Got accepted at Cushing, NMH, Middlesex, Kent, and Deerfield. I hope to pursue law in college. Which one of these is the best fit? All inputs are well recieved. I also love Cushing.
Only you can decide what is the best for you…there is a long way between now and pursuing a J.D., speaking from experience what you imagine doing as an adult when you are in high school can shift dramatically as you discover yourself as a person through experience and circumstance.
Think about community, academic opportunities and growth, athletics, arts, EC & breadth of options to explore.
You have fantastic options with each school you have been accepted to- a great position to be in.
Good luck.
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Congrats! You have some amazing options. I think all of these schools will prepare you for wherever you go to college. That’s the goal of these schools. I think you should go to whichever school you think you’d feel happiest, and which has a community suitable for you. I think @Class2025Parent makes great points. A lot of people know what they want to do in life, but some don’t. Some change their minds. Some don’t. Regardless of where you fall in this, I still think it’s most important to think of the stage of your life you are in right now, and focus where you will be the happiest during your high school years. You will have plenty of resources at boarding school to figure out your future including college.
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If you love Cushing, that may be your best choice. Perhaps you can go to the revisit day there and perhaps 2 of the others? Sometimes, your decision will become really obvious through that process. You’ll realize that yes, school A has amazing xyz, but that abc at another was the clincher!
This will be your home for the next 4 years, so pay attention to how you feel at each and where you feel you can grow the most. The best place is the one that allows you to be your best possible self. Not the same for everyone!
are you asking us if you should choose prestige over the school you love for high school so you can get into law school? what you bring to the table and make out of high school will matter for law school, the name of your high school will not matter at all.
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You will thrive where you are happiest!
Yes I guess I am but I was wondering if prestige of a school can help me in my college application process for law school.
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It is very unlikely that the high school name will help you at all in college acceptances. Choose the school you will thrive at.
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Law school comes after college. High school will be very far in the rear-view window by then. Choose both the high school and college where you believe you will thrive. The rest will follow.
This 1,000%. Our son chose his high school thinking he’d be applying to film school for college. He ended up at a service academy (majored in EE) and is now serving nine years as a Cyber officer in the Army. Not a camera in sight.
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Thanks to him for his service. Wish more of these NCAA division 1 athlete candidates would consider this route also.
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Thanks @doublebubbletrouble, but I don’t think those are related. You attend a service academy or enlist to serve. If NCAA Div I sports is your goal, the military is not the way to accomplish that.
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You could begin by narrowing your choices. Say you like Cushing, but also Deerfield and Middlesex. Choose your favorite between Deerfield and Middlesex, then compare that school to Cushing. You could try other combinations, of course.
Why not ask yourself what you like most about Cushing, then see if those factors are equally present at other schools? Alternatively, you could list all the aspects that are important to you:
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A boost to law school applications? Not likely, because law schools accept students from a wide variety of backgrounds - political science, psychology, sociology, economics, and so on. Where you attended high school really bears no significance in this equation. The quality of your undergraduate work and your LSAT would matter much more.
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A boost to college applications? While it is somewhat likely that some schools are more readily recognized by college AOs, it would also be more difficult to stand out at those schools. This is definitely something to think about.
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At the end of the day, it comes down to academics/classes offered, activities available, location/size, and the vibe/personality fit at each school. You owe yourself a day at the top 2 schools of your choice.
Enjoy the journey!
Great advice you are getting here.
I’ll add just in case you don’t know – law school admission is primarily a GPA + LSAT thing. So in fact there are some who would argue that the “best” college to prepare you for elite law school admissions would be where you think you can get the highest GPA.
But as others have pointed out – I would probably not choose a high school based on what you will want to be doing in a decade. (Unless of course that choice closed doors – which is not the case here at all).
Another idea to add to the toolkit of “how to decide” would be: consider if you went to school X – would I always wonder what “would have happened if I had chosen Y instead?” Insert names of all the schools into X and Y, and see what comes up in your mind/heart/body. (You might even want to say this sentence aloud because your ears often don’t lie to you.)
BTW…in case you don’t see it clearly, but from the outside looking in, based on just your few posts, it does seem like your heart has a favorite. :).
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Ok thank you!!
Thank for all the advice!!
Middlesex has amazing writings program if that can be helpful for future career in law. How is the decision making.
Narrowed it down to Cushing, nmh, and Deerfield!
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What kinda lawyer?
For best odds. Theres 2 ways to approach it.
1st:
Id track the lawyer alumni for those schools and see which firms theyre at. Find out which colleges they went and which law schools.
2nd:
Or decide what kinda lawyer you want to be. Research the top firms. And then find out how many lawyers/partners are from those schools you listed in each firm.
Yes the actual high school probably doesnt matter in regards to actual education. BUT the connections do. Thats the whole point of all this nonsense prep school rat race. Connections.
If the senior partner hiring you played hockey at Cushing and has kids at cushing….and you went to Cushing and played hockey.
You got the job. Even if you got a 2.0 GPA and from joe schmoe law school.
Probably worth paying 1k to private investigator to gather all that data for you.
Drop in a bucket vs the 1m u will pay for all that tuition. Good luck! Have fun.
Decided to choose NMH!!
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