Also found this American Slang Sheet on the Intl students guide on St. Mark’s website :lol: : https://www.stmarksschool.org/campus-life/residential-life/international-students/living-in-the-us/understanding-american-culture/us-american-slang-and-expressions
@sparkatzz My favorite has to be humongous: really big. :lol: On a side note, they’re recommending… The Urban Dictionary… I do believe that that is a bad choice…
College counseling session at Groton was only for the parents. Kids were in classes with hosts. Parents had option of another class visit or college session. My husband wanted to go and I was reluctant but was so impressed by the lady talking and it just highlighted the way the school is tailored for every kid. They discuss all the kids in the school as a faculty 3 times a year!
Last year at Hotchkiss there was a NCAA - athletics seminar. We thought it was too soon to even think about it, but the earlier you know this, the better. It was very informative and there were students on the panel. Very helpful. It’s not too early because you need to know the academic requirements and know about recruiting.
It may be useful to keep in mind that revisit formats differ between schools, so you may not be able to make head-to-head comparisons. E.g., some schools will assign you to a guide and you’ll go with this person to the classes he/she takes. Other schools prefer to take the prospective students and arrange sample “classes” for them as a group instead of having prospective students sit on an actual class with current students (since it may be disruptive to the actual class and the host student’s classes may not be applicable or useful to the prospective student). There are pros and cons to each approach.
Cate revisit day…
The day started at 8:30. Parents signed up for two classes to sit in on. We were given a variety of choices that were first come first serve. We then mingled with the other families that were visiting until it was time for the all school assembly. Instead of a class parents could sign up for a tour if they hadn’t already had one.
The revisit students were introduced to their two hosts and attended the assembly together. Parents sat in a group together. From the assembly on the parents and kids did their own things.
After the assembly everyone attended classes. I attended world history and my husband attended a problem based learning math class. Our daughter happened to be in the same class as my husband. The classes were discussion based. One teacher said the students get a little nervous having parents sit in so they are a little more reserved in their discussions.
The kids attended a second class. My daughter sat in on the freshman humanities class and really enjoyed it.
Us parents went to a faculty panel. I believe there were 7 falculty memebers that provided a wide range. After the panel the parents ate outside with different falculty members joining the various tables. My husband and I thought the food was very good.
One of my daughter’s host wanted to take her on a tour of the campus so off they went. They ended up making paninis when they were done because they had “missed” lunch. My daughter loved her impromptu tour.
After lunch parents and kids attended classes. Physics lab for husband and daughter…yep, randomly ended up together again. I sat in on a humanities class. The class was again very interactive with the teacher and student groups.
We then had another panel. We both had student panels but were separated from each other. The kids had some free time with their hosts after the student panels. The parents had one final panel with current parents.
Our day ended around 5-5:30.
It was a long day but we felt like they did a great job giving us an idea of what a Cate education would be like. Our daughter left buying a few things from the store to show her Cate pride at her current school.
Andover revisit 4/5:
Andover’s revisit was so good that I ended up accepting their offer while I was there. The biggest reason for this was the people. I met many people and although our conversations were very brief, I did get a sense of their personalities. Some were funny and really enjoyed making their peers laugh, others were shy but were still willing to have conversations with me. Of course, many schools can say that about their students but within the two choices that I had, I saw more of this at Andover.
I visited math, history, and 2 language classes. Math class had <10 kids and was lecture-based. The other 3 classes were a lot more interactive. What I find interesting about these sorts of schools is that no one raises their hands in class, not even in math. In terms of things like dress code, Andover’s policy is very lax, which is another reason why I chose to #sayyestoAndover.
I’ll give this revisit a 9/10. I deducted a point because I disliked the food. There were many options but what I chose just wasn’t it. My parents spent the whole car ride home comparing Andover’s lunch to Exeter’s.
That’s all, but if you’d like more then feel free to PM or @ me.
