<p>As the title above states, I would like to know the difference between two schools academically and athletically. I think Mercersburg is rather remote while NMH uses the block schedule. I dont think Block Schedule is good. What's your opinion? And I'm interested in STEM but I cant easily see the Math team or Robotics team on the schools' sites. So which school do you think is better if I'm STEM-oriented(Math, Physics, Chemistry, Robotics) and interested in soccer, lacrosse.</p>
<p>My daughter is graduating from Mercersburg next month, so while I am informed, I am also admittedly biased. </p>
<p>I don’t know about the STEM program, so I’m not much help there. My daughter was interested in attending a service academy for college at one point and M’burg let her take extra science courses during her junior year.</p>
<p>As far as sports go, NMHis a bigger school and in lax and soccer is probably more competitive than M’burg. If your child is a stand out player, s/he will see a more competitive team at NMH. At M’burg, the lax is decent and getting better and a decent player will see lots of playing time. My daughter has played throughout her years there. Soccer is very good. Mercersburg is part of the MAPL league and plays great schools like Peddie, Lawrenceville, Hill,… Mercersburg is really known for its swimming and baseball teams. Those kids play d1 after graduation. Well,lots, anyway.</p>
<p>They are both great schools and you can’t go wrong either way. Oh, and about the remoteness of M’burg, it is what it is. But it does promote lots of cohesion among the kids since everyone sticks around on the weekend. My daughter loved every minute there and is sad to leave.</p>
<p>Yes, Mburg is remote, but not so much more than NMH. When it comes to access to major cities, Boston is further from NMH than Mburg is from DC. NMH does have far more BS that are closer, however.</p>
<p>People’s issue with “remoteness” of certain schools always puzzles me. I think besides Andover and Episcopal (and maybe Groton), all the schools aren’t so close to major (or minor!) metros that you can just go for the day without school (or other non-subway/local bus) transportation.</p>
<p>When I see people ding SAS because of remoteness and not Hotchkiss or Choate, I’m pretty sure that there’s more than distance playing a part in their bias.</p>
<p>Let me clarify my point about sports. Mercersburg does take their sports very seriously, think spring training trips and no shortage of pgs on the teams. But when I think about huge schools, I think they simply have large pools to draw from and will have mostly only the recruited players on varsity. And that’s fine. The large schools often have very good jv and thirds teams. But at M’burg, while there are also recruited athletes (pgs and younger), there are never so many that good, non recruited student athletes won’t be able to actively particpate at some point on the varsity level.
zp</p>
<p>OK so I think I will set distance aside. But what about the STEM-oriented thing? Is there anyone at Mercersburg can verify that the schools sends 2-5 students to Cornell a year.
And I heard studying at Merc is very lax, is it true?</p>
<p>About NMH, I heard it has a large population of Asians (about 25-30% in a grade) is it true? And will these competitive Asians prevent your way to the top?</p>
<p>Current NMHer here-
Sports: pretty competitive, depending on which sport. Our basketball team is one of the top in the nation, regularly sends kids to Ivies. LAX and soccer are both very good here, a good number of recruited players on both varsity teams.
We do have a very large international population- about 25%, pretty large for a BS. However, not all international kids are Asians, there are many South Americans, Europeans, etc. I don’t think that the Asian pop. will drag you down at all. Not all Asian students are machines that churn out A pluses.
I don’t know anything about math/robotics teams. I know we have a math team, and I think they do pretty well. Not sure on robotics though.
NMH is a much more casual school than many others. This doesn’t mean that students don’t study hard. It’s just that the environment is very non-competitive and friendly. There is no strict dress code, we call our teachers by their first names. I am also SO in love with the block schedule. So much less class time is wasted. I feel that I get the chance to delve into a subject and get so much more in depth than you could by having a typical seven class a day schedule. Also, the block schedule is very similar to how college scheduling works, so it really prepares you well for that.
If you’re interested in Cornell I know for a fact that there were several students accepted there this year. I don’t know if we have a history of sending kids there, but I think that speaks for something! If you have any more question feel free to ask!</p>
<p>Because Choate students can easily walk to the Amtrak station, it doesn’t seem very difficult to get where you want to go. Our son often takes the train into NYC to meet up with DH for the weekend when business takes him there. I don’t think students consider Choate to be very remote (hey, that rhymes).</p>
<p>And, as for NMH, I left my heart there but DS felt otherwise:</p>
<p>@WillemS: So IMO, since Im an Asian, I’ll have to compete with other Asians in the school to get to the uni I want (Cornell). And my friends at NMH told me that the Chinese are super competitive, you can see NMH Math team is full of Chinese! I’m a little worried about the competition, and for the block schedule, How does it affect your Math or Science studies? It seems to be interrupted.</p>
<p>BTW, Do you notice any superman at NMH? Especially in the Asians? Sorry for asking so specific, but I really wanna choose a school that I will never regret!</p>
<p>And what about the dorms? Are they modern and convenient, I heard some are quite old arent they?</p>
<p>If you’re qualified for Cornell, you’re in. It doesn’t make a difference whether or not there is a large percentage of competitive Asians in NMH. Bear in mind that you’re also competing with other Asian international students at schools like Exchoatverkisslawrencemiddlefieldton. Both schools are similar academically (completely subjective statement based on the schools’ SSAT and SAT scores), so if you’re capable of graduating in the top 10% at one, it’s likely that you’ll be able to do the same at the other. </p>
<p>That said, I like Mercersburg better. Something about NMH just puts me off, though it certainly does enjoy a more mainstream reputation than Mercersburg. Block schedule sucks indeed.</p>
<p>Holy stereotypes, batman! “Competitive Asians” and “super-competitive” Chinese on the math team? How about just asking about the strength of the math and science programs, or whether the kids on the math team are friendly and cooperative or not?</p>
<p>A block schedule is certainly not for everyone. However, one plus is that you will take six major classes every year. It is possible to double up on science by your junior year, taking bio and AP chem for example. Senior year, if you really want to focus on science and math, for example, you could take AP bio and AP stats one semester and AP physics (or some other science) and another math in the other semester. Obviously, the courses you would take depend on where you are when you enter. A block schedule also makes it easier for students who love history or art to take more courses in those areas, and it facilitates doubling up in languages, if that’s your thing. There are drawbacks to the schedule as well, such as you could finish a course in December and not be able to take the AP until the spring.</p>
<p>So I just had a convo with 3NMHers, all are from my country so we had a friendly talk. It appears that the Math team is quite exclusive for Asians, and it is super duper competitive! @ soxmom: I have my concern because Im making estimation about my chance of standing out! I dont want to be a shadow in a school OK?</p>
<p>I just think it’s a shame that you feel the need to judge how you’ll stand out against other students of your same ethnicity, rather than just thinking about how you will stand out, period. Do you really think that the teachers look at all the Asian kids and assess which Asian kid is best at math and then ignore the rest? How about trying to stand out because you work harder than the other kids, or because you have an infectious team spirit, or because you display a true passion for math?</p>
<p>Haha. I think we have different points of view! I will ask you a question, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO NMH AND TALKED TO ITS STUDENTS? Otherwise, How on earth can you say that Asian Kinds are not best at Math? Do you know the school THAT well? To be honest, can you define work HARD? Sometimes hard work is just not enough? Im currently in a school that’s filled with great students, it’s super hard to stand out! Even if you work hard! Please dont get in this business unless you are sure what you are talking about!</p>