Loomis! My DD will be in 10th grade. Such a great school - academics are awesome, beautiful campus, amazing culture. Also a little more humility than we saw elsewhere. Kids we know there are thriving!
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My DD will be an 11th grader at Deerfield.
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DD going to be a 9th at PEA. Always her No1 choice for no apparent reason haha. I secretly hoped she got into PA but she was waitlisted there.
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DS will be a 9th grader at Peddie. Throughout the process, it was a close second to PA but on M10 the decision was made for him - accepted to Peddie, WL at PA. After the initial disappointment, he fully embraced the school that loved him back and didnât look back! The in-person revisit sealed the deal and he canât wait for his next adventure.
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Congratulations!!!
(A mom with 2 boys and 3 dogs 
)
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Taft! Excellent lax and happy students!
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Choate
We followed the advice in this board to apply to more schools because even the most exceptional kids see unfortunate results. And we also took testing seriously because my impression early on is that schools really wanted them, even though they later softened the tone. There were many school thatâ met his needs well and we were surprised to have so many options. We liked and really respected everywhere we applied to. We first reduced the list to four. Hotchkiss was very attractive. Exeter was Exeter. Groton was the emotional choice but a little too rigid in class choice. It was very hard to give up. Finally, Choate had everything he needed and went out of its way to attract him. He has had a rough couple of years and we felt it would allow him the time to to be an expressive artist with first rate academics.
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My identical twin goddaughters will be attending Episcopal High School. Why? They loved the campus layout, the director of admissions whom they met on their walkabout, the range of courses, nearness to DC, dorm roomsâŠand they also received generous aid.
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I answered the where above, but not the why. My daughter will be going to Deerfield.
The why is complicated and the how seems like sheer luck. I believe if Covid had not happened she would not be going away to BS. She was on a path pursuing an extracurricular that consumed all of her free time. From right after school every day until 7:30-8pm then homework and all day Saturday. This also requires a 45 minute commute each way. As a result, she had no time for friends, or other activities. She was planning to go into an even more intense version of it for 2020 that would have required mornings too, then Covid changed the schedule for the activity and she had to repeat the level she had been at last year. We also chose to do cyber rather than return to the Covid classroom with 20+ other kids in September (there were 17 cases last week in our district). She has never liked the LPS here either. And has decided she doesnât want to pursue her all consuming extracurricular as a career so there is no point in moving up in intensity of training. She is a Junior, so that would leave her with the choice of intensifying training she doesnât want for a career and doing cyber next year, or returning to a school she doesnât care for, where she hasnât been in a year, and when she was there had no time to make close friends. She had a couple of friends go away the past 2 years and so she started investigating the idea of BS. She wanted to continue with her EC, but also have time to make more friends, and try other things. We had no clue what we were doing. She found a few that had her EC and seemed to have good programs with it. And we picked 3 to apply for. Three of the HADES schools (I know, rookie mistake). Initially we thought, oh well, weâll just see what happens. Then the hours and hours on zooms and interviews and applications, essays, and suddenly she realized how very much she wants it. And itâs pretty much too late to research and add more schools (I did not know about this forum). She has excellent test scores, felt her interview at Deerfield was her best one, and I think her essays for Deerfield were her best as well. I suspect that her talent with her EC must have made her stand out and fill a hole in the class- as there are certainly kids on here who have âmoreâ on their resumes. We feel very fortunate that she was accepted, and that the two who rejected her did so, as now I do not think either of those would have been a fit.
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I am so happy that your daughter is excited about Deerfield! it seems BS would be a great fit for her. Iâm going to Hill and weâve already done a tad bit of dress code shopping. We wanted to wait, but half-off of high quality shirts was irresistible.
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Exeter. It has always been my first choice. The academics are superb, the baseball and football programs are excellent and their music program is top-notch. Also, the campus is extremely beautiful. I also have to do some dress code shopping @lilyesh, my wardrobe mainly consists of tees and baseball jerseys 
.
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Heading to Exeter because their logo looks cool
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Did you notice the dragon is sticking out his tongue?
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Forgot to mention that. The logo is absolutely dirty.
Iâve been perusing this board for a while now, but this is my first post. Reading about everyoneâs experiences - sometimes similar to and other times different from ours - has been enormously helpful. Thank you, everyone, for sharing and caring about this community!
We live in Northern California and had no experience with boarding schools, but in the fall of 2019 DD expressed interest in boarding for high school, even though our LPS is strong, DS is happy there, and DD would do fine there too. DD has always been very independent and enjoys flying to overnight camps, cousins, etc. by herself, so her interest made sense. I have the wanderlust bug too and can understand the appeal of going away to a school where you live.
We spent months researching possible options, creating a huge spreadsheet of each school against DDâs and my most important criteria, all the time our interest in boarding school growing. After attending some webinars, I wanted to ask, can I sign myself up too?! DD ended up applying to five schools all around the country and was accepted at two, waitlisted at three (and, thanks to this board, weâre not expecting any waitlist action).
We believe the wisdom from this board that the admissions âsorting hatâ generally does a pretty good job, and to love the school that loves you.
DDâs choice was one of the hidden gems mentioned here: Fountain Valley School of Colorado. The vibe of the school was right for her in being both warm and âchill,â just like DD. Visiting the campus a few weeks ago, we were treated to a personalized half-day tour. The AO didnât try to sell the school but rather gave DD tools to make a decision, which made a strong positive impression on both of us. DD loved the cozy dorms, the Art Barn, the huge indoor rock climbing space, and the small classes with comfy chairs arranged in a Harkness circle. I loved the focus on a global education, the 60+ horses living right on campus, the acres of prairie with biking and running trails, and the proximity to Colorado Springs (airport, movie theaters, malls, etc.). I grew up on the East Coast and would have been happy for DD to go there for school but also appreciate the relative proximity of Colorado.
We were impressed by everything Fountain Valley did to help DD find the right fit. DD is excited and looking forward to her high school adventure in the fall.
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Congratulations! We loved FVS, also! It is a great community with a fantastic vibe. DD fell in love with the people there. We did not choose FVS mainly because DDs main passion is theatre and the program there was weaker than a few other schools to which she was accepted.
I hope you stay on the forum and continue to post from your FVS perspective. It deserves more exposure on this forum.
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Thank you for your kind words, @buuzn03! Would be happy to check in on this forum periodically and answer any questions about FVS from our familyâs perspective.
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@cupbow seconding @buuzn03 here â Iâd love an update on FVS as your daughter heads there! We loved it there too! DD3 ended up not going there, but it was a favorite in our household for a few months! Lots to love there, and it felt lower-stress and more outdoorsy in vibe, which appealed to us tremendously. Also: the mountain campus plus rodeo program seemed extra dreamy.
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Did you guys look into the semester schools out there? I feel like thatâs something your girls/family would be into. Our friend just returned from HMI and loved it. Another is heading to Island School this fall.
Iâm going to Milton next fall. It was my top choice and I felt the diverse community would be a great place for me to fit in.
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