Tabor Academy and other school choices.

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hi it's me again. I figured that it might be appropriate to start a new thread rather than going off tangent ("Interview Process" thread)</p>

<p>Does anyone know much about Tabor Academy? It was recommended to us by someone we know. Looking at their website and such, it does look interesting. They do seem to take advantage of their location of being by the sea - lots of marine programs and activities. Even though it is not necessarily her career choice, it certainly interests her. She has PADI Jr Scuba diving license, for example. It also seems to have high acceptance rate (60%), according to boardingschoolreview.com, and perhaps it can be a safety school? But from what I read in other thread, there seems to be a perception that this is a 'rich kids' school, which is a bit worrying. Does anyone know much about this school?</p>

<p>I should also talk about what I am looking for, in order to get some help from you. As I mentioned in another thread, I am an expat living in Tokyo. My daughter is born in NY (she is a big Yankee fan. In fact, one of her big worry is going to a school in Red Sox Nation), but in reality she has been going to International School in all her life. Tokyo is a wonderful, safe place to live, and in you would meet all kinds of people of every nationality. It is truly a great way for a child to grow up, and frankly I am quite happy for her to finish her school here, before heading to colleges in the US. Her school is not like Andover, but still sends a few kids every year to Ivies and Stanfords and the likes. And she probably has a better chance to be near the top than a place like Andover, for example. However the reality of an expat is that I may have to move to another country at a short notice, and I really want to avoid her having to change school in 11th grade. Boarding School will give her this stability. Of course, many boarding schools do provide excellent education and my daughter wants to experience US high school life before going off to colleges.</p>

<p>So that's our reason. My daughter is considered a good student. She has A to A- average on all subjects in middle school. She has not taken SSAT yet, but she did well enough on SAT Critical Reasoning to be accepted at Johns Hopkins CTY program, where she is doing summer camp now. She is soft spoken but she is quite resilient and definitely has her opinions. She is a type who thinks before she speaks, and she does quite well in debate. She is conscious to social subjects. She ran a booth at school festival to raise money for Children's Hunger Relief Fund and wrote a letter to Mr. Bush in objection to Iraq War (no reply). She was in the student council last year. She's not a great athlete but likes team sports like basketball and soccer over individual sport like tennis. She also likes music and plays it (electric guitar)</p>

<p>I am not necessarily targetting the most prestigious schools or the most academically rigorous. It is not just about going to top universities either. From what I understand, being near the top at a good school gives you better chance to a good college than being average at a famous school. Most importantly, I want to find a school that fits her and that she will enjoy. It will be her HOME for the next 3 years! Then again, since this is so subjective, I also saw no reason to avoid famous schools either. Thus is the dilemma. I hope that school visits this summer will give us better insight on what we want. </p>

<p>These are the schools that we plan to see this summer:</p>

<p>Andover, Exeter, SPS, Deerfield, Taft, Milton, Hotchkiss, NMH, Tabor</p>

<p>To be honest, I am a bit skeptical about Andover. I know someone from international school in Japan who went there. She was a good student but she seems to have a hard time standing out there. And the workload seems to be incredible. I also wonder the school size is too big and impersonal. Exeter probably has same issues, but my daughter is quite intrigued by the Harkness system. Her school had a trial with it, and she liked it. NMH and Tabor seem to have high acceptance rates and also have distinguishing characters at the same time. I wonder if I should see more schools like them. Milton and SPS may be opposite - 50% boarding vs. 100% boarding. To be honest, I don't know which is better. My attitude is that we are not just visiting these schools to be selected but to select them!</p>

<p>Sorry for being long winded with this. Any insight/experience you can provide would be very helpful.</p>

2

<p>I've heard good things about Tabor! Blair (blairt by username) is very familiar with the school, as she has family members there and applied there this year. It has a laidback atmosphere, and according to Blair, offers activities such as sailing and other outdoorsy-type things.</p>

