<p>I don't regard teen novels as realistic.</p>
<p>"No, I'm not joking. I think the school reached its peak a long time ago and is only noted on this board and whatnot because the school USED to be prestigious, but due to God-knows-what, it's now less apt than the other schools who share a similiar history. It has been declining for a while and now qualified applicants are completely ignoring it."</p>
<p>I doubt any truth from your statement. If you want to make statement like that, you had better provide some FACTS.</p>
<p>I know several people who are in SP, Andover and Groton. They all seem to like their schools a lot. Interestingly, they all like to criticize peer schools.</p>
<p>I am associated with a prep school, but not Groton. We had good experience when we visited some of the schools discussed on the board. One thing we noticed was that students of all races at Groton tended to sit together dining. In some of other schools, you would see clear racial grouping.</p>
<p>SP, Andover and Groton are all among the best. Although Groton is smaller, its college matriculation stats and endowment are not worse than most of the bigger schools, such SP and Andover. SP, on the other hand, the WJ article had made fund raising more difficult. I understand that everyone entitles his/her opinion and likes/dislikes a particular school. If you believe "now qualified applicants are completely ignoring it.", you do not know anything about the school. That is my 2 cents.</p>
<p>I would agree, every single school has its bit of scandals/stories some more serious than others... but a true institution is able to fix the problem and move on. Much as SPS, and Milton did and I am sure Groton is no different.</p>
<p>Similarly.. you can not generalize about any school... when we visited Milton in Jan one of the girls ran out to meet a friend in spegathy straps and nothing else to cover her top... </p>
<p>How would you look at that???? loose dress code? she was REALLLY happy to see her friend? she was nuts ( :) ) thats what her friend said !!!!</p>
<p>Blair, are you applying for 3rd form or 4th? I think a lot depends on what they accept from the school you're coming from if you're entering as a forth former and how advanced you are in math and science if you're entering as a third former. Only a few I know took electives in the 4th form and they were ususally a 6th class Spring term. </p>
<p>SPS does not give credit for classes from ANY other school though they will attach that you've done it to your transcript. But no credit for summer classes at colleges even!</p>
<p>I agree with blairt on the fact that groton's on decline....when people think about groton nowadays ,they often relate it with this exlusive, depressing, elitist place and once prestigious place, or at least that's the idea we have at my school...</p>
<p>Well, I have a question. I really want to find a school where it follows the rules of 'work hard, play hard'. I just want to know if SPS is like this. I don't want to go to a school where work is and always will be the only thing that you'll do for most of the time. Is there and school that's like famous for that? Just wondering.</p>
<p>BlairT, I completely disagree with your views on Groton, and I think your misinformed opinions are quite characteristic of this board. Groton has one of the strongest histories of any boarding school, and the school is absolutely as strong as it was fifty or one hundred years ago. Any metric you choose, whether SAT scores, endowment, or college matriculation statistics will illustrate the schools continued strength. I happen to know some recent Groton graduates, students who had their choice of any boarding school, and choose Groton, and none regretted their decisions.</p>
<p>Francis, I also feel as if you know very little about boarding schools. Not only are your posts very poorly written, but you contribute no insight to the discussions, and you provide no support for your claims. Your comments about Hotchkiss are completely incorrect, and your claim that only Andover, Exeter, St. Pauls, and Deerfield have national prestige is utterly ridiculous.</p>
<p>The fact that this board is dominated by a handful of teenagers who have not yet even attended boarding school leads to many immature and uninformed opinions being presented as if they were fact. These uninformed opinions are then recycled repeatedly by younger posters, and I find it unfortunate that people seeking accurate and unbiased information are provided with rumors and half-truths.</p>
<p>The popularity of any individual boarding school will fluctuate through time, and just because schools such as AESD are currently popular among the few posters on this board, people should not pretend this board is representative of the entire prep school community. These institutions have thrived for long over a century (or two), and it is very naive to make generalizations such as “xxx school is in a permanent decline.” There are many storied boarding schools that are not popular among the posters on this board (think Groton, Lawrenceville, Middlesex, etc…), and it is very immature and short-sighted to actually believe that these schools are in anyway inferior to AESD. There are thousands of potential prep schoolers with straight A’s and 95%+ SSATs, and I firmly believe that the most mature of them would laugh at the popularity contest that this board has become.</p>
