<p>could anyone give me some information on either of these schools? which one is more academically rigorous, more sports-obsessed, harder to get into? thanks</p>
<p>I have always seen the two as similar in many ways (more similar than different, at least) although I will admit my first hand knowledge of Pomfret very limited. We did consider (but never visited) Pomfret. It did not make our final list as Blair was a bit closer and felt like a better match overall. </p>
<p>The biggest difference I saw was that Pomfret has a more formal dress code and is a bit smaller. We liked that both emphasized the arts in their literature and on their websites. Sports obsessed is not something I think of for either school. Blair has a strong school spirit around sports, but it is not over the top. My child is a freshman and likes sports but has lots of friends who participate but not in a hard core way. A lot of kids do a thirds team or do alternative activities (like theater) for a term. Many schools allow this, although I am not sure of Pomfret’s policy.</p>
<p>Academically, I think the main advantage Blair would have is that it is slightly bigger, so there are more faculty and thus a bit more breath. Otherwise I think they would be fairly equal, and both are small enough to allow for a lot of individualized attention. If you slice it by the numbers, Blair has slightly higher SSAT and SAT scores and is a bit harder to get into. I don’t think these numbers mean a whole lot though as your child will be appropriately placed and challenged at either school. I think Blair’s college matriculation might be a bit stronger at least by the measures I have seen, but again this is splitting hairs as both are academically great and send their kids to good colleges. I think it comes down more to the culture and feel of each place. Blair is great for high caliber students whether they are heavily into sports or not.</p>
My best friend goes to Pomfret and she loves it. Don’t know much about Blair.
Pomfret is an incredible. Bedsides the data you can find on their website, I find it to be an incredibly warm environment. The teachers are caring and really care about the well being of the students