Madeira vs. Holton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would argue Madeira college outcomes are also strong - but differen't in that their kids come from all over the world and have different priorities when choosing where to apply and matriculate. That kind of diversity also makes their classrooms exciting.

You can argue anything you want,but the Madeira college acceptance list posted online for the 2017-2021 period is terrible.

Now, do more current. Plus, understand that Madeira's view of a successful college placement list probably differs from yours as they focus on each girl, not on having an impressive list to publish. Early returns for the class of 2026 are very good and, unlike Holton, there is only one committed athlete.

Holton class of 2026 has very few athletic recruits to top schools (just 1). Normally, there are many more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would argue Madeira college outcomes are also strong - but differen't in that their kids come from all over the world and have different priorities when choosing where to apply and matriculate. That kind of diversity also makes their classrooms exciting.

You can argue anything you want,but the Madeira college acceptance list posted online for the 2017-2021 period is terrible.

You just look uninformed and with a strange axe to grind. Why use old data - esp. with pre-COVID and COVID data. Anyone that has a kid in high school right now knows how much the private school landscape changed during and after COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would argue Madeira college outcomes are also strong - but differen't in that their kids come from all over the world and have different priorities when choosing where to apply and matriculate. That kind of diversity also makes their classrooms exciting.

You can argue anything you want,but the Madeira college acceptance list posted online for the 2017-2021 period is terrible.

You just look uninformed and with a strange axe to grind. Why use old data - esp. with pre-COVID and COVID data. Anyone that has a kid in high school right now knows how much the private school landscape changed during and after COVID.

A casual comparison of college outcomes from the last couple of years: the girls from both schools end up more or less at the same colleges. But as a proportion of the class size, the share of Holton girls going to Ivies + MIT, Stanford, Duke, UChicago, Northwestern, JHU is about twice (around 20 percent) as high as the Madeira share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child at one, and know kids at the others and looked at both. Go to the one closest to where you live. The commute sucks, and each school has more girls from their side of the river. Yes, there are differences- and if you feel strongly look at those too, but the workload is a lot at both schools. Academically, the difference is at Holton you have lots of short periods and more competitive vibe of students. But you also have time for study halls and a more traditional schedule. Madeira has Mods where you are cramming a lot in 5 weeks, and the fifth week is very stressful every 5 weeks, but the girls are less competitive among each other. Either way, they are both rigorous and a lot of homework.

Socially, their can be more cliquieness at Holton. The Madeira girls are very nice and not cliquey, and more diverse with an international crowd. Holton does some things with Landon, Madeira is more isolated and has little to no contact with boys. Girls who are not borders are mostly from Virginia. At Holton girls are more from MD and DC.

Both have great arts programs. Sports are mostly better at Holton. Girls go to great colleges from both.

Incredibly helpful. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

That’s interesting. I actually think the bar might be harder to cross for internationals because an international student is expected to have challenges on top of academics (culture shock, language, family far away) and so academic footing needs to be more solid.

[Anonymous]

This is true. The bar is much higher. The local top boarding schools and those in NE only accept a small percentage of international students, and particularly not from the same countries. English language and academics and outside interests are at very high standards. You may be thinking of smaller boarding schools, particularly in the UK or schools like Valley Forge Military Academy that take huge classes of international students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

That’s interesting. I actually think the bar might be harder to cross for internationals because an international student is expected to have challenges on top of academics (culture shock, language, family far away) and so academic footing needs to be more solid.

[Anonymous]

Holton is intense socially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

I don't think this is accurate. DD is at Madeira and has reported that many of the international students are far and away ahead of the average American student in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

I don't think this is accurate. DD is at Madeira and has reported that many of the international students are far and away ahead of the average American student in math.

Of course, American students pay $60K and get a subpar education in STEM. This is unfortunately, the reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should take into account that boarding schools take a lot of international families that can self-pay that may not match the academic level of students coming through the American system or meet the expectations set by a private school in the area... For rising 9th graders, a lot of what any school is hoping for is potential, and having lots of international students can dilute the experience - speaking from 2 friends whose kids are at boarding nearby.

I know Holton well and love it. No info on Madeira.

I don't think this is accurate. DD is at Madeira and has reported that many of the international students are far and away ahead of the average American student in math.

This is right. My daughter's extremely high level math classes at Madeira and a good portion of her classes have been foreign boarders.

[Anonymous]

From what I see in the girls that attend both schools, Holton girls are notably academically stronger. It’s seems the mod system is not doing the education quality at Madeira many favors. Holton also has somewhat better integration with a boys school, since Madeira doesn’t have a brother school. Not that Holton and Landon schools have an overwhelming amount of activities together, but at least they do some.

FWIW, my girls go to Holton and upper school is very academically challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what I see in the girls that attend both schools, Holton girls are notably academically stronger. It’s seems the mod system is not doing the education quality at Madeira many favors. Holton also has somewhat better integration with a boys school, since Madeira doesn’t have a brother school. Not that Holton and Landon schools have an overwhelming amount of activities together, but at least they do some.

FWIW, my girls go to Holton and upper school is very academically challenging.

I would definitely not view the opportunity to interact with Landon boys as a plus. Nor does my anec-data agree with yours.

The benefits of the mod system is that it allows every class session to be more in depth and the accelerated curriculum to fit within 5 week sessions is more in line with what our kids will see in college (honestly, I think my Madeira girl's classes are more challenging than her older sister's gen ed college classes). It isn't for everyone, but it absolutely did favors for my daughter in terms of education quality. Plus, having three 5 week internships is something that is only available at Madeira.

The schools are totally different (other than being single gender). A girl who would really like one is unlikely to like the other. Mine wouldn't even consider Holton. She had friends from her cohort at her K-8 who wouldn't consider Madeira. Neither is intrinsically better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From what I see in the girls that attend both schools, Holton girls are notably academically stronger. It’s seems the mod system is not doing the education quality at Madeira many favors. Holton also has somewhat better integration with a boys school, since Madeira doesn’t have a brother school. Not that Holton and Landon schools have an overwhelming amount of activities together, but at least they do some.

FWIW, my girls go to Holton and upper school is very academically challenging.

I would definitely not view the opportunity to interact with Landon boys as a plus. Nor does my anec-data agree with yours.

The benefits of the mod system is that it allows every class session to be more in depth and the accelerated curriculum to fit within 5 week sessions is more in line with what our kids will see in college (honestly, I think my Madeira girl's classes are more challenging than her older sister's gen ed college classes). It isn't for everyone, but it absolutely did favors for my daughter in terms of education quality. Plus, having three 5 week internships is something that is only available at Madeira.

The schools are totally different (other than being single gender). A girl who would really like one is unlikely to like the other. Mine wouldn't even consider Holton. She had friends from her cohort at her K-8 who wouldn't consider Madeira. Neither is intrinsically better.

+1

Totally different vibes.