Hey guys, I cannot give too many details. Let’s just say I got rejected from Taft, Exeter and a few similar schools – accepted nowhere. I can either reapply next year to those schools or potentially go to Vermont Academy for the next 3, I am a freshman by the way.
What do you all know about Vermont Academy? I welcome any thoughts or suggestions, thanks!
We visited. What would you like to know? Very different from Taft and Exeter.
@vwlizard Taft and Exeter are my two dream schools. Like I said, it is a very spur of the moment thing. If I think that I can go to Taft or Exeter from there next year, I will most likely go. If not, then I probably won’t. But, my happiness is always first. So, the more you can tell me, the better. Was it nice? What were its strong suits? What was not so great about it? How does it compare to other top-tier new England boarding schools? Thanks so much!
If you are only interested in “top-tier” and want to transfer to Taft or Exeter after a year, I think you will not be happy with VA and VA might not be happy with you. As with most small school, they are all about community and how you can give back to it. Not what you are planning on taking from it.
Well, I’m not only interested in “top-tier” schools. Many of the typical top tier schools I do not like and didn’t/won’t apply to.
And yes, that is what I was worried about with VA. However, all things asid, what can you tell me about the school?
Hard to give you a complete overview. You’re going to have to be more specific. I am a parent that has done my research and visited, but I’m not a student, so I can not comment on that aspect.
You say you wouldn’t apply to many top tier schools because you would not like them. Why? That may give some insight as to whether you’d like VA or not. What didn’t you like about the other boarding school you left?
My advice to you is if you can’t see yourself completely happy at VA for 4 years, then do not apply. What if your plan doesn’t work?
Small and secluded. Average students (that’s not a bad thing to me). Facilities in no way measure up to Exeter or Taft (again not a bad thing to me, but as those schools seem to be your standard, I’ll use them as a comparison). Strong arts component (again, not the same caliber, but the teachers are very invested).
Understanding how Vermont’s secondary education system works aids in helping to understand VA. Many towns in VT don’t have high schools. Students in those towns are given a set amount of money (similar to a voucher system) to attend schools in other towns or to apply toward private school tuition. VA pulls from a different pool for local day students and in-state borders than schools in other states (again, a plus for me as I love the quirkiness of Vermont).
There is a new head of school. She was the head of the English department at Taft, which may give you something to bond over. She was very accessible at the open house and spent a lot of time with my family. I expect changes in the next few years with the possibility of staff turnover. That happens everywhere when there is a change in administration.
We sat through a history class about ancient Egypt. If you are looking for the rigor of Exeter, it wasn’t there, but the class was appropriate for the kids in it (which is more important than feigned rigor). Not the most inspiring class I’ve been in and nothing innovative (basically a teacher lead powerpoint presentation with questions to the students interspersed), but I felt the teacher brought up interesting points of discussion. I’m assuming the class was an overview and that they would go more in-depth in later classes. We were there in Oct and it was a 9th-grade class, so I’m sure we would get a completely different view if we were seeing a class toward the end of the year or of older students.
It may sound like I didn’t like VA, and nothing could be further from the truth. I just see it as a completely different school than the ones you aspire to. It is not Exeter or Taft, nor does it try to be.
Things I loved about VA :
Invested teachers: Teachers are really invested in their students, and not just academically. While we were leaving an art class that we were observing a single student was coming in. The teacher explained that the student wanted to take a particular art class, but it didn’t fit into her schedule. Since the teacher had a free period the same time the student did, she was teaching her privately.
We heard from both teachers and students how the MAPS program was a collaborative way for advisors and advisees to work on goal setting whether it be academic, social, athletic, etc. Advisors seemed to really know just how far to push a student past their comfort zone. I felt advisors were able to spot areas that needed to be addressed before they became problem issues and turned them into positive experiences. While we heard about the MAPS program during a roundtable discussion, we also heard many unsolicited examples of the practice while we were casually talking to people during our time there.
Our visit coincided with the fall play. We met a number of students involved in the play and they mentioned how their teachers actually called them or met with them to see if they were stressed during tech week and that they were very reasonable about extending deadlines or working with them to adjust their schedule during that week. The teachers seemed to understand that this experience was just as important to who the students were as their academic classes.
This seemed like a school were you really “can do it all”: Athletes were in the play, artists tried new sports, shy kids became class reps. There are a lot of activities, but not so many that you can’t dabble in a little bit of everything (I’m all for dabbling). There didn’t seem to be expectations about what certain"types" should do and the school seemed to foster a sense of “try it, you might just like it”. It seemed very low pressure in terms of having to be great at something to enjoy it.
A lot of support for kids that are into the arts: Students win many statewide awards in creative writing, visual arts and drama. The school is very proud of this.
VA students were enthusiastic in their love for their school: The tour guides practically outnumbered the attendees at the open house. Not because the open house wasn’t well attended, but because when they asked for volunteers they got an overwhelming response.
The students were very “real”: I lived in VT for 7 years. This just felt like home. It’s a Vermont thing.
@vwlizard, wow, thank you for the very extensive and comprehensive response! I will read this is as soon as I get home and give you a reply. Thanks, again.
