<p>My list contains Northfield Mount Hermon, Mercersburg and Berkshire. Any comment on these schools? Or any admission advice? Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Those are all great schools, Mercersburg has one of the best swimming programs in the U.S.</p>
<p>@mrnephew thank you for replying, did you apply to any of those schools?</p>
<p>All three are in very rural settings. There is no town to walk to from NMH, I don’t think there is one adjacent to Berkshire but I could be wrong. Mburg is right in a tiny town but at least the kids can get off campus for pizza, McDonald’s, pharmacy, etc.</p>
<p>My daughter is a very happy new junior at Mercersburg so if you have any specific questions I might be able to help. Warning, other than the swim program’s excellence, I don’t really know much about sports there because my daughter isn’t an athlete. </p>
<p>I have visited NMH only so I can’t say much about it. I know virtually nothing about Berkshire but have never heard anything negative about it.</p>
<p>@neatoburrito great to have someone knowing about mercersburg. Was it competitive for your daughter to get into mercersburg? For instance, (this might be personal) what was her ssat score to get it? About boarding life, how many hours of homework does she get averagely? Is there a range of diversity in her group of friends? since I’m an international student. Thank you for your recent answer by the way.</p>
<p>A friend went to Mercersburg. Says it is great, the start school time is pretty late, around 9 I believe, and he really loves the family-like connections there.</p>
<p>NMH is a great school too. I was considering applying, but couldn’t, as I could only apply to five schools.</p>
<p>My d’s friend group is extremely diverse. I’d say that at least half of her friends are international students. There are many different countries represented from Asian, the middle east, Europe, South America. She’s got friends from all over the world. </p>
<p>She doesn’t complain about her homework load but that may be because last year, at her old school, she had four AP classes, a college course and an independent study. Anything would seem like less after that! She had very high test scores and grades, but I don’t think that’s necessarily why she got in. She was drawn to the arts facilities, the warmth of the people she met there, and the sheer beauty of the campus and facilities. Most of the kids are boarders. Many of the day students are actually faculty kids. Almost everyone stays on campus during the weekend. There are a couple of unique things about Mercersburg. </p>
<ol>
<li> Classes start at 9:00, rather than 8:00 so there is plenty of time to wake up and have breakfast with your friends. This was huge for my D, who needs that time to fully awaken.</li>
<li> There is a very good Outdoor Education program called MOE that takes the kids all over hiking, camping, kayaking, climbing, etc. All the equipment is housed in a huge barn that was fitted for that purpose and also includes an indoor climbing wall.</li>
<li> There’s a ski mountain and a golf course very close by.</li>
<li> Students and faculty all stop what they’re doing and each lunch together on school days at assigned tables. This may not seem like a big deal, but it kind of puts a scheduled break in your day when you have to stop and come together as a school. There are also three required dinners a week, one of which is formal so jacket and tie for the guys, dresses for the girls. It’s kinda fun dressing up once a week.</li>
<li> There is a full carillon in the chapel with guest recitals almost every week. It’s really neat to hear the bells coming from the tower all over campus.</li>
<li> At the end of Winter term, instead of finals week, there is something called Irving/ Marshall week. The kids are selected into one of these two societies and they compete in all kinds of games: poker, pool, ping pong, chess, and traditional sports. The thing is, if you play a sport regularly, you can’t do it for these games. So it’s kind of funny to see people who aren’t really wrestlers wrestling, etc. But the biggest deal of the week is the declamation which takes place after formal dinner and before a dance. The two societies each select students to give monologues. This is worth the most points and whoever wins this event usually wins the entire week (and bragging rights).</li>
<li> All seniors are required to board.</li>
</ol>
<p>The new student center is really nice and the kids seem to spend a lot of time there after dinner and before dorm check in. There are ping pong tables, pool tables, a cafe, a screening room, TV’s, etc.</p>
<p>I didn’t answer your question about homework specifically because honestly, I really don’t know. Like I said, she doesn’t complain about it so it’s probably fine. Maybe two hours? Then again, my D already did the whole AP thing so maybe she has less than normal for a junior. She only has one AP this year and it’s in a subject that she’ll likely major in so it doesn’t really seem like work to her.</p>
<p>If you want to see some candid photos, go to web.stagram.com and search for mercersburg. Sometimes people tag photos that were taken in the town, but mostly it’s kids at the school. You could probably do this for NMH and Berkshire as well.</p>
<p>I can’t really say about admissions because I think it really depends on what country you’re from. There are only three kids from Russia but over a dozen from Germany, for instance. There are 19 from China and 7 from Mexico but only 1 from Turkey. </p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>@neatoburrito Oh my goshhhhhh. Wow!!! Thanks so much for such a specific reply. The school sounds awesome especially for that starting class later part. You actually made me kinda thrilled about this school.</p>
<p>@Matadorean which schools did you apply to then? Because I want to open up to more schools. Oh and btw, do you know anything about nmh?</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to NMH, although I was going to, but then I did apply to Mburg.</p>
<p>I am applying to NMH this year and visited the campus last month. What really stood out to me is how friendly everyone was. Personally, I couldn’t tell which students were extremely wealthy and which ones were on financial aid, which I think is great; I didn’t see any excess of students flaunting their wealth. The school seemed extremely well-rounded with fantastic arts, academic and athletic facilities. NMH is in the absolute middle of nowhere (the nearest decent hotel is 20 minutes away) but I actually am glad it’s that way. (In my opinion, it gets so many more boarders by doing so.) I think the whole workjob program is great and keeps everyone in a community. Oh, and about 1 out of every 4 students is international, so they certainly have a lot!</p>
<p>My dad went to Mercersburg. I’ve been to the campus many, many times. Let me start off by saying this: Mercersburg is literally in the middle of nowhere. The town is a strip mall, no joke. You are in farm country. There is a ski resort (White Tail) just a short, short drive up the road (maybe five/ten minutes by car?) so if you like skiing thats a plus. Mercersburg is a great art’s school. They renovated their arts center a few years ago. They take it very seriously. And their swimming is taken seriously. Academics are good, not as great as other boarding schools. It snows a decent amount and it’s cold too. The campus, however, is beautiful especially in the fall when the leaves are falling.</p>
<p>Berkshire is a remarkable school. In the last 7 years or so, they have made some impressive program changes (check out the math & science program), dramatically increased the number of applications, and have built or rebuilt just about everything from the incredible athletic center with two hockey rinks, to the arts center which just opened this fall, and the beautiful classroom building, Berkshire Hall. Their endowment has increased dramatically as well. They have a new head of school, who was hired from within, the physical setting is very beautiful and unique ( the school is literally nestled under a mountain). Their great outdoor program capitalizes on the location, and they are close to good skiing as well. And it’s close to Great Barrington, a town in the BErkshires which was named by Smithsonian Magazine a couple of years ago as one of the best (and coolest ) small towns. You should take a close look at what they have to offer. It is really a wonderful school.</p>