<p>Hey, I am currently a junior at public school looking to repeat again at a private school. My grades are ok, but I am looking for more than my public school offers. I am late to the application process, but I am looking to get involved with some rolling admissions. So far, the schools that I have been most interested in have been Holderness, Pomfret, Kent, and Proctor. I am looking for a school with decent academics, but will provide me a healthier environment to learn in. </p>
<p>What are some other schools that are worth looking into? Any help is great and I hope I made this thread correctly.</p>
<p>Of the schools you mentioned, my impression is that Kent is the most academically focused. It’s a beautiful school and a favorite in our house. My son felt very welcomed at his tour and interview in the fall and I have several success stories of late applicants.</p>
<p>There is a Proctor mom on this board, zuzu’spetals. Her son was admitted after March 10th as well and has been at Proctor for several years. Try sending her a PM for that school.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard much about Holderness and Pomfret on these boards, but have heard of them. Pomfret has a lovely chapel if that means anything to you :)</p>
<p>My friend’s cousin goes to Pomfret. If you want I could ask her to PM you, since she’s here on CC. Her cousin talks about the school often, and from what she’s told me it’s pretty awesome.</p>
<p>Pomfret seems like a great fit for me so far. From some of my research, Holderness and NMH are also in a similar standing. I will most likely not apply to Kent and Proctor because they do not meet my needs at this time. </p>
<p>Any other suggestions of similar schools that I should look into. I don’t want to leave many stones unturned.</p>
<p>My son has a friend who went to Kent and his parents were not at all happy with the level of academics. Another boy from his soccer team we recruited by the Kent coach (who did a lot of recruiting at the time - this was four years ago). They visited and were also not impressed with the academics. </p>
<p>Holderness is well known for its ski program, but beyond that, I don’t know much about it. I know a brother and sister who attended and it was mainly for the skiing. Neither of them were very academically inclined. I do not think it is really in the same class as NMH.</p>
<p>I’d suggest Kimball, it’s pretty similar academic-wise to Pomfret (from what I’ve heard, anyways).</p>
<p>They’re also basically the only American school with rugby union, isn’t that fantastic? Hahahaha. Good luck!
PS: If you need financial aid, applying to these schools will be a LOT harder…</p>
<p>I disagree on “if you need FA, applying to these schools will be a Lot harder…”</p>
<p>On the contrary, FA at these school is easier since they have more endowments/funds allocated pre student compared to other schools. For example getting FA at Exeter is much easier compared to Loomis Chaffee. However, getting accepted to Exeter is much harder then Loomis Chaffee. </p>
<p>The goal is to get accepted first. FA is based on family status. Schools that have higher endowment, typically offer FA if you are accepted.</p>
<p>I think Governor’s has a rolling admission. We really like the people and the campus. Not far from Boston or Andover which is a plus.</p>
<p>My husband also interviewed a prospective med-school student who is a graduate of Stony Brook in Long Island. He said the applicant raved about it. I looked and they have a rolling admission as well.</p>
<p>I don’t think that financial aid is imperative, but it would make choosing easier. I know I am late to the game, but from the calls I have made, getting in shouldn’t be too difficult, especially from the schools I am looking into.</p>
<p>I think that the three I am going to apply to are Holderness, Pomfret, and NMH…but i will also look into those schools named. I’m excited for the prospect of being able to go to a much nicer school than my public school next year.</p>
<p>My son applied to Holderness. We were impressed by the direction the school is heading under their new headmaster, especially their special programs. The school has a warm, friendly feeling, and a nice mix of academics, sports, and arts–they make a point of distinguishing themselves from some of the schools further north with a less academic focus. They’re small and the academic offerings aren’t super-diverse, but really they’re all a typical hs student would need. The admissions office there is wonderful–my husband said they were treated like kings. I’d visit. We would have sent our son there happily if he hadn’t gotten into his top choice reach school–and we think it might be a great choice for our second son, if he decides to go the boarding school route. .</p>
<p>if it’s not too late, I’d suggest taking a look at George School and Westtown (in Pennsylvania) and Putney (in Vermont). If what you’re looking for is a “healthy environment,” any of those would fit the bill. All three are more progressive & less competitive than the schools most often discussed on this forum, but still quite strong academically.</p>
<p>There’s a huge difference between NMH and Holderness. It’s my understanding that at NMH, you have to “qualify” for almost any sport you want to participate in (including things like rock climbing). If you don’t make the cut, you’re out of luck. Holderness, on the other hand, makes their activities accessible to everyone, regardless of skill level. So just because you’re not varsity doesn’t mean you can’t participate on a recreational level.</p>
<p>^^That is not true (about qualifying for any sport you want to do at NMH). They have many, many sports offerings and everyone is required to participate in something, so of course they don’t make you try out unless you want to be on an interscholastic team. Chances are fairly good to make one of these teams as there are Varsity, JV, and Thirds teams in most sports. </p>
<p>As far as sports participation for all, it is required:
“The physical education classes are fitness-based and focus on learning and practicing lifelong activities. Each term, students are given the option of several different classes from which to choose in the PE period assigned on their schedule. These options may include, but are not limited to, the following: aquatic activities, aerobics, badminton and beginning tennis, fencing, floor hockey, golf, ice skating, indoor soccer, intermediate/advanced badminton, intermediate/advanced tennis, soccer, softball, Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, yoga, basketball, personal fitness, strength training, and biking and canoeing.”</p>
<p>There is also an Outdoor Education Program that anyone can sign up for. It is offered in both the winter and spring terms (not sure about fall) and includes such things as canoing, kayaking, mountain biking, camping, rock climbing, etc.</p>
<p>It’s been a while since I’ve been thinking about this…</p>
<p>I applied to Northfield and got waitlisted, which kinda sucks because I really wanted to go there. I also applied to Holderness, but later realized that it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Since then I’ve just been planning on making the best of it for next year, hoping everything will unfold smoothly.</p>
<p>However, lately I have been thinking about maybe reviving the search. My friend told me about Kimball Union and when I called them, they sounded like they were interested. I’m wondering what people think of this school and if it’s worth my time to give the prep school bid one last shot.</p>
<p>At least i’m going to ASP this summer at St. Paul’s, so i get a little simulation of prep school.</p>
<p>Governers and Cushings will be interested to hear from you. Give it a shot if you really want to go this Sept. I`ve been to both campuses and they look nice. Good luck!</p>