Loomis revisit 4/5:
It was a fun time and I absolutely loved it. I visited multiple representatives/coaches from different activities and sports in the morning, had a brief opening and headed to classes. I was supposed to sit in two classes that day, first was math and second was painting. The first class was very fun, way better than my current math class and the teacher was really fun too! The students were engaged and we had a good laugh. The painting teacher wasn’t at school today, so we just had a very long time of free period, being in the gallery, playground, and a lot of places and interacted with a lot of students there. We also visited the dorms which looked really nice and talked to the dorm head. At the end of the day, I went to the PHI Hub and had a hands-on experience making stuff and it was a blast!
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The thing that impressed me the most at Loomis was the people. The students were the most down-to-earth students that I’ve met, and they were energetic, fun, and seemed to be genuinely happy at LC. The community was so inclusive and it was so easy to make friends or just to initiate a random conversation. The interactions between the students and the adults were also very natural (one faculty was dancing with my host haha) and felt like they were truly friends. I also heard that the current freshman class, the class that I’ll be entering next year, is a very energetic class so it should be a fun time. I only went to one class unfortunately, but my dad went to two humanities classes, so he was able to give me insights on how they looked like.
This revisit confirmed my interests of Loomis and it was everything that I was envisioning of a boarding school. I can see myself being there. Go Pelicans!
I’m sort of freaking because I went into the revisit day process with the assumption that I would just feel like I fit in at a specific school and that would be the school I would end up going to. However, I’ve have literally found that there were major pros and cons for every school. And I’m really starting to freak out as we near the response date because I literally don’t know where to commit to. Currently I’ve narrowed my list down to Peddie and Loomis/maybe Kent. I still have to visit Loomis’s campus but I always felt a great fit there and it was originally my first choice after M9.
HILL Revisit Day: I loved the campus and I felt like the kids were very welcoming and incredibly respectful. I didn’t bond as well with my revisit host as I would have liked but he was still very nice and I had a great time. Overall, I did feel that some of the classes, particularly the humanities classes, lacked a sense of structure which left it open to discussion. However, I felt like the students would do all the talking with the teacher just nodding before pointing to another student to share their opinion. While I am a big believer in student participation and discussion, I still believe that the teacher should contribute to the discussion and guide it. In this case, I felt that that was lacking.
I also visited an elective class which was extremely rowdy–but in a really good way. They were all incredibly involved in the class and I loved the amount of group work they did throughout the period. The biggest reason I would choose Hill, however, would probably be the ability to do all the sports I wanted to: Water Polo (fall), Swimming (winter), and Crew (spring). None of the other schools so far have offered all three of these sports. Biggest drawbacks for me was the dress code which, as a California kid, I felt was a little overwhelming and some of the classrooms were really small and cramped. I was also not a big fan of AP curriculum and one of the reasons I wanted to go to boarding school was that many schools have changed AP curriculum in order to broaden the concepts they can teach throughout a course instead of teaching to a test. Hill, however, has not done dissolved their AP curriculum. Out of all the schools, Hill has done the most outreach through several personal meeting with their head of school, admissions officers, coaches, etc. and I really felt like more than just another accepted student.
PEDDIE Revisit Day: Out of the 3 schools I’ve visited so far, Peddie felt the most like home, however, there were many drawbacks as well. Overall, I felt like I clicked the best with my peddie host out of any of the hosts so far and I really loved how honest he was about his likes and dislikes regarding Peddie. I personally, felt the least polishing of the students at Peddie and it seemed like they were being very authentic throughout the process. As a swimmer, I could not ask for a better program than Peddie, however, since their swim program is year-round, there is no water polo, which is a bit of a draw back seeing as I love water polo a lot. The english class, I visited, however, was probably one of the most inspiring and genuinely fun classes I had ever been in. I was actually sad when I had to leave to move on to the next period and that was a feeling I haven’t felt in a classroom for a while now. Overall incredible school and currently tied for my no.1 choice.
