<p>Hi everyone, this site helped me a lot during my applications and decision last year, and loads more with packing over the summer :) so if you have any questions about Milton Academy or about boarding school in general I would love to answer them.</p>
<p>Why did you choose Milton and over what other schools? How are their English, History, and Math departments, what do you find special about them? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi xlauren23, and congratulations on Milton! How is it going so far for you? Any surprises? Since I believe school is about 50/50 boarders/day students, are there any issues about that - ie, divisions along those lines? Do the dorms empty out on weekends as local boarders go home? Is there fun stuff to do on campus for the boarders? Thank you!</p>
<p>Invent: I chose Milton because the community is truly unique. When I visited I didn’t feel like it was the stereotypical all-white preppy elitist type school. The students are so diverse and everyone comes from all different backgrounds. I truly felt like it was an accepting community and a place where I could feel at home. The English department is truly spectacular…I had never had a grammar class before now and believe me, it’s hard work. We have an English Workshop class every week which is in lecture format and it’s all about grammar and the technicalities of writing, and then four regular English classes a week that are more about deep thinking and interpretation of reading. The history department also has a similar reputation. However, I’m less than thrilled with the math department, to be completely honest. I’m in Algebra 2 Honors and I don’t find it challenging at all, but math is not Milton’s specialty (English is).</p>
<p>2kidsnoanswers: Thank you! It’s been amazing so far, although the workload can be overwhelming at times. That was definitely the biggest surprise, because before coming here I had never spent more than 2 hours a night on homework, and at boarding school I consistently spend between 3-4 hours a night on homework. There is definitely a divide between the boarding and day students. It seems like the school is trying to bring the two groups together, but as a boarder, I feel like there are some day students that just go to the school from 8-3, and aren’t really invested in the community at all. Of course, there are other day students who stay until late at night everyday, so it really depends on the person. There are currently more day students in my grade than boarders: 50 boarders and 85 day. The majority of the boarders are from Massachusetts or other states in the New England area, and I’m definitely a minority being from Chicago. However, most local boarders do stay in the dorm over the weekend, and the Student Activities Association plans a lot of fun events for us to do. Overall, I’m thrilled to be going to Milton, and I honestly don’t think there’s a better boarding school out there.</p>
<p>Lauren, Thanks for the info about the excellent Humanities program at Milton. I see that Milton has a Math Club. Do you know their activities like if they go to AMC/AIME/ Olympiad Math competitions? Approx. how many students are in the Math Club? What do you know about their Debate Club?</p>
<p>Thanks, xlauren23, so nice of you to take the time for this. Does that 3-4 hr daily homework load include weekends too, or is there more/less/no homework on weekends? Do boarders stay mostly on campus on weekends, or head to town to wander around, or go to arranged events off-campus? Where do people study, & is it hard to concentrate (vs talk or go on facebook etc)? Do you feel welcome being from a non-East Coast place & culture? Is there anything that could be called hazing? I think it is great that you can look at your school objectively and are still glad to be where you are.</p>
<p>Mustangs14, thanks for the offering. Last time I visited Milton, I noticed that there were many pairs of lovers sitting in the student center including a boy sitting on a girls legs. I understand the nature of kids in these ages, but I felt it is more liberal than the public schools in my area. I also noticed that the school year book has more emphasizes on love relationships. In the yearbook I saw some girls commented that their life goals were to “marry a foreign famious rich old man and stay at home”. I was nervous since I do not want to become a grandfater before my kid finishes high school. Am I just the blind person touching the elephant?</p>
<p>Hi Mustangs14,
I’m not sure if you will get this or not. I hope so. I think you are probably a senior now! How are things going?
My son is considering Milton but we have lots of questions.
We live in Virginia & our headmaster thinks this school may be a good fit for our son. He’s a strong student (Verbal 94, Reading 94, Math 99) but he would like a school with a strong ski team, too (he’s a great skier FOR THE SOUTH; good chance of going to USSA Eastern Nationals this year where he is likely to be handed his shorts on a silver platter by skiers that have much more time on the snow!)
So tell me:
-1- Honestly, how often do you get to see your parents?
-2- Also, how liberal is the campus?
Our parenting style and politics are moderate on most social issues, however, we hope our kids end up with a right-leaning fiscal & personal responsibility approach to life with an ability to validate that ALL thoughts have some threads of worthiness to them and deserve respect. Our headmaster thought finding THIS environment in a NE school may be hard. She lived in Boston for 9 years and felt there was one flavor of tea there: liberal. Understanding education is somewhat liberal right out of the gates, how liberal is Milton? Are there conservatives there too?? How many??? How about INDEPENDENTS/CENTRISTS/LIBERTARIANS???
-3- Lastly, since there does seem to be a strong support for interpersonal relationships, how intense is it? How rampant is sex? This is not an inquisition! My son is a kind of like a late bloomer on steroids (docs don’t expect puberty till very, very late high school…his bone age is 10 years old!). For this reason, his preference is an all boys boarding school because he feels he is banging his head against a brick wall when it comes to that facet of society. So, if Milton is somewhat permissive of sex & relationships, it may be a bad fit for my kid. Insight?</p>
<p>Please use old threads for research. This one is four years old and the original poster has not been online since that time. If you have a question, please start a new discussion. Closing thread.</p>