We are casual beach town west-coasters taking trip soon to see several East Coast Boarding schools. Not applying yet (still over a year off) so no interviews. Doing trip to see what the East Coast is like (we know no one out there, have never visited previously) & for son to experience a bit of East Coast weather as a reality check for when we narrow schools in the future. One school, NMH, has an open-house style Class Visit Day that we are attending (we’ve RSVP’d). Itinerary: son (and maybe me too?) will shadow 2 classes (with lots of other kids), then lunch on campus, followed by a presentation. My son will be wearing navy chino pants & a button down shirt (all new purchases; current school is super casual), so I think we have him covered.
But for me, with lots of driving, with rain (and possible snow), may I wear nice dark jeans & a sweater to the NMH Class Visit Day? I think I will look stylish & conservative (no trendy jeans, no rips, quality Talbots sweater). Or, is that not okay because in East Coast style I would look too casual & would come off as flaky or kind of disrespectful? I don’t want to give a bad impression! Would it be better for me to wear a nice skirt, tights, boots?
I would probably check to see what the school dress code is. If denim is prohibited, I would wear non-denim pants or a skirt/dress with tights and boots/flats.
I would also check to see if boys are required to wear a jacket and tie to class! If your son will be attending classes I would have him conform to the dress code as well!
I remember that when I went to the revisit day at NMH, it was much more cause than other schools I had visited. Some kids were in jeans, others were in sports coats. Nice jeans and a sweater is the perfect outfit. As for you, your outfit sounds great as well. I wore a skirt, sweater, and boots and was totally fine! Good luck!
Thank you for the good luck wishes, cababe97! Now, if my luck goes through for directions to all the places we will go, and for any inclement weather driving!
I bought one pair of non jean pants and wore them to every interview. My job is ultra casual so I had purged “work” clothing a long time ago. I suggest you invest in one pair as preparation. Many of the NE boarding schools are no jeans or at least no “blue” jeans.
Agreed — I think that a standard pair of slacks and decent (but comfortable and warm) shoes and boots are good for visits. You’ll see all kinds of outfits but generally not jeans for pre-admission visits. Don’t underestimate the cold and weather changeability in New England, and don’t worry about ending up blown to bits or drippy. Definitely be practical with footwear, scarves, gloves and hats.
CTMom21 Thank you for the slacks tip. Going to raid the closet now. Lost some weight, so it may be I have to make due with a skirt, tights & boots. And yes, we have searched and bought and borrowed and will pack scarves, etc. Gloves for me, and a pair for DS as well, arrive tomorrow from Amazon. It’s been 20+ years since husband & I have had to wear gloves, and we couldn’t find our old ones!
CaliMex: We will be looking at Cate. Don’t know about the others you listed…will start researching. Thank you fo the suggestions.
Just booked the hotel for the final night of the trip. Excited!! …And nervous
For whatever it’s worth, if there are other schools you are interested in, I suspect that all of them would be happy to host you and show you and your son around. Speaking as someone who also sent a kid from a west coast beach town to an east coast boarding school, I’d recommend visiting as many schools as you can. They all seem pretty similar from afar, but they will each give you a very different feeling once you’re there. Some of that is luck-of-the-draw: you might catch a student or AO on a particularly good or bad day, or visit during atrocious weather. But each place has a real intrinsic “feel” to it, and the only way to get a sense of that is by walking around. Also, if your boy is an athlete of any sort, or has a musical/artistic hook, this would be a very good time to reach out to coaches/teachers and talk with them while you’re there, and maybe even catch a game/concert, etc.
Our kid is at Thacher and loving it… Check it out and let me know if you have any questions. It is a wonderful community and the academics are top notch. Very intentional in its approach to adolescent development.
Can’t hurt to try to rent an suv, all wheel drive car (or at least front wheel drive) in case you encounter any weather. I also recommend the weather underground weather app as it shows you the exact amount of snow or rain forecast per hour- this has been a lifesaver as most weather apps just show a snow symbol. It is pretty accurate and offers peace of mind to have clarity if you are expecting 2 inches or 2 feet.
When we did college visits last year. I recorded small notes/ impressions on an app on my phone. These came in handy later as many of the small details start to blur together by the 3rd school in our experience. Our daughter used some of these details in her college essays as well. I have even seen some families have scorecard type sheets with standard categories (food, housing, best thing, worst thing, vibe etc…) they keep in the car and complete as a family post each visit. It seems crazy to think the little details would blend so quickly- but they really do! Have fun.
Spend some time on the NMH social media page on their website (you can link to their Flickr account from there too) - you’ll see a wide variety of class dress for students, many in hoodies and jeans. Teachers are typically in nicer dress, what I’d consider business casual. Above all, wear comfortable, water-resistant shoes, and think WARM. February is a bitter month in the NE, and that campus is on a hill - a beautiful hill - but a windy and steep hill. Also, in the NE, we have an odd habit of overheating our buildings in winter and overcooling in summer; whatever you wear to manage the cold outside will have to come off inside! Avoid fussy coat fasteners or scarves that need arranging. Enjoy your visit!
Dark jeans and a nice sweater with a pair of boots will be fine. At most of the open houses we attended the parents were dressed more casually than the kids. I had dressed up for the first few, but toned it down later in the process, especially for schools with casual dress codes. I found the group events to be less formal than the actual interview visit.
(Edited to add: We looked at schools that were more “outdoorsy and experiential”, which I would consider NMH)
You’ve probably akready visited NMH but as the parent of a recent NMH grad pipping in here to add it’s all about the boots and coat!! NMH is gorgeous but buildings are spread pretty far apart and it can be windy on that mountaintop. Jeans are fine - NMH is more casual and less overtly preppy than most of the NE schools.
