Advice: Taft v. Loomis v. NMH

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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<p>First time poster here, but I've been reading these threads for a while and they were hugely helpful though the boarding school process. We had NO idea what we were doing initially and probably would have fallen flat on our faces without guidance from these boards. Soon I will write up my own lessons learned from a parent perspective as there are many things we would do differently now that we've been through it.</p>

<p>My son got into the above 3 schools, waitlisted at Hotchkiss and Deerfield. We are going to attend revisit days, but I would really appreciate any inside scoop on these schools. We are being told Taft by people who think prestige is the key; we got the best "feel" from Loomis in terms of great academics in a nurturing environment; and found NMH is probably the most creative school in terms of focusing on development of the child and helping him be who he wants to be, versus fitting them into a mold so that they can get into an elite college. My son felt the students at Taft and Loomis were smarter though and that appealed to him. We are in CT so Taft and Loomis would be much easier to visit.</p>

<p>I really want my son to enjoy High School and get a lot out of it. Part of me thinks Taft is too serious and tough, but people are saying that it would be crazy not to go there as it opens many doors in life.</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any "scoop" on these schools ... especially any dark side that we should know about. It is such a big decision.</p>

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<p>Well, I hope you choose Taft so that a space opens up at Loomis for my daughter, who was waitlisted there (JUST KIDDING!) Personally I think prestige should be the least of your worries. I’d go with feel, fit, and your son’s preferences. You can’t go wrong at any of those schools. Of the three, we liked Taft the least when we visited, but that was just because of the person who took us around - he was a bit too rah rah sports sports for my artsy daughter.</p>

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<p>Goodness, if you ask ExieMITAlum if she loves Taft because of its perceived prestige, she’d laugh! She LOVES that school for all the reasons you said you were drawn to Loomis: it’s nurturing, warm, supportive . . . and offers her kid some amazing opportunities! When she visits, everyone knows who she is (“Oh, you’re so-and-so’s mom!” :)) and knows her daughter. She’s been delighted with the experience, and it has nothing to do with prestige!</p>

<p>If these are the schools you’re comparing, please consider the percentage of boarding students at each school. It does make a difference in the “community” feel of the school when a larger percentage of the students live at the school.</p>

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<p>Congratulations to your son psparent - they are 3 great schools. You really will not go wrong with any of them. We loved Taft, although my child ultimately chose to go elsewhere. The academics are very strong but I do not think it is a “pressure cooker” school. Taft had one of the prettiest campuses that we visited and some of the best food. I also thought it advantageous that all the classrooms were in one building. (My child has a long walk to classes on a large campus and it is not fun in the winter). I agree that it is somewhat sports oriented, so if your son does not lean that way, that is something to think about. The only downside I perceived was that the surrounding town did not offer much, so there is really no outlet if you need a break from campus life.</p>

<p>We also liked Loomis. I just got a very positive vibe from the school and the students seemed very happy. I think it was one of the most positive admissions experiences that we had after interviewing at 6 schools. They are welcoming and know how to put families at ease. No New England “frost” here at all. There is a very large day student population which some perceive as a negative. I know the school is working on reducing the number of day students to about 20%. The big plus with Loomis is that there is a very nice town within walking distance of campus. Don’t under-estimate this factor, it is really helpful for students to be able to get off campus and have a meal or just hang out with friends in a different setting. My own child definitely had “cabin fever” at her school after the first year, and having a town to walk to with friends made all the difference in the world.</p>

<p>We didn’t have NMH on our list so can’t really comment, but I have only heard good things. It is nice to have such great choices - best of luck to your son!</p>

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<p>Congrats to your C, psparent. How wonderful to have such options. </p>

<p>First-time poster here, too – critter #1 is rising 8th-grader, so we’ve got our eyeballs on the process. </p>

<p>These are three great schools. In terms of the caliber of education, they’re worth every penny. </p>

<p>Only thing I’d caution you on: don’t conflate “prestige” with academic rigor. Taft is probably perceived as the most prestigious of the three, but if anyone thinks that means LC or NMH are “easier,” they’re in for an awakening. </p>

<p>Not saying you don’t know that. But after perusing these boards for awhile, I get the impression that people think the quality of education is better/harder at the more prestigious schools, and the kids face tougher teachers and courses. Nothing could be further from the truth. </p>

<p>Good luck with your decision-making process. It’s such an exciting time for you and your son!</p>

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<p>First - thanks to @dodgersmom for her wonderful synopsis of how much I love Taft. </p>

