<p>Which boarding schools are known to be the most academically rigorous/intense?</p>
<p>Trying to get a sense of the degree of 'Daily Grind' at certain schools...</p>
<p>For example, my preliminary sense is that Milton, Exeter, Andover, and Hotchkiss may be fairly high on the daily grind scale...</p>
<p>I would substitute SPS or Groton for Hotchkiss.</p>
<p>^^^ ditto to Madaket.
Deerfield too probably. Taft maybe?</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the feedback so far.</p>
<p>As a clarifying comment, I’m inquiring about schools where the Daily Grind and the academic experience is very intense, perhaps a little too intense.</p>
<p>I too would rate SPS, Groton, Deerfield a little bit above Hotchkiss in terms of overall academic “Quality,” but I’m thinking of a different dimension.</p>
<p>What’s your definition of too intense?</p>
<p>What about Roxbury Latin? How do you think the academic intensity compares to Andover, Exeter and Milton ect…</p>
<p>This is like: who has best campus? who has best teachers? who has best food?..we’re talking shades of difference here that are too slight to warrant a discussion. Any of the top 20 schools are going to be tough and unforgiving academically.</p>
<p>Hair splitting. Is DA tougher than THS? Should Milton be mentioned in the same sentence with Exeter and Andover? What about Groton, SPS…? (Note: “USA Today” today listed all of the Regional Finalists and Semifinalists for the 2010 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. I saw the names of students listed here from only the following NE boarding schools: Choate, Hotchkiss, St. Paul’s, PEA and PA. So…these school have the most intensive math and science courses of the NE BS’s? Why not? This list is as good, if not better, than any list on this thread. But then, neither list is worth much at all.)</p>
<p>All of the top BS’s are demanding. Also, students can make them even more demanding, if they want, by taking as many intensive courses as they can handle.</p>
<p>So apply to as many top BS’s as you can and then hope/pray that one accepts you. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>
True. You could live an “easy” life even if you are in the most intense school if you choose to “opt out of” the competition (to reach the minimum passing bar should be easy to anyone who got admitted). That, and how strong your peers are makes a difference too. In other words, the most selective schools tend to be more intense.</p>
<p>Really, it all depends on the student. What is challenging to one may not be to another. It is all relative. Then add to the mix AP courses. Don’t judge a school’s academic muscle by the number of AP courses offered. Many schools feel that the constraints of teaching to the AP test are too restrictive and don’t offer the courses. But don’t think for a moment that these kids aren’t doing ap caliber work or that the school is any less academic.
zp</p>
<p>on CC the top 10 academic schools are put into this abbreviation GLADCHEMMS
Groton
L’ville
Andover
Deerfield
Choate
Hotchkiss
Exeter
Middlesex
Milton
St. Pauls</p>
<p>those are roughly the 10 best schools but not order but if you do well at any of those schools you can get into any college you want</p>
<p>Hcos…hogwash list. These schools are NO harder than ten others I could name. Such puffery and self-importance!</p>
<p>OP was asking which school is intense and “grinding” - in a bad way. I say the highly selective top schools such as Exeter and Andover are more so. In this world, there is little if anything that comes free - “daily grinding” is what you pay for whatever positives you get from these schools including the fame here on CC or elsewhere. Academic rigor itself however is a hallmark of – at least more than half of all private schools. There is nothing to debate about that.</p>
<p>‘Most academically rigorous’ will bring about the same arguments as to who has the best food. It all depends! All the top schools are rigorous. It’s mostly up to the student, depending on the chosen course work, to determine the intensity. It’s possible to ‘coast’, take ‘easy’ classes, and only have to do 2~3 hours of homework a night. Or load up, and do 4~6 hours of homework every day.
Zuzu is correct that the number of ‘AP’ classes offered is not meaningful. The toughest classes are beyond ‘AP’, and, AP classes are typically not weighted for the GPA.</p>
<p>Alex: Just struck me how funny “only 2-3 hours of homework a night” would sound to kids in my town, where it’s possible for kids to get straight A’s and do absolutely no homework at all–they just do it while their teachers are talking in class.</p>
<p>Parlabane - GLADCHUMS is NOT hogwash!</p>
<p>First of all, it’s GLADCHEMMS.</p>
<p>Second of all, it’s hogwash to think that they are more academically rigorous than the next ten schools, or maybe even the next ten after that. I know there is a percentage of chest-pounding, stats-citing, HADES-than-thou CCers who think otherwise. But, you’re never going to convince this old codger.</p>
<p>No, no, no, dear Parlabane, haven’t you heard?! The name has been changed to GLADCHUMS – it has a nicer ring, don’t you think?</p>
<p>Take it from leanid, the one who coined GLADCHEMMS and has since modified it. Ah, yes, GLADCHUMS! Don’t worry, it still has all the schools in it – if only in spirit…</p>
<p>Parlabane - I like your posts - they keep us all re-evaluating our pre-conceptions!</p>
<p>I second that sentiment.</p>
<p>Also, I agree that there could easily be another ten schools included in GLADCHUMS that are on an academic par with them. Socially, there could be many more than that.</p>