<p>I wouldn't go to Andover. It's in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>That isn't true.......you might be thinking of Exeter or Deerfield but NOT Andover.</p>
<p>Maybe. Exeter is in Manchester, New Hampshire, I don't know where Deerfield is, and Andover must be, well, in Andover, New Hampshire, right?</p>
<p>Wrong. Think Massachusetts........Exeter is in Exeter NH and Deerfield is in you guessed it: Deerfield Mass. Seems like you have not been to any of these schools.</p>
<p>I stand corrected.</p>
<p>Back to the topic</p>
<p>lawrenceville fits all of your criteria. great school. in my opinion, it's also significantly more down-to-earth than the other famous schools.</p>
<p>So.. I have about six months until I start applying. So far my choices are.. Andover, Choate, Deerfield, and St. Paul's. How are those? If anyone has attended these schools, please PM me or post here. It'd be greatly appreciated. :)</p>
<p>APPLY TO EXETER!
since you wont be my competition for this year =)</p>
<p>I visited all of the schools that you listed except St. Pauls. My personal favorite at the time was Deerfield. My best friend goes to Exeter and loves it, but she says the work is extremely hard. The facilities there are amazing. It is also in a cute town and not too far from Boston. They are all very different and I think the best thing to do is to visit each school and spend some time with the students and see where you feel the most comfortable. It would be best if you could spend the night in a dorm with a friend who goes to the school.</p>
<p>Ali, I don't know anyone who goes to these school. I barely know anyone on the east coast for that matter. lol</p>
<p>Bump ----> I've received my info packet for SPS and Andover. SPS looks great but Andover didn't have a lot of information.</p>
<p>how come you are not considering exeter?</p>
<p>I am. In another post I forgot to mention it.</p>
<p>Jonathan, if you don't know anyone, my suggestion would be to have a meal in the dining hall and observe the students around you. Maybe ask your tourguide if you can join him/her and their friends at lunch.</p>
<p>That's a good idea. Do you know if they offer tours in the summer? I'm going to New York over the summer and maybe my dad won't mind driving a few extra hours. :)</p>
<p>Andover is definately not in the "middle of nowhere."</p>
<p>It's in Andover, MA, about 30 min ~ 1 hr from Boston. The campus doesn't look impressive or anything, but I like the town of Andover, it's really snug and picturesque.</p>
<p>Another note -- If you just aim to get into Ivies, you can do that at any school. A large portion of college admissions (especially selective ones) depend on your personal commitment and accomplishments. A school can only provide you with opportunities, but it is your job to exploit them.</p>
<p>...........................</p>
<p>I'm not sure if tours are offered during the entire summer, although some might be available when the summer session is well, in session. You can check out the campus on your own, though, it never hurts. The first time I saw Andover was during the summer when there was a grand total of zero people around.</p>
<p>Also, in response to a poster above me: Andover's campus is very nice, believe me, but if you don't go to <a href="http://www.andover.edu%5B/url%5D">www.andover.edu</a> and click on the virtual tour. You won't be dissapointed.</p>
<p>andover's information viewbook definitely is not small. mine is the size of a novel. on the other hand, st. paul's was really large dimensionally, but only had a few big pictures and a couple of facts. exeter's viewbook is really enjoyable to look at (a lot of fun jokes in there), choate's is rather small, deerfield's is pretty big, milton's is okay.</p>
<p>jonathan - i had the same list you did (andover, choate, deerfield, sps), except i also applied to exeter and milton. i would really suggest that you apply to exeter. it is an excellent school, and if you like andover, you will like exeter as well.</p>
<p>anyway, good luck with your decisions. it's a good thing that you're planning ahead of time. i was in 6th grade when i decided that i was going to apply to boarding schools. and in the beginning of 8th grade, i narrowed down my list and chose those that i would apply to. if you have a hard time making a decision, i would suggest that you wait until everyone has gotten their decision letters. when we move into a thread where we can talk about how we decide which schools to go to, that is the time when you can see why people choose some schools over others.</p>
<p>Thanks eklektist and Gods_Favorite, you've helped a lot. :D</p>
<p>A few months ago I received Andover's viewbook. They said that they would send me an application next year since I'm not applying this year. SPS' brochure was amazing. :) I'm still waiting for Deerfield's, Chaote's, and Exeter's though.</p>