School Suggestions for Daughter-Artistic, Strong Writer

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Would love your input on suggestions for a boarding school for my daughter. She's currently in 7th grade, and I realize we have some time :), but she would like to start researching some schools now.</p>

<p>She's a very good student--straight A's (although math is definitely a struggle for her.) Excellent writer--spends hours writing poems, stories, one-act plays. Loves to draw, and her teachers say she has a true talent. She has been in many school and local community plays--acting is a passion of hers. Swims competitively and is a cheerleader.</p>

<p>She wants to be surrounded by people who share many of her interests, so a school with a strong humanities program (with an emphasis on language arts-creative writing) and challenging performing arts program would be ideal.</p>

<p>Interlochen is definitely on her list, but she is also interested in applying to schools in the east. A school with a rigorous academic program is fine--but if it is a school that focuses more on math and science--that would not be the best fit.</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I've heard really good things about Walnut Hill, and I know someone who goes there.</p>

<p>Interlochen is a great arts school. One of my best friends goes there, and he absolutely loves it!</p>

<p>If your D really likes creative writing though, I'm not sure how good Interlochen would be. My friend who goes there said that most of the creative writing majors are people who applied for other majors but didn't get accepted.</p>

3

<p>Well, Taft and SPS don't have swimming pools, so I'd cross those off.</p>

4

<p>Swimming isn't a huge love--just something all my children do. If Taft and SPS have strong humanities and performing arts programs, she would be interested in checking them out.</p>

5

<p>Actually SPS has an olympic size pool and in my opinion the finest humanities programme in the country. Also very strong in Art and languages. I would look at it very hard</p>

6

<p>St. Paul's has 2 pools according to their web site? and a strong humanities program.</p>

7

<p>My son just visited Loomis, they appear to have a big arts department with theater nd acting as a big component.</p>

8

<p>Concord Academy might be a really good fit.</p>

9

<p>If you don't mind the rural location and a small student body, check out Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. Mercersburg has a very good fine and performing arts program and faculty, now based in the new Burgin Center for the Fine and Performing Arts completed last autumn. Mercersburg also is well known for its annual swimming talent, and over the years the school has produced quite a few Olympians. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.mercersburg.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mercersburg.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>Taft has excellent humanities programs and the theater program is great - they have both the mainstage and "black box" theaters and students often take independent studies to write, direct, and (sometimes) perform in their own one-act plays.
Peter Berg, whose current project is "Friday Night Lights" was there when I was - and the arts programs have grown leaps and bounds since then. Alas, no pool. I've heard that many people have offered to fund the building of a pool over the years but for some reason they have never built one. I have taken a bath in William Howard Taft's specially built bathtub though - and it is almost the size of a pool! He was quite the large fellow and needed a big tub when he came to visit his sons when they were students. For the President of the US you build a special tub!</p>

11

<p>Blair Academy has been building its Arts offerings for several years. The Armstrong Hipkins Center for the Arts (built in the last decade) offers a beautiful mainstage, and there is a blackbox theater. My favorite is the outdoor theater with seating terraced down a hill and a stage overlooking Blair Lake. It's so dramatic at night lit by torches. Blair has the Kampmann's as faculty. He was a Hollywood writer/producer, and she teaches a successful video production class. I recently heard the Headmaster speak with pride about how recent Blair graduates have been accepted by NYU Tish and other very competitive arts colleges. I heard something about students only being able to act in a play for 2 seasons instead of 3. You might want to ask about this because I heard it from non-acting students. They have a pool and swim teams. Anyway, it's worth a look.
<a href="http://www.blair.edu/Performing_Arts/pa_introduction.shtm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.blair.edu/Performing_Arts/pa_introduction.shtm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>Hope you don't mind me putting in a pitch for the home team - St. Andrew's-Sewanee. We have a strong writing program bolstered by our interactions with the University of the South, home of the Sewanee Review - the oldest literary magazine in the country. We have seven professional artists on the faculty and a very active gallery that brings in an artist each month to work with our students. Our swim team is small (our total school population is only 275 students) but quite strong. No cheerleading, though.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.sasweb.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.sasweb.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Regardless of the school you choose, you might want to look into the Sewanee Young Writers' Conference. <a href="http://www.sewanee.edu/ywc/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.sewanee.edu/ywc/&lt;/a> Your daughter's a bit young yet, she'll have to be in high school, but it's a great program.</p>

13

<p>Olivia, what happened to Choate? If you are considering mainstream prep boarding schools, I've heard that the arts program at Choate is outstanding. What I don't know, and this is something you would have to research, is how demanding their math/science requirements are. Some schools offer a variety of math/science classes with some clearly geared to students who lack strength in these areas. </p>

<p>Because you are thinking about this early, my suggestion is that you both come East in the late April/early May time frame and visit some boarding schools. Some schools will allow you to tour without an interview while your daughter is in 7th grade. This will help her understand the type of school she is interested in -- exclusively arts focused vs. standard prep curriculum with strong arts program. Single sex vs. coed? Etc. I think it will help you to be more focused when the real tours & interviews happen the following year. Good luck!</p>

