything from Latin literature to computer programming to jazz improvisation. Outside the classroom, students can also participate in community-service and outdoor programs like rock climbing, kayaking, and camping.

Location: Exeter, New Hampshire

Endowment: $1.15 billion

Acceptance rate: 19%

Enrollment: 1,085

At Phillips Exeter Academy, all classes are taught seminar-style, with students gathered around circular tables. The strategy, known as the Harkness method, originated at Exeter and is the school's signature — and students love it. According to the school, pupils come to class prepared and ready to discuss, and engage with the material on a deeper level than could be achieved through traditional lectures.

Exeter counts Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg among its notable alumni.

Location: Concord, Massachusetts

Endowment: $244 million

Acceptance rate: 18%

Enrollment: 384

The Middlesex campus was designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm and is just 20 miles outside Boston, among some of the country's most historic towns. The school balances personal exploration and demanding academics — an Introduction to Mindfulness course that teaches pupils how to reduce stress and improve relationships is required for all new students. Notable alumni include former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and Kevin Systrom, the cofounder of Instagram.

Location: Deerfield, Massachusetts

Endowment: $532 million

Acceptance rate: 17%

Enrollment: 638

Deerfield Academy provides 35% of its student body with $8 million in financial aid annually. In addition to participating academically, students are required to be involved in a cocurricular activity like community service, dance, theater, or sports. More than one-fourth of Deerfield's 330-acre campus is comprised of athletic fields, tennis courts, a fitness center, and a 5,900-square-foot boathouse along the Connecticut River.

Location: Concord, New Hampshire

Endowment: $551 million

Acceptance rate: 16%

Enrollment: 541

During their time at St. Paul's School, students engage with class material through hands-on assignments and collaborative projects, including experimentation in laboratories and exploration outside the classroom. Graduates of St. Paul's then go on to top-tier universities, with Georgetown, Brown, Columbia, and Harvard included as some of the most popular choices over the past four years.

Location: Carpinteria, California

Endowment: $75 million

Acceptance rate: 14%

Enrollment: 270

The vigorous academic courses at Cate School are designed to foster students' self-knowledge and the village-like campus — known as the Mesa — encourages students to take advantage of the nearby Los Padres National Forest and Pacific Ocean for outdoor learning and leisure activities. Cate School's selectivity could be explained by its commitment to diversity: The student body is comprised of 42% students of color from 31 states and 17 countries.

Location: Andover, Massachusetts

Endowment: $1 billion

Acceptance rate: 13%

Enrollment: 1,141

A total of 835 students board at Phillips Academy Andover, the oldest incorporated boarding school in the US, now in its 238th year. The school offers students a rigorous academic curriculum — and access to two on-campus museums — in preparation for college. Over the last three years, dozens of graduates went on to attend all eight Ivy League schools with the most at UPenn, Harvard, and Yale. Former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are alumni.

Location: Ojai, California

Endowment: $138 million

Acceptance rate: 12%

Enrollment: 250

The Thacher School is in California’s serene Ojai Valley where the mountains run east to west and hiking and horseback riding are common outdoor activities for students and faculty. The school aims to teach its student body — 90% of whom are boarders — the value of a disciplined education in congruence with adventures in the wilderness.

Location: Groton, Massachusetts

Endowment: $350 million

Acceptance rate: 12%

Enrollment: 381

At Groton, students must take at least five full-credit courses per semester, including classes in expository writing, ethics, and foreign language. More than just academics, Groton also prioritizes its sense of community, a value emphasized by traditions such as morning Chapel Talk, daily check-ins, surprise holidays, and the school birthday dinner.