<p>Hi. I am new to this forum. My son applied to a few prep (day) schools and we ae awaiting acceptance/rejection letters ~ March 10. We are new to this whole ps thing and would like some help from btdt parents/students who might be familair with the various choices out there. S is highly academic and advanced two years ahead of his age peers in math/sciences as well as LA. Most of the schools indicated that it would not be an issue challenging him and accelerating him academicaly. We would like to hear feedback on some of these schools. We spoke with current familes from all of the schools to which he applied: Commonwealth, Milton (Day student), Roxbury-Latin and Andover (Day student). He applied to what he was told were the most academic and flexible of all the schools. He is a kid who loves math as much as foreign language and writing. He likes to dabble in sports, but is not a major athlete. I am concerned that we may have missed some potential good match schools. My wife and I are nervous wrecks! Help! Assuming he gains admissions to all of these schools, which one is best? I realize this might be a subjective question. Thank you.</p>
<p>On this forum you will get something like
Andover
Milton
Roxbury
Commonwelath</p>
<p>…Milton and Roxbury would be interchangeable. But Andover is considered “top notch” and Commonwealth not at the same level as the other 3.</p>
<p>But then other than that you will also hear to pick the school that your kid is more comfortable at and can see himself at. You will be told to go to the re-visit days and then make your decision after that; because its all about fit and not reputation.</p>
<p>So ya, thats about what your gunna get from here.</p>
<p>Indeed, mpicz is quite accurate. I am surprised that you missed Boston University Academy, particularly since your son is advanced in math. BUA is chock full of very advanced math students.
That having been said, it’s impossible to say which school is best. Milton and RL both require a considerable sports commitment so you might not find those as compatible. I’m not sure about the sports commitment at Andover - it was too far away for us to consider. Commonwealth is very different in terms of culture - sports are very low-key, and the school is a very friendly, warm place with less pressure, but very strong academics.</p>
<p>Welcome, daddy-o! I hope you will stick around for a while, and add your impressions to the forum. The boarding school side of things is very well represented on CC. The day student side needs more voices!</p>
<p>First, please remember that this forum is primarily populated by parents and applicants. The parents are usually not prep school insiders, and the applicants are 8th & 9th graders, on the whole. </p>
<p>All four of your schools are top drawer. It’s an interesting mix of schools. We neither visited, nor applied to them, so my comments are only general impressions. If all four schools accept your son, you must go to the revisit days, as that’s the best time to meet potential classmates. After March 10th, you can sit down with the course books and school policies, and try to figure out which school fits your son best. You can also call current families, to ask for their honest assessments of the school.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, that should be the deciding factor. If you don’t need aid, I believe Roxbury Latin has the lowest tuition on your list. If money is no object, then it really comes down to where your son feels most at home. </p>
<p>All your schools are superb, and they’re all exceedingly selective. The competition for spots as day students is fierce. They are a reach for everyone. Being two years ahead of peers makes your son stand out in public school. It may not make him stand out in the pool of applicants to these four schools.</p>
<p>I agree with the comments above. I know very happy families of smart kids at all of the schools, and I haven’t met anyone dissatisfied with any of them. So maybe he will get into one, which I’d take as a message that that school has selected your kid because he’s a perfect match! If your son ends up with a choice, then I would treat all the schools as being top notch academically, and focus on fit (including commute time: a long commute can be a drag, and in high school these kids often stay late—maybe especially at the schools that are also boarding).</p>
<p>Andover (where I have a local boarder—we live in greater Boston) has a 5 day per week sports/activity requirement, but it can be filled with all kinds of options including non-competitive activities. I think that a sports requirement is great for non-athletic kids for mental and physical health reasons. </p>
<p>Good luck with admissions and enjoy the revisits!</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone! We knew that Andover was the top and that S will have a lesser chance of gaining admissions here. My question had more to do with academics: which school, academically speaking, would be best. Academics is his main focus. These schools are all very different; espcialy when you compare Commonwealth to Andover. Andover has the longest commute, but if he gets in, I think we need to take it. Commownealth had the best “feel” according to him (it is tiny, but that’s okay). He loved the History Department at Milton, and RL is where two of his friends attend and their math department is stellar. We prefer a school that has a seasonal sports requirement. S swims, plays lacrosse and ultimate frisbee (I know, not a real sport). </p>
<p>We considered BU Academy, but S did not click with the school when we visited during the open house. He liked the Physics teacher and the math teacher(s), but he commented that the admissions director(?) was not able to answer his questions. There were many friendly, nice kids there and the parents seemed very nice. S is outgoing and would probably fit in better in a different type of environment. He decided that the four he chose were the best matches for him academically and socially. We’ll see! </p>
<p>I appreciate all of the responses and the private messages. I will surely repost after March 10, if not before. This is a great forum!</p>
<p>All four schools you mentioned are great for “brainy” Boston-area kids, though if good-for-brainy is your main criterion I would have added Groton to that list…out of curiosity, how can one apply as a day student to both Andover and Milton? They’re not <em>that</em> close to one another?</p>
