thank you! we are trying to be intentional as well and looking over things very carefully. wishing you the best of luck too!
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I am biased since three of my children have, for completely separate reasons, ended up choosing Mercersburg among many choices. My highly academic daughter who started freshman year at a ātippy topā school before transferring to MB feels like she has access to plenty of rigor in the advanced course offerings at MB. In fact, she said that she thinks she is learning even more because the culture is more open and welcoming so students are more willing to engage in robust class discussions without worrying about āsounding smart.ā (to be fair ā that was probably partly because she was a Freshman ā Iām assuming some of that energy would have dissipated had she stayed at that school.)
My STEM-ie daughter also chose Mercersburg out of 10 offers, after visiting in the spring.
My international/study-abroad-minded daughter is also loving her first year at MB now.
All three love very different things and have different activities ā from theatre to volleyball to squash to snowboarding to diving, just as examples ā and all feel very seen, challenged, and supported on their paths.
As for swimming details, I canāt share much as none of my kids are swimmers. One daughter has a swimmer as a roommate and I know she does it all year, and itās a very tight-knit group who is very committed to their sport. Iāll page @novaboymom whose son is a swimmer.
ps. you are definitely NOT too late! You are early, which is not a bad thing at all ā plenty of time to learn about schools. And next fall will be here before you know it.
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This is great advice and iāve looked into George and it definitely looks like a fabulous fit in terms of STEM and culture. I will reach out to the coach to understand accommodations for serious swimmers. Thank you!
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My daughter is a club swimmer and is now a senior at a founders league school doing varsity swimming, so I know about some of these programs. Loomis generally has a great swim team (new coach this year), great facilities, and great academics but they are on they are on the larger side (750 kids). They are considered a D1 school under NEPSAC, the largest division. Avon Old Farms is usually not that competitive and they donāt have their own pool (they practice at Miss Porters I think). They compete D2 (400 boys), but they are not a cut throat school and have an awesome culture. Canterbury has an awesome pool and it appears their boys team did well last year at NEPSACs, but I donāt know much about their culture or academics.
Other schools that I know of that arenāt cut throat and have great swim programs with smaller enrollments would be Hotchkiss (599 kids, amazing facilities, great swim program, inclusive & kind culture) and Suffield Academy (414 kids, known for their swim program, usually have some nationally ranked swimmers, friendly school). However, none of these have their own club team, though there are some good teams nearby. I think Suffield Academy runs year round practice but itās not a club team. You definitely want to investigate the extracurricular requirements of each school as they can vary widely. Pretty sure Suffield requires a 3 season commitment for at least 9th and 10th grade unless you are nationally ranked, then you can get a waiver for the other seasons. A girl my daughter swim with at her club (not nationally ranked) managed teams for 2 seasons and swam for the 3rd. I know Avon requires 2 seasons. Another school I just thought of but donāt know much about academically is Williston Northampton (400 kids, D2). They usually are a top contender at NEPSACās every year. Pre-covid Bluefish Swim Club used to have one of their practice locations at Williston, not sure if they are still there now.
If you want to investigate swim teams, I suggest going to the NEPSAC swim website and you can look at the current season meet results (including times) for all NEPSAC schools as well as prior year championships:
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Thank you! this is really wonderful insight. Is it okay if I DM you for more details?
always!! happy to help! I am headed out today so it may be later or tomorrow before I reply.
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I was hoping you would chime in. I did not realize that you had a 3rd one at Mercersburg now. Glad to hear she is also loving it.
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Feel free to DM me if It would help.
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I have a son who graduated from Williston Northampton School this past May. I donāt know much about the swimming there except that itās strong.
If Iām not mistaken, they had one of the first in-ground pools. Now they have a new, modern athletic facility.
The school has a rigorous academic program, and the vibe is collaborative.
They have a new residential quad.
Iām happy to answer questions.
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Check out The Hill School for a nurturing vibe (itās called āthe family boarding schoolā) and excellent academics, with many swimmers who are now swimming in D1 programs.
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this is wonderful insight - thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I will look into Suffield as well - it was on my radar but i didnāt do too much of a deep dive, but will be sure to do so now!
thank you! i will do that!
thank you so much. We hadnāt really cast our net into MA for a number of reasons but I will look into the program!
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thank you! i have added it to the list! what are your impressions about academic rigor, particularly in math/ STEM?
It was completely unexpected! DD4 loved her life as an āonly childā at her local high school. And then DD1 (non-BS) and I were doing her college revisit days and we drove by MB so we stopped overnight to visit her two sisters DD2 and DD3. DD1 was blown away by campus, especially the theatre and dance spaces (she is a dancer/singer). Well DD1 flew home later that week and told DD4 that she really should consider applying because it was so amazing! Fast forward ā DD4 joined her two sisters this fall! She loves it!
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Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful responses. Weāve got our work cut out for us but looking forward to the process !
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Hill just recently opened a large STEM center: https://www.thehill.org/academics/the-shirley-quadrivium
My impression is that it is very focused on all the liberal arts (which encompass math and the sciences). It was a very competitive atmosphere.
My daughter was there a few years ago now, and to be honest, we did not look at boarding schools for my son, who is a math/physics kid because our local public school actually had a more advanced math track. At that time, he was completing Algebra 2 in 8th grade and one private school did not know where to place him because he would run out of math to take. I do think many of the privates have caught up and now offer multivariable calc or DiffEq.
However overall, I think Hill had a more competitive atmosphere because ALL of the kids were shooting for competitive colleges. In the LPS, my son was in with kids who were military bound, local community college bound, up through Ivy League bound. That was more inline with our familyās desires and my daughter eventually left Hill, but that is no reflection on it. It is a great place, just wasnāt the right fit for her after 2 years.
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So great reading so many helpful threads. We are international students and looking at Peddie, Mercersburg and Baylor also. Just curious why Peddie seems not doing great in Easterns Championship in recent years. Its ranking continiously droping in last several years. And how do you think Baylor as a BS in general, in terms of acedemics, college opportunities etc. Thanks!
My take is that the Peddie swim team took a hit as institutional priorities shifted several years ago. The result was that the academic bar got much higher and sports took a back seat for a while.
I believe the school now working on rebuilding its teams. There is a new athletic director (who incidentally came from Baylor) and the swim team has recently gone through a coaching change.
The girls side of the team saw the most immediate impact with a very successful season and strong group of new young swimmers. The boys side has been slower to turn around but has benefited from the new talent on the girls side. While no were near previous success, both sides moved up on the results board for Easterns and there is clearly an upward trend.
While there are excellent students everywhere, I donāt believe Baylor is as academically focused as Peddie or Mercersburg and simply because of its location it will have a different college matriculation profile (Northeast schools vs Southern schools). I canāt speak to it in much detail. It is probably the least diverse of the three.
Mercersburg will be the dominant team for a while, but they also benefit from always having PGs on the team. Two of their strongest swimmers this year were a 2022 graduate and a 20 year old international swimmer.
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Thanks so much for the reponse! Swimming head coach of Peddie seems not as active as other school, I mean we tried several times to reach the coach but ends with no reponse at all. very frustrating.