<p>Good luck! :) I'm sending you a PM.</p>

3

<p>I think it would be worthwhile to add one or two more schools that are not as competitive as 7 of the 9 you selected. For the 7 very competitive schools, CTY is typical for many of the applicants. You will probably eliminate some schools after you visit so it is helpful to broaden your search. What if you decide to eliminate either or both NMH and Tabor after visiting? Then you will only be left with very competitive schools which might not be the best strategy if you are certain that boarding is what you want for 10th grade. </p>

<p>I hear that some of the girl's schools are great, but just as popular right now. If this is a possibility for your daughter, you might consider Emma Willard, Miss Porter's School and Westover. </p>

<p>There are other schools that offer Harkness tables. The additional ones I know of are Lawrenceville and The Masters School. </p>

<p>I cannot offer any insight on Tabor. In addition to blairt's comments, there was a student who was attending Tabor who posted on this board, but hasn't for almost a year. You might able to find him if you search the archives for "Tabor."</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Your story (and your daughter's) is a very interesting one. And I certainly admire your family for wading into this process from such a distance! I'm sure your speadsheets will help enormously in keeping it all clear (I know mine did! :D).</p>

<p>Burb's suggestion that you widen your search to include a few somewhat less selective schools is a good one. I would also suggest that you not limit yourself to the East Coast (particularly since your daughter will be coming from Japan - that extra 4-5 hour plane ride across the US could really make a difference for her). There are some terrific schools in California which leap to mind (Thacher School and Cate School) although I don't know if they would interest your daughter in particular. Check out the website BoardingSchoolReview.com for an overview of lots of boarding schools (not all of them, but many). You can sort through the info by state, region, "top 20" lists, etc. It is very helpful as a first pass.</p>

5

<p>Here is the person who attends Tabor now <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=301424&highlight=tabor%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=301424&highlight=tabor&lt;/a>
He offered to answer questions if you private message him.</p>

<p>Finding less competitive schools that you love is often harder work than finding the most competitive schools that you love. However, it can be very rewarding. My son attends Blair Academy in NJ. It is a warm closely-knit school community on a beautiful campus with good academics and college matriculation. I think they would value your daughter's interest in community service and political involvement. Feel free to private message (pm) me if you have any questions about that school. I am certain that there are many other schools that would be interested in your daughter. </p>

<p>Another suggestion is to take a look at the common application. I think you will find one at <a href="http://www.schools.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.schools.com&lt;/a> . It is best to fill out the school's own application, but the common application will show you what the schools (in general) are looking for.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for your advices. I would like to add more "safe" schools but logistically we just cannot see them all. Often the difficult decision is not who you see but who not to see. I hope to eliminate some schools from these 9, so maybe I should be prepared to make another short trip later. </p>

<p>Thanks for the idea about the CA schools. I don't think we can see them this summer for the same reason of logistics, but something I should consider. I don't know about her, but that extra (or lackof) 4-5 hours would make a big difference for me!</p>

7

<p>The school size you mentioned in your original post comes with pros and cons. Don't be too quick to assume that smaller is better. At least not universally and as a continuum. [Note: As a service to my ADD friends here, just skip to the end.]</p>

<p>First of all, 1,000 students isn't exactly gigantic, especially when you compare to small colleges. What will be important will be the way smaller communities are formed. Even at a small (250-350) school, your personal community will be a much smaller group. Few people can handle engaging in very personal ways with 250-350 people. So, it's possible that 1,000 students gives your child more opportunities to find that group of people she can really connect with and grow with and embrace as lifelong friends. Another benefit is depth of experience. Smaller schools may not have enough students to offer a variety of experiences in the extracurricular area. Even academically I've seen smaller schools course listings include caveats that certain courses will be offered only if there's enough student demand. (Larger schools have the same caveats, but usually not for courses that you might really be counting on later on.) But if your child plays in an orchestra or sings in a choir...the experience can be so much more amazing if those groups are drawing from 1,000 students instead of 1/4 that many. Then again, it might mean playing in the orchestra will be more competitive and harder to participate in.</p>

<p>That said, my son will be going to a smaller school...but mainly because that school just fit better and we (his parents) happened to agree with him. But I'll tell you that there are some tempting benefits to being at a larger school that I don't think you hear about so much. I look back on college where there were 10,000 students overall and I still had many high quality personal relationships. The size of the school doesn't necessarily translate into an impersonal experience. </p>

