<p>I thought I would post again about the schools my son is looking at before everyone heads off to summer activities.</p>
<p>My son is looking for a smaller boarding school (around 500 or less students), he needs significant financial aid and he is a good student.</p>
<p>GPA in a middle years IB program is 3.8, most likely in the top 5% of his class, SSAT scores will probably be in the 85-90% range and he has good ECs, including two first place wins for regional history day, NJHS, Eagle Scout, significant roles in two plays, attending Junior National Forensics tournament, national Space Day Winner and some excellent summer programs. He does basketball and shotput -- not recruitable, but potential is there for shotput (he placed 5th in district this year with no coaching)</p>
<p>He is looking for a school with a fairly casual atmosphere, with down-to-earth, interested and engaged kids. He would like a school where he could be in the top 10-15% academically and the atmosphere is more cooperative than cutthroat. He is interested in the outdoors and wants a program that has some outdoor component. Location is not an issue -- if it isn't the local school, he would have to fly anyway. I would like the school to send at least a few students to the Ivies/top schools -- he doesn't want to go to any Ivy, but I don't want any doors shut at this point. No military type schools.</p>
<p>if someone could look over his list and let us know if any schools don't fit his description -- or if you think of a school which does fit, let me know. We have only visited the local school (Fountain Valley) and will plan a few visits this fall -- but money is tight, so we can't just visit everywhere. We really need to narrow it down.</p>
<p>since he needs significant financial aid, he is thinking of applying to 6-8 schools, with maybe just a few real reaches (schools with low acceptance rates)</p>
<p>Mercersburg
Putney
Middlesex
Holderness
Proctor
Northfield Mount Hermon
Asheville
Midland
Thatcher
Millbrook
Fountain Valley
St. Paul's
Conserve</p>
<p>He has a good chance of getting into all those schools you listed. Its not nearly as difficult to get into a top prep school as a top college, especially coming form Colorado. The schools I'd recommend would be: stpauls, hotchkiss, deerfield, salisbury school, loomis, thatcher and putnet.</p>
<p>I am sending my second child to NMH this year and it sounds like a good fit for your son because of several reasons. They have an outstanding arts program and are in the process of building a beautiful new arts center which should be one of the finest in New England. They also have some excellent outdoor programs in hiking, sailing, winter in the outdoors, etc. The campus is in rural Western MA and is absolutely gorgeous. They are a bit larger than 500 (I believe in the 600-700 range), but it is a close-knit community; very warm and welcoming. It has the laid-back atmosphere you desire and offers a full complement of rigorous classes without the "cut-throat" type of competitiveness that you are not looking for. They also offer very nice fa packages.
Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Ok this is AliJ's daughter again.I'm in NJHS,too!!!!cool!!!</p>
<p>I applied to two of the schools you listed:Middlesex and St. Paul's. I would recommend Concord, Groton, and Milton. I think that he should apply for some big schools, too. They have very large endowments, so they can offer way more financial aid. St. Paul's is very nearly need blind, so they give out a lot as well. Andover and Exeter are need blind. It may be a reach to apply to the very cream of the crop, but it might be worth your while. Out of the ones I recommended, I only toured Concord(I applied to all of them), but I visited the campuses of both Groton and Milton. Milton is 2/3 day students, though, and I have heard that they basically rule the school. Groton seemed like a very close community, as did Concord. Groton is about 300 students and Concord is also about the same. Concord is about 50/50 when it comes to day students vs. boarders. Concord is very focused on the arts, while Groton stresses on math and science.</p>
<p>I hope this helped!! Tell me which schools your son will apply to, and good luck!</p>
<p>thanks for the suggestions -- we will take a look at the schools.</p>
<p>he thought he would apply to two schools that are "reaches" based on the acceptance rates (right now, those would probably be Thatcher and St. Pauls) and the rest apply for schools with acceptances rates in the 40%+ range. Does that sound like a good strategy?</p>
<p>Since he is looking for both acceptance and financial aid, we thought it would be a good balance. alot of schools with higher acceptance rates have lower endowments.</p>
<p>"Since he is looking for both acceptance and financial aid, we thought it would be a good balance. alot of schools with higher acceptance rates have lower endowments." This is true. I agree with the reaches, but your son, in my opinion, has very good chances of getting in. He seems very talented. Your strategy sounds good. Has he taken the SSAT or the ISEE yet? If so, what are his scores? I still think that Groton would be good for your son, since he seems like he is very well off in math and science. What are you specifically looking for in a school? I still think that your son should apply to the top tiers because they can offer him better financial aid.</p>
