<p>Hey Everyone, </p>
<p>Some of you older members might recognize me, I used to post quite a bit on this board, but now as a freshman at NMH I have very little time to do so at school. Basically, I wanted to say that now that I'm home for vacation if anyone has ANY questions about NMH I would be very happy to help out. I'm heavily involved in the admissions process at school and am pretty much a walking NMH encyclopedia. </p>
<p>Hope I can be of some help,
Hellosunshine</p>
<p>We visited NMH recently... and I add it to my child's wish schools. Rapidly growing school..!!</p>
<p>that sounds great.actually,i need a big help.
i have sent my application to NMH school for the grade 11th. (i am an international student.)
and my toefl score is 80+,and my ssat is 2106,72%(with 99% in maths,but not good in verbal and reading)
so,how do you think about my situation?
i also want to know about your school's college matriculation.
in fact, i do not know much about USA's colleges. what is the difference between universities and colleges? are universities always better colleges?
thank you very much for anwsering me so many questions.</p>
<p>Can you talk a bit about NMH's long block schedule? As I understand it (please correct me if I don't have this right), a student takes 3 courses per semester (rather than 5 or 6), and classes run 1-1/2 hours. It seems like a real benefit for science courses, where you could complete a lab in that time, but it seems that foreign language and math knowledge are best accrued in smaller, frequent exposures. I'm also concerned that my child's attention span is not yet long enough to absorb 1-1/2 hour's worth of material at one sitting.</p>
<p>So I answered a lot of these questions in a PM i sent the other day, I'll paste that in here. </p>
<p>So, about the three subjects. I actually really like it. I wasn't expecting to like it very much, in fact i was not looking forward to it at all, but after finishing my first semester of classes, i decided that it's really cool. Another thing is that you don't necessarily have the same classes everyday. If you're taking half-credit courses, then those courses would alternate. That's what I had this semester, which was really nice. A lot of people are afraid that they'll forget what they've learned, but that's actually not true. I was talking to the headmaster a few weeks ago, and he was telling me that NMH did a study and you actually forget the same amount working on our schedule as you do over the summer. You can also double up on maths, or language. So you could take Algebra I and then Geometry the next semester. The schedule tries to accommodate you as much as possible. The hour and twenty minute classes are nice because it makes our courses highly intensive.</p>
<p>As far as academics being easier or harder, it was pretty much exactly what I expected. It's not easy to make good grades at NMH, far from easy actually, but it's doable if you work hard. They try to make sure that you get all the help you need in order to do well. Teachers are always there to put in a few extra minutes after class, and if they live on campus you can go to their house for help too.</p>
<p>For SSATs it's very true that NMH is not a highly numbers oriented school. Though we're a top school, we definitely look more at character than numbers. I would say that the interview is the most important part of the application process because of this. I ended up with high 80's on my SSATs but a lot of people in my class were in the high 90's to low 70's.</p>
<p>I visited 9 schools on the east coast (being from California), including all of the schools people frequently talk about on this board. None of the schools like Andover and Exeter seemed like a good experience for high school. I strongly encourage you to NOT listen to the name when it comes to choosing your school. Remember that you'll be there for four years, and you want to choose the place that you'll be happy, not that will impress people at parties when you say "I went to Deerfield" or "I went to Andover."</p>
<p>As far as FA, the majority of my friends at school are on pretty generous FA. My roommate is on full scholarship, and I have a lot of other friends who were given a lot of aid. I'd say that if NMH likes you, they will try their best to make it so that you can attend.</p>
<p>For college matriculation, if you do well at NMH you can get into any top school. Colleges really like NMH kids because they know that NMH does a good job making them well rounded. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.</p>
<p>I am an avid volleyball player- its my top sport and one I would definitely be interested in playing at my school.
Will this help or hurt me at a school like NMH, where the volleyball team only won 2 (or 3?) sets the ENTIRE season?
I think it would help only if the school is looking to improve their volleyball team/program, but hurt if they want a student who would actually go to their school and not somewhere else because they didn't like the program.</p>
<p>
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For college matriculation, if you do well at NMH you can get into any top school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i'm not sure if you mean that if one does well at nmh, one has a shot at any top school (true albeit usually a small shot bc of the difficulty of college admissions) or if you mean that doing well at nmh will get one into any top school (not true, unfortunately).</p>
<p>NMH has an impressive matriculation record; not a huge amount of Ivy, but some of that has to with the fact that NMH doesn't necessarily attract students whose goal in life is to attend an Ivy. Lots of top LA schools on the list, though, particularly heavy in the NESCAC schools.
The rigor of the school is highly respected by colleges and doing even a fair job (B average) is highly regarded. My son got into several strong LA schools with this average and had no hook.</p>
<p>Responding to : “and classes run 1-1/2 hours… I’m also concerned that my child’s attention span is not yet long enough to absorb 1-1/2 hour’s worth of material at one sitting.”</p>
<p>The challenge of the block classes is not the length of the classes, but the length of the homework. To do well (and there is a lot of peer pressure to do well) on their own, students will need to complete an average of one hour of homework per class (1.5 to 2 for honors and AP) each night without the structure of a classroom. Plus daily sports, there is no time to be disorganized. Although study hall is 8 to 10, the library is packed at 7:00. </p>
<p>The teachers and other students will hold a flighty student’s attention in class; But does your s/d have the attention span to complete 3 to 4 hours a homework each night, after a 2 to 2.5 hour sports practice. </p>
<p>Students coming from less rigorous schools (such as alternative schools, or publics that get out at 2:15 with no homework) refer to their first semester at NMH as “hitting the wall.” Some make it, some don’t. Everybody is tired. But by the second semester, when the needed self discipline and rhythms are in place, even the challenged ones do fine. Just get through that first semester.</p>
<p>university is basically a large school with many colleges.</p>
<p>hellosunshine - you did a great job with your explanations. Keep up the good work!!</p>
<p>I noticed today that NMH extended their application deadline to February 23rd. Does that mean that they have not received enough applications or is there some other explanation? Is this merely a reflection on the economy or is it a reflection on the school? Any thoughts?</p>
<p>They also extended their fa deadline (for returning students at least). New softwear programs leading to slowdowns. I imagine that is why the app deadline is extended as well.</p>
<p>has anyone else been recieving emails from the various deparments of NMH. I would like to know if its a generic email or personal? Thanks</p>
<p>I have been- I’m pretty sure it’s generic. :D</p>
<p>It’s generic. Both Andover and Deerfield have been doing that with me - specifically about areas that I mentioned as areas of interest during my interviews.</p>
<p>my daughter has been getting them too sorry guess its generic</p>
<p>Hi All,
We just got back from interviewing and touring NMH. LOVED IT! Fits our son like a glove. Now comes the wait. We turned in all apps on time but didn’t get to visit until now. Can’t wait for notification! Our only concern is four hours of homework per night. Wow. That is a little more than we were thinking. So, with lights out at around 10:30, you students should be eating an early dinner and starting homework by 6:30 at the latest. Hm. Are all the good New Eng boarding schools that rigorous on homework?</p>
<p>I’ll be honest, my friends tell me that if you really break yourself you will have to use all of the required study hall time and cut into your freetime. Some of my friends are taking the minimum… They barely do 2 hours of work. </p>
<p>That is not at a HADES school. Maybe that applies to all… Maybe it doesn’t? BUT EVERY COMPETITIVE SCHOOL IS RIGOROUS. Rigorous for one might be a walk in the cake for another… So that is pretty subjective.</p>