<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My son just been accepted to both Roxbury latin and Boston latin as 7th grade. We like both schools. RL is extremely competitive and hard to get in and it cost 40% less compared to other local day schools. RL is very much big on building boys character. Boston latin is free and is a large school. We are really debating which school to go and I would like to hear other's opinion. I really appreciate your input. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I’m wondering about what kind of boy your son is. What are your son’s interests? What kind of student atmosphere does he thrive in? Is a wide range of classes important to him?</p>
<p>Your question is about the “fit” of student with the school. While some here may have detailed information about both schools, it would be helpful to the rest of us that know one school much more than the other to have some idea of your son’s abiltiris, interests, etc.</p>
<p>RL if you can comfortably pay. Don’t stretch yourself though. Boston Latin is great too.</p>
<p>^^^agreed</p>
<p>Boston Latin is great too, but it has large class sizes which might be a factor in your decision.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replys so far.</p>
<p>Academically, the boy is well beyond his grade level. He has a lot of friends, and has no problem socially. He likes almost everything he gets his hands on - sports, music, arts, books, etc. He enjoys intense competitions and does well under pressure. His goal before college is to represent U.S. in one or more of the international olympia competition as well as conduct independent science research to compete in Intel science competition. He is self-motivated and handles online and/or self-paced study very well. </p>
<p>We are typical middle-class family with two working professional parents. We are not sure if we would qualify for any scholarship at RL but the annual tuition would mean financial sacrifice on other parts of the family budget. Both of us (parents) were educated through the public school system went on to good colleges and graduate schools. Our son is currently in a public school and we supplement his school learning with online courses, weekend activities, and summer camps. We were set on applying and attending BL until last spring when we first heard about RL. We are very impressed with RL and it is the only private school in the Northeast my son applied.</p>
<p>A few important aspects his schooling are key:
<p>I know someone who goes to BL, he seems to like it a lot. It depends on if you want really stressful or less stressful</p>
<p>My son recently graduated from RL, but years ago we faced the same choice, and we chose RL. He too did not apply to any other independent schools. We think in retrospect he would have been happy at BL too.</p>
<p>Here are the key differences to me:</p>
<p>RL:
– Consistently excellent faculty who really get to know your son. The academics are extraordinary.
– Everyone is encouraged to be an athlete, an actor, a singer, etc. Most kids participate in all of these activities at some point or throughout their RL career
– No girls. Really healthy and supportive social environment, everyone belongs, not cliquey, most kids spend all-day (until about 5), every day at the school
– The dominant social milieu seems to be solidly middle class, pretty low-key, especially compared to many of the other independent schools
– College guidance and placement are excellent
– Cost of tuition is around $20,000 per year. Because of excellent endowment you are paying only 60-70% of the real cost of your son’s education.</p>
<p>BL:
– Some great teachers, many good teachers, some really poor teachers. The academics are good.
– Students are discouraged from athletics in Middle School so they can focus on adjusting to the academics. It can be hard to make the JV and Varsity teams, but because the school is so large they play in a very, very competitive mostly suburban athletic conference. Great drama and other extracurriculars but students tend to focus in one or two areas. Many students do not participate in either athletics or extracurriculars
– Active social scene, kids tend to find their group and because everyone lives in the city and many are not committed to ECs after school, they seem to have a lot of fun socially
– More diverse, urban social milieu
– College placement is very good
– It’s free!</p>
<p>I was very, very happy with RL for my son, but I think BL would have been a good option too. Good luck with your son’s decision!</p>
<p>Take advantage of the revisit for RL. It’s a great school but the culture doesn’t suit everyone, as with most private schools. after that, you’ll know more. Look at what competitions each school is involved with.</p>
<p>As a current RL student, you would be crazy not to send your son there. First of all, if your sole concern is financial, the school is extremely generous with financial aid, particularly for their inner city students. You will find no better environment academically or otherwise anywhere else. Over 45% of students receive some sort of financial aid. And as for the comments about athletics, I am not exaggerating when I say that every single varsity team at RL would smoke BLS. Athletically, Independent Schools dwarf their public school counterparts now for a variety of reasons. My father went to BLS, which is a great school, but he chose to send me to RL instead. Overall the opportunity to attend RL is a privilege which your son should take advantage of</p>
<p>I know a family who pulled their son out of BL and sent him to RL, they said it was a world of difference.</p>
<p>My son has been accepted into both and we are still discussing but in favor or Roxbury Latin at this point,10 days left to decide</p>
<p>Our daughter graduated from Boston Latin and we loved that school, met many very intelligent parents/students that we are honored to call them friends, parent organizations are very active and brainy. But BLS is a large school, a child needs to be independent enough to navigate the system. Some teachers get consistent complaints from parents but union is strong enough administration can do little about it so they stay and continue their unprofessional behavior. Middle schoolers are discouraged in sports which is reasonable because they need to get used to a big environment, new system and heavy load of homework. But high school sports tryout can get chaotic and kids miss out often. BLS recently eliminated all honor track (later reinstated math and Latin honor with no GPA bump), we are pretty certain our son would not get proper challenge being grouped with 450+ kids at the same level for most courses, I think school this large (all schools, in fact) should have a contoured curriculum to satisfy different interest, talent/or lack of and speed of learning. To downplay the difference among this many students is not education first but social engineering first.<br>
Our daughter did fine in BLS ( still had honor track in all courses then) but she says she feels under-prepared in math and science in college despite scored 5 on AP Calculus BC and AP Chemistry in high school.</p>
<p>I like RL mandate all kids 2 seasons of sports. Looking at their college matriculation and individual attention and word of mouth from families (we live in West Roxbury), I think they can provide proper academic and intellectual challenge to our son. Also someone said being with kids who think smart is cool is crucial, I completely agree. Peer pressure gradually takes over parental influence from certain age, what we can do is put them in an environment that we can take advantage of positive peer pressure so the motivation comes from within. I think RL is a better environment than BLS in that regard.</p>