<p>Both schools are exceptional academically and they seem like really good schools to go to. What is the social dynamic at both of these schools? Like will you be comfortable making friends going straight in, or are there a lot of cliques and social circles? Also how are the weekends? Like are you allowed to hang out with friends at their houses (if they are day students)? and are there lots of fun school functions. Just want to see which school would be a good fit?</p>
<p>Wow - these are two schools with very distinct personalities!</p>
<p>Milton has a 50 percent day student population - which means that you’re going to have a very different experience than at a school with a higher (80%+) boarding population. The day student s have their own friends, their own activities, their own lives that they go home to evenings and weekends - so, yes, you can go and visit them, but you’re not going to have the same cohesive community that you’d have at a school with a higher percentage of boarding students.</p>
<p>Lawrenceville has a “house” system that sets it apart from most other boarding schools. Once assigned to a house (sophomore year, I believe), students develop a loyalty to that house that lasts for decades. Years later, L’ville graduates often profess stronger ties to fellow members of their “house” (without regard to graduation year) than to fellow members of their graduating class!</p>
<p>If you don’t want to be tied to campus and feel comfortable hanging out with day students and their friends on weekends, then Milton would be a great fit. If you want the kind of family bond that comes with the L’ville house system, then that’s the school you should be taking a closer look at.</p>
<p>Lawrenceville uses the Harkness method, where a Socratic system of round-table debate is used in the classroom. I’m not sure whether Milton uses the Harkness method or something similar to it, but this is something certainly to consider when deciding between the two.</p>
<p>Okay thanks so much! If anyone else has anything to say about the two it would be great :)</p>
<p>Hi i am Milton parents and just came back from the parent-teachers conference. I would just like to add that the 50% day-student thing don’t seem to be a problem based on how it affected my daughter, who is a boarder and an international student. Several points on this and on fit</p>
<p>a) boarders to a dorm (house) seem to be extremely loyal to their house - as each have a very different character. Also seems half the students in many of my daughter’s classes are from her same house, so students at each house seem to be very close</p>
<p>b) while day students may have a different life since they don’t live there, there seems to be real effort for the day students and boarders to mix, 2 examples:
(1) my daughter plays a sport in one of the freshman sport teams, and one girl from the team who is a day-student have invited the whole team to her home for the weekends for team bonding
(2) host family program where students whose families are not in Boston could stay with a host family during long weekends public holidays. While some of the host families are boarder student’s families, most are day-students’ families</p>
<p>c) the character of the schools seems to be “nurturing” - extensive support on academic and very “nice” to each other. While i was there for the parent-teacher conference, many students and their parents came up out of the blue to say hi when we are having dinner outside of school - some of them my daughter seen on campus but does not know well. My daughter also told me that what distinguish Milton from another schools that she went to summer school at is the learning environment, that kids at Milton are generously helpful. Teachers also generously want to see the kids after class, and encourage extra support. My daughter is meeting one of her teachers for 15 minutes 2 - 3 times a week for extra help to help get her over some basic materials that she never had before. That seems pretty nice to me.</p>
<p>In terms of cliques that’s harder to say as every school have little circles. But from what i can see it seems to be pretty easy for kids to make new friends also.</p>
<p>d) also on weekends there seems to be lots of (too much in my opinion) fun things to do (school sponsored activities) - movie nights, pizza parties, laser tag - and my daughter says there is a dedicated activities director . My daughter is class iv (freshman) and says as the sophomore also go rock climbing. </p>
<p>e) i would like to add another word on the 50% day student. This year’s freshman class has 205 students (something like that). Of that roughly 50 came from Milton’s K8. So of the freshman that are “new” to Milton (i.e., did not come from Milton’s K8) – roughly 160 – really 1/3 are day students and 2/3 are boarders (i.e., 105/160). If you look at smaller boarding schools that have 100 to 150 students, the boarder % isn’t really that bad!</p>
<p>f) Lastly most of Milton classes I have visited during this trip (english, history, foreign language, math) use the Harkness method or equivalent (i.e., discussion based instead of textbook based)</p>
<p>Hey, I can answer some questions for you. I’m going to go in order for what you asked about:</p>
<p>-As said before, there are roughly 50 middle schoolers that came from the K-8 system. The freshman class (also the largest ever) is 168 this year. I’m a day student that didn’t go to the K-8. They seem to form their own little circle because they know them beforehand, but others are more outgoing.</p>
<p>Honestly, I like spending time on campus because there’s so much going on. On weekends, to go away for to a day student’s house, you have to fill out a “Blue card” which is the term for permission to go away for the weekend, provided you’ll be back by Sunday at 6 pm (just to make sure everyone’s there). Going home on weekdays is very rare. </p>
<p>Students in houses are pretty close, but a good way to meet new people (like I did) is to play a freshman sport and join some clubs. Other than that, classes are a great way to make friends.</p>
<p>Harkness tables are used in English, History, and Science (SmartBoards in each room as well). In Science, there is a Harkness table up front where most of the learning happens, and a lab in the back in each room for easy transition between experimenting. Languages seem to be presented in a “U” format for the most format, while math is more arranged along tables in a grid, more traditionally.</p>
<p>I’d say Milton’s strongest arenas are English and History, two of my favorite classes. If you have any questions, PM me!</p>