<p>Hi, my son is looking for info on some of the schools that aren't mentioned very often. Any info/opinions on Loomis would be greatly appreciated...</p>
<p>I suggest doing a search for Loomis on this forum and then post more specific question(s).</p>
<p>is in Windsor, CT.</p>
<p>Hi, My son started as a freshman at Loomis this year. Let me know what kind of information you are looking.</p>
<p>I know that it's academically excellent.</p>
<p>I'm a grad from the early 70s that's stayed in touch with the school ... if I can help, ask away.</p>
<p>My son is also a freshman at Loomis this year. What would you like to know? My son likes it very much.</p>
<p>I have spoken with several parents of current Loomis Chafee students and with several alumni and all, without exception, spoke in a highly positive manner about the school. More artsy than the "elite six".</p>
<p>I guess my son is looking for the "feel" of the school. Is it close knit? What type of activities are available on the weekends? What are the dorms like?
Is it still a really great education, (he is also interested in Deerfield, Andover, and Choate)? This is one of his top choices and he wants to be sure that he will still be prepared for a good college.</p>
<p>He is all boy. He loves lacrosse and soccer and is super social, so those things are important to him also. </p>
<p>So any input is good.</p>
<p>With that description, he might really love Salisbury. My son, Salisbury 2006 PG, is at Cornell on the lacrosse team. </p>
<p>Any of the schools on your top choice list will give him a good foundation and preparation for college.</p>
<p>Hi, we are looking into Salisbury at this time. It's hard to schedule all these interviews and visits. My son's private school is alot of work and as an eigth grader, he is taking an honors Algebra II class. He is "only" (his words) getting a B and will not miss any afternoon when he has math. I was hoping to schedule Hotchkiss and Salisbury on the same day if we add them both, but I should have scheduled interviews a long time ago.</p>
<p>The schools with Saturday classes do Saturday interviews and while you might not be able to fit two into one day - (even Salisbury and Hotchkiss that are 5 minutes apart would probably be hard to do on a Saturday, but possible if you get the first one at one school and the last at the other.) - Saturdays do allow you to avoid missing school.
AND, don't forget the application deadlines are not until Mid-January through February 1st. So, you really can do visits in January. Don't stress over it if you can't schedule it until then. With the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, it is hard to fit in the visits. </p>
<p>As I read more about your son, he sounds a lot like mine. We'll be at Salisbury in early November.</p>
<p>One more question. What is the interview like at Loomis? This will be my first one on Friday, then we are off to Avon.
Thanks</p>
<p>Can't help you there, we are doing Loomis and Avon on the same day but in early November.</p>
<p>We had our first two visits today. We went to Loomis and Avon.I have to start by saying that you really need to visit to see these schools beyond their viewbooks. We were at Loomis for a 9:00 appointment. Our tour guides were very nice. The person in admissions was great and very upbeat.
The funniest thing was that my son put down acting as an interest. He is actually an actor in NYC and has done commercials and small movie parts. Well, the guides saw acting and assumed he'd be interested in the theater. They showed us stages and gave me brochures about past musical productions and told him all about the classes he could take. Of course my son just wanted to see the lacrosse fields, the cafe and the dorms... He was very polite and acted interested.
We really liked Loomis and they seem to have very extensive course offerings. There were only two things that my son wasn't thrilled about. The first was the very small single room. ( This may be typical BS). The second was that they only allow you to take 5 classes at time. (I'd be happy about that) He was planning on taking Latin II and Spanish II next year. </p>
<p>If anyone wants to hear about our experiences at either school, let me know. I only wrote about Loomis because that was the thread topic.</p>
<p>Tell us about AOF, too. It was a topic last year and I'm interested in the current climate for single sex schools.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear more about Avon...what did you think?</p>
<p>
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I have to start by saying that you really need to visit to see these schools beyond their viewbooks
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</p>
<p>As a LC grad and the parent of a former applicant to LC and a bunch of the other Connecticut and Massachusetts prep schools ... this is really true. Probably true for all schools. The schools do spend a great deal of effort on the viewbooks -- but it's when you walk out of the admissions office on the tour with the guides that you really get a sense of the place. I visited Loomis last spring -- just to show my younger son my school -- and walking onto the main quad is just as awe-inspiring as it was when I was a teenager seeing it for the first time. And I don't get that feeling from the pictures. You have to be there!</p>
<p>Sometimes you get the sense of fit right <em>in</em> the admissions office. That's where I got seriously turned off by Choate -- <em>in</em> the admissions office, before the tour and before the interview.</p>
<p>Funny you say that cnp about Choate. I heard a similar story about Tabor. A student (many years ago) was completely turned off in the admissions office and how they "felt" on campus.</p>
<p>Here's to my take on AOF. I have to preface this with the fact that this was the second visit of the day and everything really clicked at our Loomis visit. The lax coach even took my son outside and had a nice relaxing 20 minute conversation.</p>
<p>Even after seeing all the pics of Avon, I wasn't quite prepared for the look of it. I felt like I was in a setting from a Harry Potter movie. Even the cafe looked like it was a setting for the movie. Anyway, it was parent's weekend and it ws very busy. Lots of happy families milling about. At Avon, the interview was first. My son said that that this interview was more about him as a student ( Loomis was more about the ativities that he did and personal interests.), and the clsses he was taking. There was a little conversation about his activites. The admissions person at Avon was young and had gone to AOF. He was fairly serious, but we had a nice conversation. We talked about academic rigor and the ability for students to study at the highest levels. Last year they accepted 49% of their applicants and admitted a larger number of students. They are looking to attract strong students, but feel strongly that what makes their school unique is that they have students from a variety of academic levels. </p>
<p>He then took us on the tour. This actually worked out well because we asked a lot of questions as we were walking around. As a former student he was able to talk about getting used to wearing a suit and the benefits of a school with only guys. He also gave us info about the socializing on weekends. My son had a good feeling about the school. He decided that there probably wasn't much time for girls during the week anyway.</p>
<p>The only thing that I keep thinking about is a conversation I had with a Dad in the waiting room. His son is a senior and his younger son was interviewing. I asked how his son liked it at AOF. He said that he loved, but that he was a great athlete, and was going to play DI lax in college. He asked if my son was a good athlete. I responded yes, but that this would be more competetive... He told me that he didn't think this would be a good fit for the younger son because he wasn't as good an athlete and sports were very important at AOF and that would affect how his son would fit in.</p>
<p>Lastly, my son liked the feel of the school. He prefered these dorms over Loomis and liked that he could request a single or double. The all boy issue is no longer an issue and he feels that he could handle the jacket. He also liked the fact that he could take 6 classes at AOF. There were lots of boys doing their thing including kids playing video games and fusball. (It was half day, so kids were free to have fun)</p>
<p>He has decided to apply and now we will also visit Salisbury.
If you have any specific questions, let me know.</p>
<p>Our next visits are Andover and Governor's Academy.
The nice thing about Loomis and Avon was that they gave us info about lacrosse at some of the other schools we are visiting.</p>