KENT Revisit Day: I really liked Kent and I was actually very surprised by the amount of freedom they have at the school, especially considering it usually being considered a more strict school by many of the people I’ve talked to in the boarding school world. I really liked my host and the campus was insanely beautiful, if I could go solely off of feel, I would definitely go to Kent, however, Kent did not have water polo and there swim season was only in the winter which meant that I would have to do track or some other sport in the fall (not a dealbreaker, but it is a pretty big drawback for me). On the flip side, I could not ask for a stronger crew team than Kent, like the Oakland Strokes coach (one of the best rowing coaches in the nation) literally rowed at Kent. Although, when it came to course offerings Kent had a very limited amount of courses that I could take, simply because I would be a repeat sophomore and I have already taken several AP classes in the humanities, thus leaving me with 3 or 4 APs Max for the next 3 years. Another thing I wasn’t really a fan of at Kent was the lecturing that occurred in the humanities classroom. I visited a English class and it was, IMO, all lecture from the board with the students just sort of calling out the answers, rather than it being an actual discussion.
LOOMIS Revisit Day: I came into the revisit week with Loomis as my first choice, but to be honest I was a little underwhelmed. Not to say that it wasn’t a good revisit day, but I felt like it wasn’t as well organized as it could have been and I didn’t really click with my host. We only visited 2 classes and I didn’t get to see a history or English class (barring writers seminar/workshop which was a lecture) and after having visited classes there was A LOT of free time…and I mean A LOT of it. Like I’m talking a good 1 hours and 15 minutes after lunch of just sitting around. While I understand the school has a schedule to stick to, they could have used a modified schedule like Peddie and Kent did in order for us to see more classes instead of getting up halfway through each class to go to a specific activity. I was really hoping for Loomis to seal the deal, but instead I am stuck pretty much trying to decide between Peddie and Loomis. I love how Loomis uses CL seminars rather AP designation and the vast number of electives that their students have. I was a little underwhelmed by the number of clubs that were set up today as there was not as much of a selection as seen at Peddie. Overall, Loomis does allow me to row, play water polo, and swim so that will be a big factor in my decision, I just really wish I got to see an English or history class because those will be the electives I will be taking the most.
Anyway, sorry for the ridiculously long post, but I just needed to get it all out there.
Did you ask if there might be an opportunity to start a water polo club at Peddie? It seems like so many of these schools are very open to students starting clubs, and with Peddie’s strong swim team you’d probably have a ton of interest! I know you said the swim team is year round, but is it at all “lighter” in the fall and spring?
^^ I know Water polo isn’t possible in some pools because of depth. (Because DS went to a school with a gorgeous, all shallow, pool!) Not sure what the set up is at Peddie.
Peddie’s pool would allow for water polo. The challenge may be availability of the pool since swim is year-round and that Peddie rakes in cash by offering up the pool for swim lessons and open swim.
@CC4life I think Loomis has a boys crew team, but they might be playing at club level.
Choate revisit recap:
I knew right as I left Choate that it was the place for me. Everybody was so… normal! It was such a relief. I sat in a science, math, and foreign language class. They were all incredibly small (13 in science class, 8 in math, 13 in foreign language) which was really nice! The science classroom was super pretty and the teacher was incredibly kind and clearly cared for her students. All of the students actually did their work and had fun (which is a breath of fresh air coming from a school where nobody cares)! The foreign language class was taught exclusively in the language, which made me nervous because we don’t do that at my school and it was a second year class more advanced than my third year class. The math class played a game for test review and the teacher was so kind! Everyone at Choate knew each other and seemed to have a sense of camaraderie. Lunch was really good for school food, especially the fries, which were really good! After my last class we went to the community fair, which was super cool! I met the track coach and talked with the debate team and a couple of clubs I’d be interested in. After the fair, I exchanged numbers with my host, who was so nice! I left Choate with such a great feeling!
