Anyone and Everyone:
Are there any boarding schools in the east coast that you all recommend?
Please comment below.
Thank-you.
Best,
CCuser1212
Look at the first post in this thread:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1174214-one-family%C2%92s-bs-search-and-application-process-%C2%97-start-to-finish-p1.html
@ccuser1212 , there are so many great BS out there, and except in very limited circles, few are ones most people have ever heard of.
If you have an idea of what you are looking for – particular sports or activities, single sex, type of academics, you might get good direction here. Your SSAT scores may give you a sense of what is realistic.
There are of course, the household names, like Exeter, St.Pauls, Lawrenceville. There are ones that are less well known in the “outside world”, like Westminster, Pomfret, St. Marks, Hill, Blair, Berkshire but well known in the BS world. Some, like Putney, are very "progressive ", while others, like NMH, have a different type of scheduling. A few, like George, offer the IB Diploma alongside their own.
There are tons of threads here, so I would spend some time reading those and visit the school websites to see what interests you. If you need FA, you will want to pay attention to which schools support that. You can then make the best use of the experience and expertise of those here.
One thing I would note, the BS tradition is stones in New England. Lots more schools, lots of applicants. As a result, many of the mid Atlantic schools are a little easier to get into. Huge generalization, of course, but a consideration is you only care about east coast…
You’re going to hear a lot about “fit” on these boards, and as a parent, I think appropriately so. If you search these boards, you’ll find parents who allowed their kids to attend different schools because their kids are wired differently and you’ll find parents who learned later that their child’s personality was not a good match for a school that seemed, based on stats, like it would be a good match. Different kids feel differently about class size, proximity to a town or city, etc. and some schools offer certain opportunities, or focus in certain areas, while others do not. I would suggest to you that this a time for self-reflection. Figure out what matters to you from a personal perspective, as best you can, and then try to figure out which schools seem like they might offer what you’re seeking. You can find a quality education at a good number of schools, but you should be thinking about what environment is most conducive to your personal growth and why. I think it’s fair to say that this is not a one-size-fits-all situation.
@gardenstategal and @CaliPops both make excellent points. If you are able to find and attend a secondary school fair (or ideally more than one fair), that can be a great starting point. The fairs will often have schools that you may have never heard of before, but are great options for so many students. During our search we attended 3-4 secondary school fairs, and I found that the personalities of the admissions reps often reflected the types of students who attend the schools they represent. The impressions that those admissions reps made on us varied from “yes we definitely wan to visit” to “no thank you, not the right fit.”
That’s not to say that personalities of admissions reps are the be-all-end-all of determining whether you want to visit or apply to a school. But I think that it really does matter who they choose to represent their schools at a major marketing event. Some of them made lasting impressions on us - in both good and bad ways.
@gardenstategal got it! thanks. im interested in taft, choate, hotchkiss, loomis, kent, masters, the hill school.
@CaliPops got it. thx!
@dramakid2 thx. im interested in taft, choate, hotchkiss, loomis, kent, masters, the hill school.
That’s a good group. I think I can guess what you like based on that, which is generally a good sign! Similar vibes.
@gardenstategal Thank you!
@ccuser1212 While most the schools you mentioned are in CT they are VERY different from one another. From your list I looked at Hotchkiss/Choate/Taft and Loomis with my DD. From our personal impressions we felt Hotchkiss and Taft were very similar in vibe. Same goes for Choate and Loomis (to an extent). I am happy to share our impressions over PM but you really need to visit the schools yourself to see what fits for you.