I was recently accepted into NMH and would love to learn more about the school and get people’s opinions about it. Is it regarded as a “second tier school?” What is the community at the school like? I’ve also heard that the science building and some of the dorms at the school are in terrible condition, is it true??
NMH is an amazing place! I visited the campus (which is beautiful) and is considering it right now. There isn’t really such thing as a “second tier school”, its the matter of personal fit. From my campus tour, the community is super close-knit and all the students are laid back and love to support each other. As I’ve seen, the conditions at the school are pretty nice and I have nothing against them. Congrats for getting accepted and good luck! Maybe I’ll see you there in the fall 
The acceptance rate at NMH is below 30% so that means you are in the lucky company of some very strong applicants. My daughter recently graduated from NMH and she is now at a top 20 university with a 4.0 and she tells me she finds it easy compared to NMH, so if you want to be challenged academically, NMH can definitely deliver for you. They send kids to the Ivies and all the other top colleges every year, but kids also apply to a wider range of schools generally, so while I would not consider NMH “2nd tier,” if your concern is college acceptances, I wouldn’t worry because you will be well prepared for any college that interests you.
If you want to have a good quality of life and work/play balance, I think NMH does a better job of providing that than many as it has a slightly more relaxed vibe generally. It is a progressive school - very inclusive, very international, liberal and the kids are friendly and supportive. The international students who are there (about 30%) are all extremely good students. There are no english as 2nd language options so you must be strong academically and fluent before you arrive. Yes, the science building is dated; a campaign is underway to replace it. NMH is currently building a brand new boat house and the arts building is newer and gorgeous.
The dorms are all pretty decent - I certainly would not say they are in terrible shape! The campus overall is super well maintained. My daughter was in Wallace which is not the cutest dorm but she loved it. There is a lot of dorm spirit. Your advisor usually lives in your dorm, and after freshman year, kids tend to stay in the same dorms. (Freshman live in some very cute cottages in the center of campus but I have not been inside so I don’t know what the rooms are like) Dorms compete against each other periodically in Hogolympics and other events. The food is regarded by many to be the best of any school.
However, I think the thing that makes the school exceptional is the friendliness of the kids and the way the school includes students in the very intentional creation of the community and the running of the school. Hoggers make stuff happen; for example a current student started a “shampoo shuttle” to collect mini shampoos from local hotels, rebottle them, and distribute them to shelters. The program is now being handed down to other NMH students to run and spreading to other schools who have joined the effort. NMH hosts a mock presidential election night (including anchors and live counting of vote returns) every 4 years which involves schools in every state. They also do stuff like play real life “sunk my battleship” with canoes in the pool, and generally work hard/play hard. If you can tell us more about what your specific interests are on campus, others here might be able to give you some more information. Day students are full integrated and even assigned dorms I believe where they can stay over as needed so there is no weekend exodus.
The longer block classes and unique class schedule also differentiate NMH - classes are all discussion based which deepens the connection students feel to the subject matter. I hope you both will choose to become hoggers. Congratulations on your acceptances!
Thank you so much for all of that information @chemmchimney. From how you describe the school, it feels that NMh has a pretty laid back atmosphere to the school. Would that be fair to say? Is there a lot of competition between the students? Also I was wondering if you could tell me how rigorous the courses are? Since you are covering the entire year’s course in half the time, I imagine the classes move along pretty fast. However, schools lie Groton are known for their rigorous and difficult academic, is NMH like that? Also I know that the school has multiple excellent athletic teams, but is there a pressure to be an athlete? Is the school almost too sporty? Do a lot of students get recruited for their sports?
@Frenchfrey NMH kids are not competitive with each other. The pace is brisk and like most BS, there is a good amount of homework but you don’t have every subject every day and there are free blocks and no Saturday classes so the students I have met found it manageable. There is not a lot of pressure to be an athlete . Because it is a little bit larger school, kids find their groove and there are lots of artists and non sporty types. My daughter played just 1 JV sport and managed a varsity team but she spent the bulk of her EC time on theater and diversity related groups. Many varsity teams will be recruits but if you want to play a sport, there are options on JV teams. The arts are also very popular and the arts building has amazing facilities.
@chemmchimney I’m also a bit concerned about the location of the school? Is the campus in too rural of a location? How is the town in which the campus is located? Also, another concern of mine is the food. I’ve heard that NMH has great ice-cream but how is the dining hall food in general? Are there places to order from nearby. Also, do you think that because of a significant amount of recruited students college admissions are affected, i.e. a lot of these varsity athletes go on to get recruited to colleges for their respective sports?