@vwlizard Hmm, some great points made there. The thing that worried me is that it seemed like my old school, which I left. I liked many aspects of it. Except for one thing I hated: the staff. The administration was puerile and held many grudges. The teachers were often unsure of what to do and could not cope with the difficult situations the administration imposed on them. With a small school, this worries me, a lot. However, I am FAR from perfect. But, in my lifetime, I’d like to get as close as possible. So whether I am going to VA for 3 years or 1 year, I would like to grow as much as possible in that time. The only reason I still even want to go to Taft or Exeter is because those are my dream schools. I have dreamt about them for nearly a year now, literally, praying every single night. On a test, I often think to myself, “cmon kid, you wanna go to Exeter, right??? This is nothing!” It motivates me each and every day. But, I do very well think that I could find hapiness at VA, especially after reading your review. It sounds like I need to visit though.
Regarding what you said about the staff, my only other gripe is with location. I have no clue about Vermont. What is there to do there? Is the school near fun places? Are the weekends fun?
Also, you said you were a parent, did your child attend? If not, why not? If so, how do they like it?
Thanks again for everything!
Lizardkid is only in 7th grade. We started our search early and I"m an education geek so research the hell out of the whole process. VA is not really close to anything. Brattleboro is the closest town of any size and is half an hour away. Two hours to Burlington (really cool little city) and 45 minutes from Hanover NH (where Dartmouth is). They do have their own ski hill.
It is the kind of place you are really going to have to visit to see if you’d like. Perfect time to ask other students what they do on weekends.
Why Vermont Academy? Any place else with rolling admissions? Have you tried Pomfret? Kimball Union?
If your thinking is you want to try your luck by applying to new schools in the next month or two with hopes of being admitted somewhere next fall, boardingschoolreview.com keeps a list of schools with openings for next fall. Check there starting in April - if Exeter and Taft are your dream schools, you may find some schools on the list that have more in common with these than VA. That said, I am a Vermonter and there is no prettier state in my opinion. It is very rural - Brattleboro is more of a big town than a small city. It reminds me of a much smaller Asheville. The state has a quirky, outdoorsy vibe. We considered VA but ultimately didn’t tour as my daughter found good choices closer to our home. White Mountain Academy is another school you might like.
(Closer to home in upstate NY as I sadly no longer live in VT)
Sorry, Guys. Pomfret does not have Rolling Admissions. They have a very competitive and unholy WL, too- so strike that idea .
@vwlizard You asked why Vermont academy. As mentioned, my contact from Taft recomended the school and there are a whole bunch of reasons why it is a good decision. It is sort of either VA, a school in florida, finding a school in California, or staying here in New York at a very good public school. Note: I DO love the private school enviornment so that is why I even want to go.
@chemmchimney Read what I said above and it should offer some clarity.
Guys, my only concern here now is that I want to make sure it is not a BAD school, or a currupt school. I have experienced first hand how good a school can look from advertising, and I am petrified of making my family dump more money into this next year, just for me to hate it due to similar issuies. Some problems at my old school were a currupt administration, MAJOR favoritism and lighter punishments towards basketball players, and horrible (inexperienced) teachers, and just all around failing, underfinanced programs. They offered a lot of things, but suffered majorly in the quality department. The administration was also VVERY childish and held grudges against people thinking about not staying for 4 years (me), they also threatened to deport an international student if they tried to transfer. Want to make sure that we won’t be running into any similar issues at VA.
Here’s an opinion you can take or leave. Don’t go to VA expecting to transfer after a year. If you are in a good public school, take the year to boost your SAT scores, gather good recommendations and do a lot of research so you can either cast a much wider net next year or be more confident about your choice. As you said, you don’t want your parents wasting money. Take the year and rather than just focusing on Taft and Exeter, find 6-8 other schools that are a good match. Why “settle” at this point and either by unhappy for 4 years or possibly derail your chances at schools that can possibly be a better fit? Who knows? You may still end up at VA, but a least you’ll be a lot more confident about your decision. This one seems rather rushed.
@vwlizard Thank you for the continued support. However, I gotta level with you here. I would not even consider going to VA if I thought I would be unhappy there. Also, I take the word of my contact at Taft VERY heavily, and I don’t think she would recommend me to a bad school. I also would have a connection with the headmaster at VA immediately through our mutual friend. I also know that VA is a small school – making it much easier to shine. I would like to do every extracurricular activity in the world if I could, but I cannot. In public school where you must try out for teams, and most people don’t take the same initiative in clubs as they would at a private school, it is harder to be so involved. However, in a tight-knit community like VA, I think I would know everyone there and be able to make a much bigger impact through my actions.
In terms of applying to other schools next year, I very well may love VA and never want to leave. It certainly is different than something like Taft or Exeter. But, I do not think that going to VA would hinder my ability to apply to other schools. UNLESS it is a similar situation to my old school where they will literally try to harm me for applying elsewhere. I also would (most likely) make sure that it was understood ahead of time that I would consider applying elsewhere next year.
Thank you again for the continued help and advice!
@vwlizard again, I cannot be too specific, but, it looks like I’m going to go and reapply to Taft next year from VA. However, it is probably that even if I get in, I’ll just stay at VA as long as I don’t hate it.
Thank you for your valuable insights, they certainly helped in the decision making process. I’ll be sure to let you know what happens 
I’d love a mid-year update as it’s on our list.
@vwlizard Sure, DM me now so I can have your name saved. Thanks!