Thacher, Peddie, or Mercersburg

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
1

My child is choosing among these three wonderful schools and will be attending the revisit days for each.

We know these schools differ in a number of ways, among them geography, signature programs (MAPS, Summer Science Experience, horse program), student populations and boarding ratios, but our child was really drawn to these schools by the sense of collegiality he felt at all three.

Bit of background on DS: 99% SSATs, comes from a highly-regarded private K-8, big into science. Wants to be an astronaut one day :slight_smile: Interested in engineering. Loves anything to do with flight science and aeronautics. Part of a nationally competitive robotics team. He’s a social kid, athletic, outdoorsy, socially and emotionally mature… on the flip side, loves video games way too much.

This board has been very helpful to us - thank you! - and I wonder if you might be able to provide any insight on these specific school-related questions.

Thacher: Any insights into the strength of their science program? Thacher’s a small school so we recognize they can’t offer dozens of specialized classes, but wonder if there’s enough depth there for kids with an engineering and hard science bent? Also any views into the robotics program? (We have read the curriculum guides, but just looking for first-hand insights.)

Peddie: They have the lowest boarding ratio. As I understand it, a good number of those who do board live near enough to allow for a weekend jaunt home here and there, so wondered what campus life was like on the weekend? Is it quiet? Are there interesting activities planned and do kids actually participate? Our kid would board and we live a fer piece away. Also - how would you describe the sense of community at Peddie? Every school talks about how strong their school’s community is… but I don’t have a good handle on Peddie’s…If it were a personality, how might you describe it :slight_smile: Is it close-knit, friendly, high-pressure, warm, etc?

Mercersburg: I’ve enjoyed reading all the insights about this school. Thank you so much NeatoBurrito and Twinsmama. I also loved Neato’s line that “Mercersburg is a school on the rise…” Please forgive me if this question sounds superficial, but how competitive do you believe M’burg students are in the college admissions race compared to peers from other top 20 boarding schools? Is there a disadvantage from a college application point of view to being a school on the rise? Do they have to work harder to be noticed? And do many kids go on to schools known for their hard science and engineering programs (I could do a bit of my own hwk on this last point… but figured I’d ask while I was at it :slight_smile: )

Thank you all so, so much for any and all insights.

2

I am sure you are aware of Thacher’s matriculation rate to Stanford, etc. Also, one of the teachers recently had a paper published in a scientific journal about earth-like planets, I believe. I’m sure you can find details on their website. I do not know about their robotics program, but it does seem that they have a pretty solid capability in science pedagogy.

I liked Thacher even more than my DD, I’m afraid (she was WL this cycle and nonplussed- immediately took herself off the WL). Maybe I like flannel & hay, trapshooting, and outdoor-ness more than she?

3

I believe top students from Mercersburg do very well in college admissions; I’m kind of counting on that for my own kids! I think what may be misleading is that they accommodate students with a wider range of college ambitions than some other schools. I get the impression that the college counseling is excellent - they apparently begin getting to know kids in 9th grade - but @neatoburrito‌ would know more than I do.
The academic dean at Mercersburg, Dr. Julia Maurer, is a hard science person (I think in robotics), so I expect she would be the appropriate person to answer a specific question about the science program. It s

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Cut off abruptly because typing in doctor’s waiting room… :slight_smile:

5

The kids with the SAT scores to match their grade do well in college admissions. My daughter is not a hard science kid, quite the opposite actually, but the overwhelming majority of her friends are. I know that you can take robotics as a class, they have a team that has gone to world’s, and they offer the full range of AP stem classes as well as post AP math classes. My D ran out of AP humanities classes and the school has been wonderful about allowing her to design her own specialized independent studies in pretty obscure areas with teachers that she chose and who agreed to mentor her.

We won’t know how she fairs in the brutal world of elite college admissions until April 1st, but she has been accepted to four schools with national admit rates between 30% & 50%, three of them with large merit awards.

You’ve got three great schools to choose from. My advice is always to pick the school where you think you will be happiest because if you find yourself bored academically, it’s nobody’s fault but your own. But if you find yourself in a culture that you just can’t embrace, you’re in for a bumpy ride.

