Prep school visits thread

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I was looking at the "NEW College Visits" page and i thought how helpful it will be for everyone to have one for prep schools, especially once the forum crowds up in the Fall. So, unless the Moderators/people who control this site take note and actually make a prep school one o thought i'd create a thread devoted to it. Pease tell us when you visited as well.</p>

<p>Any prep school, co-ed, all girls, all boys, day, boarding..etc.</p>

<p>School Name:
Location:
Visited when:
VISIT ACTIVITIES(comments):
Tour:
Interview:
Miscelaneous:
RATING AND COMMENTS:
If you could tell us your rating out of 5 and comments:
Grounds/appearance of campus:
Boarding houses/rooms (if boarding):
Faculty impressions (helpful, kind etc):
Student impressions (were they all helpful and appy to help you, also stuff like whether they were very work orientated etc):
Building/ facilities/maintenance/ cleanliness:
Security/saftey:
Over all school impression:
Town/ city the school is in impressions:
GENERAL NOTES:
Visit Description:
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:
Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.): </p>

<p>Any parents/students etc welcome to answer, whether you visited recently or a couple of years ago (if this is the case say exactly when).
If anyone can think fo any other fields to add, do so.
Thanks,
Claudia
P.S i hope this will be helpful to everyone.
P.P.S negative thoughts are fine, but dont just go bashing the schools</p>

2

<p>please help everyone, i am sure myself and others will really appreciate it, especially when the forum fills up in fall.</p>

3

<p>School Name: Andover
Location: Don't remember
Visited when: December, 2004
VISIT ACTIVITIES(comments):
Tour: Some girl from Hong Kong gave us a tour. We mostly ended up talking about her life on The Hills (the Hollywood of HK) and trying to sort out the junior/freshman confusion.
Interview: The womyn was really fun. They gave an essay sort thing to write while your parents were being interviewed. My question was like "Who is someone you really admire?" or something cliche of that sort.
Miscelaneous:
RATING AND COMMENTS:
If you could tell us your rating out of 5 and comments: 4
Grounds/appearance of campus: 4
Boarding houses/rooms (if boarding):
Faculty impressions (helpful, kind etc):
Student impressions (were they all helpful and appy to help you, also stuff like whether they were very work orientated etc): 3 but I'm a biased person/
Building/ facilities/maintenance/ cleanliness: 5
Security/saftey: 5
Over all school impression: 4
Town/ city the school is in impressions: 4
GENERAL NOTES:
Visit Description:
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:
Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.): </p>

<p>Any parents/students etc welcome to answer, whether you visited recently or a couple of years ago (if this is the case say exactly when).
If anyone can think fo any other fields to add, do so.
Thanks,
Claudia
P.S i hope this will be helpful to everyone.
P.P.S negative thoughts are fine, but dont just go bashing the schools</p>

4

<p>Bump, i know, very annoying of me, but i think lots will have valuable input to this thread, so please answer. And thankyou Nixxi.</p>

5

<p>Claudia -- I'll do this to keep your thread going, and because we think Blair is a wonderful school, sometimes overlooked in favor of New England (although it is somewhat close to CT). We visited a number of boarding schools last fall. However, at this point, they all blur together. Because my son will go to Blair, I can do it for this school. </p>

<p>School Name: Blair Academy</p>

<p>Location: Blairstown, New Jersey</p>

<p>Visited when: fall 2005 and April 2006 </p>

<p>VISIT ACTIVITIES(comments): Full revisit activities which were very informative.</p>

<p>Tour: A typical tour with student guide first, interview for student next and interview with parents at the end.</p>

<p>Interview: It seemed normal. We all liked the Admissions person.</p>

<p>Miscellaneous: During revisit day, we were all surprised by how good the food was. </p>

<p>RATING AND COMMENTS:</p>

<p>If you could tell us your rating out of 5 and comments: 5 based on our priorities. My impression of this schools is that they offer a broad range of academics for a school of its size (Chinese, computer, architecture, etc.); they have a range of abilities in their students (my impression is from very high ability to above average) and the faculty works to bring out their best; in addition to good academics, there is also a fun boarding life with many activities, outings and competitions; competitive athletes in wrestling and basketball should include Blair on their school tour. The Headmaster came from Taft -- so if you like Taft, you might want to look at Blair. So far, I have been pleased with the course placements my son received. I don't know if he would have been placed in honors classes or been allowed to take 6 classes in a school filled exclusively with very high ability students. </p>