<p>he will be applying next January for 9th grade admissions (he will be in 8th grade next year).</p>
<p>although he might have a chance at some of the bigger name schools -- his concern is that he would really end up on the lower end of the school, both academically and socially. From knowing his personality -- if he was more in the "average" for the school, he wouldn't be as happy -- and my guess is that the "average" student at Andover, Exeter, etc are still pretty high performing.</p>
<p>Since he isn't into prestige and the % of the schools Ivy League acceptances isn't a factor, the admissions rates at the very top schools are a little scary. </p>
<p>He really wants a school where he can shine and be a "top dog" if that makes sense. Not the only one who is "top dog" but one of the better students in the school.</p>
<p>If I had to describe my son in a few words, I would say he is hard-working, fun-loving, social, bright but not gifted, compassionate, sensitive, a risk-taker (in a good way), respectful, eager to learn and talkative. His teachers say he is exactly the type of student they like to have in class -- and teacher recs should all be excellent (same teachers for 2+ years, top student in class)</p>
<p>Honestly, he sounds so much like my older son. He was a stellar student in middle school, had a wide array of interests with some good (but not great) athletics. He is also a very sensitive person and was close to his teachers. I really think he sounds like someone who would be happy at NMH. You should give it a look. My older son checked out all the big-name schools and just loved the feel of NMH from the start. And don't be fooled by it's lack of "prestige"; it was all he could do to maintain a B+. It is extremely rigorous. He had two close friends from hs who also attending bs, one at Andover, the other at Exeter. They often compared workload/classes, and their situations were quite similar.</p>
<p>thanks keylyme -- NMH is definitely one of the schools on the list. Not worried about a lack of prestige -- in our social circles, the only kids who go to boarding schools are at the juvenile facility! So names mean nothing to him.</p>
<p>does anyone know anything "bad" about the schools I listed? I know nothing about boarding schools and have no one to ask besides this forum and the school itself. </p>
<p>Any of these schools have real drug and alcohol problems? hazing? really just for rich kids? too little supervision? most of the kids are "problem" students? Anything that might make him think twice about attending.</p>
<p>Well, I don't think that you can really find out about hazing, alcahol, and drugs until you go there, since I don't think that they would really advertise it lol. I don't know about most of the schools, but if you go to <a href="http://www.boardingschoolreview.com%5B/url%5D">www.boardingschoolreview.com</a>, they have some really good information there. You can get all the stats.</p>
<p>My oldest was a student leader and there was some alcohol/drug use, but not a huge problem. As I stated, my son is a sensitive type and he never felt anything but inclusion at this school. No problems with hazing/bullying at all.</p>
<p>thacher thacher thacher. seriously.. it's like you just described the school. <a href="http://www.thacher.org%5B/url%5D">www.thacher.org</a>
millbrook and proctor seem like good matches as well.. i don't know much about them, though.</p>
<p>in my personal opinion, i don't think some of the schools mentioned would be good fits. it seems to me like he really wants an inclusive environment, somewhat outdoors-y, and full of unpretentious, intelligent kids. thacher! it is the BEST fit. some of the others.. not so much.</p>
<p>drugs/hazing/"rich kid" resorts
tabor
holderness
cate
kent
groton?/sps?? (opinions which differ from others')
and then there are others which seem to have significant populations of these, but are not overrun. i'd say every school has a few, but others have larger groups.</p>
<p>fountain valley seems nice. i know that in the 70's they had an alcohol problem, but.. so did every other high school. seems like a great school. my uncle said it was very challenging, academics came first, and it was an all around great school.</p>
<p>"NMH seems nice but i think some negative aspects of the school which have been discussed before should be considered at the least. namely the "rich kid" internationals (21% international) and the jock culture. do a search in the archives. i think it's a great school.. kids seem down to earth and many of them seem artsy."</p>
<p>I don't think you will find much else besides that dramatic article for a negative from NMH. That was an unfortunate incident which occured over 8 years ago. When my older son was there, he never experienced anything like that at all.