14

<p>Thanks to all who responded with suggestions. I think she definitely wants mainstream prep school curriculum, as opposed to an “art” school. She took some practice SSAT scores—her English was 98% and Math was 70%. Again, she is not as strong in math, and, since she is only in seventh Grade pre-algebra, some concepts were new to her. However, she’s determined to improve her score and I’m confident it will go up within a year’s time.</p>

<p>I have requested viewbooks from the suggested schools. I hadn’t considered the MAPL schools, but like what I’ve read about them on this forum. Mercersburg website was interesting. I particularly liked the fact that they incorporate their surroundings into their academics (e.g. trips to Washington DC for government class, Civil War sites for History class…). </p>

<p>My daughter has fallen in love with St. Paul’s, based on their website. I think it would be a real stretch for her—it seems extremely hard to get in. Perhaps I am wrong, but didn’t most of the kids posting on this board not get into SPS? (And we all know what a talented group of kids they are!) Anybody with any insight on SPS?</p>

<p>She has a few EC’s I believe demonstrate her creativity and leadership. Started a book club in 5th grade that is still going strong. It is so popular; there is a waiting list if someone ever drops out. Now she is starting a creative writing club. The kids will meet 2x a month after school to comment on each other’s stories, focus on different writing styles; narrative, dialogue, etc. My daughter asked her English teacher to help sponsor the club, so now all the kids’ literary works will be linked to the teacher’s classroom webpage. </p>

<p>She doesn’t have any athletic EC’s that will help her get into prep school. Because she is petite, she is the “flyer” on the cheerleading team. She’s a good swimmer, but certainly doesn’t break any state records. These EC’s only show she’s a well rounded child, who participates in team sports and has learned the importance of commitment, sportsmanship, and inner strength. She’s on student council at school, and has had her artwork chosen to represent the school in district-wide art shows.</p>

<p>Okay, so I have described her to the best of my “biased” ability. Oh, and a big caveat, she will need financial aid. I’m a widow with 4 children, one already at boarding school. (Sad story, my house was broken into last week, sometime between 9:30 am and noon. They took all of my jewelry, including my wedding/engagement ring, and my husband’s wedding band. I had inherited my great grandmother’s sterling, (flatware, coffee and tea service, numerous trays and candlesticks, etc…). Everything was gone, along with many other items.) Anyway, didn’t mean to get off track with my tale of woe. …</p>

<p>Thanks again for all of your suggestions. Any more would be appreciated!</p>

15

<p>It is my understanding that even boarding schools with high endowments will remind candidates that applying for financial aid can reduce your chances of acceptance, specifically because they have a set amount of funds available for students who will need financial assistance.
Surprisingly enough, many of these schools, including Mercersburg Academy and others, provide financial aid to 40% or more of students. Of course there are various scholarships for which you can apply on the application, but most of my alma mater's scholarships are for Pennsylvania residents only. Still, I would look up financial aid policies and scholarship options for any potential boarding school.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.mercersburg.edu/admission/tuition_and_financial_aid/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mercersburg.edu/admission/tuition_and_financial_aid/&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.mercersburg.edu/files/PDF/Financial_Aid_Bklt.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mercersburg.edu/files/PDF/Financial_Aid_Bklt.pdf&lt;/a> - Financial Aid Handbook</p>

16

<p>My daughter went to Interlochen for her last two years of high school from the top prep school in our city. She found the academics at Interlochen just as strong. She got 5s in all her AP exams. That said, Interlochen is pretty artistically intense and 4 years there is a lot. Most kids are NOT there for all 4 years. They come in as juniors usually.</p>

17

<p>Good to know about the majority of the kids coming the last 2 years. Between your comment and the prior one about the Creative Writing majors being filled by students who didn't get accepted into the other majors, gives me some pause. This might not be the best school for my daughter for Freshman year.</p>

18

<p>What MomofWildChild said is true. Being a 4 year senior at Interlochen is a huge deal as most people enter in either 10th or 11th grade. But, the academic program is quite rigorous. Getting a B there is like getting an A in an Honors course here where I live, and the local high school here is a pretty darn good public school (not amazing, but within the top 200 in the US).</p>

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<p>I would be careful about categorizing most Creative Writing majors at Interlochen as being students who didn't get accepted into other majors. They do have a general studies program as well as the individual majors programs. The examples of creative writing that I read were very, very good. They have a separate building just for Creative Writing and I was impressed with the facility. Sometimes kids have multiple talents and excell in more than one area.</p>

20

<p>*"I would be careful about categorizing most Creative Writing majors at Interlochen as being students who didn't get accepted into other majors." *</p>

<p>Good point. Sometimes it is easy to jump to conclusions about schools based on a few comments on this board. All this information is valuable though. I now have additional questions to ask when we do interview at Interlochen.</p>