<p>It may not be for everyone (no one school is), but Groton is one of the great schools in the country. I am waiting for any evidence that it is in decline.</p>
<p>I doubt the people who run the place are losing any sleep over these poorly informed and bizarre claims.</p>
<p>I respect Suze's opinion that Groton is not for her brother but stand by my own that it is one of the great schools of the world. Had my daughter gotten in we would have agonized mightely about the trade-off: Groton vs St. Paul's. The feel and character of Groton is, to me anyway, not as intimate as that of St. Paul's (even though it is a smaller school) and its setting overlooking a distant valley does not give it the instantly captivating village feel that makes the ground so warm at St. Paul's. The measure of a school however is the life of the mind and the nurture of lifelong friendships. On that score Groton from everything I know and have read would rate very high.</p>
<p>I felt that Prep was not an accurate portrayal of prep school, but it did create an impression of Groton.</p>
<p>Amen bicoastal. I'm pretty sure some of those giving opinions have never set foot on most of these campuses. I am especially amused about what are deemed the best schools and how reknown is often confused with other things. There are many books on the history of boarding schools worth a read. It's been years so I don't remember names.</p>
<p>Other than size, the reason Andover and Exeter are best known is the opposit of what most think. It's because they decided earlier on to not be elite, to let in a broader range of students from different backgrounds.</p>
<p>Paleozoic, Groton sounded great during our research phase. I think it's considered the most elite of the schools by many old school scholars. And kids do say they love it. Truly a mystery to me.</p>
<p>SPS, blairt is applying for the fifth form. I know, I know!</p>
<p>Wow blairt, that's a toughie! I know you said many sports but what's your main one?</p>
<p>ChunkyT, SPS is indeed a work hard/play hard school. While academics are taken seriously, there are no study halls or lights out. Of all the schools I looked at SPS gives the most freedom. Saturday nights are let loose time. We have dances or hang at the Rector's house. Afternoons are let loose time on the fields. There's pleanty of time for fun!</p>
<p>Thankyou bicoastal, you have said it perfectly. Places like Groton, Middlesex, and L-ville are storied programs that stack up to the very limited schools on this board. I amazed that most these students clump the 28% admit rate as a match. Anyway, bicoastal thanks for setting the record straight.</p>
<p>I have a question regarding study halls -- if you have read my other posts, you know I am looking for info on boarding schools for my son who is in 7th grade this year.</p>
<p>For those who are currently in BS or parents of students in BS -- what are the advantages of a required study hall and what are the disadvantages?</p>
<p>right now -- I can see how it would be a great thing. My son says he would love a required study hall time. He likes the idea that everyone is studying -- he wouldn't be missing any activities or EC's or sports since that time is reserved for studying. I also think that this would allow him to really study and not get sidetracked (which he has a real tendency for -- any television, internet program or game will take his focus).</p>
<p>On the otherhand -- he is 13 and in 7th grade. Things will change tremendously for him by the time the gets to 11th/12th grade and maybe a required study hall will not be as important?</p>
<p>i used to hate study hall when i was an underclassman</p>
<p>Now that I dont have study hall, I wish I still hav it ...darn</p>
<p>and generally, there's a mild dip in terms of class average junior first marking period when kids no longer have study hall..but most people recover right after..............</p>
<p>I think it's beneficial for lowerclassmen as it puts you in a routine and you follow it......</p>
<p>hsmomstef -- Most boarding schools require study halls for 9th & 10th graders. You are right to learn more about it because it does vary by school. I can only comment on what they offer at Blair: <a href="http://web.blair.edu/Academics/ac_support.shtm%5B/url%5D">http://web.blair.edu/Academics/ac_support.shtm</a> . I am told that a student can earn privileges based on grades, but only after 9th grade. I think the 2 hour study hall every night (except Sat.) is a good thing for 9th graders. If you start a thread on this topic, I think you will generate more responses.</p>
<p>Hello prepparent! Are you too busy with other things or did you just give up on this board? It's not the same without your commentary.</p>
<p>Required study hall for 9th and/or 10th graders is very typical, with many schools easing the rules for upperclassmen as they demonstrate consistently good performance.</p>
<p>I got a PM from prepparent a couple of weeks ago. He is rather buried at work, but hasn't forgotten about us.</p>
<p>I miss his input as well.</p>
<p>My daughter loves study hall. Even now as a sophomore when she could observe study hall in her room,she prefers to go to the library.</p>
<p>there are some schools that do study hall literally, like really a hall and everyone goes study there, other school, like hotchkiss basically means you stay in your room and you are supposed to be studying</p>
<p>How could you go to a hall to study if kids have desktop computers?</p>