<p>So, I have the chance of attending either Northfield Mount Hermon as a junior or St. Marks as a repeat sophomore, but I've been having trouble deciding on what school to attend. I'd really like to go to SMS next year, but I'm not too keen in repeating 10th grade, and, on the other hand, I have NMH, which is a really good school as well. I dont know what to do! What school would you choose and why?</p>
<p>I say NMH. What size school are you looking for? what kind of atmosphere? ask yourself questions like that.</p>
<p>and most importantly- follow your heart</p>
<p>I can not speak for NMH, only for St Marks, as that is where my son goes. He is a repeat Junior and is absolutely loving the school. It is very academically challenging but NOT in a high stress way. The school is small and has a great atmosphere. Eveyone knows everyone and it is a very close community with lots of fun activities for the students. He wishes he had gone earlier. As it is close to the city, there are activities around that as well, with a bus that goes to restaurants, shopping mall, movies etc to break up the time spent on campus. As far as repeating, it gives you the opportunity to do more AP classes and take an even more challenging curriculumn. He has no regrets. If you have any questions about the school, please feel free to ask. Good luck in making your decision.</p>
<p>also, WMass is the best place you can possibly be 
just sayin’ haha</p>
<p>I recommend you attend the revisit days. St Mark’s did a great job matching our child with a student who has similar interests. For us, the best fit, for both student and family was obvious after revisiting the schools. </p>
<p>We didn’t seriously consider NMH for our child, so I can’t compare the schools. I agree with cdnhockeymom that St Mark’s has a warm and supportive community. </p>
<p>I don’t know details about this year’s admissions patterns, but in the past I believe St Mark’s has admitted very few juniors & seniors. As a repeat sophomore, you’d have more company as a new sophomore.</p>
<p>Well, I kind of want a small school. NMH has around 650 students, while SMS only has 350. But, SMS seems to have more of a stressed environment, while NMH is more relaxed.</p>
<p>And, I’ve also heard about a lot of drug-related issues in St. Marks :S</p>
<p>drug-related issues are everywhere.
Academically, Saint Mark’s is a great school. This year their college matriculation shows a great record in early decision.</p>
<p>you can find a general comparison between the schools in the boarding school review.</p>
<p>[Compare</a> Boarding Schools - Boarding School Review](<a href=“Compare Boarding Schools”>Compare Boarding Schools)</p>
<p>The following data are from boarding school revuew</p>
<h1>Endowment per student reflects the financial aspect more accurately.</h1>
<p>1 Phillips Academy (Exeter) NH 0.479 4 1
1 Groton School MA 0.554 2 3
3 St. Paul’s School NH 0.767 1 5
4 Phillips Academy (Andover) MA 0.473 5 2
5 Deerfield Academy MA 0.468 6 5
5 Hotchkiss School CT 0.541 3 8
7 Lawrenceville Academy NJ 0.236 12 5
8 Peddie NJ 0.391 7 19
9 Milton Academy MA 0.150 26 3
9 Woodberry Forest VA 0.376 8 21
9 Choate Rosemary Hall CT 0.215 19 10
12 Middlesex MA 0.218 17 14
13 Saint Mark’s School MA 0.280 10 17
14 Thacher School CA 0.222 16 17
15 Emma Williard NY 0.231 17 32
16 Episcopal High VA 0.234 13 21
17 Taft School CT 0.224 15 20
17 Mercersburg Academy PA 0.303 9 26
19 Cate School CA 0.189 22 30
20 Noble and Greenough School MA 0.084 36 9
20 Loomis Chaffee School CT 0.132 27 18
20 St. George’s School RI 0.270 11 34
23 Concord Academy MA 0.080 38 9
24 Miss Porter’s School CT 0.225 14 34
25 Belmont Hill School MA 0.070 41 9
26 Governor Dummer MA 0.151 25 27
27 Webb school (TN) TN 0.072 39 14
28 Westover School CT 0.179 24 30
29 Westminster School CT 0.197 21 33
30 Blair Academy NJ 0.105 29 27 </p>
<h1>Boarding School Avg. SAT score </h1>
<ol>
<li>Thomas Jefferson 2150 </li>
<li>Phillips Exeter 2085 </li>
<li>Groton School 2080 </li>
<li>Phillips Academy 2076 </li>
