we need to add another school to the list -- suggestions?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>I have posted on here often enough that I think most of you know what we are looking for -- so I am summarizing:</p>

<p>Strong student applying for 9th grade
Will need significant Financial aid -- so this is critical
Interested in a more casual school, prefer not to have a dress code
Interested in many things -- but would like a school with an emphasis on the environment/sustainablity
Not interested in a super-competitive/pressure cooker atmosphere
would prefer to be at the top 25% of the class
Smaller school -- high percentage of boarders</p>

<p>Schools on the list so far:</p>

<p>Conserve
Midland
Thacher
Peddie
Mercersburg
NMH
Fountain Valley
Asheville
Putney</p>

<p>We originally had St. Andrew's, DE on the list -- but after talking with them on the phone, the chances of a kid that hasn't visited getting admitted is just about nil. We just can't afford a visit to the east coast -- so we are taking it off the list.</p>

<p>The only reason he has such a long list is the FA -- do we need to add another school or two, or should we leave the list as it is? We could visit Cate when we drive to California for the visits. Other schools that he was thinking about include Taft, Loomis-Chaffee and Blair.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I'm an advocate of Blair, so I am happy to answer any questions you might have. I just heard that someone was there now doing a study of environmental sustainability on the campus. You would need to talk to Admissions about their focus on the environment. I think they offer some focus and some academics, but it is not the central focus as I guess it is at Conserve.<br>
While they have a casual dress code, they do have some (not all) dress up seated dinners. Many of the casual boarding schools have this tradition. They have a beautiful rural campus and are close to the Delaware Water Gap National Park, the Appalachian Trail, and are next to the Blairstown/Princeton outdoor nature center. While they have a rural setting, there are some stores & shops at the bottom of the hill.
They have a high percent of boarders, and a strong student who works hard can be in the top 25%.
What I don't know about is what your chances of getting financial aid would be. They would like to offer more, and are trying to increase annual giving so that they can be more generous. According to their website, 32% get fa <a href="http://www.blair.edu/About_Blair/ab_blair_facts.shtm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.blair.edu/About_Blair/ab_blair_facts.shtm&lt;/a>
The Headmaster of Blair (almost 20 years there) came from Taft, and he instituted some of their traditions at Blair.<br>
If you have any more questions, you can post here or pm me.</p>

3

<p>Yes, I was going to recommend Cate, but I don't know many boarding schools in that area. I hope other people will help you to better avail. :)</p>

4

<p>olivia...you wrote "Cate." Did you forget the "h" and "o"? Or was that really Satan I just saw eating a sno-cone?</p>

5

<p>Not sure what you consider high % of boarders - - but Peddie is about 40% day students.</p>

6

<p>thanks for the input!</p>

<p>Cate was a consideration since we will be in the area and he could visit. No matter how good he looks on paper, I have a feeling that those schools he visits will come up with better FA packages than those he doesn't. I wonder if we are wasting our money applying to schools he can't visit. </p>

<p>We did talk with NMH, Mercersburg, Putney, Peddie, Conserve and Asheville about not visiting. </p>

<p>Putney seemed to really want us to visit (understandable) but understood why we couldn't. That is a school that I would really question whether he would be admitted or get FA -- however, he would be a strong student there and CO adds some geographic diversity and his interests line up well (and those interests are well demonstrated through his ECs)</p>

<p>NMH said that many kids apply without visiting and that it wouldn't be an issue. They will have an admissions rep here in CO in October and they will set up an interview with him.</p>

<p>Conserve definitely encouraged him to apply even if he couldn't visit -- and said it would have no effect on admissions or FA. They would do a phone interview.</p>

<p>Mercersburg's will also have an admission rep here in CO in October and said that an interview with him would be fine.</p>

<p>Asheville really wanted up to visit -- but seemed confused as to how far away CO is from NC. She kept saying that kids that live close by really needed to visit and that if we lived in NY or NJ they might consider a phone interview. </p>

<p>Peddie said a phone interview would be fine -- but we need to fill out Part I of the application and then they will schedule it.</p>

<p>We do have some schools coming to Denver in October -- there is a "Ten Schools" meeting and a boarding school fair. He has considered Loomis Chaffee and Taft and could meet those admission reps at the ten schools meetings -- but in order to set up an interview, we would have to decide on whether he was truly interested.</p>

<p>We were going to skip the school fair since he really had a solid list -- but it might be worth it for us to go and check out a few other possibilities.</p>

<p>Blair looks good -- I think I will call a few of the schools he is thinking about and see if a campus visit is required.</p>

<p>Olivia -- do you think the kids at Cate are snobbish or down to earth? I talked to someone who really thought that money (or my son's lack of) would be a real issue at Cate and not so much at Thacher.</p>

7

<p>nyc -- Peddie has more day students than he would like, but the FA possibilities are good there and that is why we kept it on our list.</p>

<p>He has a few schools that really meet all his requirements -- but we have a few that meet most of the requirements, but not all, that seem to have good possibilities for FA and he has said that he would rather attend those schools than his local public school.</p>

