<p>GMC -</p>
<p>Well….it is hard to go wrong with either Cate or Thacher! Perversely, I am glad they’re on the West Coast because it helps them to retain their wonderful and unique character. If half my fellow parents on this site ever actually visited either, there would be a run on the bank. </p>
<p>There are dozens of similarities between the schools – Curtis Cate spent a year working for Sherman Thacher before starting Cate and many of Cate’s founding principles were modeled on Thacher’s, including a horse program, which Cate dropped years later, and a core belief in the importance of the outdoors as an educational tool. As we earthlings continue to savage our planet, I very much like the fact that caring for and loving the outdoors is as important as Math and English on the Thacher campus.</p>
<p>Cate and Thacher tend to self-select pretty well, although there is certainly plenty of application overlap. The kids who seem to thrive best at Thacher share some common traits: they are risk takers, they put more energy into the community than they take out, they are devoted to one another and to the School, and their essential natures are positive. </p>
<p>A couple of quick observations (happy to discuss offline in more detail if you wish):</p>
<p>One of the things that I like the most about Thacher is that not all the rough edges of Western life have been rubbed away. Some still exist in the outdoor program (horses, backwoods camping etc) and I’m grateful for that. When these kids come back from one adventure or another, it’s the mistakes, the unexpected bout of terrifying weather etc that tests them, teaches them, bonds them and provides an endless source of stories, laughter, and genuine learning. I’ve said many times that if I were caught in a bad way (outdoors or anywhere for that matter), it would be good to have a Thacher kid with me. They are resilient, smart, dependable, and put the success of the group ahead of their own. </p>
<p>The other observation is that the community is amazing. Whether you read comments from the grads on BSR.com, or talk to kids present or past, or read the results of the Independent School Gender Project, or hang out at the Mulligans house on Friday night, or go to a game, or watch the faces of the kids as they return from trail rides together, or see the interaction between faculty and students and campus workers, well, it just can’t be beat. I don’t know how the School manages this magic, but at this point it’s self-sustaining.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, if your son is admitted by either school, it’s great news. If Cate admits him, it’s a killer triple. If Thacher admits him, it’s a home run! ;)</p>