<p>Hey does anyone have any comments in general about Middlesex? What is the environment like? How are the people? Anything I should be aware of as an incoming 10th grader? Anyone else attending?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>oh, i’m an incoming freshman!</p>
<p>cool! where are u from? where else did you look?</p>
<p>Middlesex is a great school. Because of the small size, the community is pretty close-knit. You’ll get to know all of the teachers and most of your peers. The academics are strong and well-regarded, the athletic teams regularly reach the post season, and the arts department regularly graduates students to strong theater and art schools. For those that care about ivy/mit/stanford matriculation, we have the numbers on our website.</p>
<p>I am a rising junior and I can say that choosing Middlesex was one of the best decisions i have made. The academics own my public school’s butt, and I have all the opportunities to do everything that I want to do (three sports, tech theater, APs as an underclassman, being a peer tutor, etc). I knew I wanted a small school and going to Middlesex (as opposed to a bigger school) hasn’t forced me to give up any of the things that I’m passionate about while allowing me to find new things to be involved in.</p>
<p>I’d happily answer any more questions.</p>
<p>Oh, and being a new sophomore is a lot of fun. Your grade has a lot of good kids.</p>
<p>Originally from New Orleans, but I moved to Canada this past October. Also looked at Exeter, SPS and Groton.</p>
<p>izzy: cool! see you on campus soon!</p>
<p>peab: thanks for the post 
what would you suggest we need to bring with us when we arrive? what is dress code? how often do you have to go formal dress - shirt/tie or even with blazer? how many hours of work is sophomore year?</p>
<p>and i just got the laundry service thing in the mail a few days ago…which E&R service package do you use?</p>
<p>I think that they’ll mail us in early August or so with packing info and other important things, so I would look out for that in a couple of weeks and it will probably answer a lot of your questions.
There are three dress codes: formal which is blazers, ties, dresses, etc- formal dress happens maybe a dozen times a year for plays, certain speakers, opening of school dinner, and maybe a few other things. There are no formal sit down dinners every week. Classroom dress for classroom hours and certain events is basically no jeans, sweatpants, t-shirts, no tank tops, boys must have collars, that kind of thing. Casual dress is anything within good taste and can be worn on weekends, after class, etc. Also, I don’t use the laundry service, I just use the washers in the basement of my dorm so I can’t help you much with that.
Sophomore year is really as hard as you make it. Some kids did the minimal amount of work and got away with it, and other kids worked excessively until really late at night every night. For most people its maybe about 3 hours of work a night, but it can vary a lot…sometimes I’d have only one subject of homework and other times I’d have multiple tests/papers. It also depends on your extra curriculars and the levels of your classes. Everything is manageable, though, and at crunch times there’s kind of a sense that the whole grade is in it together.
I hope that answers everything! If there’s anything else you want to know, just ask.</p>
<p>How long does doing your laundry generally take? How many clubs can you join? And for level of classes…Im just taking what the standard new 10th grader would take…is there honors? How much free time do you have?</p>
<p>I think laundry takes about a week. I’m not sure. You can join as many clubs as you like, but some require tryouts (like small chorus) or have certain requirements (like peer tutoring). You can even make new clubs. There are club assemblies at the beginning of the year where for about 2 or 3 assemblies in a row the club heads introduce their clubs to the school.
There’s AP euro and honors chem both offered second semester. Some people get really ahead in math or foreign languages but those aren’t honors, they’re just high level.
Free time depends on your courses, your sports, and how much work you put it. Sophomore year is busy but you’ll figure it out. It’s important to find a balance…saturday evenings and sundays are godsends. So not too much free time, but you live with your friends so it’s alright.</p>
<p>what do you do on saturdays and sundays? i live within 30-45 minutes away…so do kids go home?</p>
<p>There various are activities on saturdays and sundays: dances (some of which are special like casino night and random dance), trips to the movies, the mall, the T station to go into Boston, movies in the theater, trips to kimballs (ice cream), and there’s always a bus to concord center. Most of the school is boarding so they try to keep us busy. On nice days kids hang out on the circle.
There’s some statistic that they give to the tour guides that 85% of boarders are on campus on a normal weekend…I’d say that’s pretty accurate. Of course, on long weekends a lot of people go home but those weekends are also some of the most fun weekends on campus because they do special trips, but it’s nice to go home and get a break every couple weeks, especially if you live as close as you do.</p>
<p>i was told they do a sophmore trip and that the first week of school is like bonding period…is this true? if so, how did you like it?</p>
<p>What is Middlesex “known” for? I may be applying as a sophmore…</p>
<p>andoverwarrior: There’s a sophomore trip 3 or 4 weeks into school, although this year they may not being going far from campus (or off campus at all) for economic reasons. The first few days until classes start contain tons of info and ice breaker games and seniors being wacky, and orientation is really, really busy. So, I’d say the first week is not primarily for bonding itself, but more for preparing you to live within the school which does involve meeting (and therefore bonding with) your classmates.
I liked the sophomore trip. It was a good way to meet the new sophomores not in my dorm (I was a returner) and to establish exactly who is in your class and who isn’t. The reason I didn’t love it was not fault of the trip itself; I had an unusually demanding schedule and was a little stressed because I hadn’t figured out sophomore year yet (don’t take my case as an average example of Middlesex, I kinda went nuts with classes last year).</p>
<p>boarderkid: As far as I know, there isn’t anything specific that we’re known for like how, for example, Exeter is math/science, but there are certain parts of the school that are well-respected: the English program, the ability to both play a sport and do theater, small chorus, certain sports, etc. Part of why I chose Middlesex is that I can do all kinds of different things at the same time, rarely having to choose one over another. It sounds corny and all, but it’s true. Other people probably have different opinions, but it the end it comes down to the fact that we’re a small school and we need everybody to bring themselves and their passions to the community. Besides, it’s far too much fun to do a bit of everything (within reason of course) than to sit in your room and do homework!</p>
<p>where did you guys go on the trip last year? do you know how else middlesex is being effected by the economy?</p>
<p>We went to a place called Interlocken (that might be spelled wrong). It’s a summer camp a couple hours from school, I don’t know where though. Middlesex hasn’t been hit too hard. We did things like get rid of paper cups and encourage low energy usage to save money. The school decided to set aside some extra money for any returning families who, because of the economy, will need additional financial aid next year. The school’s coping pretty well, but it’s not like we’re not affected. I’m guessing there may be a few more cutbacks next year on things such as going far away for the sophomore trip.
Also, the non-AP econ class is practically a current events class now hahaha</p>
<p>are you on facebook? pm me, im on mx 2012</p>
<p>@ boarderkid : i always had the impression that middlesex had a great writing program. i don’t know much else about the school, though D:</p>
<p>Thanks, DiveAlive Is Middlesex known for anything else, in athletics perhaps? Or is there something that’s particularly weak?</p>
<p>middlesex lacrosse is pretty nasty lol…only loss was to governors :(…</p>
<p>and yeah writing, i have to take three writing classes as a new sophmore</p>