College Transitions’ list of the Best Private Schools in Maryland will focus primarily on our area of expertise—college admissions. As such, we will highlight the job each school does of sending their graduates on to the region/nation’s premier 4-year schools. If you are a Maryland parent actively searching for the best-fit private schools for your child or teen (no matter the current age of your student), you are likely interested in the college preparation and counseling offered by each prospective school.  Of course, in addition to that particular angle, you will also need to balance your teen’s academic, emotional, and social needs with financial and logistical considerations.

Please note that inclusion on our Best Private Schools in Maryland list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear is not representative of any further ranking; the numbering is solely intended to enhance the ease of navigating this resource. All of the schools profiled below have a history of sending graduates to the top colleges in the country. For each of the best private high schools in Maryland, College Transitions will provide you with the:

  • Location
  • Tuition (9-12)
  • Enrollment (9-12)
  • Average SAT Score
  • Average ACT Score
  • Senior Class Size
  • College Admissions Highlights
  • Academic Highlights

Without further delay, let’s look at the best private schools in Maryland.

1) Holton-Arms School

Location: 7303 River Rd, Bethesda, MD 20817

Tuition (9-12): $50,375

Enrollment (seniors): 92

Average SAT Score: 1400

Average ACT Score: 31

College Admissions Highlights:

Between 2018 and 2021, three or more students matriculated into the following schools: Bates (4), BU (5), Colby (4), CMU (3), Duke (6), Georgetown (8), Harvard (6), JHU (6), Middlebury (5), NYU (9), Swarthmore (3), Tufts (3), UChicago (3), Notre Dame (4), UMich (8), Penn (11), Vanderbilt (7), UVA (14), and WashU (14).

Academic Highlights:

  • Holton-Arms is an all-girls institution.
  • 82% of teachers earned advanced degrees.
  • 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
  • The average class size is 15.
  • 17 students received some level of National Merit recognition last year.

2) Georgetown Preparatory School

Location: 10900 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda, MD 20852

Tuition (9-12): $42,130 (Day); $69,365 (Boarding)

Enrollment (seniors): 120

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1180-1440

Mid-50% ACT Score: 27-33

College Admissions Highlights:

Colleges that welcomed three or more graduates from 2019-2022 include the following: Amherst, Boston College, Bucknell, UChicago, Colgate, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, UMiami, UMich, NYU, Penn, Tufts, UVA, Wake Forest, William & Mary, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

  • 85% of teachers possess advanced degrees.
  • 93-acre campus in the suburbs of DC.
  • The average class size is 16.
  • 100% of students are accepted into 4-year colleges.
  • Must complete 100 community service hours over 4 years.

3) Gilman School

Location: 5407 Roland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21210

Tuition (9-12): $35,790

Enrollment (seniors): 120

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1260-1470

Mid-50% ACT Score: 26-32

College Admissions Highlights:

The institutions saw 5 or more members of the Classes of 2018-2022 enroll: Penn (10), Boston College (10), Cornell (9), Brown (6), Northwestern (9), UChicago (6), Georgetown (10), Harvard (8), Johns Hopkins (22), Tufts (8), US Naval Academy (8), Vanderbilt (7), UVA (13), Wake Forest (24), WashU (16), William & Mary (8), and Yale (7).

Academic Highlights:

  • 47 students received National Merit recognition over the last two years.
  • The average number of years teaching is 20.
  • The average class size is 15.
  • 85% of faculty members possess advanced degrees.
  • 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.

4) Key School

Location: 534 Hillsmere Dr, Annapolis, MD 21403

Tuition (9-12): $33,900

Enrollment (K-12): 660

Average SAT Score: 1310

Average ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

Members of the Class of 2022 went on to enroll in the following schools: American, Brown, Case Western, Columbia, Cornell, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette, Stanford, US Naval Academy, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UMiami, and Penn.

Academic Highlights:

  • 79% participate in the performing arts and 84% play an athletic team.
  • 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
  • The average class size is 16 students.
  • 80% of college applicants earned merit scholarships.
  • 39% are students of color.

5) Landon School

Location: 6101 Wilson Ln, Bethesda, MD 20817

Tuition (6-12): $47,940

Enrollment (seniors): 89

Average SAT Score: 1345

Average ACT Score: 27

College Admissions Highlights:

Multiple members of the Class of 2022 matriculated into Brown (2), Bucknell (2), Dartmouth (2), Denison (3), Georgetown (2), UMiami (2), UMich (3), Notre Dame (3), Villanova (2), and Wake Forest (4). One student enrolled at each of the following: Harvard, Colby, MIT, Rice, Penn, USC, UVA, Vanderbilt, UCLA, and Claremont McKenna.

