<p>Ok so I'm in 7th grade and started looking for boarding schools during the past summer. Recently, I came up with the above four schools. I understand that Mercersburg and St. Margaret's are sort of second-rate schools, average, and more of safety schools than anything else, and Lindin Hall has great academics but their graduates rarely go to Ivy leauge colleges. Are these reputations true? Also, I have a lot of friends whose families went to Miss Hall's, which is the reason I am intersted in the school in the first place. What is the place like? And most importantly, how do these schools compare to St. Paul's(my personal favorite school), Deerfield, Andover, Exeter, and Choate? If you can, it would be great if you included personal experience! </p>
<p>By the way, I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong category or something. It's my first thread :)</p>
<p>Congrats on your first post! I wouldn’t really call a school “second-rate” every school is a perfect fit for someone and might be a reach school for someone while you think it is a safety school. Honestly, I can’t tell you much on those schools, but I did want to say welcome. I think a school can influence you on what you learn, but if you personally don’t feel ambitious enough to go to a ivy league… then no matter where you go to high school that really won’t change (unless something impacts your life). Consider every school for all the benefits that the offer YOU, not someone who was born into a legacy and is just working there way through life. I hope what I said makes sense (sorry, only a 6th grader, please no comments on bad grammer). Again, WELCOME!</p>
<p>Thank you! Apologies for calling these schools second-rate – that is just what I have heard from some peers! But I suppose every school has something to offer, whatever its prestige, or lack of prestige. :)</p>
<p>future - there have been many many debates here on different tiers of schools. some people believe there are 3 some 4 some more tiers. Some of the threads are extremely interesting in that they will not only talk about the top 3/4 schools but discuss them in regards to other schools. Some of those threads are one to two years old, but still valid. Try searching “hades” or something like that in the search box. Unfortunately I dont know how to post links. Good luck and have fun in your search.</p>
<p>out of the bunch (except st margarets-- i’ve never heard of it), i think mercersburg is the strongest academically and athletically . linden hall is kind of sketchy, since they have a super high international/asian population, and much of their instruction is SAT-focused (thus explaining the high SAT scores). keep in mind that high SAT scores do not necessarily correlate with strong academics.</p>
<p>mercersburg also offers merit aid, so that’s another reason to look into it as well.</p>
<p>Throughout your search for schools, it is important not to compare them by anything other than objective measures (size, single sex or coed, etc). Before you’ve taken the ssat, for instance, you cannot say which will be safety or reach, for instance. Try not to prejudge any school based on prestige, etc. because finding the right school is about so much more than that.</p>
<p>Of the three that you mentioned, the only one I know anything about is Mercersburg and I have to admit that I groaned when I read it being described as second rate. Is Williams College second rate simply because it’s not Harvard? Of course not. </p>
<p>What you will need to do in the following six months or so is honestly access your strengths and weaknesses. Is there a subject in which you are average, or just slightly above average? Schools like Exeter have an academic baseline that is just so much higher than many other schools. It’s what sets it (and others like it) apart. This is not to say that you can’t reach very high levels at other schools because nearly all of them will push a kid as far as they want to be pushed. But you’d have a choice. At the tippy top schools, there aren’t honors or AP levels of history and English, for instance. Everyone is in the same, very high level, course and the bar is very high. </p>
<p>I guess you could say that the spread of talent at some schools is wider than at others and this makes the biggest difference, I think. But beyond that, they are all set up to provide an intense academic experience. It’s just that at schools like M’burg, you have more control over how intense you want it to be. At Exeter (and I only use that as an example because I know most about it), it’s gonna be pretty intense no matter what classes you sign up for. Sure, you don’t have to take accelerated Latin, but the regular Latin can be pretty darn intense.</p>
<p>You’ve got time to be very thoughtful, and the more thoughtful you are in choosing the school to which you will apply, the better the results tend to be and the more choices you end up with.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to Mercersburg. It has been a fabulous school for her. She didn’t have ssat’s in the 90th percentile, but hers were still good. She plays two sports there, is active with the yearbook, tour guide, writing center… She is taking mostly honors courses and has classes with about 8-18 kids in each. Likes her teachers, the dorms, the kids there. Likes the sense of tradition there. Complains about the food, but what else is new? Has been the perfect school for her.</p>
<p>Just curious; are you in 7th grade, or the parent of a seventh grader?</p>