<p>Why would you only spend three hours on your app? You want to do the best you can? I've spent a whole Saturday on one essay after writing for two months and getting it criticed!!! That's just me I geuss, anal perfectionist!!!!</p>
<p>Well, that makes 2 of us, perfectionists, Esa. However, I do tend to proctrastinate... BUT... I'm getting better. So there's hope!</p>
<p>So Zafira,
What is your first choice school, Exeter or Milton?</p>
<p>Question: Has anyone else taken the HSPT? Since I'm applying to some Catholic schools, though only as backup, I had to take them today. I just found out last night, but that's okay because it is really easy. I just want to compare. <em>shrugs</em></p>
<p>Nope...(catholic school :() CATHOLIC SCHOOL GIRLS :)</p>
<p>That depends on what mood I'm in. Some days, I think to myself, I want to really, really go to Milton. Others, it's Exeter. Even some days, I think of staying home. I'll visit and then I'll see if it's better. I really have no clue. There's pros and cons for both.</p>
<p>perv... I actually am not that religious, but there are some good ones..</p>
<p>I'd hate going to catholic school, I'm more liberal. Which is why I am hoping and hoping and hoping and hoping that I get into Andover. I would be so happy!</p>
<p><em>snorts</em> join the club. Catholic school is not my cup of tea, but I know some schools that are really, really liberal for Catholic. But I thought that you were a part of Christian Outreach and wanted to go to St. Paul's....? I know Catholic and Christian are different, but still... then again, I go to a religious school and I'm uber, uber liberal. But not in a pot-smoking hippy way. But you get my point.</p>
<p>Yeah I do Christian Outreach, but I don't want to be constantly surrounded by it. St. Paul's is Episcopal and its my third choice, back up of Andover and Exeter.</p>
<p>You changed without me knowing!</p>
<p>I geuss...</p>
<p>oui- my moods right now: Today, I want to go to Exeter. Yesterday, I wanted to go to Milton. Tomorrow, I don't know what I'll want. Ah, sweet dilemnas! How do I loathe thee, let me count the ways...</p>
<p>I don't actually think it's too hard to get into prep schools, as hyped up as it seems to be. One of my friends from Asia is a B-student and got a 92 percentile on the SSATs, with no extracurriculars, and applied late, but got into Exeter. Another friend got the 80th percentile, straight A's and a few extracurriculars and got into Exeter as well. You really don't need that much to get in. But both friends are Asian.. racial diversity?</p>
<p>Have any of you thought about single-sexed schools? I am completely biased, and I can admit it, because I am a senior at an all girls boarding school. I was extremely nervous about this as an incomming freshman, and I thought that I would hate it. After seeing a lot of your lists, I just want to get it out there that it is a GREAT experience, and I would not trade my all girls high school for anything. I have made better friends than I did at my previous school which I was at from K-8th grade. I just hope you all know that it is an option, and I hope some of you look into it.</p>
<p>hey lefthandog and everybody,</p>
<p>sorry it took me so long to reply, but i wanted to address the issue of coming is as a sophomore (new lower) at andover. There is absolutely no catching up to do, in fact many four year students at andover think that the new lowers have it easier, with less required courses. Freshman year at andover really is not the focus of the education, the kids are not as mature and are just settling in. Andover accepts many many kids coming into 10th grade, so a student coming in late will already have a special bond with a large group of other kids. I went to a small private day school my 9th grade year and had a great time. I personally am glad I got the day high school experience, but I dont think I would be any lesser without it. Starting andover at 9th or 10th grade does not make a huge difference in your education. However, the kids that start in 9th grade sometimes are more able to get into the top top classes. This is obviously not always the case, but it can help. However, as I said before, the education is basically the same, and adjustment is not an issue, except for normal boarding school adjustments.</p>
<p>I got into andover in 10th grade and not 9th grade for one simple reason. My grades were bad in middle school and were excellent in 9th grade. The school I went to for my 9th grade year had good teachers, but did not assign any challenging work. This combination made it easy for me to achieve maximally good grades.</p>
<p>I will stress again that there are no real adjustment issues, neither socially or academically at any of these big boarding schools for students entering in the 10th grade.</p>
<p>I noticed that the question of political viewpoints came into question earlier in this forum. I wanted to report that all these schools, even super traditional ones such as deerfield, are almost completely liberal. And when I say liberal, I am talking pretty far left.</p>
<p>AS one of the few republicans at these schools (please dont kill me people!), I find that I am frequently fighting with a lone hand, but the same time some of the most interesting discussions I have ever taken part in have occurred at andover due to political issues. As a dual citizen of a small european country and the US, the international perspective on todays issues is also extremely intriguing. It is sometimes harder to find the true breadth of international vs. domestic viewpoints at the smaller schools. However, even at andover it is dissapointing to find that most of the student body and even much of the faculty takes stereotypes as fact ie. all republicans are rich stupid etc...</p>
<p>About same sex schools, I have many friends who attend or have attended same sex schools, including my two eldest sisters. In my experience, the same sex school system seems to make the kids much more comfortable around eachother, but at the same time it lacks some of the fundamental life lessons that I have learned by living with non familial girls as well as guys around the clock.</p>
<p>well its 330AM and thats my contribution for the night. gnight everybody and even though im republican i dont bite.</p>
<p>andover2005 - thanks for the encouraging reply. </p>
<p>Are you SURE you're Republican? Just kidding - I'm sure you add to a balanced discussion wherever you find yourself. By not resorting to the nasty sniping people get into over these issues, people will come to respect you and your views.</p>
<p>"However, the kids that start in 9th grade sometimes are more able to get into the top top classes. "</p>
<p>What does that mean, andover2005</p>
<p>esahopeful,</p>
<p>sometimes, and only sometimes, the kids that start in 9th grade at andover rather than 10th grade get an early start on the more challenging courses in 9th grade, and therefore are able to progress to the most challenging courses by the end of the andover career. If the school a new lower attended his/her 9th grade year was not on the same caliber as andover, a student may not be able to complete all the necesary basic courses to get to the absolute top level of courses at andover. however, the school tries to even this out by giving new lowers fewer required courses than incoming freshmen (juniors).</p>
<p>btw, an issue i did not address earlier was students entering after the sophomore year. I find that these students (excepting PGs) do have a signifigantly harder time adjusting. That does not mean that it is impossible, but the new uppers (juniors) and seniors dont seem to be able to fit in as well. There are still many happy well adjusted and successful new uppers and seniors at andover though.</p>