Academic Highlights:

  • The average class size at this all-boys school is 14.
  • 84% were accepted to the college they applied to in the early application round.
  • 41% identify as students of color.
  • All seniors complete a capstone project.
  • Landon offers 32 honors/AP courses.

6) McDonough School

Location: 8600 McDonogh Rd, Owings Mills, MD 21117

Tuition (9-12): $38,750 (Day); $52,250 (Boarding)

Enrollment (seniors): 163

Average SAT Score: 1170-1420

Average ACT Score: 24-31

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2019-2022, more than 5 students enrolled in Boston College (8), Brown (5), Case Western (6), Colgate (6), William & Mary (5), Columbia (6), Dartmouth (7), Duke (8), Georgetown (6), Middlebury (5), NYU (7), Tulane (9), Penn (9), University of Richmond (6), UVA (15), Vanderbilt (6), Wake Forest (10), and WashU (5).

Academic Highlights:

  • 67% of faculty hold advanced degrees.
  • They no longer offer AP courses but instead of their own honors and advanced options.
  • 39% identify as students of color.
  • 25 members of the Class of 2022 received National Scholarship Recognition.
  • 75 individuals are boarding students.

7) Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Location: 9101 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814

Tuition (9-12): $44,900

Enrollment (seniors): 95

Average SAT Score: 1278

Average ACT Score: 29.5

College Admissions Highlights:

Multiple members of the last three senior classes (collectively) have gone on to matriculate into the following colleges: Brown, Colgate, Denison, Emory, Georgetown, Tulane, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Notre Dame, UVA, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. One student has attended the likes of Amherst, Duke, Harvard, Penn, Wellesley, Wesleyan, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

  • Stone Ridge is an all-girls school.
  • 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
  • The average teacher has 16 years of experience.
  • Of 56 faculty members, 54 have master’s degrees and 14 have earned doctoral degrees.
  • 36% are students of color.

8) The Bryn Mawr School

Location: 109 W Melrose Ave, Baltimore, MD 21210

Tuition (9-12): $39,060

Enrollment (seniors): 84

Average SAT Score: 1349

Average ACT Score: 30

College Admissions Highlights:

Among the 84 members of the Class of 2022, more than one headed to schools such as BU (3), Carnegie Mellon (2), Cornell (2), Davidson (4), Johns Hopkins (2), NYU (3), Trinity College Dublin (2), Penn (2), and Yale (2). One student matriculated into Brown, Dartmouth, Emory, Harvard, Stanford, UMich, UVA, WashU, and Notre Dame.

Academic Highlights:

  • Bryn Mawr is an all-girls school.
  • The Class of 2023 had 13 National Merit Commended Scholars and 3 Semifinalists.
  • Each senior must complete an independent project and present a convocation speech.
  • Students take a maximum of 3 AP courses per year.
  • 47% identify as students of color.

9) The Park School of Baltimore

Location: 2425 Old Court Rd, Baltimore, MD 21208

Tuition (9-12): $35,965

Enrollment (9-12): 352

Mid-50% SAT Score: 1150-1440

Mid-50% ACT Score: Not Reported

College Admissions Highlights:

From 2018-2022, more than one graduate matriculated into: Barnard, Boston College, Bowdoin, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Colgate, Cornell, Emory, Hamilton, Howard, JHU, Middlebury, NYU, Princeton, Northwestern, Tufts, UChicago, Penn, UMich, USC, UVA, Vassar, Wake Forest, Wesleyan, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

  • 85% of AP test-takers scored a 3 or better.
  • 7:1 student-to-teacher ratio.
  • The average class size is 15.
  • 74% of the faculty hold advanced degrees.
  • The average amount of teaching experience is 21 years.

10) Bullis School

Location: 10601 Falls Rd, Potomac, MD 20854

Tuition (9-12): $54,540

Enrollment (seniors): 126

Average SAT Score: 1270

Average ACT Score: 26.3

College Admissions Highlights:

In the last five years, five or more students have enrolled at each of the following schools: Boston College, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, Howard, Johns Hopkins, University of Miami, UMich, Northwestern, UNC Chapel Hill, Rice, USC, the US Naval Academy, UVA, William & Mary, Tufts, the University of Richmond, and Yale.

Academic Highlights:

  • 88 of the 131 teachers hold advanced degrees.
  • 46% are students of color.
  • 23 AP courses are offered.
  • Offers signature programs in Entrepreneurship. Humanities and Global Studies, STEM, and the Performing Arts.
  • The mid-50% GPA range is 78-101.

Best Private Schools in Maryland – Additional Resources

We hope you found our blog on private schools in Maryland to be helpful. All high school students and families may wish to explore further information regarding the college search and admissions process at our Dataverse, Blog, and List-Building Tool.