Curious to know how you would rank the following schools in terms of their strength in STEM vs Humanities? Which schools would be a better fit for a kid interested more in science/math and which schools would be better for a kid interested more in political science/law/history. We have twin girls and one is crazy about math and the other about political science/social studies. Schools we will be looking at are Andover, Exeter, Choate, Deerfield, Lawrenceville, and Hotchkiss.
All of those schools can accommodate any student. The academic level and number of kids with different interests will also develop for some kids while they are in high school.
Things change. A kid who loves one thing might end up loving something else more. Most BS have a large number of courses and ways to pursue various interests.
Agree with @Happytimes2001 that those schools definitely have enough rich curriculum to cover both ends of the spectrum.
One thing I will throw out there though, and I’m not quite sure it will apply to you.
I have one daughter 9th grade, DD2; went through the application cycle last year, and I’d say is more of a generalist, maybe leans humanities. Then I have another daughter 8th grade going through the application cycle this year. She is really interested in robotics and STEM and engineering. (Side note: she is also a twin. But not a twin to the other BS student.)
Anyway, something I’ve noticed in how I found myself looking at schools this year is that because my DD3 is so interested in one area of the academic puzzle more than the rest, we found ourselves attracted to schools that had more “discovery space” in her day so she could pursue what she truly loved more. DD2 could be enriched by doing any and all. But DD3 would be bummed to be stuck doing hours and hours of history homework instead of having free time to head to the makers space or join coding club.
Perhaps what I am hinting at is that the more a kid really leans one way, the more I really found myself picturing what would her day look like and how would her soul sing and curiosity be nurtured? It will not be a spoiler to anyone who has read any of my posts that for us, that meant stepping back from schools with unwieldy homework levels for my DD3. (DD2 was “all in” on the homework front, and definitely got what she wished for. And you know what they say about that.)
I don’t know if that is helpful – probably not. But I definitely thought about schools differently for these two kiddos who are only a year apart but also worlds apart in how they thrive.
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For math I’d say Exeter would be the best. One of their math teachers, Zuming Feng, coached the IMO for team USA, and published a bunch of math-related practice books. He was also Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite teacher at Exeter.
I don’t know much about politics for these schools listed, but I can tell you that Groton is certainly a great school if your daughter wants to be a politician. Many Groton graduates turn out to be politicians/diplomats (most notably FDR).
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All of those schools are excellent at STEM and humanities. Neither of your kids could exhaust the depth and breadth of courses available in either area of interest. And the teachers are so good that they can turn STEM kids into humanities lovers and vice versa.
For example, I have a STEM scholar junior who takes independent study courses for math and computer science, but found a love of history last year. I am still shocked when he goes on and on at dinner about the latest history essay that he is enjoying writing. Wait…you actually enjoy writing something other than code???
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In no particular order
For STEM: Exeter, Choate, Hotchkiss
For Humanities: Andover, Lawrenceville, Deerfield
My son attended Lville and was more of a STEM based kid when he started. But by the time he finished, he was more focused on the humanities. It may have been due to the teaching style (Harkness) but overall I agree with the others. All of the schools above are wonderful, and each has their own strengths/weaknesses.
First, understand that these are high schools with prescriptive curricula where every student is taking some level of pretty much the same core courses every year, no majors or specialization. All of the schools you list are strong in all of your areas of concern. STEM vs. humanities is not a relevant tie-breaker in that pool.
Also, @Altras is correct about not topping out at any of them, and @Happytimes2001 is correct that a kid who loves one thing might end up loving something else more later. These are unformed youngsters primed to benefit from the breadth of what all of these boarding schools will expose them to. What comes out will look vastly different from what goes in; that’s the nature of youth and education. It’s a powerful combination. I think our son is the most extreme example of this. He entered Choate interested in applying to film programs. He ended up an EE at a service academy. As I always say here: Kids. Can’t control 'em.
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Part of what makes these schools amazing is that each of the 6 you mentioned is truly excellent in both STEM and Humanities. Any great distinction is somewhat artificial, IMO.
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The ones that accepts them, particularly if they want to attend the same school.
The 6 listed are more alike than different and want differences academically would be splitting hairs.
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Thank you all for all your responses!