<p>D'yer's Bottom Line(tm): Don't be quick to pass up on the "larger" boarding schools without first weighing the benefits of a larger overall community and then taking a closer, school-specific look at how well the schools minimize the potential drawbacks to size (whether it's a lack of depth at a smaller school or the potential to get lost in the masses at a larger school).</p>

8

<p>Oh yes, if I may add something to D'yer's point:</p>

<p>If you've heard of Groton, it's a very prestigious/academically oriented school that is mentioned along with the best on here. But it's an extremely small school, the school that people apply to if they don't like the large atmosphere of A/E and maybe even DA/Hotchkiss. I was reading through their viewbook, and it was mentioning the courses that the kids took, and I was surprised to see that it basically mapped out each student's course: for example, ninth graders have to take arts (by choosing between 3 options), English, Math, French/Spanish, Latin, Sacred Texts, AP Env. Science or biology.</p>

<p>It just looked like something from my middle school; there didn't seem to be that much room for electives, which I desperately wanted. At Choate, there are fifty arts courses in total and sometimes, half those electives for each subject. So, don't rule out larger schools, but if your daughter really feels uncomfortable at a large school when she visits, don't hesitate to cross it off your list.</p>

9

<p>Definitely true, Olivia, but keep in mind for ninth grade year pretty much all schools restrict you somewhat. At Andover, you choose between Art and Music--only two choices. The only thing that really strikes me as being more restrictive than other schools about Groton is that you only get to choose between French or Spanish.</p>

10

<p>1000th post! Yay! (Above.)</p>

11

<p>Tabor is great. My cousins ravee about it.. to put it in one of their words, "it's as chill of a boarding school experience as you can get". It's not as "preppy" as the others and many of the kids are really, really laid back and unpretentious and just really cool (like my cousin :)). the kids i meet from there have all lived up to these expectations.</p>

<p>some interesting things about the school which i've heard (this is all from the back of my mind.. so check everything.. i haven't read about prep schools in a while):
-orientation is on the big boat that the school owns.. it's a week long trip w/ new and old students to get to know each other
-there are a lot of international students.. something like 20%? and the school has an international egde. for instance, my cousins used to be expats in singapore, although they were born in ct. i think this is common for a lot of kids there.
-the town is veryyy small.
-the kids gets like 2 (?) concert nights a semester, where they get an extended curfew (with parent approval i guess) and
-Tabor IS in red sox nation (Mass), so...
-it's easier to get in as a girl, because something like 60% of their applications are from guys.. but only slightly. i guess the school is more attractive to guys.. due to the sailing, etc. but the girls there love it as well.
-the school's culture is influenced by its proximity to the sea.. it's really chill and laid back, like i said above. it's the only school i can think of like that. so, many of the kids are into surfing and sailing and other aquatic sports.
-the sailing team OWNS and the school is known for it.
-the dorms have outrageous views. my cousin's dorm was the size of a standard master bedroom and it overlooked the water.. it was RIGHT on the water.
-all in all, it's really chill. the people are amazing. i had a tough time deciding between exeter and tabor because tabor is just to chill and i would feel more at home there due to my family. the staff is also very cool.. my admissions officer was one of the nicest people i have ever met. she was so cheerful and flexible. really cool people.</p>

12

<p>It's 90 degrees here and, oddly enough, for some reason I'm now so chill I feel like I need a windbreaker.</p>

13

<p>that would be another reason to go to tabor. being right on the water during the indian summer/september.. and june. i hope exeter's forestry isn't too thick.. or atleast they have some sort of air conditioning. or maybe i'll just buy a giant fan.</p>

14

<p>Blair, thanks for your tip. Oddly enough, so far Exeter and Tabor are my daughter's favorite. Without visiting schools, it is actually rather difficult to distinguish schools just from viewbooks and websites, but those two stood out for her. Sounds very encouraging.</p>

