<p>I agree with other parent posters that some applicants shoot only for the "top" schools, while ignoring others where they have better admissions chances and might be happier. I think one problem is that some schools have well-known names, but where do you look beyond them?</p>
<p>Take a hypothetical candidate, a 8th/9th grader, not URM or legacy, who has always been a strong student and scores an 85 on the SSAT. He or she plays a couple of school sports, but not outstandingly, and enjoys a few other EC's, but has no stellar accomplishments. The student is excited about the boarding experience and wants an academically challenging environment. Mom and Dad want him/her within about 3 hours of the Hartford, CT home. The student is applying to a couple of AESDCHGL schools and would love to go, but realizes they are reaches. Where else should he/she look? They are flexible on size, EC's could be met almost anywhere, but they are cautious about a "jock" school.</p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions? Since we're being hypothetical, pretend it is September and ignore FA.</p>
<p>The first couple of schools that come to mind are Westminster - kind of a baby Deerfield - less about $300 million.
Maybe Suffield, and NMH.<br>
Those are just based on what we have seen during our personal process this year.</p>
<p>Please what are the top pre-med colleges, asides harvard. Some schools are well known for something else and not pre-med. I'm not asking about good schools in general but those that are good for pre-med students.</p>
<p>Actually Blair is just within the 3 hour radius of Hartford because of Rt. 84 (take 84 to the first exit in PA, then backroads down to Blairstown). I think highly of the school. </p>
<p>There are many schools that can be considered. Here are some schools not mentioned already that I have heard good things about. I'm trying to screen to avoid jock schools, but I really don't know about some schools to screen for that: Concord Academy, St. Marks School, St. George's School, Pomfret, Kent, The Masters School, Berkshire & Millbrook. I didn't add the boys' schools because of jock culture. Also, I heard Middlesex has a strong jock culture because they are a small school and want to win some ISL games. Perhaps this is true for St. Marks & St. George's as well -- I just don't know. For a girl, you can add Miss Porters School, Westover and Emma Willard. I included Concord & Masters, but have to add that their boarding population is around 40%. If the applicant is artsy, these school are worth considering.</p>
<p>Drmi, I think for colleges it would be easier to get answers on another collegeconfidential forum. I am not so familiar with them but take a browse and you are sure to find one. This forum is based on prep school admissions so the contributors probably dont know quite as much about colleges as you would find somewhere else.</p>
<p>If you haven't already been to Boarding School Review, check it out. (No, I'm not on their payroll.) They have a great search engine for helping you to find schools that may not otherwise be on your radar screen.</p>
<p>BSR is how I found out about all these schools. I was reading a book about boarding schools and I was like wow these seem cool. I looked boarding school up online just for fun because I was not planning on applying or anything yet. On Boarding School Review I found some in NJ and I went on their websites. I instantly fell in love and told my mom. She thought it was unrealistic, but she said this year we can look more into it. Last year was when I did this, when I was in 7th grade. So this year we researched more seriously and now I'm actually applying. It's pretty shocking to me. LOL.</p>
<p>I have no idea what Middlesex' record is in interscholastic competition, but that's not what I use as a measure of being a "jock school." To me, a "jock school" is one where there's a distorted and/or disproportionate emphasis on athletic achievement and unrealistic pressure (self-imposed and otherwise) to win titles without placing value on other measures of achievement. You can have schools that field perennial champions that aren't "jock schools" and schools that are cellar dwellers in their conference that are "jock schools." To me, it's all a function of a school's attitude and approach to athletics.</p>
<p>One of the neatest memories I have from touring schools was my visit to Middlesex. We had a self-guided tour since we could only be there on one particular day -- after classes ended. The fall sports teams were practicing and the sounds that echoed across the campus were 1) laughter 2) occasional exhortations and 3) coaches' whistles. As a high school coach and member of the Positive Coaching Alliance I was equally struck by what I didn't hear: the yelling and shrill bombast of coaches riding their players and getting on their respective cases. It sounded more like going to a park on a Saturday afternoon and coming across a big company picnic with games and field events than it sounded like an intense jock experience...which, minus the kegs you'd find at a company picnic, is just about the right experience for high school sports and, to be honest, a better path to athletic achievement across the entire student body.</p>
<p>I was only on campus at this hour for a couple of different schools. And none on a day as beautiful and the leaves so colorful as that afternoon at Middlesex...so it's quite possible this observation holds true for all boarding schools. I don't know. But my very brief encounter with Middlesex athletics didn't suggest "jock school" at all.</p>
<p>Dyer, just how many schools did you tour?:) It sounds as if you have been to a lot of them...Must have been a wonderful time for you and your son--great memories to share. Did you try to fit them all in during one trip, or did you make a couple of trips East?</p>
<p>I think we made it a dozen. Middlesex was just a place we hit on the way to Walden Pond. My son never did interview there...but I loved the place.</p>
<p>We really didn't have time to get out and walk around Walden Pond, so we were hoping just to do a driving tour. But no such luck. Go figure. Instead we killed time visiting Middlesex, got a map from the Admission Office and went on our way. It was a stupid idea. We had to get back to Exeter that evening for a music event and the Middlesex detour simply thrust us into rush hour traffic on the Interstate.</p>
<p>We scheduled two action-packed trips plus a couple of solo shot visits to schools. Trip 1 (Early November Thurs-Sat) included Exeter, Groton, Middlesex, a Concord driveby, Exeter again, St. Paul's, Andover and St. George's. Trip 2 (Early Decemeber Sat-Tues) included Lawrenceville, Peddie, Kent, Hotchkiss, Taft and a Choate driveby. Both of these -- but Trip 1 in particular -- were itineraries from Hell. I calculated our fuel consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions from our inefficient and hectic journeys accelerated the melting of the polar ice caps by 3.28 years.</p>
<p>There are other reasons I wouldn't recommend that pace: It was very tiring and exhausting and would have been more so if he hadn't already had interviews with several of the schools prior to the tours; and I think having your interview in conjunction with your tour is ideal...as there was a direct correlation between how much he liked schools and whether his tours were coupled with an on-campus interview.</p>
<p>They are all terrific schools Jonathan. I could write essays about my impressions of Groton and Taft. (Like I said, I literally just did a driveby visit to Choate while on the way to the airport.) These impressions are very subjective and I'm not sure where to go with such an open-ended question. Nor would I want to substitute my personal perspective for impressions you should form firsthand.</p>
<p>I asked the question because schools like this are match for many of the posters on the board and most students should have some schools that are not reaches. I have also noticed that while parents may be willing to have their child far away at a "top tier" school, they often look closer when it comes to the match schools, and some people only look at match day schools or staying where they are. Schools my son considered for this category were St. Mark's, Peddie, Westminster, St. George's, Brooks, and Middlesex. Middlesex seems to be the most competitive of the group, especially if you are from New England.</p>