<p>I don’t think there’s any reason to doubt the caliber of NMH’s academics.</p>
<p>They offer Latin, Chinese, and Arabic in addition to French and Spanish.</p>
<p>One thing they are really into is encouraging every student to spend some time studying abroad.</p>
<p>However, since their downsizing and an ambitious social media campaign, they have become rather selective–31% acceptance rate was the last I heard.</p>
<p>NMH stole my heart:</p>
<p>[post=13631665]A Beautiful Outlier[/post]</p>
<p>Check these threads:</p>
<p>[thread=1258040]Questions about NMH[/thread]</p>
<p>[thread=496052]NMH Perediction[/thread]</p>
<p>Kellybkk was Hill really the “H”? I’ve never heard this before. If you don’t mind me asking, where did you receive this info from I’d love to read more on it.</p>
<p>@ChoatieMom & jahphoto: sort of funny, I was also completely taken in by NMH, but son chose LC instead. As your prior comment (and the links you include) note, NMH has a special place on the “spectrum” of boarding schools. I personally believe it’s a “tier 1” school, but its presence in the top tier is as a conscientious alternative. It is constellated around progressive educational philosophies moreso than most other long-standig prep schools. In our case, we weren’t sure whether our son would be more interested in a more conservative, traditional prep school (so we looked at Brooks, Taft, & Pomfret), or the more progressive alternative that NMH offers. In the end, he seemed to think Loomis was the happy medium and that is where he is. And he seems to have been a good judge of his own character and needs. But I would have loved to have made the trip to Gill more than a few times!</p>
<p>Pelican, funny coincidence since NMH is my top choice for her, Loomis is hers, with NMH a bit farther down on the list along with Taft (and Concord Academy. She decided at the last minute not to apply to Masters - too small.) For whatever reason, Brooks and Pomfret didn’t enter our field of vision til late in the game so we didn’t look at them. (Our criteria when we checked of the boxes were, “skiing, dance, and one of JAHPhotoParents had to have at least vaguely heard of it” which in retrospect was probably very limiting since I"m from the midwest and my DH went to public school!</p>
<p>One does wonder, who decided what were the “best” schools? It seems so arbitrary!</p>
<p>We liked NMH very much and continue to recommend it to friends. In the end, with a student for whom dual foreign language study was important, the block system did not seem ideal. That said, I think the block system can be great, and it means that kids can take 6 courses a year, instead of the “typical” 5, so there’s more room for electives and exploration.</p>
<p>@london203
My DC applied there, loved the campus feel, the zoo and their commitment to the environment and science.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how kellybbk concluded that the Hill School was once the “H” in HADES, but I do know that the Hill School was once (still?) grouped into the “Select 16” elite boarding schools by Peter W. Cookson and Caroline Hodges Persell in their influential 1985 book, “Preparing for Power: America’s Elite Boarding Schools”. Those 16 were/are (in no particular order): Andover, Exeter, St. Paul’s, Deerfield, Choate, Taft, L’ville, Middlesex, St. George’s, St. Mark’s, Kent, Woodberry Forest, Episcopal, Hotchkiss, Groton and Hill.</p>
<p>“HADES” is an acronym made up by a proud Hotchkiss student several years ago. You will never see it anywhere except for college confidential. So the “H” was definitely not meant to stand for the Hill School!</p>
<p>Because HADES and GLADCHEMMS wear on some nerves, maybe the folks on CC should think about using the Cookson/Persell phrase “Select 16” instead to abbreviate the list of first rate boarding schools. Of course, any short hand tag for top BS’s will always gin up ire in some corner or another because it either includes schools “unworthy” or excludes too many schools still. In the end, all short cuts come up short one way or the other.</p>
<p>Maybe we should stop trying to draw a line between “best” and “rest” at all! It is just absurd for anyone to say that any individual child would get a “better” education at Andover than at … pick any one of a hundred schools out of a hat.</p>
<p>Ah, j’gal, thanks for ginning up our first bottle of ire here. Forget circling 16 schools for elite status. We need at least a 100 schools. Do I hear a 1000? 10,000? </p>