<p>Grounds/appearance of campus: 5 It feels larger than many of the school its size (430).</p>

<p>Boarding houses/rooms (if boarding): 5 to the girls' dorm (I think it's called Annie's Hall). I'll give a 4 to the boy's dorm which I only remember as fine (neither outstanding like Annie Hall, nor inferior).</p>

<p>Faculty impressions (helpful, kind etc): During revisit day, I sat in on Chinese 4, and I was very impressed with the teacher and the students. When I've called with questions, all the faculty members have been helpful. The person in charge of the 9th grade dorms even got my son and his roommate together in July, something I think a larger school would not do. </p>

<p>Student impressions (were they all helpful and apply to help you, also stuff like whether they were very work orientated etc): Per above, I was impressed with the Chinese 4 students and the colleges they were going to. As part of his orientation, my son has 2 senior "big sisters" to answer questions over the summer and show him around when school starts. The students seem to be work oriented, but not monastic. When we did our tour, the tour guide was from Korea, and was friendly and serious about academics. </p>

<p>Building/ facilities/maintenance/ cleanliness: For a school its size (430), the facilities are excellent! They even have a 9 hole golf course. It seemed to be well maintained, and many buildings are new or recently refurbished. Unlike most boarding schools, they did not have an ice rink. There is an ice hockey team, and they play nearby. They recently announced the purchase of another 100 or so acres and have plans to add on to the athletic facilities which seemed fine to us the way they are. They also plan to build a larger student center. </p>

<p>Security/safety: This seemed excellent.</p>

<p>Over all school impression: Good enough for my son!</p>

<p>Town/ city the school is in impressions: A cute very small town. The old Main Street is almost part of the school. I'm not worried about my son wandering around there. Close to NYC and Philadelphia. </p>

<p>GENERAL NOTES:
Visit Description: We were not expecting it to be as nice as it is. My son moved it to the top of his list after his visit. We visited during Peddie week, and there was very high school spirit.</p>

<p>Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments: See the Blair website. Many charming inns and B&Bs.</p>

<p>Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments: I was surprised to find an old fashioned German deli close to the school. I think it's called the Alpine Deli.</p>

<p>Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.): They are very close to the Delaware Water Gap national recreation area run by the national park service. Very beautiful. For skiers, they are close to the Pocono Mountains in PA. They are also very close to a small airport for the pilots out there. I think some students learn to fly there, but I don't want to dwell on that now. Of course, they are somewhat close to 4 international airports in NYC, Philadelphia and Newark.</p>

6

<p>Now that some of you have started school tours, please provide information on your school visits if you are so inclined. It might help others.</p>

7

<p>If you visit more then 2, this will take hours...</p>

8

<p>We have seen three schools in just two weeks, and I visited more with my two other kids. </p>

<p>If anyone has any questions about those schools I am happy to answer them. </p>

<p>NMH (daughter attended) Exeter (son attended) visited also: Andover, Loomis,( 3 visits one with each kid!) Choate, Peddie, Milton, Masters, Walnut Hill ,Westover, Suffield. I think that's it.</p>

9

<p>drnancie, what can you tell me/us about Westover?</p>

10

<p>Agreed that this is a larger task to do full write ups than I have time for right now, but happy to try to be helpful if people have specific questions. In the past three weeks, we have done visits at Choate, Pomfret, Deerfield, Berkshire, Taft and Hotchkiss with my daughter.</p>

11

<p>I will try to be more detailed as I have the time, but we have recently visited
Millbrook and Miss Hall's, and have plans to see The Gunnery, Suffield, Berkshire, Canterbury amd Williston. May do Kent as well.</p>

<p>Any questions, let me know and I'll try to be helpful.</p>

12

<p>we loved westover. my daughter was accepted there and almost went there because of their joint music program with manhattan school of music. </p>

