<p>Ok so I visited all the schools this week. I have to say, coming into it Andover was probably the one I THOUGHT I would like the best. But St. Pauls is amaaaaazing. Very organized also, took the tour, came back the soccer coach was waiting for me. After the soccer coach chatted with the track coach for a little. Went to another big room, had a chat with the basketball coaches...everyone was nice and it was the one school where I felt very welcomed.</p>
<p>I had already done an interview so I knew Mr. Francis, he already reveived my SSAT scores and knew exactly what I got and congratualted me on that. The dorms were the best, the chapel was amzing, the gymnasiums was THE BEST EVER. I swear I could live in that place ITS HUGE. So ya...I pretty much love St. Pauls now.</p>
<p>Mpicz: Been a while since we "talked". Glad you liked it (or loved it). Thought you might. It is a truly beautiful place. As you proceed, ask anyone here questions, we have a lot of students, parents and alums that I am sure will chime in. It is huge, but no as many students as you prior 1st choice. Big enough, but not so big that you can't get to know people. Let me know if I can help. </p>
<p>It is also a close knit group. I am always running into fellow alums, and get together with SPS grads for dinner every month or two. Even had the Rector and his wife stay with us in November. It is a nice feeling to be part of it.</p>
<p>Hey winterset, I'm from California. I'm applying to SPS as a transfer to 11th grade or fifth former I believe. I'm sure that you have received my SSAT scores and my teacher recommendations were just sent out today. I will be finishing up my app forms online tomorrow and will submit it tomorrow(spent 4 days on the first essay question). </p>
<p>My question is, how big is my chance to get in the school? and hopefully I will visit the campus and finish my interview by the end of the month. </p>
<p>Winter, maybe most of this can be expediently answered by you, but I would welcome answers from everybody who has the time and the answers:</p>
<p>after reading all this thread i feel i've got some kind of grip on sps kids and parents. We got on the BS bandwagon late since we've been holding out for a day school option. But we finally accepted the notion of BS's because it was impossible to satisfy our child's passion for ballet and academics w/out boarding in the equation. She just discovered sps dance program (this week!) so we're doing a last minute application. We've got some questions that weren't answered by looking at their website. I'm hoping somebody can help us get answers quickly, before application deadline and interview:
1. a great swimming pool, but NO TEAM? can anyone enlighten me on how this came about? Swimming teams are a big deal to my child.... but not enough to keep from pursuing her other, greater love....
2. the dance program. can anyone comment on it's reputation w/in the dance world? on the program itself? teachers? ballet is her thing and her stated future. If she doesn't dance professionally, I'd like to think she'll get exposure to all that goes into dance - history, sets, costumes, etc. can anybody give me a heads up here? this is the dealmaker or breaker.
3. clubs and activities? i couldn't find a list of clubs anywhere on the sps website except what I gleaned through reading about the school in general and looking at photographs. The candidate's application says, "St. Pauls offers a wide variety of activities," and asks, "What specific programs do you hope to be involved in during your sPs career and why?" I take it this can mean anything from academic classes to sports to clubs. Can anyone provide a list of clubs and activity opportunities so that we can familiarize ourselves?