<p>Olivia, DM. When I wondered Andover might be too big, I did not mean that we want an intimate school. I did look at places like Groton or Putney, but we found them too small. Not to sound like Goldilocks, but I suppose there is not too big and not too small. Perhaps it is not the size that worries me about Andover. From what I have heard from various people, it just strikes me as a big and impresonal machine... like a college. Perhaps it is just a small sample I drew that from...</p>

15

<p>That's exactly the impression that I had -- and my son had -- of Andover following a visit. But we've heard so many people offer more in-depth, first-hand accounts that I really wonder. </p>

<p>In fact, somewhere in the past day or so I mentioned somewhere (I think the "What's your second choice?" thread) that my son is participating with an Andover student at a summer program and he just told me that he's now convinced that his impression was misinformed -- even though it was through his own eyes. </p>

<p>Interestingly, Andover is one of the schools where we didn't do the standard tour-interview routine. Instead, my son interviewed at a TSAO event about a week before the tour. So during the visit, on a Friday afternoon, we waited for a tour guide, got a whirlwind tour and that was that. See ya later! There was no debriefing or anything. Well, actually, we waited about a half hour just to say hi to his interviewer...so we could feel like had some sort of official contact. So we said, "Hi!" and then were off to the races.</p>

<p>After the tour and quick "check-in" with the interviewer, we decided to see a couple more places on campus on our own, if only because the "tour only" visit had us both feeling unsatisfied. But it was a Friday afternoon and the place was dead. Now, it was a gorgeous autumn day, the leaves were magnificent and there wasn't a cloud in the brilliant blue sky. Yet we felt the place seemed so dreary. And I believe that that was because we were on such a big campus and had very little human contact. </p>

<p>We later learned that that's to be expected on a Friday afternoon. Everybody is bushed after the week and the weekend activities haven't yet ramped up. You're not likely to bump into tons of people and, if you do, it will be tough to find many who act all chipper and excited.</p>

<p>By contrast, we did the standard routine at Exeter on a very cold, bleak and rainy morning. It was just miserable. But my son had made appointments with several faculty members after the interview and then one invited him to come back in the evening to participate in an activity and, although it meant several hundred more miles of driving tacked onto our itinerary, that activity was a great highlight...a wonderful memory of its own right as far as I'm concerned. And we bumped into a couple students "unofficially" and they stayed in touch by e-mail. It should be no surprise that he fell in love with Exeter and quickly crossed Andover off his list.</p>

<p>But note that at Andover our tour was mainly visiting places and buildings and facilities. At Exeter, our tour was more about interacting with people -- something that the rain actually helped us to focus on.</p>

<p>I now believe that you're more likely to have a positive experience with a school if you follow the established interview protocol and maximize your human contact during your visit. So DO schedule meetings with faculty members or coaches in areas that your daughter has special gifts in or affinities for. Set these up after you expect to finish the interview (beginning about 2 hours after your scheduled tour). </p>

<p>Since you'll be doing this during the summer, meaning virtually no student contact, I'd recommend going the extra mile to set up faculty/coach appointments. (I initiated contact the first couple times and then let my son do all the work, so that later on he did the whole thing, from researching which people he should contact to calling or e-mailing them to set up his appointments.) These may be difficult to arrange during summer, but I'm convinced that there will be a direct correlation between the amount of human contact you experience at a school and how much you and your daughter will like that school.</p>

<p>And make plans now to take off the first week of April 2008 for revisits because I'm pretty sure that you will learn so much between your tours/interviews this summer and next March 10 that you're going to want to take another look at the schools through the eyes of the seasoned, grizzled school searcher parent that you'll be by then.</p>

16

<p>When I first started at Andover I felt that it was a little impersonal too. Since it is a larger school it can be more difficult to find your place. After getting used to the school, I realized that there were so many sub-groups within the school that it seemed like a much smaller school. The cluster system definitely helps as do sports, clubs, comm serv, dorms, etc. Teachers like to get to know their students and take an interest in their lives outside of the classroom just like at other schools. My little bit of advice is don't focus too much on what other people say. Everyone's experience will be different.</p>