Warning : revisits are in the thick of college decisions so if you see stressed looking kids who are obsessed with their cell phones, they’re probably just seniors checking portals for updates. It’s not normal behaviour. :slight_smile:

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When my son was revisiting at Peddie, we read a Chapel Talk given there by teacher Matthew Roach and I thought it very effectively highlighted important aspects of the school community. It is the first link below. Matt is an English teacher and writes well, so I’ve dipped into other of his talks archived on the same “Peddie Voices” blog and found them equally as engaging. I haven’t had time to read many of the other blog posts, but if you do, I’m pretty sure you will get more of an “insider’s view” of what Peddie is like than you would otherwise. The “Chapels” are often talks by various members of the wider school community and students find them affecting on many levels. Community is a strong point for Peddie, I believe, even if some boarders go home some weekends. As for others who live “a fer piece away”, I’ve heard parents say that they are grateful to local families for showing special care and “taking in” boarders who otherwise would not get off-campus in between the official breaks.

p.s. You may have to scroll all the way to the bottom (second link) to see Matt’s talk that I’m thinking of, on love of life.

http://peddievoices.peddie.org/2011/12/freaking-out-with-mr-roach.html

http://peddievoices.peddie.org/search/label/Chapel%20Talks?updated-max=2013-02-25T09:56:00-05:00&max-results=20&start=18&by-date=false

http://peddievoices.peddie.org/2013/05/chapel-talk-simply-appreciation.html

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Thacher has outstanding math and robotics for a school its size, even for a school much larger. The person you should talk to is Kurt Meyer (kmeyer@thacher.org). He is the head of the Math department and I believe he also either runs or co-runs the robotics (NAO) program. He is a great guy and would be happy to answer an email or take a call.

There was a kid who my son knew well, Morgan Krey, who was graduated in 2010 and went off to MIT. He was all about math and science, and appreciated that the school built special classes for him and two others that kept them advancing all four years. The school routinely has a handful of kids who are off the chart in math and science ability. Here’s an old video about Morgan and some of his thoughts on the matter. https://www.thacher.org/podium/default.aspx?t=52562&a=137668&play=1

Congrats to your son for getting in. Admission stats were utterly daunting this year. A final note: Thacher is really different from most other boarding schools and what he learns outside the classroom is going to be equally impressive. PM me if you would like to know more. A revisit is a great idea and you can’t go wrong with any of the three schools. Best wishes and well done!

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Note: my D didn’t run out of AP classes because of any shortcoming in mburg’s offerings, she started as a junior and had already taken them. I just wanted to clarify that so that no one assumed the humanities were lacking. They aren’t. My D is just strange. :wink:

9

First of all, congratulations!

DS is a sophomore at Thacher. Thacher has a wonderful M&S program. There’s an article on one of the science teachers with Ph.D on its website:

http://www.thacher.org/podium/default.aspx?t=133949&nid=960394&bl=/default.aspx

It has a nationally well-known robotics program. You may want to PM @mountainhiker whose son is in the robotics team (junior). I haven’t seen her here for a while but you can get very good information from her.

Perhaps what makes Thacher special is its horse and outdoor program. The freshman kids learn horseback riding in their freshman year. (Western Style) Kids learn how to cope with fear of riding horses, handle them with care and love, and ultimately take a risk. They also have to muck horses everyday in their first year. They wouldn’t have done this elsewhere and would naturally gain respect for others (as well as animals). While competing in team, they would also learn the teamwork.

Its outdoor program includes several week-long backpack (& horse) trips to places like Death Valley and Sierra Nevada. They learn how to help others and appreciate the value of nature. No wonder Thacher has several student activities on environmental protection.

http://www.thacher.org/podium/default.aspx?t=133949&nid=966996&bl=/default.aspx

http://www.thacher.org/podium/default.aspx?t=130177

If you have further questions, feel free to PM me.

Also make sure you make a hotel reservation in advance if you are to revisit the school. They have a unique two-day revisit in which an accepted student sleep with the current freshman. Ojai is a small town and the hotel rooms will be sold out quickly.

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You guys are amazing. Thank you. Will tuck into the links you were good enough to dig out and share.

@Charter78, thanks for giving me such a witty and authentic lens into the Peddie culture via the writings of Matt Roach. Really enjoyed them.

@Itsjustschool, @Patronyork, yes, I’d heard that Jon Swift joined the faculty this year. Great to have his astrophysics background, not to mention a superb astronomer for the occasional night at the observatory on campus. @ThacherParent, appreciate learning about Morgan Krey. Truly impressive. Great that Thacher is willing to put up classes for as few as one or two if interest/needs require.

@Twinsmama, if my dim memory recalls, I believe my son during his interview was told that Dr Maurer once worked at NASA. Pretty cool creds indeed.