<p>I guess that there are gradations between schools/groups or there are none. This subject is not a trite matter. Revolutions are fought over lesser issues.</p>
<p>I went to proctor in the early 80’s and LOVED it, your son can’t go wrong- it is a warm community with a balanced education.Good Luck!</p>
<p>Actually, toombs, the phrase “Select Sixteen” is the result of a study of boarding schools by E. Digby Baltzell, a noted sociologist, in the 1950’s. He concluded that the schools on his list were the most important and influential in society as far as ensuring that the sons of the ‘ruling class’ in this country had the right exposure, social connections and training to assume their eventual leadership roles. </p>
<p>He, also, by the way, coined the acronym ‘WASP’.</p>
<p>Hey, another acronym! Maybe WASP should be used as the umbrella term for all schools that share such characteristics!!</p>
<p>leanid, you are right. I thought that the phrase “Select 16” was coined and cashed in the '50’s, not in the '80’s; however, I didn’t dig deep enough in my aging memory cells to hit upon Digby Baltzell. Thanks for ringing the bell here.</p>
<p>So glad for this thread! My kid is hoping for Tabor. He looked at NMH but decided not to apply – too rural. He is also applying to Portsmouth Abbey, Brooks and St. G’s (sailing schools). Tabor is without a doubt his first choice though…</p>
<p>My Dad (also a Penn grad) and I took courses with Dr. Baltzell and were in the same fraternity at Penn… His selection of those 16 schools were part of his many illustrations of the unwritten, but powerful social caste system that once described the close connection between WASP birth and the rose-laden path of specific prep schools (his was SPS), colleges, Clubs and the often-sought blue chip/blue blood financial firms. He was not a fan of this WASP world despite his belonging to it. </p>
<p>Dr. B would have told you, even in the 70’s, that the selection of these 16 schools reflected a fragile snapshot of institutions that represented a social caste system, one being replaced (thank God) by a system based on merit, results and industriousness, not birth. And while he would note that the usual “caste” of characters (schools, clubs and professions) continue to have a very specific gravity for the WASP community, he would no doubt be thrilled to point out the ascendance of individuals and institutions in our society who were once denied access, opportunity and “membership.”</p>
<p>One of the most compelling reasons we liked and chose Thacher is its complete lack of a social pecking order. It’s the most wonderful feeling ever.</p>
<p>It’s funny - there are so many different “old boy networks”. Just because I’m a graduate of an Ivy with a very powerful and famous OBN doesn’t mean I’ve ever figured out how to benefit from it - it’s not like I could wander into the alumni club, strike up a conversation with an elderly gentleman at the bar, and find myself with a job offer. There probably were plenty of ways I could have taken advantage of it but nobody ever explained how, and I was too dense (despite successfully graduating from said institution) to figure it out.</p>
<p>But I was recently at a major charitable event, celebrating local philanthropists and nonprofit leaders and I was dumbstruck by the fact that, in our fairly diverse area, every single one of the 7 or so speakers on the program was a white man between about 40 and 65. They represented the head of the local chamber of commerce, board members of a few organizations, and the like, and as each one introduced the next and talked about “when I hired Joe” or “when Frank and I worked together”, I realized what was going on: they were all retired police. After 20 years, they had taken their pension and gone into new careers, and they all knew (and thus hired/ helped) each other from the police force. </p>
<p>I apologize - I’ve wandered WAY off topic here and accept any sanctions the mods might send my way. It was just an interesting lesson in the unexpected ways your fancy education and the connections you get from it might not be all that useful depending on where you wash ashore.</p>
<p>@Taborhopeful I love Tabor! I want to reverse years and go to that school myself. The campus is beautiful and the sailing program is incredible. I’m envious for your son.</p>
<p>Thank you! We are counting down the seconds until march 10. not sure whether to be worried or reassured that there are so few posts on CC about tabor.</p>