<p>I'd recommend you look at Choate! </p>
<p>I'm a rising freshman this fall. It's a terrific school with really nice kids. I've talked to a lot of current students (about 10) and had a lot of conversations with them, so I know a lot about it.</p>
<p>I'll give you a couple links to websites that might help you!!</p>
<p>I'll send you a PM. :) </p>
<p>-- Livy</p>
<p>What about St. Paul's?</p>
<p>Cinnamon--sounds like you've thought this out pretty well and are doing some good research on your own. I'm not sure how you should go about getting your parents on board with the whole boarding school idea, but it was a completely foreign concept to my parents at the beginning, too. Once they saw how excited and passionate I was about them, and understood the immense educational benefits they would provide, they came around. I'd suggest just talking to them about, trying to convey your interest to them.</p>
<p>I think continuing fencing would not be too much of a problem--I heard of one student at Andover (I think) who was allowed to do fencing outside of school to fulfill her PE requirement as long as she was doing it for at least six hours a week. There might also be fencing clubs at some of these schools, so check that out.</p>
<p>Canoeing doesn't seem that similar to crew, but if you're interested in it you should definitely pursue it. That's what I plan to do at Exeter in the spring, having no prior experience in crew, myself. </p>
<p>As for reaches/matches/safeties, here's my opinion:</p>
<p>Exeter: Reach
Middlesex: Reach
Hotchkiss: Reach
Mercersburg: High match
Andover: Reach
St. George's: Match? Safety?
Blair: Low match/Safety</p>
<p>Anyway, just my two cents.</p>
<p>I think that Mercersburg and Blair are around the same academic level. </p>
<p>Cinamon -- I cannot convince you that Blair is the perfect school for you because I don't know you, so I don't know if it is the right school. However, they appear to offer most of what you are looking for, except fencing. If you enjoy canoeing, they are around 8 miles away from the Delaware Water Gap with many canoeing & rafting opportunities <a href="http://www.nps.gov/dewa/%5B/url%5D">http://www.nps.gov/dewa/</a>, and faculty offer outings there. If you are driving from Hotchkiss to Mercersburg, visiting Blair will not take you that much out of your way. From Lakeville (Hotchkiss), it is 155 miles and then another 191 miles to Mercersburg. The bonus is that you avoid the heavy traffic of the coastal route (95) which takes you from one city traffic jam to the next. </p>
<p>I think the personalities of your current 4 top choices are very different. School visits should start adding focus to your priorities. </p>
<p>Boarding school is hard decision for a parent to make. Aside from costing significantly more than day school, a parent also loses a child for more than half a year, and entrusts that child to the school faculty & administration. I became convinced that the right boarding school would be a great environment for my son -- better than his day school alternatives. He is happy at Blair. If your parents become convinced that it will be the best environment for you, they may become more positive. However, the high tuition requires sacrifices for most. Let them visit some schools with you. The facilities are remarkable. However, the facilities of Cranbrook also look impressive. </p>
<p>At schools like Blair and Mercersburg, it is probable that you will be able to place in the top 10-25% of the class (if you work hard) while taking classes that challenge you. Some high achievers have a difficult time when they work hard but are only average because everyone else is a high achiever. In fact, if I can digress, I recently attended a lecture by a Harvard prof, Shawn Achor, who claims to have the most popular undergrad class called "Positive Psychology" on the science of happiness and how to increase it. Apparently many undergrads find it difficult to be average or even below average when they are used to being on top. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that the most competitive environment isn't always the best environment.</p>
<p>Good luck with your search and selection!</p>
<p>Hello again, everyone! I've been continuing to thing about boarding schools over the past few weeks, because I realize that once the school begins, I won't have as much free time to pursue this information.</p>
<p>After looking at the thread started by 'Linda S' about which schools were being considered and at what level, I decided I would do the same with my choices:</p>
<p>Nearly Certain: Exeter, Middlesex
Quite Sure of: Hotchkiss
Possible<em>: St Paul's, Mercersburg, Andover, St. George's, Blair
Local Options</em>: Greenhills, Cranbrook, DCDS</p>
<ul>