<p>Second, you have three solid choices. You can’t go wrong with any of them. I always tell people to go with their “gut”. It’s easy to rationalize a decision but if your child is going to spend 3-4 years of his/her life on a campus, which felt the best in terms of “I could see myself here.” (?)</p>

<p>During our initial tour of Taft I spent a lot of time observing. My husband (who is new to the BS experience) and daughter chose the final list of schools. He got a good impression of Taft during his call for information. Of the dozen or so schools he contacted, they treated him the nicest over the phone, even taking the time to walk him through the online application step by step. </p>

<p>I took my D for interviews. The campus was pretty, but what I was watching for was the way the staff interacted with each other and with the students. They were jovial, engaged, and there were faculty children in the hallway. Two faculty members bantered with me about which of them had gone to the better college. Until I discovered they’d both attended the same IVY. After observing faculty children in the hallway walking a pet dog, our student guide said “If you miss your own pet, you can go play with a faculty member’s pet.” And although my daughter was not, at the time, “artsy”, when we entered the art studio, we got a boisterous hello from the teacher who gave her a hug and then coached her on how to keep all her visits straight (we were doing 5 back-to-back campus tours.)</p>

<p>Bottom line, before Taft I was a “dyed in the wool” Exonian. I interview for them and donate annually. So yes - Taft was a bit of a surprise - a happy one. I know there are a few snobs that think Taft is about prestige, and it has some of that, but honestly they treat everyone like family. </p>

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<p>My daughter has been encouraged to branch out, explore, test her boundaries. In fact, she shifted her career goals while at Taft and I’ve never seen her so “alive” and excited about continuing her studies in college. And they were highly supportive when she decided to bypass IVY’s for schools with strong departments in her chosen field.</p>

<p>The atmosphere is diverse, the academics are tough, but the rumor that their unspoken motto is “Taft takes care of its own” seems to have done very well for our daughter. When she had her initial “melt down” over grades, a faculty member noticed her expression as he was walking by, stopped an inquired, worked with her to resolve the problem, and her advisor took her off campus for coffee. When we texted that we’d just arrived at a balloon festival that was rained out for the second straight year, she texted a photo of herself sitting on a patio with her advisor and the note "sorry, Sunny here in Watertown! :slight_smile: "</p>

<p>Is Taft a “serious” school? Depends on how you define that. Serious about academics and grades and a code of conduct. But there is also sufficient down time, pranks, jovial interactions. They have the annual Hotchkiss rivalry, class rivalries, tons of clubs, etc. </p>

<p>So take it for what it’s worth. I’d recommend Taft in a heartbeat - but because it was a good fit for us. It may or may not be for another family. But choosing a school for “prestige” or other people’s opinions is frankly hogwash. Your child should choose a school because he or she’d have the best shot at coming out the other end transformed personally and academically. </p>

<p>So choose the school that felt most like a warm sweater - because you’ll be wearing it for several years. :)</p>

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<p>oh, so funny that is the exact term I used to talk about our Taft tour – ra ra sports! It was almost ridiculous - had to have the AO take up back out to see library, dance studio etc all of which were skipped in favor of sports buildings and trophy cases!</p>

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<p>We looked at all these schools 2 years ago and they all have a lot to offer. DC thought Taft was his #1 going into the process, but didn’t gel with the somewhat more restrictive rules of the school. Ultimately, he was WL at Taft anyway, and we immediately told them to take us off the list as we had to choose between LC, NMH, and Pomfret (another school I consider to be seriously on the rise). </p>

<p>My (half) tongue-in-cheek assessment of your options has to do with which culture you and your family feel most at home with–NYC (Taft), CT (Loomis), or Western MA (NMH). To us the cultural distinctiveness of each school and community was very clear and palpable. I was rooting for NMH–as most here know I’m a recovering PA grad and think I would probably have flourished at NMH instead (but it was not in the 80s what it is now, so I digress). Ultimately, we let DC decide, and for him and our family, LC is the happy medium. Plenty strong on the rigor and academic expectations–and support, both emotional and intellectual–but also very “family friendly.” I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record on this point, but parents on this board always seem to assume that a lot of day students means the campus empties out on weekends. WHAT weekends? Between Saturday classes and sports and productions and group meetings, most day students are on campus on Saturdays anyway, and their families are VERY welcome at sporting events, drama & music productions, etc. We are so grateful to the parents of LC day students who have included our DC in special events, cheered him on at his events, and generally extended themselves to us and communicated with us in ways that make us feel like we have friends with “eyes on” when we are at a considerable distance.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