@Frenchfrey NMH is not in a town - the nearest town of any size is about a 20 minute drive, and there isn’t much tou can walk to but you can get food delivered (pizza, Chinese etc) and it’s a popular choice. They also serve hamburgers and things on certain nights during study hall. The food is honestly very good. The kids work in the bakery and much of the food is made fresh on campus.
NMH does send a lot of recruited athletes to Ivies and “little Ivies” - boys basketball alone has a dozen recent grads currently playing for Ivies with Harvard taking the highest number, but this is in my opinion not a negative for the non-athletes. It demonstrates that these colleges recognize NMH’s strong academics. You are not really competing for a recruited athlete’s spot (They are competing against others in their sport) and there are NMH non athletes accepted at Ivy schools and top colleges each year as well. I have never done the math but my guess would be the numbers of recruits vs non recruits accepted at top schools as a whole is about the same most years with the exception of possibly Harvard (7 NMH basketball kids on the team there in last 10 years or something) One thing I appreciate re the recruited athletes at boarding school is they have to take the same classes as everyone else and NMH treats it’s athletes just the same as all the other students. They are not idolized like at some schools - they are just very big! I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions. I would also follow NMH on instagram, flicker, twitter etc and you will find lots of photos of the campus and even some of the food!
My son will be attending NMH starting in the fall and wondered if anyone knowledgeable about NMH be willing to answer some questions? Laundry Service: I see the fee, but do they actually do each students laundry or do the just provide free washers and dryers for that fee? ATM: Does anyone know what bank ATM they have on campus? Prefer to not have to pay fees every time he needs to make a withdrawal? How necessary is having an ATM card to access cash? Assume many on campus items can be purchased with their ID’s, but that any outside deliveries, or off campus trip might require cash.
Congrats to your son! You hit on truly the only thing that irked me at NMH - the laundry fee! It is a bit annoying at NMH as it is required of all students whether you use the service or not, however, the machines in the dorm are free and work well, and you also have the option of dropping off laundry and picking it up washed (included in the fee) which I think many boys do.I believe the school washes athletic uniforms for the kids as well. There is an ATM on campus but little need for cash - you can charge transportation shuttles, the school store, and snack bar charges on your student account. The only need for cash is if you go into town for dinner or you need cash to travel. We started the process of opening an account for the campus ATM but ended up finding it easier to just give our daughter a debit card linked to our account at home. This made transferring money into her account much simpler and as she only took money out a few times a term, fees were not much. Hope this helps! My daughter adored the school as did we; your son is going to love it I think. Feel free to PM me anytime. My daughter graduated 2016 so I am not a current parent (and there are some of those here on CC) but I’m happy to help if I can.
Thank you so much for the information and the PM offer. I am sure I will be in touch.
@BigBlueSwim <:-P :D/
Hello @BigBlueSwim , Welcome!
I have a junior at NMH. Chemmchimney answered correctly. The laundry service washes clothes and dry cleans them as needed, but the kids need to remember to drop off the bag weekly. My DS does his own laundry often especially when he forgets to drop the bag off. The machines in the dorm basement are free.
Label, label the clothing. The laundry service attaches tiny tags but it is good to label them.
There is a TD Bank ATM on campus, but DS claims it is usually broken. So we did not open an account with TD Bank, but he has a debit card. You can add money to his student account and he can get cash at the bookstore. So the ID works as a debit card as long as there is money left in the student account. DS usually takes some cash, $50 out at the bookstore for traveling back home although he often uses the debit card to pay for food at the airport. He also uses his debit card for off campus shopping trips and amazon orders.
Thank you very much the the information and welcome. The debit card definitely seems like the way to go.
Any idea if dorm beds are twins, XL twins or does it really matter?
@BigBlueSwim XL twins.
NMH doesn’t allow memory foam mattress pads so I got a feather mattress pad.
@payn4ward Are you sure about that? Also is there a reason why they don’t?
I won’t speak for @payn4ward , but I’m sure of it.
Yes. Ostensibly, it’s a fire hazard.
Could someone also speak to which dorms are considered the best for upper school boys?
@Frenchfrey My son likes being in Hayden. It is close to everything, dining hall and classrooms. Others like UNC.
As I non-NMH parent, can I just say how impressed my non-NMH kid is with NMH players and coaches she gets to compete against? In her words, they are the kindest, most honest, civil, positively uplifting, and nicest people on and off the court, win or lose. So shout out to NMH! Whatever they are doing, they’re doing it right.
Aww thanks for this shout out @GoatMama. Makes a Hogger mom proud! We picked NMH partially because we just loved the kids we met there and although I am biased, I think they do carefully consider character when they accept kids, and it is a happy inclusive place. Sports there are balanced too - the varsity athletes are just part of the crowd and this is good for the oboe players and the basketball stars.