My son was accepted to all of the above schools, and we need to choose which ones we will revisit. We live out west and could possibly visit as many as 5 east coast schools, but I would rather try to limit that 3 or 4 at most. I know the norm is to revisit no more than 3 schools, but we were very rushed in our initial visits and did not feel that we got a good sense of many of the schools. Also, the whole BS concept is new to us and we are still learning about these schools. My DS initial favorite was Andover, which is still #1 at this point. The only issue is that it does not have one of his 2 main sports: alpine ski racing. He is willing to give that up for the right school, which very well may be Andover, but he has some great choices that do have ski racing (SPS, DA, MX, and Taft).
A bit of background info: My son is 13 and finishing 9th grade at our LPS, so he will be a repeat 9th grader at any of the east coast schools. We live in the west, and he has grown up in a small outdoorsy mountain setting. He is extremely bright, but also sociable, athletic, and understated. He is kind and authentic, but not extremely street-smart. He loves to truly learn and is not the cut throat competitive type. His main academic passions are world politics and history. I think he would excel at debate or model UN, but he has not yet had those opportunities. He is also very good at math and science but not as passionate about them.
Andover, SPS, and Cate are definite revisits, but be beyond that, it is a tough choice. I hate to see him give up ski racing since he already skis varsity and is highly ranked USSA racer, but he has said that is not a deal breaker for the right school.
I know that these are all great schools, and this is a good problem to have. I am a big believer in “gut feeling” after doing the college search with my oldest and am comfortable letting my son decide on that basis after the revisits. The problem is deciding which ones to revisit, thus this post. I have searched this site extensively to find out as much as I can, but I would welcome the collective knowledge and input from this board from those much more familiar with these schools than I - please help!
For an extremely bright 13 year old repeat 9th grade decent football player/excellent alpine ski racer nice kid trying to expand his horizons beyond a western mountain town, which 2-3 of the remaining schools (DA, MX,Choate, and Taft) would you eliminate in what order and why?
I can’t speak to three of your four schools as DD did not apply to them. She’s at Deerfield and loves everything about it. I would venture her favorites are the community, just the right size both physically and the number of students as this promotes community, the hands on nature of being in such small classes (all the schools of course), and the facilitiies. The last thing being subjective of course but hands down she loves her campus and did so from the very first moment we visited. She’s doesn’t ski (at least competively!) but does do a varsity sport. There are lots of skis stored in the basement area in her dorm. And sit down dinners as this has exposed her to lots of students she mightn’t otherwise interact. She’s a first year 9th grader.
Here is what I can tell you just based on my experience
- Middlesex is in a quiet place in concord. There isn’t much around it. I think they ski at Nashoba which is literally a bump with a few trails. Although they will travel to some other mountains for skiing.
- DA is small, quiet and in the middle of no where. Almost like youa re transported back in time. But a lovely place. My friend’s daughter skis there and I can try to get more info on that.
- Choate has the ability to walk to a down town area. Bigger population than the others. Has a lot of kids from NYC so it has a different feel from the others. Opportunities to head to NYC.
- Andover is down the street from us. Large diverse population. Breadth of offerings is huge. You could always come out here for march break and do some east coast skiing. I know it’s not the same as being on a team. Andover has the ability to walk downtown to go to Starbucks or the barber shop. The boarding community is so warm. Our family knows about 50+ kids there as well as a bunch of the staff. It is a special place.
- SPS is all boarding which is nice.
I know NOTHING about Taft.
I don’t see the problem is revisiting more than 3 honestly. The schools are all VERY different. Maybe think about rural va suburb, or small vs lg, or visit Andover and then the schools that have skiing. Or, go to the first revisit day and if kiddo loves it, scratch the others and go ski Tuckermans!!! I think it should be perfect timing for that!
If he loves the outdoors, Choate has the Kohl Environmental Center where kids can elect to take a semester at one end of the campus and take courses all related to the environment. I don’t know about alpine skiing but it has a kick-a-- robotics club, a new Math building and an impressive Icahn Science Center. It’s true value is that it is a community of scholars who not only inspire one another but care for one another. And the Hill House Dining Hall is quintessential NE Boarding School with 3, count 'em 3 fireplaces. (pretty nice for apres ski?)
Congrats to your son! What does he want to do about the revisits? Last year our kid only wanted to revisit 3 schools but DH and I were set on also visiting a 4th. We should have listened to the kid and kept that 4th school off the list. Good luck with your planning and safe travels!
