<p>GDF, that was your 1,000th post!</p>
<p>Anyway...</p>
<p>Yeah. I'm sure you're thoughtful in real life. :)</p>
<p>It's funny cuz you guys were just trashing each other in another thread.</p>
<p>Yeah...</p>
<p>We kind of have a truce know I guess. Well at least I'm going to act civil in other people's threads. :)</p>
<p>Starting...</p>
<p>NOW. :)</p>
<p>AceRockolla, I'm an Andover student and I wish that we had sit-down dinners. I think it's a great way to unite the community, and as you said, to learn proper etiquette. Even if it was only one night a week, I would be in favor of a sit down dinner with both students and faculty present. Many of the other local schools have sit down dinners (such as Brooks in North Andover) and I think that after four years, most students would agree that they were a positive experience.</p>
<p>Ummm.... I would have to say Exeter.</p>
<p>Why does it say that Somebody1 was the last person to post?</p>
<p>Ugh, it keeps doing that with NJyoungin too.</p>
<p>I went to Madeira, and on Wednesdays we had Seated Dinner, with students randomly dispersed and teachers heading each table. Such things are always love-hate with students for obvious reasons, but I was on the side that really enjoyed them for their openness and novelty. And I definitely agree with the poster who said making conversation is a valuable skill to possess!</p>
<p>Middlesex isn't Episcopal (fyi).</p>
<p>If you are interested in prep schools, I would recommend going to a smaller school. Each year there are about 300-400 students that graduate from Andover and Exeter that end up not getting into Ivy League colleges, MIT, Stanford, Duke, and the likes. I know some people who ended up graduating from the Phillips Academies' that are not impressive in terms of their intellectual maturity. Smaller schools are the way to go (but generally this is only something that people "in the know" recognize). St. Paul's and Deerfield are both larger, but are still incredible places to go to school. Lawrenceville has improved significantly under the tutelage of the new headmaster who is a Princeton alumna with an MBA from Stanford. Milton Academy is an amazing place for academics and athletics as well. Hotchkiss and Choate have been slipping academically and in terms of college matriculation numbers (Taft as well). Other amazing small schools besides Groton (which can be a quite unhealthy environment for some students - it is incredibly rigorous, conservative, and has had drug problems recently for students hoping to escape), which other than its Harvard and Princeton matriculation numbers hasn't been doing as well in terms of college placement, include Thacher (in California), St. Andrew's (in Delaware), Cate School (in California), and again, Middlesex (which is amazing academically).</p>
<p>davida1, did you or do you go to Middlesex? I say that because you are right on about Middlesex. In fact imho you are right on about your whole analysis here. You did fail to mention that Middlesex matrics have actually gone up and up while other schools have gone down as you have noted.</p>
<p>davida1, one school you mention as incredible; At last years parents weekend three families had children at both Mx and the other, all three were more impressed with academics at MX. What is it about Mx that seems not to get the run that other great schools do?</p>
<p>Their size...?</p>
<p>"Groton (which can be a quite unhealthy environment for some students - it is incredibly rigorous, conservative, and has had drug problems recently for students hoping to escape), which other than its Harvard and Princeton matriculation numbers hasn't been doing as well in terms of college placement"</p>
<p>can you expand please?</p>
<p>jonathan K. did you mean to answer my ? If so I see smaller size as an incredible advantage.</p>
<p>Getmeingroton, he is referring to the matrics for the last 6 years at groton. I believe what he's saying is that outside of H and P matrics are on the low side, hmm not too sure about that, however this is over a 6 year period where most others of comparible size show stats over a 4 year period. Don't know about the drug issue. Remember, this is not a single school problem. Good Luck groton man</p>
<p>College Matriculation:<br>
Year: 2000-2005 10 Most Popular College Choices (# Enrolled)<br>
Harvard 40
Princeton 22
Brown 16
Georgetown 14
Middlebury 14
Trinity 14
University of Virginia 14
Vanderbilt 12
Yale 9
Stanford 7</p>
<p>addendum: My agreement with davida1 assessment shall exclude any agreement with regard to the intellectual maturity of A and AE. How would I know such a thing.</p>
<p>Yes, I was answering your question.</p>
<p>when I think about this issue of intellectual maturity, a number of people come to mind. One has absolutely done so so much for these threads, that would be hazmat who by the way went to PE. I know two people well, one being an old college roommate who went tp Peddie, so I have to be impressed with peddie. I also know a father who has two kids at Middlesex who went to PA and Im very impressed with him. So I do have some first hand knowlege of their intellectual maturity and I would have to disagree respectfully disagree with davida1 on this account. Otherwise davida1 I thing you pretty much hit on the head.</p>
<p>I am not convinced about the advanatages of a smaller school. Although this MIGHT get you more personal attention, no certainty of that, it will DEFINITELY limit the range and depth of courses available. The smaller places simply cannot offer the selection of courses, and the depth at the advanced level, that the larger schools can do. For the students at the top of the distribution in these highly competitive schools, these limitations can impair their education in the 11th and 12th grades. This is particularly a concern for the math and science types who might be taking college level courses for several years, if they are available. The smaller places are also more limited in language choices, and depth. What if you have finished 2 years of AP Latin in 10th grade? Then what? The larger places have enough students like this to keep rolling out college courses, the smaller ones cannot do this.</p>
<p>Like many other things, I think this comes to fit. Some kids are better off at smaller schools, some at larger.</p>