I have been accepted to several boarding schools. While I know a lot about the more well-known schools, I want to give Mercersberg a fair trial and was hoping someone could tell me more about what it’s like to be a student there. What are the dorms like/how does the dorm system work? How motivated in general are students to work hard? Is it a “party school” at all? Are there any seated meals? How is the homework load? What makes academics at Mercersburg special or different from other boarding schools? Do students usually leave or stay on campus on weekends and what do they like to do? What community service options are available at Mercersburg?
Thanks in advance! Any help is appreciated!
@twinsmama has a child that attends, I think. Could be mistaken…
I can answer your questions but not until the morning. Too sleepy. Zzzzzzzz 
Wouldn’t the obvious thing to do be to go to a Revisit Day? From your questions, I can tell the “Revisit” will be the “1st Visit”.
Mercersburg received a humongous gift to the endowment a couple of years ago, so now it’s in the league of the fat endowment schools:
http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/endowment_per_student/sort/1
@boardingprep1213 , I will be delighted to comment on Mercersburg for you, but will have to wait until this evening. Neatoburrito may get to it first. Agree with GMTplus7 that you should go to a revisit day. More later…
Yes unfortunately I did not get a chance to visit the first time but even through a computer, Mercersburg’s amazing sense of community stood out to me.
@twinsmama thanks so much either way? Everybody has been telling me that you’re the one to talk to when it comes to M’burg
Till twinsmama comes back, here are some old threads,
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1562336-mercersburg-gift-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17677825/#Comment_17677825
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/11552093/#Comment_11552093
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17053582/#Comment_17053582
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16719448/#Comment_16719448
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/15625989/#Comment_15625989
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/385005-what-about-us-shame-on-you-new-england-p1.html
my As a parent with a 9th grader at Blair, I have come to get a sense of the other MAPLE schools over the course of this year. While my son would not trade Blair for anything, I can say that out of the other similar schools in the region (both MAPL and non MAPL) I believe Mercersburg would be the closest in terms of what he loves about his own school. If I put my Blair boosterism aside for a moment, I honestly think I would be just as pleased if her were there instead of Blair. Mercersburg kids I have run into seem very happy pleasant - although this is not really different from most kids at most similar schools. Peddie kids seem just as happy.
Things I like about Mercersburg include its relatively high boarding ratio, and its overall moderate size. These are part of what drew us to Blair, and I know they work well for my son. That said, except for closed weekends, there are a considerable kids who leave for the weekend at any of these schools. I also do not think that incrementally larger schools are lacking, just that the size of Blair and Mercersburg (about 450) seems pretty good. The faculty at Blair all seem to know a lot about each kid, and I am not sure how much bigger you can go before this start to get lost.
The Mercersburg website states that they have sit-down lunches every weekday - assigned seats with faculty at the table and the like (http://www.mercersburg.edu/Page/Campus-Life/Residential-Life/Dining-Hall). Blair does this twice a week at dinner, and I find it a very good tradition and helpful on many levels.
Mercersburg also requires that all seniors board, including those who were day student for the first 3 years which as far as I know is a unique feature to the school. (http://www.mercersburg.edu/Page/Campus-Life/Residential-Life)
Academically, artistically and socially you will be very well served and challenged. If you are looking at a very specific area the school might fall short simply because no school this size can be highly specialized in everything, but as with any school at this level you will find it hard to max out on the challenges. These schools all do a great job of placing you in the appropriate level of academic classes, and they offer way too many arts, sports and extracurriculars for you ever to feel there are not enough options.
Some more
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/6021771#Comment_6021771
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/13896973/#Comment_13896973
My daughter loves this school and my son regrets, to this day, not enrolling.
Things to love:
- It is stunningly beautiful.
- No Saturday classes
- Lots of international kids from all over
- Classes don’t start until 9:00. This is actually a huge quality of life issue.
- Very friendly and close student body. One of the things my D has remarked on is how little tolerance the students have for bullying of any kind.
- The Burgin Center for the Arts - holy crap is this place nice
- Mercersburg Outdoor Education - this can be your afternoon activity if you aren’t into sports (as well as dance, community service, theatre, and others) These kids do amazing things and all necessary equipment is provided.
- School travel that includes exchange programs
- mulit level class options. If you kind of suck at one subject, you aren’t forced into postAP level work.
- Some of the nicest dorms I’ve seen, each with individual climate control.
- *****Spring arrives about three weeks sooner than it does in New England and it is generally 10 degrees warmer regardless
Things not to love:
- It isn’t close to anything. The nearest airports are all 1 1/2 hours away and the school charges for shuttle transport are hefty.
Seriously, that ^ is my only gripe with this place.
MAPS is a really interesting program but I can’t really give you many details. I’d recommend reading about it on the website.