My son actually requested an international student as a roommate because he was so anxious to experience another culture. This roommate, from Korea, remains his closest friend. This young man is not from a wealthy family and was on 100% scholarship (I believe I've read how difficult it is for international students to get fa, but my son tells me he knows of many internationals who had fa at NMH).
Also, I think NMH is known more for its artsiness than any "jock culture", although I am hoping their athletics are strong, because it is my younger son's dream to compete D1 in his chosen sport (soccer).
I would hardly characterize it is as a "rich person's school". The school was founded by D.L. Moody as a working person's school which sought to provide an Exeter-type education to the financially disadvantaged. They still stand by that principle and work hard to provide fa to over 40% of the student body. One of the reasons they downsized was to be able to provide more aid.
We visited Exeter, Andover, St. Pauls (amongst others) and NMH was the only school I did not feel "out of place" for not being monied.</p>
<p>I'd look at Salisbury School for your son. My son did a PG year there -- class of 2006.</p>
<p>It's 285 boys on a hill in the NW corner of Connecticut. Gorgeous campus with a forestry program. Good academics, but not considered creme de la creme.</p>
<p>Mercersburg is a great school and generous with financial aid. They are also tied for first place as being the nicest and friendliest and most accomodating of the five schools we had contact with and applied to. They also have a gorgeous campus and it felt like the "safest" school that we visited. By that I mean the main road is far from the entry of the school and I felt like there were no city roads cutting through the school like there are at many of the other BSs we were in contact with and visited.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if finances are an issue, you may not want to apply to more than one reach school (like Andover, Hotchkiss, Exeter, etc.) because it costs about 50.00 to apply to each school and you have to take into consideration the interview process and the expenses involved there. Even if they have a local rep, in many states that can mean a four-hour drive and possible overnight hotel costs/meals. You also will have a higher chance of being on waitlists with those schools, and you might want to consider, after reading some of the postings from this spring, if you and your family want to deal with that emotional rollercoaster when your S can probably easily get into a school a tier down AND with the financial aid you need.</p>
<p>I don't want to discourage you at all, but if the SSAT ends up being below 90, the chance for being rejected or waitlisted at a top tier school is very possible, and actually quite probable, especially when you add on the financial aid part.</p>
<p>thanks for all the great information! This board is a great help.</p>
<p>hpflrent -- I completely agree with you on the reach school issue. How exactly do I classify a reach school? I know that if his SSAT scores are not slightly above their normal for admittance, it would be a reach (he is high in other areas, will interview well -- but need is a negative). Should I consider all schools with a 20% or less acceptance rate a reach? (kind of like applying to HYP -- it is a reach for everyone)?</p>
<p>The reason he needs to apply to multiple schools is the FA -- even a school that should be a match may not have the FA to attend.</p>
<p>I think the Exeter's and Andover's are a reach for everyone. They have so many applicants with 99% SSAT's that they can't possibly admit all of them. Actually, I do not believe the SSAT scores count all that much. There are many other, more important, considerations. Not that it is good to bomb the SSAT's, but there are many othe aspects.</p>