Curious about what factors are feeding into the decisions. I know everything is personal, and is about fit, but what experiences did you have on your tour / what programs are lacking / etc. that affected your decision?
I was accepted to NMH, Milton, Berkshire, Putney, Choate, and Middlesex. I am planning on attending either Choate or Middlesex. Here’s why:
NMH: extremely isolated: this is a big thing for me. I really want to be semi-close to some type of downtown area or something. I feel bad because NMH has been so nice to me.
Milton: 55% day students: I’ve heard from a lot of people that this makes the school feel very separated: either you’re a boarding student or a day student. Also I’ve heard that it’s kind of a place where you go to school, and then nothing else happens.
Berkshire: Isolated, I am extremely tired of being near mountains (I live in Colorado), nothing really clicked for me. Formal dress ugggghh.
Putney: Isolated, very few students, a bit too artsy for me, not as academically rigorous as I’d prefer.
Choate: Literally since day one I have been in love with Choate. It’s academically rigorous, I don’t have to wear a collared shirt (stupid but important to me), large spread out campus, within walking distance of Wallingford, I love their “i.d Lab”, everyone has been so nice to me.
Middlesex: I honestly didn’t know much about this school until I got in. I love their campus, they have a new auditorium coming up, academically rigorous, not necessarily isolated but I still have to take a cab to get into town, everyone has been really nice too. Super nice dorms, too B-)
@Nico.campbell: Given your dislike for isolated schools, why did you apply to any? I ask because we see this every round – kids who apply to schools they would not be happy to attend. There is no point in doing this; it’s a waste of time and effort on both the part of the applicant and the school and, in this case, your admittance to NMH, Putney, and Berkshire DID mean that some other applicant did not get a “yes.” Unfortunately, your “no” mostly likely will not mean happy news for someone else.
When we say “cast a wide net,” we mean apply ONLY to schools you would be happy to attend and that means ruling out AHEAD of time those schools with characteristics that are show-stoppers for you. There are plenty of great schools that are not: isolated, too artsy, near mountains, etc. These are preferences that you knew you had and that can be known definitively with little research and without visiting a school.
I’m not trying to scold but, rather, use your experience as an example to the next round of applicants to please, please, please do basic research and apply ONLY to schools that meet your most important metrics and do not have easily identifiable show-stoppers (size, location, and % boarding are among the easiest numbers to find). There is enough solid information out there that there is no excuse for wasting any applications.
I’m all-in on the if-you-need-FA-cast-a-wide-net-and-only-apply-to-schools-you-would-attend-without-question philosophy, but I wonder if your idea of schools you would def attend changes when you get into your personal big dog #1 dream school. All of a sudden, your priorities change, maybe. Would someone who loves a suburban school that sounds like float happily gladly eagerly attend NMH if that other school rejected them outright and with extreme prejudice? Maybe more than maybe. So there’s that. I can see a scenario where what’s a deal-breaker in April maybe is not problem at all in December.
To be fair to @“nico.campbell”, how many boarding schools are there that are not “isolated” for you to choose, especially when you add other criteria in top of location? 
@ChoatieMom Sorry! What I mean to say is that I would have no problem going to NMH or Berkshire due to their isolation, but my preference is to be near some type of town. I made sure that I would be happy attending any of these schools before applying. Sorry!
@panpacific My criteria aren’t total deal breakers. I am flexible, and I made sure to apply to schools that I liked 
I but after being accepted, I figured it may be a good time to apply my preferences. Sorry for making it sound otherwise!
I made spreadsheets of every piece of info of tons of schools before actually applying. It was exhausting! Also, my parents asked me to explain to them why I should apply to every individual school that I did, rather than just applying. :))
That’s OK @Nico.campbell. I was just using your initial post to make a point for future applicants that needs to be made each cycle.
I just reread what I had wrote - it does sound different than I had wanted. All of these schools meet what I overall want, but after being accepted I began to apply little preferences that could kind of rule them out. I feel stupid now :))
No need to feed stupid, Nico. Once accepted, you have to use some criteria to end up with The One. My favorite post on the “Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting…” thread over on the main board is the kid who decided against Michigan because it has too many squirrels. Fair enough; Michigan even has a Squirrel Club. I would have had a gripe with that kid, though, if he hated squirrels or were deathly afraid of them and had a no-squirrels policy before applying.
New applicants, I’m sure you’re getting the point.
Oh, I get you all along! @“nico.campbell”
And @Nico.campbell, thank you for a very detailed and informative answer to my initial question!
One of the things I think to remember, too, is some candidates couldn’t see schools before M10 and did everything remotely. And although we have Google maps, etc to help us out, you can’t really grasp the remote or isolated nature of a school until you set foot on campus. A good example for us was Exeter and St Paul’s…technically, SPS is right in Concord, NH. But the campus is so set off to itself, it’s like its own little community. Exeter, NH is not even close to the size of Concord, NH so we expected PE to be more remote. The minute DS got onto PE campus, he crossed it off his list - said he couldn’t tell where the town ended & school campus began and he couldn’t deal with that. Google maps would not have been able to show us that.
So, it’s hard to really cross off your list just based on stats or a remote knowledge of the school. Maybe if the rules and handbook or philosophy reveal something that crosses your hairs, but otherwise, I think it’s a visit and see situation.
@nico.campbell, I hope you take advantage of the revisit day at MX before you make a final decision. There is a ton of opportunity wherever you look- academics, sports, the arts- and the residential community is particularly strong at Middlesex. It’s a pretty ideal location… quintessential pastoral type campus located near one of the most charming colonial towns in MA… AND in spitting distance to Boston. Truly the best of both worlds.
@lr4550 I’m visiting on April 1! I am so so so excited
“Also I’ve heard that it’s kind of a place where you go to school, and then nothing else happens.” @Nico.campbell
What does this exactly mean? Focused solely on academics? (I probably can’t understand because my brain isn’t in its best state right now lol :D)
@StandardizedGirl Yes, focused solely on academics. Parents have told me that this is because of the huge day population: apparently half of the kids leave after sports, and there’s nothing to do but study…
Am I missing something? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?
Regardless of a school’s day population, once afternoon activities are done, you have dinner and you study. If you’re thinking that’s there’s a ton of free time at any of these schools during the week to hang out, play video games, watch Netflix, etc., I gotta tell you, there isn’t.
Now the percentage of day students and how that affects weekend activities is (potentially) a different story.
“If you’re thinking that’s there’s a ton of free time at any of these schools during the week to hang out, play video games, watch Netflix, etc., I gotta tell you, there isn’t.”
Oh, there is time to socialize for many kids but maybe that’s why those kids aren’t attending Harvard.
But, actually, I DO know some kids at Harvard who did find time for that.
I know Concord Academy is about half day students but I thought Middlesex was closer to 30-40% day students. I could be off on this.