<p>erky…NMH and Deerfield both have a major highway to the school (I-91). They are not on a cartpath or something. I guess the driving could be bad at any of the northeast schools in a storm. NMH and Deerfield are both located about 45 minutes from Springfield, MA and an hour from Hartford, CT.</p>
<p>Also, NMH is not too far from smaller cities such as Pittsfield or Greenfield. Its also fairly close to Northampton (aka shopping central :p) (but not too close 
) </p>
<p>WM FTW</p>
<p>You have all made GOOD points. Thank you very much. I’ll take everything you guys have said into account.</p>
<p>gtm and thegreentea68, I don’t really care about college matriculation. One can succeed in any kind of environment (whether your at NMH or at SMS, you can still make it to the Ivies). Also, you do have your info kind of wrong. NMH had around 32 students attend Cornell University in the course of four years (2001-2005; although its kind of a few years off). Last year they had around 20 students go Ivy, which doesn’t even include the students who attended top notch schools like MIT, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Duke, etc. That is more then I can say from St. Mark’s. And, the SAT average from NMH and SMS are in the same zone (NMH was in the mid 1800s while SMS was also in the mid 1900s — 100 points isn’t much). </p>
<p>Also, I understand many of you guys think NMH is downsizing. You are so wrong. They are doing the opposite. Each year NMH has been becoming more and more competitive. It has an admissions rate in the low 40% as of now. According to boardingschoolreview.com, SMS had almost the exact percentile. Although NMH does have a low SSAT percentile, that doesn’t exactly matter (i.e., you can have an extremely low SSAT score and yet have straight As ---- this is what I’ve seen coming from NMH so far).</p>
<p>Also, NMH’s athletic department can not even COMPARE to SMS’s. NMH has around 61 interscholastic teams, which is crazy. They have 16 tennis courts (OMG, I LOVE tennis :D).</p>
<p>And lastly, I know ranking doesn’t really matter, but just to show you who has a higher ranking. According to one of the rankings posted on a thread, NMH was ranked 23rd out of 30 schools, while SMS didn’t even appear on the list :D</p>
<p>Well JoshByron, it sounds to me that you have almost made your decision, perhaps without of even realizing it. You strongly defend NMH! Ultimately you must go with your heart as you will be living 24/7 at your school so make sure it is the one you are excited to go to.<br>
I just want to reassure you that St Marks is not a stressful environment. My son was looking at Groton/Middlesex/St Georges and he found SMS to be the most laid back and this contributed to his decision. In the end it is true. While it is highly challenging academically, it is in a very positive way. </p>
<p>At 1/2 the size of NMH it is true that they have fewer teams, but also because it is 1/2 the size you have more opportunities to make varsity teams. My son plays Hockey but ended up also making the varsity football team, which was a thrill for him. He had the opportunity to go to another school for Hockey (not one that I mentioned) where the facilities and level of hockey were higher but hockey is only one season. A poster, perhaps even Keylyme, I am not sure, gave us the best advice. They said, if your son suffered a career ending injury, where would he want to go to school. He chose the school he loved for the atmosphere and the teachers.
Where would you want to be…?
Good luck.</p>
<p>NMH FTW!</p>
<p>also on the note of sports, I’d like to add that NMH’s BBall team is killer and they have ULTIMATE FRISBEE as a VARSITY SPORT. 
yeah, i do my propaganda well</p>
<p>@ Joshbyron
The details about college matriculation concerning St. Marks and NMH is a little tricky. SMS cannot be comprared numbers wise to NMH for top tier colleges because SMS has half the kids NMH does. That being said, im sure SMS does have those colleges on their matriculation lists with the new college counseling director. on another note, you should pick the school that fits you best. if youre more into a small community and strong academics, pick sm, and if your big into athletics id go with nmh</p>
<p>cdnhockeymom, I think you’re kind of right. I completely defended NMH back there!!! Well, then, I guess I’m a little closer to my choice (NMH is totally whooping SMS’ butt :D).</p>
<p>thegreentea68, well, although I’m not that into athletics, I have a feeling NMH would just be a better fit for me. And, well, NMH just seems so much more relaxed and less-strict then SMS. And, according to my friend in SMS, she agrees with me. She said that she gets an average of 4 to 6 hours of homework a night, and she’s also mentioned a LOT of drug-related issues in SMS. I know drug problems exist in all boarding schools, but she made it sound like SMS actually has a high percentage of students who do drugs. And regarding the college matriculation info in SMS, your right. Thank you for all your help. You’ve helped me get a step closer in choosing what school to attend to next year. I’m pretty sure I’m going to choose NMH :D</p>
<p>yeah NMH FTW 
;)</p>
<p>I dont really know what FTW means, but YESSS, GO NMH!!! :)</p>
<p>ftw means for the win</p>
<p>Ohh, hahahhahaha :D</p>
<p>Anyways, Raid-in-Plaid96, do you know whether you’re going to attend NMH next year or not??? :D</p>
<p>NMH! 10char</p>