<li>Some schools I've listed under 'Possible' will be eliminated, but others may stay. I may not apply to all local options, but they will all go into consideration, and I will try to visit them all.</li>
</ul>
<p>This list is longer than my previous one, because this is the full extent of my considerations. Nothing beyond these choices will be looked at seriously, unless I'm suprised with a school that really seems to fit. My list above covers 11 schools, and I'll most likely apply to the 'Nearly Certain' schools and the 'Quite Sure' choices, with a few schools taken from the 'Possible' and 'Local' categories. I'd like to fit within that 6-9 application range, including local schools.</p>
<p>Yes, I did decide to reconsider St. Paul's, and Mercersburg has slipped from its position of certainty. Why? A second look at SPS and its viewbook interested me in its humanities, all-boarding, small size, and rural aspects--- things I was already looking for. Mercersburg, I've been reminded, is more academically on-par with Blair (and possibly St. George's?). I've decided that I'll compare these schools once the SGS and Blair viewbooks arrive, so I can more easily decide which one suits me best. Jonathan helped me realize that, although I would enjoy a boarding school life, I probably shouldn't put too much effort into schools that would academically equal my at-home options. </p>
<p>I was also looking for some advice on another matter: online courses. I've been sent a booklet about online Honors and AP courses through a Northwestern program. Today is the registration date for the fall-winter-spring session, so I'm a bit late, but I'm still considering a winter-spring-summer course, or possibly a late registration for the fall session. I have the ACT scores, but not necessarily the prerequisites, to take any course of my choice. Latin I Honors, Journalism Honors, Java Honors, and AP U.S. History all appealed to me, but with a large amount of ECs, and a decent amount of regular homework, I don't know how well I could fit a course into my schedule. I'd like to take two of the above courses (though I don't know which... they all appeal to me for specific reasons), but our school wasn't very helpful when we tried this before. Last year, I had a very poor class, and my parents and I requested a more complex course, or an online one, and the district/faculty wouldn't allow it, meaning these couldn't replace a regular class, and would have to be taken additionally. If I had a choice, I would take Latin I Honors instead of Spanish this year (which I have no interest in continuing), AP U.S History instead of my basic history class, and then Journalism Honors and Java Honors to compliment my interest in newspaper writing/editing and computer programming. If anyone has gone through something similar before, please let me know. I understand that there's little way I can take all of these courses, but if there are any suggestions on how I could manage this or talk to our district, please let me know. These would be taken for eighth grade at a public school.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice (and sorry for going a bit off-topic!),</p>
<br>
<p>Cinnamon</p>
<br>
<p>Hello, Cinnamon!</p>
<p>I've been away on vacation and not able to get to a computer regularly; please forgive my unresponsiveness.</p>
<p>Good idea to put the schools you're considering into categories of interest and likelihood of acceptance. I think it helps you focus your interests and goals, although you should always be open to changing things around once you actually visit (which, I'm sure you already know - just a point that I think is especially important and needs to be brought to the fore every now and again). I also think it is a good idea not to set your hopes and dreams on one school, and one school only. Again, it is my impression that you are already doing this, but there are many wonderful schools out there that will satisfy you, and the uncertainty of the admissions process is such that having one "dream" school is more likely to cause pain than joy. Better to keep your sights set on the type of school you want to go to and apply to a range of them that meet those qualifications (thus the 6-9 applications benchmark).</p>
<p>One more thing I would add is that my impression is St. George's is more on par with Middlesex than Blair or Mercersburg in terms of selectivity, academic rigor, etc. So, unlike Tommeister, I would say it is more of a high match/low reach for you, not because of your qualifications but because that is the kind of school it is (that is to say, it would not be a slam dunk for anyone to gain admission).</p>
<p>I'm sorry to say that I have no information on online courses, so I can't help you there.</p>