<p>I have done a lot of research on boarding schools recently and Milton Academy seems great. Although, I am very worried that with half of the student body being day students, it may be a bad situation for a boarder despite its great academics. If anyone has any info or opinions on this matter it would be greatly appreciated! </p>
Milton is indeed a great school academically, but I have a few friends who have sent their kids there and indeed does seem to be a strange place socially. First of all, while half the kids are day students, there are a few sub-groups among them that aren’t well integrated. There is a group of kids that come up together through the k-8 that are pre-bonded. Then there are a large group who come from far away, and commute an hour+ by bus everyday - they are referred to as “the bus kids”. Among the boarding group, I can only speak to my friend’s son’s experience. The school strongly recommends that varsity athletes board, even if they are from the Boston area. So the dorms are filled disproportionally with athletes (big jock culture) as well as kids with a 5-day boarding arrangement out of athletic season. They also run a house system, where kids stay in the same house all four years. This means that if there is a social problem or they don’t click with their advisor, they are stuck as changing dorms is socially really difficult and the advisory system is tied to the dorm (i.e. same advisor all 4 years with no opportunity to change). I wouldn’t hesitate to send my kid to Milton as a local day student, but I think boarding (or commuting) there can be a very lonely experience.
What’s the furniture like at Milton? When I went on my tour of a dorm, the furniture looked 40 years old. (In the common room.)
@lizzie123 thanks that is really helpful
@lizzie123 I don’t know about the factuality of the rest of the post but my friend who goes to Milton gave me the tour and told me that you can switch out of dorms and advisory groups after freshman year. I confirmed that with an admissions officer during my interview.
@PrepHopeful9 Milton is a really great place and I wouldn’t take advice from the Internet. If you get in, (fingers crossed) make your own judgement when you go. Also when I visited, everyone seemed to bond really well. It was unlike every other school I had visited in that regard.
We also wondered about the day/boarder issue at Milton and have generally found it a non-issue. DC now attends as a day student - has an even number of boarding and day friends. Obviously the boarding kids know each other better - especially in freshman year - because they are on campus the most, and still everyone just mixes it up during the day and a lot of day students stay late all the time to do sports, clubs or projects and many eat dinner at Milton and get home at bedtime anyway. Day students can arrange to sleep over in a dorm as well if they will be there late. As a parent I would say that the main benefit for boarders is that the school can attract 2X as many kids because of the day students, and so the boarders get access to a much nicer campus, lots of elective course options, richer arts and music, lots of more people to meet, larger faculty, better sports teams and extracurriculars… all the benefits of a bigger school, but still have a close-knit boarding experience in the evenings. Boarding students also benefit socially from day students because they can hitch rides for off-campus fun (for example of big group went sledding last weekend) or stay over at a friend’s house during holiday weekends. All in all, it works well and the result is a much more dynamic school for both day and boarding students.
When I went to the Milton Academy revisit days, I felt that there was not a divide between the grades or boarder/day students. The students all bonded well together and it was plain obvious that they were happy to be there. Compared to some of the other prep schools, Milton is a small one with only around 600-700 kids but I don’t think that would be a big deal because in a smaller environment, it is not actually crowded and it will be easier to find your way around. What I like most about this school is there writing curriculum. Writing is an extremely important tool not only in school but in the real world as well. I also like the fact that there are so much more opportunities for leadership because it is vital to one’s like. All in all, I feel that Milton Academy is an inclusive environment where students can feel comfortable and DARE TO BE TRUE! GO MUSTANGS!