<p>the advising program looked very strong. </p>

<p>preparent did you have specific questions?</p>

13

<p>fun is fun, what comments do you have about Miss Hall's?</p>

14

<p>drnancie, I would also be interested in Emma comments. Any comments on the community, academics, is help easily available if needed?
IMO, one of the beauties of prep school is that if you have any issues, help is available. Some schools you will have to ask and others have automatic help sessions and others have both.
Can you comment on the ease or lack in terms of airport access?</p>

15

<p>Please keep in mind that we went to emma willard six years ago! my daughter was accepted there, and I felt it was a very good school. </p>

<p>I did ask about help and was told that there was a local organization that had tutors if necessary but there was no on campus learning center.</p>

<p>I can't help at all with airport access, since we have never flown to any of the schools.</p>

16

<p>Thanks drnancie, what about Westover? Had your D decided to choose either Emma or Westover which would it be? Why?</p>

17

<p>Very interesting school, led by a dynamic head who is a strong advocate for empowering girls and for single sex education. </p>

<p>Small school (180), and a small, fairly confined campus. Beautiful new library, arts building and gymnasium. The girls themselves seemed friendly, motivated and quite self-confident. </p>

<p>Not for everyone, but for the right girl this could be a great environment.</p>

18

<p>Ok, now I get to make one of my favorite points which is--- it is not the school , but the fit for that kid!</p>

<p>for my daughter, westover would have been better because of the intensive (all day saturday) music program at a leading conservatory in NYC. They transported the girls in each week. But that doesn't mean that it is a better school than Emma Willard. My daughter currently is at a conservatory rather than a regular college because she wants to be a professional musician, so for her, the music program was the most important factor.</p>

19

<p>Thanks, yes I understand fit is the most important. Your comments are still helpful. Obviously Westover's music program is very good. They also have the W.I.S.E program that my D may be interested in. She was able to participate in a summer program there 2 summer ago and really like it.</p>

<p>as for fit, we are all about that. Most CCer's are more name driven.</p>

20

<p>School Name:Exeter
Location:Exeter, NH
Visited when:10/9/06
VISIT ACTIVITIES(comments):
Tour: My tour guide was a new student there, he had been there for only four weeks. He was from England and seemed very intelligent and kind (and it wasn't just the accent). He knew quite a bit about the school.
Interview: My interviewer seemed a little inexperienced; she didn't seem to know how to keep the conversation flowing quite as well as some of the other interviewers I had at other schools. It was my first interview, so I was a little nervous and that probably showed in my responses. She asked basic questions like, "What books are you reading?" "Why do you want to come to Exeter" "What grades are you getting" etc. There were a lot of people getting tours and interview when I went in so it seemed a little cramped.
Miscellaneous: The academics seem excellent there, and more emphasized than the other schools I visited. The Harkness method is utilized in all classes. The art gallery was quite impressive.
RATING AND COMMENTS:
If you could tell us your rating out of 5 and comments:
Grounds/appearance of campus:3.8 The buildings were functional and all quite modern, but it wasn't in as beautiful a setting as some other schools.
Boarding houses/rooms (if boarding):4.2
Faculty impressions (helpful, kind etc):4
Student impressions (were they all helpful and appy to help you, also stuff like whether they were very work orientated etc):4.5 (They seemed very kind. People were greeting my interviewer almost constantly.)
Building/ facilities/maintenance/ cleanliness: 5
Security/saftey:3.5 (You could pretty much go anywhere you had a mind to go. The campus straddles a street, so it is probably not the most secure place you could go)
Over all school impression: 4 Very clean and efficient. The buildings are mostly brand-new, and state-of-the-art.
Town/ city the school is in impressions: 3.5 It is in a small town:Exeter. There are some restaurants and other stores, including a movie theater, but not a lot.
GENERAL NOTES:
Visit Description: My first interview
Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments: We went on to Concord that same night, so N/A.
Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments: We went to a pretty good Chinese restaurant in town. The food was decent, but not spectacular. I would go there again, but it's not my favorite.
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.): The parking seemed okay; there were plenty of spaces to park right on the street in the campus, but you could find a lot of parking throughout the town.</p>

<p>More reports to come soon! :)</p>