<p>I can not speak for all students at St Marks but I can say that there is zero tolerance and the two students that were caught were expelled. There are kids at all prep schools, according to my son, his own and others, he is aware of the same issues of a few students at MANY prep schools. It happens everywhere that there are kids doing drugs but they are definitely the minority. Andover has expelled 6 already this year but that does not mean they have a drug problem, to me the opposite, that they deal with it and are aware of it.</p>
<p>cdnhockeymom, I understand that you are trying to defend SMS, since your son goes there, but, drugs are more prevalent at SMS, and other boarding schools as well, then you think. And, referring to the Andover drug problem, I actually think its the opposite. The only reason they got expelled was cause they got caught. Imagine all the other students who are doing drugs and just haven’t gotten caught. There was also a recent issue at St. Georges. I believe they were spraying the dorms with some kind of insect repellent (or something) and they found a ton of heroin in several of the dorms. I’ve also heard of a problem at Berkshire ([Drug</a> Incident Shakes a School Campus - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/26/us/drug-incident-shakes-a-school-campus.html?pagewanted=1]Drug”>http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/26/us/drug-incident-shakes-a-school-campus.html?pagewanted=1)), where it was recorded that over 200 students took LSD. As you can see, drugs are extremely prevalent at boarding schools, and the schools aren’t exactly doing much.</p>
<p>JoshByron, for some reason young teens posting on this site think parents believe that some schools are drug-free. As a parent, I would wager that most of the parents who regularly comment on this site could swap hair-raising stories about drug use scandals at public high schools, private high schools, boarding schools, and even middle schools. We all attended high schools and colleges at which some students indulged, even back in the dark ages. We now must deal with the fact that any school is only one kid’s stupid mistake removed from being branded with a “drug problem” by those who gladly pass on gossip. </p>
<p>The incident at Berkshire? Did you read the article? It’s 14 years old. Even the seniors at Berkshire today had not yet entered kindergarten. It has as much relevance to today’s Berkshire as the reports of past hazing have to many prominent, respected boarding schools today.</p>
<p>Please. Go to all the revisit days you are permitted to attend. Ask questions of current students and teachers. Do not spend your time spreading second-hand gossip on the internet.</p>
<p>Periwinkle, leave JoshByron alone. Joshbyron has to repeat 4th form(sophomore) if he comes to SMS while he can be a Junior(IV form) at NMH. And also JoshByron likes a place where he can relax a bit. I guess JoshByron may fit NMH better. If I am in the position to choose a school, I definitely choose SMS because SMS is much better in academics and ranklings. But everybody has different value and different idea. I wish JosyByron a good luck at NMH. If JoshByron feels comfortable with NMH, he hs to go there.</p>
<p>Of course, SMS is very strict about the drug policy. Quite frankly, Most of BS has the same problem. It is a matter of when they are caught up. </p>
<p>The problem is not only drug but also sex. I think most of people remember that Milton had a sex scandal a few years ago.</p>
<p>The drug and sex problems are not unique to one school. Those are general problems not only in BS and but also in public school regardless of the school reputation. Some time, they are caught in one school and they are caught in different schools later.</p>
<p>Periwinkle, I’m sorry for offending you. I was just trying to inform cdnhockeymom, as well as everyone else on this forum, of all the drug issues occurring at boarding schools. Yes, the article is 14 years old, but 14 years is still considered pretty recent. “It has as much relevance to today’s Berkshire as the reports of past hazing have to many prominent, respected boarding schools today.” Ummm, I dont exactly know what you were trying to say here, since it makes absolutely NO sense. But, good luck learning English. :D</p>
<p>Erkybk, thanks for having my back. As for the issues regarding sex, you’re kind of right. Sex happens everywhere. And there’s not much the school can do about it.</p>
<p>
[After</a> Dormitory Attacks, Boarding Schools Move to Reduce Risks - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/17/us/after-dormitory-attacks-boarding-schools-move-to-reduce-risks.html?pagewanted=all]After”>http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/17/us/after-dormitory-attacks-boarding-schools-move-to-reduce-risks.html?pagewanted=all)</p>
<p>10 years ago. By my standards, a different NMH than today. All schools need active administrations to deal with adolescents. All adolescents run the risk of making mistakes.</p>
<p>Again, go where you feel most comfortable. However, don’t base your decision on gossip. Also, don’t base your decision on articles from the newspaper.</p>
<p>Periwinkle, when I said what you wrote made absolutely no sense, I was referring to the way you structured your sentence, and how you made no point whatsoever in the sentence itself. And, if you’re telling me not to base my decision on a newspaper article, then why are you showing me this other newspaper article? But if you’re referring to the article on Berkshire I posted, I never mentioned wanting to attend Berkshire.</p>
<p>Anyways, I do agree with you on one subject, to go where I feel most comfortable. Although I can’t attend re-visit day at any of the schools, I feel like I’d be most comfortable at NMH.</p>
<p>I may or may not be attending next year. 
I got accepted but w/ no FA so I wait listed. Hopefully, I’ll know in April :)</p>