<p>A bit about me. I came as a new junior this year, and I was on varsity football this year and am trying out for varsity lacrosse in the spring. I am on the math team(I'm one of only 3 US born members out of 40), I am on the Debate team, Model UN and I'm getting involved with chess club and some other things that peak my interests. I am a white male from the South also.</p>
<p>Why Kent?
I love Kent because the curriculum and student life is supportive of a healthy and educated person. Kent in general has a less stressful environment because of how the schedule is arranged and the emphasis of the teachers. We have health meetings once a week if a trend of illness or tobacco use or something has caused worries with the faculty. The internet is shut off at 11:30 which also makes sleeping a bit more attractive and easier to commit to at a reasonable time. The conference blocks also help keep stress levels down by making a time when you will get either 1 on 1 or group time with a teacher(Normally only 10 kids show up to conference block(twice a week for 45 minutes) and half of them are there for taking tests or reviewing tests or getting materials from the teacher). The condensed campus makes the gym only an eighth of a mile from the farthest dorm, allowing students to find more time to take a break from school work and relax on a jog or erg. The curriculum is also designed with Student made classes(SPS does this as well I believe, but not many other schools). An example of this is a friend of mine who wants to go into Nuclear Engineering and asked a teacher with a background in multi-variable calc and Thermodynamics to teach a class in those two subjects that only he would take. The class is modeled after a class at MIT or Princeton(The teacher attended both I believe)(Kent has the homework assignments and lesson plans of the class to teach it accurately. Video footage is on Youtube of classes like this at MIT) Either way, how awesome is that? If you have a specific area of interest, a teacher will give up a free block and tailor a class just to what you want.
I self-taught myself all basic econ theory. Sadly Kent doesn't offer an Economics and Fiscal policy course that is just Economic Policy(The gov policy class focuses on a lot more subjects) So I am finding a sponsor to teach me about the Bond market, currency exchanges and how these are effected by the Fed Reserve and other entities. </p>
<p>One of the most under rated things about Kent is that about 100 out of the 600 students are not from the US(Currently) and about 100 more speak a language other than English. Unlike other schools, only 50% of our international student body is from Korea or China. The rest come from over 40 countries(Ghana(6 Students), Germany(7 Students), Canada(TOO MANY(joking)... 20)</p>
<p>The cafeteria always has several options open all day, mainly: Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Cereal, Milk, Fruit juice and a few other drink options. The student center is right under the cafeteria which will serve steak and egg sandwiches, hot wings, coffee cake, humus and pita dishes, quesdillas or gatorade/vitamin water. Which is awesome when you miss breakfast or spend lunch finishing a paper or if you want to hit the gym after school and need some fuel.</p>
<p>I'm in the middle of some college prep classes that are teaching us how to present ourselves on an application and helping people narrow down what they want in a college and seeing how that fits in with what other students want and such.</p>
<p>Is there anything you wish was different/ better at Kent?
I was going to ask if there was anything you didn’t like about the school but sounds like you already like it a lot so look at it more in terms of areas for improvement or anything that would make it absolutley perfect.</p>
<p>All the independent schools I know of, including day schools, offer independent study. If a student is interested in studying any academic topic, that student finds a teacher willing and qualified to teach it. It is a private one-on-one, but usually the student and teacher only meet once a week. Perhaps the students at Kent take more advantage of this opportunity, but independent study is not unique to Kent and St. Pauls School.</p>
<p>One of my teachers that taught at both NMH and Taft told me that independent study(maybe how it is at Kent?) is unique to Kent, SPS and a few other schools.</p>
<p>Maybe our independent study is one of the only ones that includes a teacher? I doubt many schools or many teachers would be willing to teach a 1-2 kid class(All IS(Indep. Study) are 1 student this year)… </p>
<p>Something don’t like about Kent… Hmmm. Sometimes it seems like some underlying tension is present. Racial and Social group tension is kind of annoying(Especially because I kind of fall under multiple headings). In my Physics class, we have 4 Chinese kids, 4 Koreans, 4 Americans and 1 Jamaican. The groups are always the Chinese in one, the korean in the other and the Americans+Jamaican in the third. This went on for four weeks before the teacher stepped in and said you have to group with somebody that is of different nationality. </p>
<p>It was a nice change and I think he should keep doing it. It was just kind of upsetting that he had to do that to get people to step outside their groups.</p>
<p>I also wish that more triples and quads existed. Probably 90% of the rooms are doubles. I wish it was 50% doubles and 30% triples and 20% quads…</p>
<p>When my son was interviewed, the admission officer was mentioning Kent Scholarship. CAn you tell me what types of students earn the scholarship? Is there cutoff for SSAT score? He got 86% verbal, 98% reading, and 99% math. Overall 99%.</p>
<p>The Scholarship is based on:
-Extracurricular Academic Achievement(Preferably with a sport commitment as well)
-Showing multiple qualities that are noteworthy(Academic ambition/hunger is probably a big part of it)
-Teacher comments that preach of high potential
-Grades and scores that “work”(I got a 99% on my SSAT and a 202 on my PSAT)</p>
<p>I’m applying to Kent for this upcoming fall as a junior… was it hard for you to get in as a junior? If so, how can I increase my chances? thanks!</p>