<p>Hi Gemma. Proximity wise, we are located smack in the middle of both schools. Well, not exactly “smack”, we reside closer to Milton, but only slightly so. Groton I thought was primarily boarding, same as Middlesex. Was I misinformed?</p>
<p>I was under the impression that Andover only allows day students from a hand full of northern suburban towns? And those towns are far away from Boston? Has Andover changed its policy in this regard? I have heard families move to certain towns in order to be admitted as day students.</p>
<p>Suffice it to say that S meets the non-boarding criteria. I do not want to give location away on a public board. There are also “special considerations” for aid applicants and non-boarding status. I can’t say whether or not their policy has change from past years as this is the first year we have researched and applied to private high schools. But one must apply as a boarder or non-boarder and cannot change their status after acceptance.</p>
<p>Oh. Good to know about the “special considerations”. </p>
<p>From what I have heard so far, Roxbury Latin is a better fit for your son than Commonwealth or Milton in terms of math. Students from RL participate in many math competitions. One recent competition is HMMT: [HMMT:</a> Archive](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/hmmt/www/datafiles/results/]HMMT:”>http://web.mit.edu/hmmt/www/datafiles/results/). You can see that both Andover ad RL are in there, but not Commonwealth or Milton.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>I go to Milton and I have two brothers at Roxbury Latin (I’m not THAT familiar with Andover and I have never heard of COmmonwealth) but academically I would say Roxbury Latin is the most rigorous. While I don’t know about their math program specifically, RL is for only the most elite students. Even their middle school students are given hours of homework and their curriculum is very advanced in every subject.</p>
<p>Milton has an award winning English and History department, so those are definitely their strengths. They are, however, equipped to handle advanced math students (obviously-as a boarding school that takes a very high number of students from Asia, they have to adjust to their mathematic education system. i.e-15 years olds already done with AP Calc. But I would guess that ANdover is also equipped to handle that) While Milton is not an “AP” school, they do have honors in math. As a Milton student, I am kind of biased, but Milton is the best school all-around (academic, athletics, ECs, social life etcc).</p>
<p>Good luck with everything!</p>
<p>Brainy…</p>
<p>Roxbury Latin! Their SSAT average is 2260. They have all day students, so he wouldn’t feel excluded as a day student. Roxbury is also more academic than athletic (I saw them play Gov’s in boys bball)</p>
<p>Beware Day student status if your school is more then 20 minutes away. We lived through 3 years of 45-minutes one-way and it had major downsides.</p>
<p>The students spend more then 1.5 hours per day in a car - time lost to homework, ECs, sports etc. One is cut out of evening and social events. And the 9th Circle of… is when the school has events on Saturday and Sunday two weekends in a row, which means that you’ve spent 6 hours per day in the care for 19 days with no break. </p>
<p>Don’t underestimate the toll on the student or on the parents of the commute.</p>
<p>The commute issue is important - kids can sometimes get some work done (or sometimes sleep), but it is tiring - and there is also the snow issue to consider if your child is a day student at a mostly boarding school.
Try the commute during the time you will actually do it too.</p>
<p>Nemom’s and toadstool’s points about the commute are really true. This week, when almost all the day schools in the Boston area called a snow day, Phillips Academy Andover was in session. I would not have wanted to drive there!</p>
<p>If you live “closer” to Milton and decide to go to Andover as a day student, the morning drive up 93N (or 95–>93N) would be a nightmare, I’d think you have to spend 2-3 hours per day min on the road.</p>
<p>I know a few kids that were both accepted into Milton and Commonwealth last year, all decided to go to Commonwealth. The impression I got is that academically Commonwealth is stronger than Milton. (My S is not applying to either so I’d like to think I am unbiased.)</p>
<p>I don’t think one can say a high SAT average means a certain school is better than the other. We visited 3 out of 4 schools on your list and found them to be all very different. Also, it is easier to have high average based on 50 kids than 400, right?</p>
<p>If your son gets in you guys should really consider Commonwealth. It’s certainly not as well known as Andover, but the academics and the teachers are truly outstanding. The kids tend to be very smart and quirky, but not particularly athletic. </p>
<p>I know that as part of the admission process your son had to spend a day at the school going to classes, and hanging out with the current students. If he felt like he “fit” that’s a very good sign.</p>
<p>Commonwealth is a small school in the best sense. Due to its size a strong sense of community develops among the kids and they tend to be pretty tolerant of one another. My perception as a parent is that it’s less cliquey (sp?) than most schools. Also, the teachers get to know their students extremely well and seem to be tremendously invested in their success.</p>
<p>Finally, I personally think a great deal of their headmaster, Bill Wharton. Because he also teaches a couple of courses (one of which all freshman are required to take) he gets to know each student personally and is involved in the academic life of the school on a daily basis.</p>
<p>I just googled commonwealth academy in MA and got a school that mentions LD/ADHD specialties. Is this the correct school?</p>
<p>Commonwealth School is not a school that has a particular LD/ADHD slant. Check [url=<a href=“http://www.commschool.org%5DCommonwealth%5B/url”>http://www.commschool.org]Commonwealth[/url</a>] . Commonwealth Academy is a school that has some LD/ADHD focus.
Commonwealth, like BUA is not strong in sports, but has the advantage that kids who are not jocks but want to try a new team sport certainly can. (If the school offers the sport - neither have football , for example.)</p>