At NMH, waitlisted at Deerfield
Congratulations all! NMH is a great school!
@FunintheSun1211 , I knew you’d be fine!
Thanks so much @gardenstategal! Everyone here has been so supportive and helpful!
Great question @mofro1! Like other rural schools, NMH runs shuttles on the weekends to shopping and other outings. You can also share taxi rides to nearby towns. Ice cream is within walking distance…and they also make their own at the school farm. One of the advantages of the NMH campus is the school is large enough that you can always find a group of friends on campus and as it isn’t very cliquey so you can also pretty easily float between groups so it feels less like a fish bowl. Have you visited? The views are pretty stellar! On vacations, NMH runs shuttles direct from campus to NYC and possibly to Boston? Lots of international students spend the shorter vacations in Boston or NYC. I also feel NMH’s school spirit is unique and the on campus activities on weekends are actually fun - look at their Instagram for some examples like the hogolympics, plus since very few kids leave on the weekends, the campus is very tight knit. Like most BS, hoggers are also super busy on the weekends so there isn’t a lot of time to be bored. Hope this helps!
@chemmchimney Do you know how the waitlist for NMH works? I got waitlisted there and I really wanted to attend. f
@snapchat The waitlist is going to vary from year to year and I don’t know what the situation will be this year but I think NMH does go to their wait list a little more frequently than some other schools. If spaces are going to open up, that would most likely happen in early April or in July (although it can happen at any time). This timing is true at most schools. Make sure you let your NMH AO know you are still very interested and if you would definitely attend if they offer you a spot (ie you haven’t made a deposit at another school for next year), it is a good idea to let them know this as well.
I see you had some acceptances too -congrats!!
@chemmchimney Thank you. I’m trying to play my cards right because I got waitlisted to SPS and NMH. I need full FA and the schools I got into gave me substantial packages, my parents still cannot pay the remaining X amount of dollars. I want to show that I will attend the school if I’m off the waitlist, but I don’t know which one. I’m afraid if I say I would definitely go to both school, the schools will communicate and find the discrepancy.
@chemmchimney I wanted to ask another question. I know the NMH offers a unique approach to the classroom where classes are 80 mins and most students only take about 3 per semester. I’m just bit concerned that because the classes are 80 mins and because you basically cover a year’s material in half the time, the pace of the classes is extremely fast. Is this true? Do students have trouble keeping up with the pace?
@mofro1 I’m sure @chemchimney can give you much more information about this, but I wanted to add my two cents for what it’s worth. NMH’s rather unique class schedule its what initially attracted my child to apply to NMH, and which continued to make NMH a top choice for us.
The idea that you can focus on fewer classes during a term was a huge plus for my kid. As one administrator explained to us when we were visiting, the students at NMH are less likely to have to use a “triage” approach to their homework. With fewer classes at one time, you’re likely to have more bandwidth to dedicate per class, making the learning experience deeper. And for classes that aren’t your most favorite, you won’t have to spend a whole year slogging through them; and the classes you love you can really dig in to. One of the admissions officers at NMH spent time with my child creating a 4-year course of study based on my kid’s then current interests and math level. It was a very valuable exercise, and one which made my child more excited about NMH. (For any kid that is deciding between two or more schools I would recommend they look at each school’s course of study, requirements, prerequisites etc. and take a stab at creating a 4-year class plan. You may find that although a school may offer a bunch of interesting classes, you just won’t have the space in your schedule to take many of them.)
In the end my child opted to attend another school (for mostly athletic reasons) which has a more traditional boarding school class schedule. Triage is a reality there. Also, as I think is the case at most of the rigorous boarding schools, the classes go through the material quickly because 1) boarding schools tend to have fewer instructional days than day schools, and 2) expectations are high regarding student preparation for class, i.e. far less review. If you fall behind, you are expected to seek help outside of class to get yourself back up to speed. However, similar to other schools, our sense was that the teachers at NMH would be very available for students who seek extra assistance. For the us, NMH’s class scheduling is all a plus, and not at all a minus.
I think @AppleNotFar does a good job of explaining some of the pluses of NMH’s schedule. Another plus is that classes are almost entirely discussion based and that also means kids have to go into class prepared. There is no hiding if you skipped the reading. Some minuses are that for AP classes you may finish the class several months before the exam, but APs are not a big focus at NMH generally. The pace is definitely brisk but because you do not have every class every day and the school has been teaching this format for awhile, the teachers pace the coursework accordingly. Chimneykid had a packed schedule but she was never buried in work that I recall.
@snapchat Re first choice schools, I think schools will understand that as you need full FA, you are going to attend the school that offers the best FA even if it isn’t your first choice, so I feel it would be okay to be honest about this and just say something like “I would love to attend NMH for X reason and I am keeping my fingers crossed that a spot with financial aide will open up for me as I truly feel NMH is a great fit for me and it is still my first choice”
I don’t think schools tattle to each other about this, nor is stating a school is a first choice going to definitely tip the scales for anyone. Plenty of kids also end up at 2nd and 3rd choice schools too. If a school wants to offer you a spot, they will call even if you don’t specify that they are your first choice.
Have your parents asked the schools where you were accepted for advice on how to make up the difference? Lots of families call with questions re financial aid when they are concerned that the school is still not affordable, and sometimes its very helpful.
I agree that AppleNotFar did a good job explaining. Students get used to the block schedule pretty quickly.
One benefit I found was that “doubling up” in Science or Math is easier. One can take Geometry in fall and then Algebra 2 in spring or Calculus in fall and Number theory in spring. You do not have to take the two classes concurrently. NMH has Linked Chemistry and Linked Biology courses. They are year-long courses covering Honors Chemistry (Bio) in fall and then AP Chemistry (Bio) in spring.
Since 2 years are often necessary for AP science, one needs 3 years (Honors Physics, Chem, Bio) plus the number of AP science years, i.e. 5 or 6 years for 2 or 3 AP sciences desired. With the traditional schedule, my older son had to “double up” taking Honors Physics and AP Chemistry concurrently. Others also took AP Chemistry and AP Biology concurrently.
My younger son was able to take Linked Chemistry rather than taking two science classes concurrently, which was much more manageable.
I applied and luckily got into NMH! Unfortunately I cannot attend revisits as I live too far away, but I really liked the feeling of campus at my visit. Everyone seemed super happy!
NMH stands out to me on that list simply because it is the only 9-12 school. If that’s important to you…
I’ve found in schools that have middle/elementary grades as well, decisions are made for the good of the school, but certain grades (in your case, high school) might not see any of the benefits.
No contest. If you can get into SPS & if you can handle the work & the competition, then the financial aid will be as good as it gets. If you don’t want an intense academic atmosphere, then NMH & enjoy high school.
Sorry, my comment was meant for another thread.
I got a package with a water bottle and drawstring bag. Decisions are also online on their portal.
I got accepted but I still didn’t get anything( I live on the other continent, probably that’s the problem. Was it FedEx?
Does Northfield Mount Hermon School send acceptance packages? I have received them from other schools, but still nothing from NMH.