4. cliques - a big pet peeve of ours. they are everywhere, we know, but what level at sps, and does sps admin. deal w/ it or are they hands off?</p>
<p>Maybe I'll have more questions later, but back to the application for now.</p>
<p>I certainly am not in the know to answer all your questions, but I asked the swimming question on our tour. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>I was told although the pool looked HUGE to me, it was not Olympic Size and therefore not acceptable for competitive swim meets. This is a negative for hard core swimmers, but a GREAT PERK for casual swimmers since it means the pool is available for students quite often as compared to a school where the swim teams monopolize the pool.</p></li>
<li><p>I'm not informed enough to answer this. My youngest is a dancer. The studio floor was very good.</p></li>
<li><p>There were over 60 clubs/activites listed in one of the paper catalogues mailed to us. Community Service was a theme for many of them (Habitat for Humanity; Boys & Girls Club, etc.). Many music activites ( various singing groups and bands). Literature magazine. Try the website, About SPS section, then A-Z index. I was really amazed at the breadth of the activites vs. the size of the school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Both my son & me struggled with SPS application questions the most. The Parent Questionnaire was the most in-depth question that really forced the parent to evaluate what you want the student to get out of SPS.</p>
<ol>
<li> Agree with nothim. Great pool but not Olympic size. With just 500 students, they do not offer the breadth of an Andover or Exeter in terms of athletic offerings. But they do offer things many schools don't like ski racing and nordic skiing, ballet, etc. If your child is a competitive swimmer, SPS is not the place for them.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Your child would not be able to participate in both an athletic team and the ballet program. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The ballet program is great and the BEST among academic boarding schools but your child will not get the training nor the hours that one would at a ballet boarding school. Of course, those schools don't come close to the academic and intellectual opportunites provided by SPS. Many students in the SPS ballet company continue to dance in college but the students do not use it as a stepping stone to dancing professionally. Ms. Randolph definitely knows her stuff - I just don't think the program is set up for that level of training given the other demands on SPS students. PM me if you have more questions on dance, prospectivemom.</p></li>
<li><p>See nothim's response above. Some clubs ebb and flow based on student interest in a given year. </p></li>
<li><p>Every school has cliques but at SPS I would say they are not overly obvious. Certain groups will hang out based on common interests, etc. but my child has experienced very very little outright meanness or exclusion - much better than her public middle school. It is a very small, tightknit community given the 500 student population, all boarding, faculty living on campus. Kids get to know and accept each other and their differences. There is diversity in the student body. My child has many different 'groups' to hang out with.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for these answers so far. Others are welcome to chime in!</p>
<p>Oh, how disappointing to not have a competition-sized pool amidst all that splendor! Hard to figure the rationale behind given their predisposition toward excellence but, that said, it's not a deal breaker. She'd be in there swimming like a fish anyway</p>
<p>Right, on the subject of professional ballet schools versus prep schools. I think my kid has a good head on her shoulders and knows the value of a really great education. We'll see where all this passion leads her. If I really thought that was all of what was in store for her, I'd just send her to a professional school, but I have my notions that this is a much better overall game plan. I'm also so glad to read a rave review on the dance program. It didn't hurt to learn both instructors were out of Interlochen (amongst other places), since we are from Michigan (go wolverines!).</p>
<p>I wish we'd had the benefit of the brochure info. on clubs/activities at St. Paul's before we submitted the application. I'm sure there are more activities than any kid could possibly fit in. I'll contact the school for the list tomorrow. Would be helpful if it were on the website. Interestingly, for as good as it looks, even my child commented on SPS website needed "work" as compared with other school websites. I know this site is about SPS, but did anyone happen to view Deerfield's video about the 10 best things about Deerfield. Very original concept and informative.</p>
<p>Re the portion of the SPS application for parents.... I actually loved filling in those two questions. They allowed me to be an indulgent mom and just say it all re our hopes and wishes for our child. I hated, for my child's sake, the question using that quote. I'm always trying to simplify sentences into saying just what one means. There were just too many grand words for me. argh! Amazingly, my D just ran with it and I was shocked by her wonderful response. Hmmmm.... </p>
<p>I don't have much input but I do wonder about SPS a little...They have the most amazing gymnasium every with almost every sport posssible of being played inside. Yet they didn't build an olympic sized pool...they could have easily built one with all that space.</p>
