Ateres is an officially BY sem, even though it is modern. their not going to be as accepting when it comes to tertiary education. by being BY they are saying we want u to be the perfect BY girl, every BY sem is a cookie cutter.
Darchei Binah is a lot more guiding rather than strict when it comes to rules. obvously some core ones are set in stone, but they give u the torah and halacha behind it and u choose ur path (obviously they encourage a BY direction).
I know so many solid good girls from where I live who went to both Ateres and Darchei Binah and have come out amazing.
I know a few people applying for the coming year who come from solid frum homes and the BY school here (constantly participating in chesed programs, one of them is super brainy and sweet). You can email me if the MODs allo by giving u my email.