George shares a lot of attributes with several on your list. And you know I could gush forever. Great academics, super diverse, culture of kindness.
Portsmouth Abbey is another that overlaps with a few you have.
I have known a couple of recent grads from Dana Hall who had great experiences there. Take a look at the schools @southernfemmom 's d applied to. The girls schools also tend to be generous with aid.
I wasn’t on CC for a few days to get my mind off things. Being waitlisted for most schools was disappointing but I actually have good news; I contacted one of the schools I got waitlisted for (I got waitlisted because the school was short on budget for my financial aid) and asked if I can attend if I pay the full tuition. Since it’s a small private school, the head admissions officer told me the admissions team would have to talk things through a bit and will respond in a week. I’m hoping for the best and since M10 I got this new surge of inspiration and am learning Python for the first time and learning more things than ever. Yay!
@mondaydevil, given the other schools you’re looking at, you might want to think about adding Masters to your list. It’s another culture of kindness place.
@SolarJ nice! really glad for you, you deserve it!
Can you perhaps shoot me a private message with the name of the school?
Hey everyone! Since I recently got waitlisted for Exeter and Andover, the two schools I applied to, I’ve been looking at more to apply to next year. I would really appreciate it if you could give me any feed back on the list I’ve attached and if you could tell me a little more about any of the schools. I’m still trying to finalize my list! Also, let me know if there are any other school I should consider. Here’s my list at the moment:
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Academy Andover
Choate Rosemary Hall
Deerfield Academy
St. Paul’s Academy
Lawrenceville School
The Hotchkiss School
Groton School
The Taft School
Middlesex School
Loomis Chaffee
Thacher School
Cate School
Northfield Mount Hermon
I know @mondaydevil posted something like this and I have read through the responses but thought I would just put this out there. Any and all feedback is appreciated! Thank you in advance.
@Smolderinghottea Peddie is also a really great school in my opinion. They have an amazing community and campus, in addition to so much more.
**this post may be a bit biased in the way that I like the school a lot
@Smolderinghottea - This list of schools isn’t very smart or strategic for anyone . You’re picking names out of thin air and you’re asking people ( who would like to help you ) to throw darts at a dartboard with you . No offense but it’s a total waste of time.
@mondaydevil received feedback because she put up her stats on Chances and we know she does her research.
Do yourself a favor and do an autopsy on your two WL results first before you begin looking at schools again for the next cycle.
Even if you had the best stats in the world and didn’t need FA, I would tell you the exact same thing . YOU ( not us ) have to know the reasons behind each and every school on your new list - and for you to be successful next year - it needs to be personal.
You and only you - and it will take a lot of time and thoughtful research. Once you do that, I can guarantee that your new apply- to list will look much different, and people here can help you with any questions you may have or even suggest new or other options, if needed .
Good luck!
Are you going by a particular list? Why do you want to go to boarding school? I think you may have started this journey in a tough way. It’s not about getting into the “best” school - it’s about finding out what is best for YOU.
@PhotographerMom @Golfgr8 Let me just start by saying thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I understand completely what you mean by schools having a specific meaning to me. I believe what I was trying to achieve through that post was to gain more information about these schools. Truly, other than Exeter and Andover, I don’t know much about those schools. I’ve been doing extensive research online to get a feel for the school to see which ones I might want to apply to and I’m not finding anything useful. I thought it would be a good idea to bring it to cc so that someone who either has experience with or knows about these schools could tell me more about them. I admit they are schools that I’ve heard of and rather know close to nothing about in regards to community, education and etc. The list is compiled of schools I have heard the most about. That is also why is I asked for new suggestions to look at. I know I “click” with Exeter and Andover as when I first started applying to boarding schools, their community and Harkness concept caught my eye along with many other things.
There is a countless amount of reasons why I want to attend boarding school and I just want to find the right ones for me. I’m looking for a school with outstanding academics (I understand they all have this) along with a friendly community who is maybe less on the competitive side. I also want to be part of a school that is very collaborative and reliant on teamwork as I am more of an extrovert. It is also important to me that the school is like a family. A school where teachers get to know their students and everyone knows one another. And somewhere with a lot of diversity. As for where it is located, it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I know that I can thrive there. I am also looking for quite a bit of financial aid. I have started to look at some single-gender schools but none have stood out to me quite yet.
Once again, I want to emphasize how thankful I am for the insightful advice. I definitely need to do some more research on all these schools (hopefully with the help of cc.) I just want to get a better view of these schools from someone who knows them better. I hope this answers some of the confusion. Let me know if you have any more questions.
@Smolderinghottea You may not want to look at larger schools, like Exeter and Andover, if you’re looking for a family atmosphere where students know faculty. Based off those (admittedly still slightly vague) criteria, I would say Groton and Middlesex are definitely good reaches, but you have to ask yourself if you’re well-rounded enough to gain admission to smaller schools that expect their students to be able to excel at multiple extracurriculars.
l would argue that you need to start from scratch. Talk to Andover and Exeter about what exactly went wrong in this year’s wash. Look on boardingschools.com for a variety of schools that fit criteria you can search for. Take three hours (at least) to explore a prospective school’s website. Definitely ask known attendees on CC and other school review sites if you can, and likewise speak to alums and current students. Come up with a list of things you can offer the school and the school can offer you. This September, go to school fairs and speak to school representatives about questions you may have.
That would be my advice.
One concept that helps me distinguish between schools is how “college light” v familyish the schools are. A huge generalization, but I think of larger schools as more like college (a lot more autonomy), and small schools are more nurturing. Think about how independent you want to be and how much you want adults to be in your business. The schools are on a continuum.
Also think about how important it is for you to be a specialist or a generalist. Smaller schools tend to favor (and need) well rounded kids to fill all the roles, larger schools can afford to admit spiky kids.
How important are sports and school spirit? Theater? Outdoors? Getting off campus?
There is a lot to think about here. Take your time with it.
@schoolmom8 Congrats!! for what grade?
@lulicardoso - 9th-you guys?
@schoolmom8 11th!!
Has anyone received their welcome package from SPS?
from your list - family like schools:
The Hotchkiss School
Groton School
Middlesex School
Thacher School
Cate School
Northfield Mount Hermon
Schools I know of personally that I would add:
St.Marks
Concord Academy
Tabor (maybe, I’ve known kids who had really different experiences)
Some of the schools on your list - Groton and Thatcher for instance, have crazy low acceptance rates (groton’s unofficial, that I think they try to keep out of the public eye was 8% this year). You need a list with a wider range of acceptance rates.
You also need to consider how brutal a workload you can handle. The workload at Groton is brutal. Middlesex is very intense as well, as are Exeter and Andover. Exeter and Andover are less stressful if you aren’t playing a varsity sport as you can have your “sport” be yoga that meets three times a week for an hour. At the smaller schools like Groton and Middlesex you have to play a sport and JV practices as much as varsity. Many kids at those schools play at least one varsity sport which is a BIG time commitment.
If you think you need a step down from brutal work load (which I advise even though my kids didn’t listen to me) I’d consider St Marks, Concord Academy, NMH…
Please understand when I say BRUTAL I mean BRUTAL.
How is everyone planning to get a feel for the schools they got accepted into with revisit days canceled? I got accepted into St.Paul’s, Andover, and Choate, and waitlisted at Exeter. I am currently trying to decide between Andover and Choate, and I wanted to decide based on how the community felt but, that won’t happen.