<li>St. Paul’s School 2075 </li>
<li>Middlesex School 2070 </li>
<li>Milton Academy 2065 </li>
<li>Concord Academy 2040 </li>
<li>Deerfield Academy 2020 </li>
<li>The Hockaday School 2020 </li>
<li>The Hotchkiss School 2013 </li>
<li>Peddie School 2000 </li>
<li>St. Andrew’s School, 1999 </li>
<li>Lawrenceville School 1998 </li>
<li>Choate Rosemary Hall 1981 </li>
<li>St. Mark’s School 1970 </li>
<li>Cate School 1970 </li>
<li>The Thacher School 1970 </li>
<li>Indian Springs 1965 </li>
<li>Georgetown Preparatory 1950 </li>
<li>The Loomis Chaffee 1945 </li>
<li>The Taft School 1925 </li>
<li>St. Stephen’s Episcopal 1924 </li>
<li>Episcopal High 1922 </li>
<li>The Webb Schools 1920 </li>
<li>Saint James School 1910 </li>
<li>Oregon Episcopal 1910 </li>
<li>Miss Porter’s School 1908 </li>
<li>St. George’s School 1900 </li>
<li>The Athenian School 1900 </li>
<li>The Webb School 1894 </li>
<li>Emma Willard School 1892 </li>
<li>Cranbrook Schools 1891 </li>
<li>The Masters School 1890 </li>
<li>Santa Catalina 1886 </li>
<li>Lustre Christian High 1885 </li>
<li>Salem Academy 1880 </li>
<li>Stevenson School 1880 </li>
<li>Linden Hall 1860 </li>
<li>Asheville School 1860 </li>
<li>Dana Hall School 1854 </li>
<li>Tabor Academy 1850 </li>
<li>Westover School 1850 </li>
<li>Miss Hall’s School 1850 </li>
<li>St. Anne’s-Belfield 1848 </li>
<li>Woodberry Forest 1847 </li>
<li>The Stony Brook 1841 </li>
<li>Hill School 1840 </li>
<li>Saint Andrew’s 1839 </li>
<li>Mercersburg Academy 1830 </li>
</ol>
<h1>Boarding School Avg. SSAT score </h1>
<ol>
<li>Phillips Academy 93% </li>
<li>Milton Academy 90% </li>
<li>Groton School 90% </li>
<li>Georgetown Preparatory 90% </li>
<li>Deerfield Academy 88% </li>
<li>Middlesex School 87% </li>
<li>St. Andrew’s School, 83% </li>
<li>The Hotchkiss School 83% </li>
<li>The Thacher School 83% </li>
<li>St. Mark’s School 82% </li>
<li>The Taft School 82% </li>
<li>Lawrenceville School 81% </li>
<li>St. George’s School 81% </li>
<li>Cate School 80% </li>
<li>Colorado Rocky Mountain 80% </li>
<li>Concord Academy 80% </li>
<li>St. Albans School 80% </li>
<li>Episcopal High 80% </li>
<li>The Loomis Chaffee 79% </li>
<li>Linden Hall 78% </li>
<li>Hill School 77% </li>
<li>The Governor’s Academy
(formerly Governor Dummer 75% </li>
<li>Lake Forest Academy 74% </li>
<li>Kent School 73% </li>
<li>Indian Springs 70% </li>
<li>Peddie School 70% </li>
<li>Miss Porter’s School 70% </li>
<li>Blair Academy 70% </li>
<li>CFS, The School at Church 70% </li>
<li>Westminster School 70% </li>
<li>Northfield Mount Hermon 67% </li>
<li>Stevenson School 67% </li>
<li>Westtown School 67% </li>
<li>Cranbrook Schools 66% </li>
<li>Woodberry Forest 66% </li>
<li>Holderness School 65% </li>
<li>Portsmouth Abbey 65% </li>
<li>Brooks School 65% </li>
<li>Lawrence Academy 65% </li>
<li>Emma Willard School 65% </li>
<li>Tabor Academy 65% </li>
<li>Canterbury School 64% </li>
<li>Pomfret School 62% </li>
<li>Dana Hall School 62% </li>
<li>Westover School 61% </li>
<li>Midland School 61% </li>
<li>The Ethel Walker 60% </li>
<li>Avon Old Farms 60% </li>
<li>Foxcroft School 60%</li>
</ol>
<p>I would attend Saint Mark’s because I know the school is a small and provides a comfortable environment and the relation between teachers and studenrs are so close.
My D attend Saint Mark’s and I know Saint Mark’s very well. But i do not know much about NMH. Saint Mark’s is located close to Boston and there are many good opportunities with the good colleges in Boston. They have a new college counseling director who is doing a great job. When my D decides Saint Mark’s a few year ago, we chose Saint 'Mark’s over Taft and Concord (we didn’t consider NMH) and we do believe that it was a really good choice for our D. She is very happy there.</p>
<p>JoshByron,
They has a couple of students who had drug problems, they were ejected immediately.
Those kind of probelms exist in most of BS. Comparing to other top BS, Saint Mark’s is very safe and excellent place.</p>
<p>What are your preferences in a school?