@Calliemomofgirls , I am new to this forum and have not read your previous posts. As much as we want an excellent school for our girls with rigorous academics, we also don’t want them in an environment where homework is simply too much. According to your opinion, which of the schools in the list I provided have unwieldy homework levels and which ones don’t?
The homework expectations will be virtually identical at each of those schools based, in part, on course choices; the more advanced, the more homework.
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Suppose your girl has potential to win a IMO/IPhO medal. Checking the entire history of these 6 schools, not all have students accomplish that.
maybe it is too extreme to assume your girls are at that level, but it is equally too judgmental to state every one of them are equally strong and they all can accommodate any students.
Suppose I win powerball? What’s your point? It assumes facts not in evidence. If one if those kids was at that level, OP would have said so.
No it’s not. Any if those schools can successfully accomodate a potential USAMO, or similar, student. The student may find the fit better at one school, but correlation does not imply causation.
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I don’t know. We kicked the tired pretty hard in the math department. I will add that I’m not one to think my kids will win a national/international medal. Even kids who have been nationally ranked are up against new talent each year.
What folks need to check if their kids are 2-5 years ahead are the courses offered and the flexibility to do seminars. In Math ( and STEM) there are some BS’s, which offer students independent study and for whom the math chair (or other) is eager to accommodate. I think many math chairs hear this story often (based on parents thinking their Calc kid in 9th grade is unique). Once math chairs speak to parents they can really get a better sense. IF the kid is truly advanced they will tell you what the path is. Many others have taken it also.
This is pretty rare to need courses which aren’t offered. There are kids who need advanced languages and other things also. A tiny % of kids need this and most kids take the same courses.
It’s likely if his/her daughter is going to win the IMO/IPho medal or other that they will be involved in an out of school team. BS’s are small and kids heading for this level are often meeting on a regional basis ( and national in the Summers).
I don’t think any parent should be looking for classes based on maybe’s. Rather they should examine where their kid is now. What they have already won and talk to the math head if needed.
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My point is that for outlier kids, it is a simple fact that these schools are not equal. There are these parents looking for BS option. Saying all top schools are equal have no information for them and too judgmental.
Using your powerball analogy, these already won the powerball.
Then the outliers kids, or their parents can ask their own questions. But as a general rule, all “Which is better” posts are pointless before M10. The schools will help make the decision for you.
I will also share that I attended a BS that is generally not listed as #1 in STEM on CC. However, they offer a lot I’d classes past the AP level in all STEM subjects. Even if you exhausted them, there are plenty of PhDs on faculty that are more than happy to design an independent study with the student. I suspect it is similar at many schools.
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My kids are outliers. What I am basically saying is most kids might be a sigma or two outside the mean. They might need some additional classes which most of these schools can provide. It’s easily available.
When you talk about national/international awards you are talking about kids who are several standard deviations outside the mean. Is any school going to be able to accommodate a kid on that level? In any subject?
Same goes for sports. A kid might be Olympic level ( or pre-Olympic level). Does that mean there will be a team of kids on that level or a coach who can meet their needs?
The AO at two schools told me during the interview how they would meet the needs of my really mathy kid. And gave examples of other kids who followed a similar path. The head of the math department at one school also gave options. I think there are at most a handful of kids who are working at the national/international level at these schools. The schools know what matters.
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Mine are too, at BS. Because they are pretty normal run-of-the-mill kids. Doing normal run-of-the-mill teenage things. But in an environment that allows them to maximize their potential…
Sorry, I had to add some levity to this discussion.
IMHO – the schools mentioned (and a few others in the “top” 20) will have seen the outstanding future Nobel prize winners already and will be more than able to accommodate the prodigies that continue to be referred to.
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Conventional wisdom is that Exeter has the most expansive math department and perhaps more than its share of powerball winners.
But that doesn’t mean the other schools on the list can’t handle a powerball winner, too.
They are all good enough. They are all in the top 99.9 percentile of stem schools.
“Best” is subjective even for powerball kids, and pretty much irrelevant- both because your kid has to get accepted first and because the curriculum similarities far outweigh the differences. It is the rare kid for whom only one quality of a school determines fit.
In my opinion time is better spent if you just assume that stem and humanities at these top tier schools will tick all of the boxes for your child, and look at everything else a school has to offer and/or how they deliver it. Even the most mathy of kids at the most mathy of schools will only spend a fraction of their time in high school doing math.
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