<p>I'm wondering how strict certain schools are... I don't mean dress code (I'm actually looking forward to formal dress, isn't that weird?!) but more along the lines of lights out, internet-cut-off, phone's being taken away during study hours, cell phones, and general supervision. Like, how strict is the school restricting your non-academic and non-atheletic (free) time.</p>
<p>Any schools that people know about would be great, but I'm interested especially in:
Exeter
Andover
Choate
Hotchkiss
Deerfield
Milton
NMH
St. Paul's</p>
<p>Internet: cuts off at 11 on school nights, 1am on non-school nights (which is only Saturday night). Student Council has been looking at changing it for a while. It is sort of annoying, but it gets you off facebook. You still have access to network resources- email, blackboard, etc- so it's not too awful.
Phones: never shut off. Cell phones aren't regulated, either.
Lights out: it varies by dorm. If you read the e-book (I think you can get it online) you'll see the formal rules regarding lights out. I don't even know what they are, however, because my dorm didn't enforce lights out AT ALL. It's the same thing with check-in. The hours are the same across the board, but some dorms are more lenient than others about being a few minutes late or checking out of the dorm or things like that.
General supervision: your free time is yours. No one's going to tell you what to do with it, unless you're failing your classes and are on academic probation. As long as you're not breaking any rules, no one's going to care what you're doing. You can also walk into town whenever you want- no checking out or anything like that. I loved that about Exeter. There is a form you have to fill out to leave campus for a night or weekend or something, and it's sort of annoying, but it's a liability thing.</p>
<p>Exeter is the school I have the most information on, and also my first choice. A lot of that is because of all the stuff you said- they give the students a lot of freedom. :) I'm trying to find "safety schools" and other schools to apply to other than Exeter, but I don't want to go to some ultraconservative school that monitors your every move. Bleh!!</p>
<p>Andover is very similar to Exeter in regards to rules, but there are a few differences.
The internet is never shut off, even on school nights. There is a 1GB per week downloading rule though.
Freshmen have lights out at 11. Lowers are supposed to be in their own room after 11 on school nights. Everyone except seniors must sign out to a place of study between 8 and 10pm (dorm counts as a study place). The enforcement of the rules varies between dorms.
You can go into town during your free time, but need permission to drive with a day student or leave town boundaries.
I never felt too restricted until the end of senior year, but even then I felt most of the rules were reasonable.</p>
<p>St. Paul's is one of the least strict.
We have no lights out. Internet use is shut off at midnight, so are incoming phone calls.
We have intervis (guys can visit girls room, girls can visit guys) from like 7-9pm i think. they changed the hours around this year.
were allowed to have cell phones, phones dont get taken away
check in is 9pm for 9th graders, 9:30pm for 10th and 11th and 10pm for 12th
we have classes until 3ish then sports till 5ish. then from 5-9 you have no commitments (unless for clubs etc) except seated days.</p>
<p>I love that our Internet is never shut off. It's excellent.
Andover is quite lenient on rules. I really like that we can be out (technically in a place of study, but almost every building on campus is a place of study) until 10. Very convenient for library access and the like.
I enjoy the fact that we have study hours from 8-11, because it means clubs can't meet, and it gives you a nice time to get work done.</p>
<p>That's really awesome! How was your admissions process, by the way? Also, what are you ECs, grades? I'm trying to get a feel if I have a shot at Andover, Exeter, etc.</p>
<p>These we my stats as I wrote them last year:
Prep Stats
Applying to:
Phillips Academy, Andover
Groton School
Phillips Exeter Academy
Deerfield Academy
Milton Academy
St. Paul’s School
St. Mark’s School
Concord Academy
Plus three day schools.
Grades and Currant Classes:
Honors Geometry
Independent PE
Independent Work Experience
English 8
U.S. History
Physics/Chemistry
French II
4.0 throughout middle school, every class, every quarter
Extracurriculars:
Writing (novels)
Fencing (Competitively, no awards)
I work in a sixth grade classroom five days a week, 2+ hours a day
Oxford Royale Academy (academic boarding camp at Oxford University)
Facts:
Location: Berkeley, California and Tucson, Arizona
Ethnicity: British Isles, Jewish, Western Europe (white)
Sex: Female
SSAT: 99th percentile in everything and overall
Recommendations and Interviews:
Excellent recommendations from all teachers, coaches, and tutors. Recommendations from (depending on what the school requests): honors geometry teacher, English teacher, science teacher, French teacher, recent writing tutor, fencing instructor, sixth grade teacher that I assist, who also taught me.
Excellent interviews so far. Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, Concord, Milton, and St. Mark’s were all on-campus with an adcom; St. Paul’s (soon Groton) by phone with an adcom. St. Mark’s and Exeter were definitely were and I think Andover, Milton, and St. Paul’s with the Director of Admission. All were excellent; Andover, Milton, and St. Mark’s went exceptionally well.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>Right, all that:
Accepted: Andover, Exeter, Concord, Milton, St. Mark's.
Waitlisted: St. Paul's, Deerfield, Groton.
My dad called the schools to tell them to take me off the waitlist, and he asked why at one, I can't remember which. They said it was b/c I listed fencing as a major ec, and they didn't offer it. But I don't know.</p>
<p>Wow. You're... really good. Suddenly, I feel a lot less confident. But it's all about what you can offer to the campus- they didn't have fencing, so they waitlisted you. Smart.</p>
<p>I was good in some ways, less in others. You'll notice, I didn't have any particular awards in ECs, nor did I have a long laundry list for them. I think what worked for me were strong SSAT scores, unusual ECs, and essays.
In retrospect, I'm glad they waitlisted me. I didn't become very serious about fencing until recently; if I had gone to a school without it, and I might have, I probably wouldn't be.
Is there anything in particular that you're worried about?</p>
<p>I don't have many awards either, and I need a large (LARGE) amount of financial aid, and that, no matter what, puts me at risk. I am very dedicated, however to my extracurriculars, with 5+ years in drama (5 productions), going on 5 seasons in volleyball, 4 running seasons (two track and two cross country), and going on 5 years of instruction in instrumental and vocal (I play the oboe, which is rather unique). I'm worried that I won't have an amazing SSAT or GPA, which puts my chance for financial aid at prestigious schools at risk, especially since I'm not nationally ranked or super-smart or anything. I'm high on the end of average, or low on the end of smart/excellent.</p>
<p>I've taken an online SSAT practice test, and typically did very well on simple math and basic reading/writing/verbal, but I did make a lot of mistakes. I'll be ordering practice books soon, though.
My GPA was a 97.63 out of 100, or a 3.91 out of 4. My schools goes by an out of 100 scale. I can pretty confidently say that I'm in the top 5%, seeing as the academic level at my school is pretty low...</p>
<p>note that for exeter classes typically end at 6pm every day except for wednesdays and saturdays. now, this doesn't mean that you have 10 hours of classes every day, as you will likely have 3+ hours of free time during school hours, but it makes ECs even HARDER to fit into your schedule, as many people spend the 6-8/9 pm time slot eating dinner and socializing with friends.</p>
<p>I still don't know how I feel about exeter's scheduling :/ SPS' actually makes a lot more sense to me.</p>
<p>Write on this threat when you take a couple practice tests, okay Saer?
Btw, if you don't do well on your first one, don't freak out. It happens sometimes; wait a week or so, take another. It sometimes takes a while to adjust.</p>