Size:
Atmosphere:
Sports:
Food:
Surrounding area:
Anything else:</p>
<p>1: highest
6: the lowest priorities</p>
<p>Size: 1 (small is preferred)
Atmosphere: 2 (this is related to size, the smaller, the better for me)
Sports: 6
Food: 5
Surrounding area: 4
Anything else(Academic): 3</p>
<p>I meant like (in a detailed response) what you would prefer. Like (example)</p>
<p>Size: mid sized, big enough not to know EVERYONE/not everyone knows everyone else’s business; but small enough you don’t get overwhelmed</p>
<p>Atmosphere: Artsy but not too same athletic wise; Slightly academic; homey </p>
<p>Sports: Good quality but you can still get on a team</p>
<p>Food: good</p>
<p>Surrounding area: somewhat rural; near a city, but not a big one like Boston (coughNORTHAMPTONcough)</p>
<p>Anything else: (Programs etc) good art program, humanities emphasized over math…</p>
<p>Oh! I see.</p>
<p>Size: definitely small
Atmosphere: reasonabley academic
Sports: yes reasonabley good quality(not so string) but you can still get on a team
Food: should be good
Surrounding area: not metropolitan but somewhat rural(like 40 mintues from Boston)
Anything else: balanced emphasis between humanities and science/math</p>
<p>why is everyone so focused on boston! it’s not the only thing in MA</p>
<p>Well, Josh, my vote would be for NMH. I have two sons who have attend (one a current student). My older son checked out many other schools (possibly every major east coast boarding school) and NMH was his hands-down favorite. His younger brother refused to even look anywhere else because he was already in love with the school. I can’t compare because I do not know St. Mark’s, but I do know that the academics and faculty at NMH are top-notch, as are the athletics and the arts. In addition, this is a truly caring community. And, the campus is gorgeous. Any questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>I vote NMH!</p>
<p>St. Mark’s college counseling office has improved, the director comes from andover and st. pauls, and improvements have already been seen. i know very little about NMH, however, I can say that St. Marks is a lot smaller compared to NMH. new headmaster has made a lot of improvements with faculty, schedule ( a lot better), and has even helped the athletics improve. The school has the highest amount of AP’s offered at any school in the ISL, and has many top notch faculty, especially the math and chemistry department. Also, the rivarly with groton is great and brings the school community even closer. the arts building are top notch (they were built five years ago because of the previous headmasters obsession with the arts). on the downside, the main building is very old, along with the athletic locker rooms. there is a new masterplan for the main building, but nothing has come as of yet. nothing you can go wrong here unless you are looking for a bigger school, which NMH would provide. sm is also more selective in their admissions, with an 82% average ssat which is much higher compared to NMH</p>
<p>I don’t think NMH is even comparable to Saint Mark’s. They are different tier.
Especially, Saint Mark’s is a lot better than NMH in academic. No question about it!
I heard that many seniors in Saint Mark’s received Early Decision admission from Ivies and MIT this year. That means their college matriculation will be so great after all the admission counts from regular admission pool are reflected. </p>
<p>Furthermore, recently I am hearing that Saint Mark’s has been improving with the new headmaster who came to the school several years ago. Basically I heard what the greenteac60 said from my friend who has a Son in Saint Mark’s. I know NMH could not even fill the students spots two years ago. They used to accept students even after March 10, and they keep downsizing the school. NMH is also located in a kind of isolated place in west MA. Some people like that kind location, though.</p>
<p>It is true that NMH doesn’t matriculate as high a percentage to the Ivies, and if that is a goal in one’s life, then maybe NMH is not the school for you. However, the majority of their graduates go on to top LAC’s. Having more students matric to Ivies does not correllate to a school being “better academically”. I am sure the courses at NMH are every bit as rigorous as those at St. Mark’s. You just have a different student body and more diversity.</p>
<p>They do not “keep downsizing”. They downsized once because they consolidated campuses as a cost-effectiveness measure. It just did not make sense to have two athletic facilities, two libraries, etc. Last year they overenrolled and this year, applications were up by 5%, so they had to take a smaller than normal incoming class to keep the total number of students stable at approximately 650.</p>
<p>As far as isolation, well I think a lot of bs are like that (think Hotchkiss, Salisbury, Deerfield). That’s not really a consideration for us because this is high school after all and I’d personally prefer that my student not be zipping into the city every chance. But that is just personal preference.</p>
<p>The OP needs to visit both schools and go with his heart.</p>
<p>Yes, keylyme is right. Student should choose his/her school depending on what a student is looking for. It is fair to say Saint Mark’s academic is better while their sports are not so strong except basketball. </p>
<p>For location, it is true that some BS are remotely located. When My D applied two years ago, we did not like the location of Deerfield because it took 7 hours due to storm and the icy road condition. That may be a concern when parents have to visit(especially for emergency case) or give a ride to and from the school. We aorried about that. Some people like that kind of location, but we certainly did not like it. We like semi rural a lot better. Semi rural means about 40-50 minutes away from city.</p>