@Neato every best wish for continued excellent results for your daughter and congrats on those thus far achieved. Can imagine these are nail-biting days, if the cuticle-gnawing M10 for high schoolers offers any preview of coming attractions. Any fevered mobile phone viewing will be taken as only sane and fitting. Know your daughter and classmates are still waiting on college news, but so far your sense is that college AOs recognize the quality/caliber of Mercersburg’s students/curriculum and they don’t have to prove themselves over and above their peers?

There are so many elements that DS loves about each of these three schools. The hard part will be choosing.

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I have nothing to add, but in the interest of cross-pollinating threads here on college confidential…

We’re about 40 years too late, but someone should have directed Dr. Swift’s parents to [this thread](What are the best and worst baby names? - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums) before they decided to name their son Jonathan.

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@Corcaigh‌, you’re welcome. I’m a G & T guy myself, so the letter switch ^^^ was manageable.

Lots to recommend about each of these fine schools, for all their differences. Whichever “fit” your circumstances indicate, I agree that your son has great choices. What an exciting time is in store for him! Since you mention social, athletic, outdoorsy and emotionally mature, I’ll add . . .

I strongly suspect that the Varsity interscholastic sports at Mercersburg and Peddie are at a higher level than at Thacher, due to larger student bodies, PGs, and the MAPL conference with many Division One recruits. In season, the “weekend” will shrink substantially after Saturday classes, games and travel are taken into account.

At Peddie, have your son ask about the Sophomore Bike Trip to Washington D.C., by way of Gettysburg, PA. Mr. Pat Clements, the English teacher and indefatigable leader, is one of the ablest educators I’ve been privileged to know from my close experience of six schools over a lifetime. I would hope he’ll continue with the trip through 2017. The video on this page gives a sense of it:
http://www.peddie.org/Page/Student-Life/Sophomore-Bike-Trip

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@skieurope‌ , Off-topic! Shut this thread down immediately! :slight_smile: And it made me miss my Aunt Blossom…
@Corcaigh‌ , Your son really can’t go wrong with such good choices. I’m sure the decision will be easier after revisits. Good luck!

14

This is perhaps the silliest of questions, but does the amount of post M10 outreach (or lack thereof) indicate how interested a particular school is in your child? We do realize that the very fact our kid was admitted is and ought to be statement enough.

But I couldn’t help but notice the wide difference in outreach. For instance, my child’s AO at both Mercersburg and Peddie reached out to him personally with an email and phone call. We also received separate mailings with letters from the heads of school, more letters and/or phone calls from heads of admission in both cases and parent phone calls, emails that sort of thing.

Thacher sent my son a cool (and thematically very fitting) Sierra Cup, but there has been zero outreach of any kind beyond the acceptance packet.

Totally get that not all schools are “high touch” so we’re cool with that, but just wondered…

15

Yes, Thacher does very little of the full court press following admission - in terms of letters, calls etc. They have always been low key that way. A lot of time and effort gets spent in their admission process up front and then they give the child another material view of the school during the revisit. Of course, everybody is there to answer any questions you may have in the meantime and to give you any additional insight you seek. Don’t worry at all!!

16

No, the post-M10 contact probably does not mean that Peddie and Mercersburg are more interested in your child than Thacher is. I believe that many, if not all, accepted students are getting similar contact from the first two schools. We were in the same boat in 2012, with a barrage from Peddie compared to just a call from other current parents at St. Andrew’s.

The differences might mean that M. and P. consider themselves in a more competitive admissions environment, while T. and SAS are more comfortable with their historic yields. I wouldn’t be surprised if they vary, in percentages, from the 30-40s on the one hand to the 60-70s on the other. Focus on approaching the revisits with an open mind, even if you have already “ranked” the schools. What you learn about the schools before the revisits may be important to you, but don’t give much, if any, weight to the mere fact of this reported communication.

17

Thanks @ThacherParent and @Charger.

Your point about the link between relative yields and outreach seems spot on @Charger. Think Thacher’s is way up there, in the 87% range or thereabouts, one of the highest among boarding schools, so they may not feel the need to market themselves, and are content to let the experience and the second visit speak for themselves.

18

Our daughter is a joyous freshman at Thacher and I’d be glad to give our perspective on any open issues.

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My son is leaning towards Mercersburg and sounds a lot like your son, Corcaigh!

I just saw that Doug Hale has announced his retirement. Is there any concern from current M’burg parents about the future change of leadership?

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I’m a bit disappointed, as I did hope he would be around for all 4 years that my children will be there. However, I am confident that they will choose his successor wisely; the school leadership seems remarkably thoughtful and prudent as far as this newcomer can tell.