8

<p>To get back to your original question, your list of 9 schools looks good. What I don't know about is the fa. Writing 9 applications is probably as many as any 8th grader can handle. </p>

<p>I thought about fit at Blair, and I think you should consider it only if your son starts leaning towards a more traditional school, like Peddie or Mercersburg. I looked at the "15 Reasons to Come to Blair" on the Admissions website <a href="http://www.blair.edu/Admissions/ad_15_reasons.shtm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.blair.edu/Admissions/ad_15_reasons.shtm&lt;/a> , and there is nothing there about the environment & sustainability.</p>

9

<p>You might want to check out the stories at <a href="http://www.sasweb.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.sasweb.org&lt;/a> about sustainability and environmental initiatives. You might also look at which schools were represented at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Institute for Leadership in Sustainability.</p>

10

<p>sbergman -- thanks so much, that is an excellent idea! while some schools have a real focus on sustainability and the environment, he does have other interests -- so he would be more than happy at a school where that is just one factor.</p>

11

<p>I would recommend checking out Taft. When looking at your child's desire for a smaller school with a larger boarding percentage, Taft beats out Loomis by far. Loomis has always had a large day student community coming from the Hartford area so the school has a little different feel because of that. I went to Taft and was a scholarship student - I think about a third of the school is generally - there was never a big emphasis on how much money your family had so I never felt different in any way. While the school is academically rigorous, the students and faculty are all very supportive of each other - there isn't the all out competition to be #1 that you'll find at many schools. It is a friendly place that also offers an exceptional education. If you have any questions feel free to pm.</p>

12

<p>I'd have to second smeetie comments re: Loomis - - only about half the students are boarders. The dmissions office will insist that the campus sill has a boarding "feel" b/c the Loomis boarding population is larger than the entire pop at smaller schools (liek Westy) - - I disagree. Also, as w/ many boarding schs, there are a number of students who live close enough to be day students, but who were offered admission only as boarders. These students are often de-facto 5-day boarders.</p>

<p>I also agree w/ smeetie that Taft is a great school and has generous finaid - - but it is considerably more rigorous than the other shc on your list. You may want to consider that Taft enjoys some degree of popularity among top NYC pvt sch students (not as popular as "the usual suspects," but not a safety, like WEsty) - - so making the to 25% at Taft will be objectively diff and way more difficult that at a schs like NMH and Putney.</p>

13

<p>thanks -- your thoughts on Loomis match mine exactly. Taft is one we have looked at -- but nothing really made him say "I want to go there" like it did with the other schools.</p>

<p>maybe we will visit Cate and he can decide if he wants to apply there -- and then we will think about leaving the list alone. I just wonder if we drop Asheville (which we may if they insist on a visit to be competitive) if he is applying to enough schools with the eight left on the list. He would rather go just about anywhere than his local options -- but I am not going to let him just randomly apply to tons of schools</p>

14

<p>For what it's worth, my D was accepted at Loomis years ago, but waitlisted for FA, which for our family is the same as a rejection. Because of that, it is not on our list now that S is applying.</p>

15

<p>baseballmom, I don't think you should automatically assume that the FA situation would be the same for a different child at a different time.</p>

16

<p>Agree with Dr. N. Indeed, the fact that this is a second child in BS may be the factor that tilts the scales from FA waitlist to FA award. What you do know is that Loomis was willing to give aid...but it just didn't have enough to go around. With that history, I might feel more confident, not less confident, that Loomis is going to see fit to come up with an EFC in line with your expectations.</p>

17

<p>baseballmom -- See if the endowment of Loomis &/or the % of fa students has increased significantly since your daughter applied. The financial situation and committment to fa can change over time.</p>

18

<p>At our chosen school...we went from no f/a on the first app to almost full pay the second time. So, I agree, I think chances could be even better.</p>

19

<p>As a parent of a recent Loomis alum, I would like to disagree with smeetie, nyc, and hsmomstef's comments about the school:</p>

<p>As far as the 60% boarding, that really isn't a problem when 60% = 400 kids living on campus. Besides the interscholastic sporting events, Loomis provides a wide range of optional weekend activities, including chaperoned trips to NYC, Boston and more local events in Hartford/Springfield. There are lots of dances and other activities on campus that include day students.</p>

<p>The faculty and staff are amazing and very involved with the students in class and during the evenings and weekends. DS's dorm head used to have monthly BBQs for the boys to give them a break from the dorm food. The dorm families also conjured up homemade desserts for birthdays and other celebrations. DS enjoyed the faculty pets that roam the campus, including the cat "with opposable thumbs".</p>

<p>(BTW - For what it's worth, this opinion is from experience rather than speculation or hearsay. DS had friends at Andover, Exeter, Taft, Westy, Hill, etc. and had some overnight weekend visits with so his exposure wasn't limited to Loomis.)</p>

20

<p>loomis was the only school that all three of my children looked at and applied to. None of them ended up going, but I really like the school.</p>