<p>It is a beautiful pool and goes beyond meeting the recreational needs of the community. No schools offers ALL sports. Exeter doesn't offer any skiing, Deerfield only alpine but not nordic, Andover nordic but not alpine. Just the way it is. Different schools are a better fit for different kids and their interests.</p>
<p>Re the pool: True, what you're saying about schools not being all things for all people. It's just a little perplexing - why, when you're spending all that money, build a pool that's undersized (for competition anyway)? Whereas outdoor opportunities for sports like skiing can more easily be added or subtracted from the roster, an undersized pool is a irreversible. You can't grow a swimming program if you don't have a chance of using your own facility. As I said, not a dealbreaker for my child, but a disappointment. As a parent, make me curious about the "deciders" and "bang for buck". </p>
<p>Anyway, if anybody else has any thoughts on dance and the rest, I'm very keen to read them here.</p>
<p>Not sure if I Know the answer, but try to understand SPS. They have never had a swim team. Now on the other hand the first hockey game played in the US was at St. Paul's, and the first squash court in North America was at St. Paul's. There are a number of amazing things at SPS, but traditionally there was no pool. Ponds, lakes and a river, yes. A pool no. And no surfing, sailing or horseback riding. But a great Erg room (if you like rowing), indoor tennis, indoor soccer, and a couple of climbing walls. And....of course they have the most amazing Crew course, a mile and a quarter man made channel that can handle four boats abreast! </p>
<p>I understand the argument for an olympic pool, for SPS it was not a priority. </p>
<p>When I was there, there was no ballet either (though the Joffrey Ballet Co. did come up for a weekend!). Now dance is an amazing program with a beautiful facility. I know one girl who left the London Ballet Co. to do ballet at SPS. But talk to SPS and ask to speak to the head of ballet if you want to know more. They will be happy to talk to you or your daughter. Seriously, just call them.</p>
<p>Lirigan: You seem to imply I would see your application. I am an alum and a current parent, but I have NO role at the school whatsoever (unless information and cheerleading count). You should ask the admission people.</p>
<p>Off to upstate NY and then DC for the inauguration. Talk later.</p>
<p>An interesting answer, Winterset. We just have to move on from that issue. At least there's some kind of pool. And yes, there's some pretty terrific other stuff so who can truly complain unless competitive swimming is your major outlet.</p>
<p>I am also an SPS parent. I believe Winterset gave a good explanation of the sports/no swim team situation. Each school you look at will offer a different menu of sports offerings. I have heard there is club swimming this year. There may be some confusion between a true olympic size pool and a 25 yard long pool, which is the standard pool length outside colleges and really great swimming facilities. I think that's the length of the SPS pool and the pools at most boarding schools with pools.</p>
<p>Alevelon is correct. The schools I looked up all have about the same length pools. If you are really curious the architect for the sports center is a good friend of mine (small world). I can ask him, but it looks like the SPS pool is pretty standard for boarding schools. Here is a quick survey of boarding school pools:</p>
<p>Exeter: "Eight-lane, 25-yard competition pool"
Andover: "has a 6 lane, 25 yard racing swimming pool"
Deerfield "an 8-lane 25-yard competition pool"
Groton: "four lane, 25 meter pool"
St. Paul's: eight lanes, 25 yards</p>
<p>When we toured SPS last year, our guide told us that the donor of the pool wanted it to be for all the kids, and not monopolized by a swim team immediately. So, it was a quirky but very deliberate SPS thing to have a gorgeous pool that kids had a blast using for recreational swim. I had the impression that a team could happen in the future. I could have this wrong, but that's how I remember it!</p>
<p>I visited SPS and loved it! The campus was immaculate and absolutely beautiful. The academic, athletic, and musical programs are incredible. My only worry is that I will not be accepted... Everyone applying to SPS seems to have 95+ SSAT's while I have 86-90%. Everyone seems to participate in unique clubs, that I as an 8th grader have never been offered. Pehaps it is just the site. College confidential can significantly lower ones ambitions. I have basically accepted that acceptance to SPS is highly unlikely, probably impossible. </p>
<p>SPS over the past years has been gradually improving until becoming one of the best BS's in the nation. I unfortunately think that despite my academic diligence and exerted effort, I will never have the opportunity to attend...</p>
<p>Just wait don't worry...they seem nice when it comes to ssat scores and stuff. Dont worry..you just need something special about u and u stand a chance. Not always a 99 or all A's..cuz thats not special or unique really. (not that its not good to get 99)</p>
<p>What happened was that the kid was underwater breathing intentionally in a weird way and he started hyperventilating while in the pool. So it was not the fault of the lifeguards, there was not really anyhting they could do about it.</p>