If you want to narrow the list, why not focus on the school with the strongest ski team, meet with the coach to make sure you learn about the program, and see if that helps your kid decide whether hearing about a strong ski offering sounds tempting or is something he is truly ready to leave behind.
Also: Might be worth narrowing down based on logistics. Which ones are closest to major airports, especially ones with direct flights home?
If time and scheduling permits I would add DA to your list of NE schools to visit making it PA, SPS, and DA.
Don’t know about the schools as we did not visit those. But I would not give up his passion for a marginally better school. I also think you will find Andover very competitive - because many pick it because it is “The Best” (ranking wise). He may be more successful at another school on the list that does have his sport.
My DD is a winter sport athlete and it was an interesting freshman fall as she way flew under the radar doing a pick up sport and not very well at all. That coach must have wondered what “her thing” was as it clearly wasn’t that!
While her sport doesn’t define her and she’s there for the entire experience, we went this route as she wouldn’t have the option of doing her sport in high school. The team aspect has been an amazing experience for her so far.
One of my kids did 5 revisits. It was a lot but glad we did it as revisit impressions were different than initial impressions.
“go ski Tuckermans!!! I think it should be perfect timing for that!”
Might be too early for Tuckerman’s Ravine.
@MAandMEmom We will definitely keep DA on the revisit list. I know it is a great school and probably has the strongest ski team of the bunch. However, even varsity skiing in HS is quite a step down from what he is doing now, so it isn’t a big factor of which one has the best team. He would have to go to a place like Holderness to continue skiing at his current level. His main concern about DA is that it is too traditional and the teaching style might be less innovative than some of the other schools. He also thinks that there are too many required things such as the formal dinners. How does your daughter feel about the teaching style and required dinners?
@momof3swimmers That synopsis of the surrounding areas is helpful. I have heard that you can take the train to Boston from Andover which might be useful for flights home if it goes to Logan or just to have a fun day off campus as he gets older. Do you know about that? FWIW, at the risk of sounding like a ski snob, I personally have no interest in skiing on the east coast 
and our school’s break isn’t until April 10th unfortunately. I do like the ability to walk into a town from Choate and Andover since we will not be nearby to take him off campus and I love the idea of 100% boarding at SPS.
@preppedparent Do you know much about transportation from Choate? Would the school have a shuttle to the nearest airport? Is there a train into NYC?
Thank you @AppleNotFar ! My son wants to visit as many as I will allow! He does not feel he got a very good sense of the schools from our brief interview/tour visits. We may end up visiting 5 which is a lot. The top 3 for us are Andover, SPS, DA. Probably MX since it has skiing and is smaller so a different feel. Deciding about Taft and Choate. Taft has skiing but Choate seems to have a much broader range of course offerings.
Choate provides transport to the various airports (for a fee but cheaper than taxi). Kids can walk to the Amtrak station in town.
All these schools have a lot of go-go competitive kids. It could be helpful to your son’s sense of self to have that “thing” in which he excels so picking one where he can ski might be a good idea. Unless, of course, he’s ready to give it up altogether.
Every one of these schools is excellent; to think that one is “best” would be foolish. Better recognized by your friends in cocktail party chatter, maybe. Better able to provide a great education and better regarded by college admissions officers, no. Pick the one that feels like it’d be the best place to call home for 4 years. Truly, if you don’t have a feel for them, see if you can revisit all. You’re talking about an investment of 4 years and lots of money. I wouldn’t take it lightly.
SPS has a free shuttle to Boston Logan and to Manchester (my preferred airport). Kids can bike to downtown Concord, but most of them take the school shuttle or call a cab or Uber.
re: Choate. Yes, there is a train within walking distance from Choate. The Choate goes to Grand Central Station, NYC.
I’m doubting that SkiKid is going to be swayed much by transportation options, helpful as they may be to SkiParents. 
There’s been lots of talk here about the primary sport, but I’m wondering if maybe the secondary sport should get more attention, especially in light of:
I’m guessing SkiKid is no slouch at football either? How does your son feel about the football programs at the various schools?
As @MAandMEmom noted above about her DS, for AppleKid “The team aspect has been an amazing experience for her so far.” Maybe football is where SkiKid will find his brotherhood, and “that ‘thing’ in which he excels”?
