<p>For those students and families lucky enough to be admitted (with FA, if needed) to two or more good schools, I am wondering what you are looking at in order to make that final determination on where to go? I thought a listing of different things might help everyone who is in this dilemma.</p>
<p>Here are some of the things we are looking at:</p>
<p>*<em>Study skills/time management/organization: how does the school address this issue?
*</em>Parent Involvement: how do parents who are not local stay involved? how will we know what is going on -- both with our student and with the school?
*<em>What opportunities are there for study-abroad?
*</em>Are food choices good and nutritious? When is food available?
*<em>How much sleep will my son get each night?
*</em>What are the weekends like?
*<em>What are meals like? Family style? Cafeteria?
*</em>how are learning differences (some kids are faster, some slower at catching on) handled in the classroom? Are there different levels?
*<em>Do the kids watch TV/play videos games? If so, how often? On weeknights?
*</em>When do the kids study? study hall? during the day?<br>
*<em>What is the reading list for 9th graders?
*</em>what textbooks are used for science and math?
*<em>how many papers will the student write in 9th grade?
*</em>What kind of support is there for the student having a bad day -- how is that handled?
*<em>what classes do students take for the "most rigorous curriculum" that top schools like to see?
*</em>What is the weather like?
*<em>What if a student is having trouble in a class -- what happens? What if it isn't a matter of failing, but a matter of working up to their potential (always getting a C or B -- but with help they could get an A)
*</em>What AP classes are offered and what are the requirements for enrolling? If they don't offer AP classes, do they offer classes that correspond (and have students taken the AP test after those classes). How do students do on the AP tests?
*<em>is an SAT or ACT test prep offered?
*</em>Are kids picked up and dropped off at the airport for breaks? how does this work?
*<em>how much homework do the students have each night?
*</em>is homework mainly things like math problems or reading or short assignments, or are the kids regularly assigned larger papers or projects?</p>
<p>Great list! We attended a revisit day this week and inquired into (and were offered presentations on) many of these questions. We were quite impressed by the philosophy/approach of the school administration and faculty in many, many areas. </p>
<p>To our surprise, however, the key moment of the day came when we rejoined our daughter after her morning shadowing another student. We didn’t fully anticipate our d’s take on some social issues that bubbled to the surface over the course of their time together:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How much social pressure do students feel to dress and act a certain way - apart from dress code standards? ie Are girls frowned upon for wearing comfortable shoes or sneakers, as opposed to more fashionable shoes? (My d’s guide’s feet were bleeding from her stylish shoes, even as she stated that sneakers would simply not do for wearing around the sprawling campus)</p></li>
<li><p>How do students spend their free time? ie If you want to curl up with a good book, are you viewed as anti-social? During study breaks, is hanging out with friends viewed as optional or mandatory? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Of course, our d understands that some teenagers are more susceptible to social pressures than others, and that it is up to each student to find the balance that works for them (in terms of individualism vs conformity). But it may be that, in some schools, the pressure to conform is stronger (and potentially more stifling) than in others.</p>
<p>social pressures – a good one to add to the list. </p>
<p>yes – these questions might be good for someone starting out, but we decided not to ask too many “picky” questions since we didn’t want to be thought of as a needy, demanding family (particularly since we needed FA). Of course, now that we have choices – I really do want to know what the kids get to eat for breakfast, who makes sure they don’t spend 8 hours playing World of Warcraft and who makes sure they get enough sleep – in other words, who takes over my responsibilities.</p>
<p>Any other things people are looking at? I am sure I have missed a few!</p>
<p>True stef, not the WHOLE list at the beginning, but some I think are key to know if the school is even a good fit - those for us included family style vs. cafe meals, study hall structure, and study skills/time management.</p>
<p>Another to think about:
**Health Center - hours, drop-in vs. appts, local hospital - how far, what kind of facilities, etc.</p>
<p>One more -
**How is placement into classes done? Especially important I think for incoming 10th graders who will possibly have had some of the classes. For example, NMH, SPS and probably others have the “upside down” science sequence. How does it work if you’ve already taken biology but that’s usually the 11th grade class and you are entering 10th?</p>
<p>*<em>storage for items over the summer (particularly for students that come from a long distance)
*</em>do kids have bikes? do they use them?
**money/allowance – do kids need money at school? how much? what for? how do they access it? debit card/cash? (not book money)</p>
<p>Yes, this is a great list, along with lots of great additions.</p>
<p>As for food, some of the schools have a link to their daily menus on their web sites, so you can get a broader sense of what the choices are, particulary if a student is vegetarian (as in our case) or has particular food likes/dislikes. Some of the dining menus even have nutritional information as well.</p>
<p>I have seen some of the posted menus – but I am thinking more along the lines of how much “bad” food is also available. My experience has been that when both “nutritious food” and “junk food” are offered, many kids will each pizza and soft serve ice cream for dinner every day. also things like snack foods, etc. Just wondering how accessible poor food choices are vs. healthier food choices</p>
<p>When we initially researched schools, we were just trying to get a list together of schools that met certain criteria. After acceptance, there are so many things to look at more closely. Like one school calls Dance a sport and it replaces an athletic requirement. Another school calls it an art so you can’t take it along with choir. A third school calls it a club and you can’t take it if you want to do newspaper. What we learned was that all the options that are available in the brochure may not all fit together the way you think. You really have to drill deep to get the details.</p>
<p>that is a great addition to the list!! Can the student actually pursue all their interests? I know that my son is very, very interested in both theater and sports – plus he would like to take some art classes (or activities). He only did one sport in middle school because you couldn’t do both drama and sports – and I would hate for him to have the same dilemma.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Student publications - what are the opportunities here? How many and on what topics, ie politics, or humor, or art? How often is the school newspaper published? The revisiter could try to obtain copies of any publications that might be of interest.</p></li>
<li><p>Community service - how easy is it to fit this in around sports, theater, music? What are the range of opportunities here?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>TWO OTHER BIG QUESTIONS MY DAD HAS:
<em>**What scheduled activities does your school often offer?(He read that schools that offer little to do often have depressed students, high drug usage and other stuff)
*</em>*How accomodating is the school on allowing a student to take multiple classes in one discipline? Would you allow a repeat to skip a “required” prerequiste if he demonstrates the prior knowledge that is required to qualify him for the more advanced courses?</p>
<p>LOL congrats benevolent. ouch, i wouldn’t want to be picking… haha, i’d like, faint before making a decision… :P</p>
<p>groton is… i guess, if you need a really nurturing/close-knit community, right?!
each school has like, insane academics, so, that’s not really an issue…
hotchkiss has a great languages /debate program…
um. exeter/andover… haha, you know them better than me. they’re just great.</p>
<p>& middlesex, i don’t know anything about, so…
look for personalities and stress levels in current students? hehe. personalities of prospectus, like you, should be important too, i think. … lol. well, good luck? :P</p>
<p>i’m hoping to apply to no more than 7 schools next year. i just hope i don’t get rejected across the board (although it’s very possible!) …</p>
<p>italian I thought your dad had said earlier if you get into Andover or Exeter that your going. Where the hell did Kent come from in his mind lol</p>