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<p>First you have three great schools to choose from for your son. We have three sons and two will be attending BS in the fall, one as a repeat junior and another as an incoming sophomore. We live in CT and looked at all three schools in addition to DA, SPS, PAA, PEA and Hotchkiss. My older son was admitted to three if the above mentioned schools and is trying to decide and my younger son applied only to NMH and will be attending in the fall. As many people have mentioned, make sure to attend revisit days so you can really see what the schools are like. If your son is still not sure have him do an overnight visit to experience what he may see next year. My younger son loves NMH as he feels it is a perfect blend of academics, athletics and encouraging to think out if the box. He is a highly recruited student athlete and had many options available to him but NMH feels like home. My older son is looking at different school because he is already being recruited by colleges and is looking to play at an academic Division 1 college. Bottom line: revisit and spend as much time as you it takes (parents willing) to get a feel if you can attend for the next two years before committing</p>

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<p>Sorry about the grammatical errors (my English professor would kill me) but I hate typing on an iPhone. Anyway good luck with your decision!</p>

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<p>Pelicandad I am a recovering 80s Taft grad who is also pushing for NMH for my DC ! I am a Taft fan but found my years there a little too intense. I believe in the interim the rest of the schools may have caught up. (Colleges are so competitive now) I wish we had included Loomis on our list too. </p>

<p>Re Taft being ra-rah re sports I know that is a common stereotype of the school but I believe there are plenty of very talented arty types at Taft as well. During my tenure, admittedly a while back!, my classmates were Adam Duritz (Counting Crows) Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Will Dana ( Ed in Chief of Rolling Stone). I was a drama geek and always felt the arty kids were very respected for their talents and had many like-minded friends to hang out with in the Jig. The one problem I had that would concern me if I had a musician or actor child is that,because sports were required, many rehearsals took place during study hall. Not sure if this is still true though. </p>

<p>All the good things people are saying about the teachers were true for me back then as well. Ultimately my arty daughter didnt apply to Taft because it wasnt a good fit for her - She is looking for something more rural- but I would have no qualms about sending her thete.</p>

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<p>I have a friend at Taft. She’s an artsy kid and having a great time there.</p>

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<p>This is hilarious. I had no idea. I went to Exeter which was such a pressure cooker (I thrived but thought all schools were like that) that Taft seemed like Nirvana in comparison. How interesting to hear the disparate views. Very informative :)</p>

<p>My serious sport and pre-law kid is coming out of Taft an artsy drama kid with an emphasis on business development. It has been a glorious transformation to watch. Sports are major, but not as emphasized as in the past. Music, art and drama all get a lot of financial support. </p>

<p>Still - so good that CC students have options. All these schools have such different personalities, the OP can’t go wrong choosing any of them. :)</p>

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<p>Hello! I’m warning you right now, I am <em>heavily</em> biased in my opinion. :)</p>

<p>First: Congratulations! :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Second: I cant really tell you much about the other schools, but I <em>can</em> talk about Taft. There are people at Taft who are very smart, and there are people at Taft who are not so smart. Everyone does have to work hard, but the work here is not deathly horrible, depending on what you take. There are some course requirements, but - as with colleges, as with any school - the hardness of the courses is all relative. I have a friend who started taking APs like Music Theory and Chinese her sophomore year. Personally, I havent made my course load as demanding. </p>

<p>There are also people, as with any school, here that can help. Trust me - I’ve talked to all of them. They’re great. :)</p>

<p>[/taft biasedness]</p>

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Hi, I am really interested in learning more about your experience at Taft. On your post you state "I am a recovering 80s Taft grad who is also pushing for NMH for my DC ! I am a Taft fan but found my years there a little too intense"Can I ask what you mean by ‘intense’ Was it a good or a bad intense experience? Since you start your post by saying that you are a ‘recovering’ Taft grad, I sense it was more towards the bad side… Can you elaborate on that? My daughter is going to Taft in September and she is the sensitive type eventhough she lives to work hard. She has already had some hard experiences in high school with high pressure envinronments. I don’t want her to find herself in another high pressure school. I would appreciate your insight on that aspect of Taft. Thank you.

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Hi Happymom123! I am so sorry I have not been on these boards in quite a while. My DD is now applying to colleges so I haven’t been here often. Taft was intense for me - which was remember 30 years ago!- mostly because I was cast in a lot of plays and I also played a sport, so my study hall time was often spent in the theater and although I definitely could have done my homework there, I was not as disciplined as my own daughter is today. I don’t know if rehearsals are still during study hall or not, but this only impacts a small percentage of students. In general, there was a heavy work load but it was not impossible to manage at all, and the kids at that time were not competitive with each other and we had a lot of fun. Lots of my friends were smart, sensitive, quiet types and they all had plenty of like minded paIs. I think your daughter will be just fine, no worries!