Applying To Prep School, 2010!!!!

<p>The post numbers show that some posts have been removed, to answer the question in post #519. I wasn't here when that post was up, but I suppose the posts with missing numbers were deleted because they violated the CC terms of service. </p>

<p>My wife, son, and I talked over what the plan is for next year, and my son decided he likes his local learning situation well, and especially the friends he has here, so he wrote to the schools where he had interviews scheduled and said that he was not going to go forward with the application process to boarding schools. The boarding schools wrote kind replies, confirming the cancellation of his interview appointments and inviting him to contact them again if he changes his mind. </p>

<p>What we have been dealing with locally is comparing the advantages of a "high school" experience including living away from home with a "college as high school" experience that allows us to have all the closeness of home life. Our local support group, a chapter of our state's gifted education association, lines up lots of cool joint classes for my son's friends. During the last week we heard that there is a physics class slated for next school year that will involve a university physics professor teaching AP physics B topics ("college physics" or "algebra physics") to a class consisting of students who are studying AP chemistry and honors biology together this year. The projected teacher of that course autographed his latest book for each child expected to take the class next year. My son likes that group of classmates, and this plan answers his question about what kind of physics course he can pursue next year. </p>

<p>I suppose all of you parents have to weigh what's locally available against what is offered by one or another prep school. I still hold the prep schools we considered in fond regard and wish this year's applicants well in finding a good fit in a prep school. We are now committing ourselves to two more years of eclectic homeschooling for our son, followed by two years of our state's PSEO (college enrollment for high school credit) program. I appreciate all the news and opinions from current prep school parents, prospective prep school parents, current prep school students, and recent prep school alumni. Here's wishing all of you a merry Christmas, happy New Year, and much enjoyment of challenging learning environments in the coming school year.</p>

<p>for some reason I was under the impression that Avon was defeated by Exeter's football team last season 40-46;-)</p>

<p>Good to see everyone again. Hopefully I'll be back online more often more now (again)I've just had so much on my mind recently that I haven't had too much time to think about forums.</p>

<p>Ok, is anyone considering Episcopal? It seems like a pretty good school to me, but nobody talks about it too much. What are your impressions of it (preparing for interview)...</p>

<p>dxu33, I hear Episcopal is a very good school that is disciplined.</p>

<p>Episcopal seems to have a lot of APs, but nobody seems to be applying there. Has there been problems/scandals thats scaring everybody??</p>

<p>tokenadult, maybe you should try to apply to one, even if you won't accept. I am, even though I may not go, for the experience of it, being so like college admissions.</p>

<p>dxu33, lol, no problems that I know of..... maybe it's not considered NE
If number of apps made the school, then UCLA would be the best school in the nation considering they have had the most apps of any school in the nation.
St. Andrews in Delaware is an exceptional school and they don't have many apps.
good luck!</p>

<p>As you said, I think many people look solely at New England.</p>

<p>
[quote]
tokenadult, maybe you should try to apply to one, even if you won't accept. I am, even though I may not go, for the experience of it, being so like college admissions.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well, it's my son's call about how far to take this year's process, and I think he got the preparation benefit anyhow. There is a lot to like about some of the boarding schools, but our state is unusual in its opportunities for early college study as "high school," and that looks like the plan here. </p>

<p>Best wishes to all of you applying this year.</p>

<p>You live in Minnesota right?</p>

<p>Yes, I live in Minnesota. Taking the last two years of high school at a local college on the state's dime is quite routine here; that's the essence of our PSEO</a> program, which was the first of its kind in the country. So for the last half year, I have mostly been trying to figure out if it would fit better for my son to do "ninth grade" and "tenth grade" as a boarding school student and continuing on to graduate from boarding school, or whether it is better to muddle through here with two more years of ad-hoc joint homeschooling classes before he enrolls in PSEO. The best boarding school programs are sufficiently strong to be competitive with anything else in the country, but what we do here allows almost unlimited flexibility and custom-fitting--at the cost of the parents in our homeschooling support group being rather busy with planning activities much of the time. </p>

<p>Do you have any reasonable day schools in your town? The day schools we have here do no better than the better public high schools at getting students into the very most selective colleges, so PSEO looks better to us than any of the local independent day schools.</p>

<p>Not really, but Park Tudor and Brebeuf are pretty good.</p>

<p>Park Tudor is the alma mater of Melanie Wood (first United States female IMO team member), which is why I asked when I saw your location is "indy."</p>

<p>Yep, I'm applying there! a bit too far (34 min.) from house, but owell.</p>

<p>This may be a silly question, but how important is handwriting and neatness on the student applications?</p>

<p>The content is more important that the handwriting. I would attempt to be as neat as possible though!</p>

<p>that's what I think too, kmk...</p>

<p>dxu - You play Lacrosse?</p>

<p>If you do, I know the coach quite well and he is terriffic!</p>

<p>For Park Tudor, goaliedad? (yes, I like recreational lacrosse, but haven't competed in it before, but plan to). That's cool! Do you live in Indianapolis?</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm new here on CC-- I found this site by searching google and now I hope that some students already enrolled in Exeter will tell me what they think of it. Is any one else applying to Ex/Andover for 9th grade this year?? </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>ex2, I'm applying to both this year... that and Hotchkiss and Choate.
How'd your interviews go?</p>