There are some really special teachers there, teachers that my daughter will probably always keep in contact. She has spent Sunday mornings trapping hawks with one teacher and is tearing apart car engines with him this term. There are teachers that she meets for coffee once a week, just to chat. When she gets good news (college results are rolling in you know), her counselor and teachers are some of the first people she tells.
It’s really a special place and the kids miss is terribly when they go off to college.
When you do your visits, the number one question that you should really ask yourself is “will I be happy here?”
It is a school that is very much on the rise. It will only become more selective, especially when it can move to being fully need blind. If Mercersburg were in Massachusetts, it would be one of the most sought after schools around.
Wow thanks @neatoburrito ! VERY interesting point about it hypothetically being in MA. I will be attending the revisit day fairly soon. I’ll make sure to report back to you what I think!
Warning: Mr Hale (head of school) is a bit long winded, but you’ll likely never encounter him once enrolled.
Reading all this with great interest. My child was accepted and will attend in the fall. I have a number of concerns, which I hope will be addressed on re-visit day, including how they keep tabs on kids when dinner is req’d only 3 nights a week, and whether/how they control internet access. 15 year old boys alone in dorm rooms with unrestricted access to the best/worst of what the internet has to offer…I hope there are controls some how. We got the exact same sense for the strength of community here, and that’s what won out over his other choices.
Speaking as a student and as a proctor at a school without family dinners (which now that I’m almost done, I rather wish we did have, at least occasionally), I will say, 15 year-old boys are not apt to miss dinner. Breakfast, yes, but not dinner.
Because over 90% of kids can access internet on their phones, there is no shutting down of internet but there are all kinds of filters on the school’s wi-fi.
On evenings when there is no required meal, the kids either eat in the dining hall, buffet style, or walk into town and get pizza or something.
The young ones are looked after pretty closely (and the older ones too), but you have to be able to trust that your son will look after himself, eat when he’s hungry and control his internet consumption. There’s not a boarding school on the planet that will hover over a child 24/7. And if there were, I doubt any kid would want to go there!
I’ve yet to hear of a kid falling through the cracks.
There was a parent with a daughter who went/sneaked to the “town” for dinner quite often unsupervised but not giving enough money may save my kid from that problem.
(OK, I’m back.) First of all, @hellomaisy, there is always a teacher sitting on duty near the dorm entrance until bedtime. He or she signs the kids in and out. I know my son sometimes walks to the dollar store or pizza parlor with friends, but there really isn’t anywhere to go. (Yes, this is a downside, but it makes me feel safer as a parent.) I’m not sure whether there are controls on what they can access on the internet; you could ask the IT person. There are restrictions on when and where they can use cell phones. There is a lot of informal supervision in that all the adults seem to know all the kids. I was told this was the case and I have seen it in action. If I call the admissions office, the receptionist tells me what my son was doing that morning. If I email the financial aid office, the FA director tells me she was on duty in my son’s dorm last night. This is not a school for a teenager who wants to slide through high school unnoticed.
@boardingprep1213, as neatoburrito said, the dorms are very comfortable and well-equipped. The dorms contain all grades, but they are separated by location (my son’s hallway has only freshmen except for the prefects, who are seniors). There are faculty families on every floor, maybe more than one. I can’t tell you how motivated students are in general, but I know that my very bright son is being challenged and is working hard. My impression is that students are happy there, and happy teens are usually hard-working teens. The school deliberately tries to provide the best possible quality of life for teenagers, given current knowledge and opinion on what teens need: thus, the later start time for classes and reasonable amounts of homework that allow for sufficient sleep. I think most boarders stay on campus on weekends. I don’t know too much about the community service program because it is popular and my son couldn’t get a spot in it as a freshman. They do have occasional class-wide or school-wide service events, I believe (my son’s class wrapped holiday gifts en masse).
Because of its size and location, Mercersburg might not be the right school for a student who already has a very particular and specialized talent or interest, but I would also imagine that they would do what they could to help foster special interests that develop along the way. Other negatives as per neatoburrito: it is out of the way, and (my only gripe as it is hers) the shuttle charges to the train station, airport, etc. are very high). My son has only ever complained that his math class is hard.
Mercersburg is proud of its exciting new capstone experiences. MAPS (Mercersburg Advanced Program in Global Studies) is a challenging program for 11th and 12th graders that includes highest-level classes, community service, and foreign travel, and which culminates in a substantial research paper and presentation. Both my children are hoping to participate. For those who don’t do MAPS, “Springboard” classes are required, which are special multidisciplinary seminars for seniors.
Overall, Mercersburg is a remarkably sane and gracious place. It feels like a home as well as a school. A good home. I could now repeat neatoburrito’s last few sentences…I agree completely.
Oh, and @hellomaisy, so glad you decided on Mercersburg! I hope your child will be very happy there. And I took so long to write my post that I missed neatoburrito giving a better answer about the internet.