It’s very somber…almost like the viewer is about to enter a place that is extremely difficult, unrewarding and a grind.
The message seems to be: you can do this and we’ll help you get through the next 4 years of hell.
I get the impression Andover is not a very happy place
Funny, of the two videos’ depictions of their respective schools, I would be more attracted to Andover. The DA one is overselling the “fun”, and that turns me off. And if that is how it is there all the time, that would be exhausting and so not my scene. Introverts beware!
Andover I feel like is being honest. I don’t know if it is, or that I want what they are selling, but the stripped down, low production value appeals to me more. And yeah - the “it’s hard but it’s worth it” messaging sways me more than DA “intense fun all the time”.
There’s a lid for every pot, right?
I would love to hear some parents’ perspectives on Mercersburg, Westminster and Kent (3 choices my rising 11th grade has for boarding next year) since we have misc ramblings here :).
My introvert loves it there.
I have no doubt plenty of DA students are introverts and do very well. What I was trying to say is that the video makes the school seem very extroverted and “on” all the time. There’s no way it really is that. An introvert might get the wrong idea from the video.
In comparison the Andover video is more chill. That probably is just as inaccurate.
If all boarding schools were being honest, this would be their video, too.
For anyone accepted to Choate who thinks this video is off the mark, beware.
You shouldn’t need a video to tell you BS is “fun.” That’s not why you applied. All BS are “fun” – they’re full of teenagers looking to make friends and have a good time. That part should go without saying. The part that needs to be said is in the Andover video. The disconnect between “fun” and the video is what bites a lot of new students when they hit campus. Reset your expectations now or you may have them reset rather rudely in a few months.
This is a well and appropriately beaten dead horse here. Anyone applying to BS for this reason is doing so for the wrong, misinformed reason. Andover included.
On another note, Re: selling fun. If you have to sell it, it’s not.
As the mother of boarding school kids, I can assure you that some BS’s are not fun.
I have a kiddo who attended local public school with 8 classes a day, and now BS with 2-3 classes every other day, she says it’s not really harder, just better, and I can focus more on each class. If she had seen the Andover video last year she would not have applied 
.
Hi! I have a rising junior at Kent, and know someone who has a rising junior at Westminster who I can connect you with. Message me and I’m happy to chat.
“Chill”…or “chilling”? 
While I don’t know Westminister and Kent, I do have a kid a Mburg and another at another BS. You can search this forum to read it. I find comparisons are always helpful and it’s not that one school is better than another, it’s all about “fit” since they are all pretty good.
My daughter is a freshman at Mercersburg (I’m an alum) and she loves it!
happy to hear positive things - if you can send me PM on your thoughts (good, average, would like to see M do better) - i would love to hear. Ultimate choice is not mine but want o hear all perspectives esp as we cannot make revisit days
Our son’s roommate is from Russia. His roommate is planning on returning when break is over. Do you think he will be able to return?
Do you know if he has dual citizenship or non-Russian citizenship?
No.
I’m not even sure how you do that logistically. There are very few places I think that are still willing to fly to both Russia and the United States. Have to connect and change airliners in a place like Turkey maybe?
I would imagine going through customs with a Russian passport is not going to be easy right now. Or United States one going into Russia.
I believe he has only Russian citizenship.
I suspect it will depend on just how much money and power the parents have.
He’s already got a visa which is one huge hurdle cleared. The US isn’t trying to block Russian students from returning (beyond the obvious obstacle of the ban on direct flights and Russian airlines) and officially Russian citizens aren’t being stopped from leaving. But actually getting flights is another thing. And then there’s the issue of how the student would access money in the states or even during travel…
Has your kiddo been in contact with the roommate during break?
