According to student satisfaction ratings, Milton students are happier overall and generally more pleased with their experience. That should count for something, and therefore, Milton would be my selection.
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I have only been on this forum for months, but I feel that most participants here are genuinely kind, respectful, and want to see you and your children to succeed. As in our daily lives, however, we do come across some condescending, “know-it-all” type of people every here on CC. The particular person that you had just exchanged posts with certainly fits that description, and has been less than gracious with other participants on more than one occasion.
Full disclosure - I have served on the boards of several prominent schools. That is why I offered my two cents when someone asked about ED applications to colleges and the impact of legacy and donor status.
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Both are fantastic schools from what I hear, providing more than solid foundation across the board, including writing skills. I was particularly impressed with the caliber of Milton’s science and technical writing education, though it boasts literary giants among its graduates as well. Check out “Helix,” Milton’s science journal published by students.
One more thing I would consider would be their respective locations. I love Milton’s convenience - how close it is to Boston / Cambridge and Logan Airport. On the other hand, if your kid prefers a more bucolic setting (without compromising accessibility too much - only 40 minutes by car to Boston), then Groton is it.
Size is an important factor, and normally the smaller the more individual attention, but the question of optimal size is not simple, especially since the bigger of the two would still be considered quite small compared to the average anywhere (160 per entering class for Milton). Bigger schools tend to give a kid more chance at finding diverse peers interesting to him, a more “breathing room” and private space for the introverted within the school, which might be viewed as a sort of “fit insurance” or a grace margin in finding his fit. Much less importantly, having a large number of your school graduates in the real world cannot hurt.
On Milton’s 50% boarding ratio: in my view, what matters is not the ratio (since this is not some power struggle between the two) but the minimum absolute mass, which size determines whether the school feels empty or not on weekends. At 50% boarding ratio, the number of boarders per class would still exceed Groton’s. So this should be a non-issue in my opinion. One convenience or benefit that may result from (although this is a gift of good will and should not be expected) attending a school with many local commuters is that your kid may find himself luckily invited to stay at their homes during holidays that are too short for homecoming. Some schools (though I do not know if Milton did this too) kindly arranged housing for international kids with local families on volunteer basis after the pandemic hit, which must have been tremendously helpful in light of the 14 day mandatory quarantine requirement upon exiting the country. Local families can be a boon to dorm kids far away from homes. Nothing is so black and white.
On Groton’s stress from academic competition: I think this should be a non-issue altogether. Harvard is competitive because everyone there is so smart. So is Groton. So is Milton. People constantly confuse between competition that arises from a pool’s quality and its attitude. All these schools are competitive not because of the students’ attitudes but because of their qualities. And it is the very reason your kid applied those places in the first place and you are willing to dole out the tuition. If both schools accepted your kid, it means he is on par in quality. He may have hard time, but he will handle the challenge and improve himself, which is all that matters in the end. As the saying goes, if your kid finds himself the smartest in the room, he is in a wrong room.
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You should ask admission officer to introduce you to
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Current students, preferably a senior, to ask about their experience with certain academic track, sports, activities, dorm setup, advisee programs, special signature programs (the Groton summer program is great), etc. Some people even ask about food services and whether food deliveries are allowed.
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Recent alumni, who are currently in college and can share their experience with college counseling programs and the whole college application process, e.g. how either school prepped them for ACT/SAT, essay writing, and strategizing on choosing the most suitable colleges to apply to. Ask about their approaches, results, and frustrations,
At this point, your parent(s) or legal guardians should already have attended virtual visits with the schools, in which current current parents usually host Q&A sessions to discuss any relevant topic you could think of. If this has not taken place, you should definitely e-mail your admission officers.
If you have a particular sport or musical instrument that you would like to play, you should try and connect with the coaches/instructors as well.
Once you’ve done all the above, you should have a pretty good idea which one might be a better fit.
Congratulations again, and good luck!
I am a current Milton parent and I can say that the Milton Academics is really strong. The upper school is 50-50 Day/boarding and are not affected by the lower/middle schools. Due to the pandemic, boarders were offered single rooms this year as some boarding students opted remote learning. Even though the daily homework is too much, they get time for extracurricular and the teachers are so nice and friendly.
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One note about Milton’s location. True, it is close to Boston. That said, its immediate surroundings are very residential/suburban. Not saying that’s a pro or con, just something that the OP should understand. You’re not going to be walking to all sorts of shops or whatever.
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Well, Groton is known for being intellectual. We found it the most intellectual of all the schools we visited with Exeter in the same league. I’m sure others will have their own opinions. Remember, we only visited a small number of schools. So I’m not dismissing all the other great schools out there. We were kicking the tired pretty hard in STEM, esp. math and in the humanities we were looking for depth as well. I’m not looking to assess better or worse, we thought Groton and Exeter were intellectual fits for our kids and had them at the top of our lists.
For the right kid (intellectual, driven and wants a tiny community, I think Groton is a great fit). If you are a kid who loves reading, or math or really anything and always wants to learn more than is taught, I think you’d find Groton to be a fit. Good luck, whatever you decide. Either school is a good choice.
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It’s been a looong time since I was on here. My son ended up going to Groton and graduating cum laude. Ended up going to a highly selective school but Groton guidance counselors didn’t put Ivies on even his “far reach” list. He was a very good student but not a URM, not 1 gen college, not athlete. And coming from Groton, no regional diversity. So no hooks. Happytimes 2001 hits it on the nose perfectly. BSs, even top ones, are not pipelines to ivies. Am I upset? Not at all. Son made straight A’s with a double major in STEM in college. Wasn’t even that hard for him. Has published a bunch of papers and presented at several compu-sci conferences, as an undergrad. That’s one of the things a great BS will do. When he went to college he knew exactly how to study and exactly how to focus, AND how to connect closely with professors early on. Learned all that in 9th/10th grade.
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The OP asked the question last year. Presumably they made their decision. Closing.