<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I'm from California, and I applied for the eleventh grade back east. I'll most likely not be able to attend the revisit days, considering my not-so-close proximity to each of the schools. How are all of you deciding? Here are my acceptances and rejections:</p>
<p>Accepted: Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Choate</p>
<p>Rejected: St. Paul's</p>
<p>I'm extremely excited about my selection, but at the same time, they make for a hard decision. Right off the bat, I didn't have the best experience at Andover, so I'll probably say no. I loved Choate, but I think I liked Exeter, Andover, and Lawrenceville better. Obviously, Exeter has a lot of prestige and a big name attached to it and an excellent academic reputation, however, I think I might be happier at a place like Lawrenceville or Deerfield. What's everybody else thinking about with their decision?</p>
<p>I dont know either. I got in everywhere. St Andrews's (DE) Groton, Andover, and Lawrenceville. But im not sure!! Do you have any idea?</p>
<p>yay for 2010! represent! haha</p>
<p>For me, I think it was pretty clear just by my excitement in receiving the difference acceptances. When I got my exeter acceptance I was happy, but I was still really worried about what would happen with andover, and I didn't feel fully content just knowing that I would possibly be going to boarding school. However, since getting my andover application I haven't been able to stop freaking out with excitement. I mean, I'm still going to the revist days, but I have a pretty clear sense of what I'm feeling.</p>
<p>However, if it's not clear by that I think I would go back through all the materials the schools sent you. One helpful (albeit dorky) thing I did was to actually map my high school course schedule at the different schools. The opportunities to take different interesting courses could be a helpful decision.</p>
<p>Also maybe see if there's anyway you can talk to kids who currently attend the school? I imagine that could be helpful!</p>
<p>Anyways, best of luck deciding!</p>
<p>I would recommend thinking about what you want most in a school. What size do you want? How about location? What school feels right? Are there any particular strengths or programs that you are interested in? Do you play sports and which schools excel in those? These are only a few questions, but you need to decide what is important to you and where you think you would be happiest. There are several current students on this board that would answer your questions, and schools will definitely put you into contact with a student or two to get some insight.</p>
<p>I'll pass on a piece of advice given to me by an admissions counselor when I was choosing. Go to second visit days, and go with your gut. You'll know after a day of classes and hanging out which schools fit better than others. I wound up choosing the school that was by far my last choice going into second visit day (to the point where I almost skipped going)</p>
<p>I, personally and as a rising junior, would pick Lawrenceville. It had a better, more welcoming atmosphere than Deerfield. You pretty much ruled out the others on your own, but I would suggest considering Andover as well. It's a really great school, and I don't know your bad experience but I'm guessing that's rare.</p>
<p>Here are the three schools that I applied to and visited as a classmate of 2010, and reasons of why each are splendid:
Deerfield:
The campus is gorgeous, remote, and very stately. If you want a school that is the essence of New England preppiness, then I'd say that DA is the school for you. The campus is more out in the middle of nowhere, but that kind of makes it very special in-and-of itself. Oh, and I thought this was pretty cool-my interviewer told me that you never know when there may be a prince/princess or someone very significant from another country sitting right next to you in class, and you'd never know it! (She told me that that was the case for her daughter, but then again, this could be true for all of the schools.) I was waitlisted here.
Exeter:
You're right-very prestigious- but beyond that, they have the harkness method in all of the classrooms, something which I find very appealing. They also have one of the highest (if not the highest) student populations- somewhere around 1,000.They have a great math program, awesome FA (big plus for me!), and a great campus located right next to a homey, small town. Exeter was my first choice, and I'm happy to say that it's the only school where I was accepted!
Lawrenceville:
They have a ginormous campus! Some 600 acres plus!! And to boot, it's gorgeous, with trees and greenery everywhere in sight! It's also located about 10 minutes or so away from Princeton, NJ-home of the presitgious Princeton College. I found Princeton to be a very nice town with great stores and shops (hence the college nearby). I've also heard that L'ville has great athletics, supposedly a lot of people go there for the hockey...idk. It will also be warmer here in general, so if you're not a big fan of the snow, then I don't think that I'd recommend the more northern schools, though it does give them more of a 'magical' sense. Here I was rejected, but that's fine, Exeter's good 'nough for me.
All-in-all, it just depends on 1) which state you'd rather be in 2) your favorite subject (eh, that what not so much, for they all have great academics) 3) your preferred learning style (ie harkness, regular classroom) 4) you preferred student population, and 5) what school colors you'd prefer (haha, jk. But you'll just never know what it'll come down to...)
Let me know if that helped it all...otherwise I'm gonna start cuttin down on all this jibber jabber so I can get back to reading my book-lol</p>