Shattuck St. Mary's

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I'm wondering if anyone knows if the academics at this school would be comparable to schools like Cushing, New Hampton, Proctor and George. Particularly currently, as a lot of the posts I've found are several years old.</p>

<p>I noticed they have a support program for LD, which my d. needs. Sounds like it's a big hockey school, which is not important, but good arts offerings are. </p>

<p>I've searched the posts and some people say "the academics are weak" . Is that weak compared to a Tier 1 school, or weak as in, might as well go to public school/lots of slackers/etc.?</p>

<p>Would greatly appreciate any insight anyone might have!</p>

2

<p>A trip to the college counseling section of the school’s website shows a pretty broad mix of top-tier, various state flagship, regional and lower tier post-secondary schools attended in the past 5 years. </p>

<p>A friend’s dc who was a top student in the local public middle school was recruited to play hockey there. The dc is a freshman; I’ll ask what they think so far…</p>

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<p>Girlgeekmom - still curious as to what your friend’s dc thinks…
thanks for the repy, btw</p>

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<p>Sorry, Purple, this one got away from me. But I ran into the dc in question just yesterday (home for TG break). The student loves SSM, and is working hard academically in addition to many hours a week of hockey practice. Feels the work is challenging but not unduly so. Used to breeze/sleep through straight A’s at local public school (one with fairly low standards, IMO—but then, we homeschooled for the latter part of middle school, so I may be <em>slightly</em> biased).</p>

<p>Now, this particular kid is, despite being smart and a good student, not necessarily interested in anything more than a <em>little</em> classroom challenge at this time—this is my observation, not something the student said. For this kid, hockey is a big priority. </p>

<p>One thing you might think about for your d is that SSM is very much a hockey/soccer jock school. So if her leanings are more artsy, which is what it sounds like, it might not be the best choice—not that they don’t have plenty of arts, they seem to have plenty going on. Just that the general school culture may be quite “jock-y”. </p>

<p>Sorry I couldn’t pull more info on the academics out of the student — it was a fairly brief encounter. Student’s mom seems happy with the school for her child, despite the distance. Again for both, I think hockey is the priority.</p>

<p>A quick look at the school’s 5-year college matriculation list shows a fairly broad range of colleges and universities, which likely reflects the academic diversity of the student body. It would be more informative to know, at a school like this, what percentage of the admits to more selective colleges were sports recruits…</p>

<p>I don’t know where your home base is, but if you’re seriously considering it and can get there without undue expense, it’s probably worth a visit to get a more accurate impression. </p>

<p>Best of luck in your search!</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your input.
That was my concern - about the school being really centered on the sports. My d. isn’t really interested in sports, and definitely not a school dominated by a sports “culture”, so that’s good to know.
We have a family connection in Minn. so I thinking of it from those terms, but it doesn’t sound like a good fit.
In any case, I appreciate your time!</p>

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<p>Happy to help, but take my info with a large grain of salt—if you have a relative in Minn. maybe you could get out there for a visit? After all, the student I know, as well as one who considered it (for soccer) is a jock, so it may be that the info I’m getting from the family is particularly skewed? </p>

<p>I say this because we almost didn’t visit or seriously consider the school my dd now attends. A late-in-the process decision to visit Emma Willard completely changed the game for us.</p>

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<p>Can’t really do a visit, but I hear what you are saying. I think it will be a school we consider if the ones we’ve decided to apply to don’t work out.</p>

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<p>Fair enough. Best of luck with your search!</p>