Hotchkiss revisit:
We pulled up to Hotchkiss and were hit by how beautiful it was in the daytime! Sadly, the weather was awful. We had breakfast in the student center, which featured some pretty good fruit. Eventually, we were all corralled down to the auditorium (forgot the name lol) and a few faculty spoke. Immediately, I was a little put off–it seemed like more of a lecture than a welcome, and it didn’t seem to have the energy of Choate’s. Afterward, we were paired with our hosts. I attended 3 classes: a foreign language, English, and math. The classes were also very small (12 in foreign language, 14 in English, 8 in math). I didn’t get the same passionate vibe from the classes as I did at Choate; it felt more institutionalized, and the teachers definitely seemed to be more authority figure-like than friendly. The classes were nice, though, and everyone I talked to was excited to meet the revisit guests. After the classes, we went to lunch, which was pretty good! I think I had some sort of spinach/cheese sandwich and salad, which wasn’t too bad. I went to see my host’s friend’s dorm, as they were a day student and said their day double wasn’t very organized or decorated. The dorm was a nice triple, but I’m not sure if I liked it, if that makes sense. Revisit students were eventually paired back up with their parents, and we went to go watch the athletic panel. It was sort of informative, but some of the parents left a bad taste in my mouth–sort of accusatory towards coaches. We went out to get cookies after this, and we talked about how I felt at Hotchkiss. I honestly didn’t feel like I fit well. The students seemed markedly more cold than Choate’s, and I didn’t like the vibe of being stuck on campus. It sort of hurt to not like the revisit, because I loved Hotchkiss all throughout the app process. It just didn’t live up to what I wanted it to be. I regret to say we left before the ending remarks, as we had a plane to catch in just 3 hours (with a 1.5 hour drive to Bradley International), but I’m not sure they would’ve pushed Hotchkiss over Choate.
@ProudDramaMama @skieurope I actually did ask about the possibility of a water polo team and my revisit host said there would probably be a huge amount of interest in it, but since the swim team practices year round and they have the club team for the students outside of school, they would not have the space for a water polo team. Another reason I don’t think water polo would work there is because when I told the swim coach about doing crew in the spring he was sort of turned off by the fact that I would miss the spring season of swimming and he said I would have to erg by myself in the winter. I cleared it up with admissions and they said they typically prefer if people swim year round, but they could definitely make it work. Since the swim team was not that happy with me rowing, I don’t think they would be okay with adding water polo in the fall ?.
Friends went to revisit at St. Andrew’s School. Mostly positive, but worried if the number of students (about 310, I think) was too low.
Thought that the speakers were genuine & sincere.
There are pluses and minuses to every size …
Groton had fabulous Academy and Parents panels. Very well done and put prospective parents at ease.
I went to a history class which moved fast, students heavily participating.
The headmaster invited accepted students to his house the evening everyone arrived. And at the closing the following afternoon invited students and parents.
Food was good but not necessarily healthy.
Exeter had a very good students panel and you got a good feel for the mix of different students there. They had another panel which was a mix of athletics coach, dorm head, student, teacher, and a couple of other people and it didn’t work well for me. Went to an 10th grade English class. Thought some students were talking because it was expected rather than because they had something interesting to say. Overall I wasn’t impressed with what I saw in the class.
The headmaster addressed parents at the opening and closing and was overly keen to talk about how much fun there was at Exeter. He must have used the word ‘fun’ in pretty much every sentence and I think Exeter generally were concerned that they were thought of as a school who overworked students.
Food was varied with generally healthy options.
As a parent I changed my view and would have preferred my DS to go to Groton but he was fully sold on Exeter.
^ @Nomad001 , because of the “fun factor”.
@Nomad001 Just FYI, Bill Rawson - Exeter’s principal - is himself an alum, as well as the parent of a graduate (~10 years ago?) and a former employee (worked in admissions in the mid-70s, I believe). He’s also a genuinely warm person, and his approach and demeanor are a departure from a few of the previous principals. I’ve probably told this story on this site before, but last fall - his first as (then interim) principal - he stood in the middle of the quad on move-in day for new students wearing a t-shirt that read, “I’m new here, too!” He couldn’t have been more friendly or accessible, and the interactions I’ve had with him since have been similar.