Boarding School 2022 Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cate is a fantastic school. One of my kids did not get in, and the others ended up not applying, tho it was often my first choice. St Andrew's (DE) has been a terrific home for my son (now a junior there) AMA

Would love to hear more about St. Andrews. To start, can you share some background info on your son (e.g. public vs. Private, extracurricular, etc.). Additionally, why he chose it and what factors do you think led to him being accepted?

[Anonymous]

Randolph Macon, Woodberry, Episcopal

Reach = Hotchkiss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ANyone know anything about cranbrook in MIchigan? My niece is applying.

Visited campus. Great for engineers and fine arts students. Cranbrook Campus is gorgeous. School is more focused on the day students overall.

[Anonymous]

Is Georgetown Prep a legitimate boarding school? I can’t imagine that boarding there is any good and it really is only setup for the kids coming from Asia. Otherwise, if you are considering boarding you would probably go to New England, no?

[Anonymous]

My son is boarding at Mercersburg. He was accepted to Loomis, Lawrenceville and NMH as well as local day schools and while we were somewhat nervous about him choosing MB over the others due to lack of name recognition, he went with his gut and it was the absolute right choice. He’s a bright, motivated, hard working and social kid and it’s checked all of the boxes and more for him. The campus is stunningly beautiful, with wide open spaces and beautiful architecture that rivals any college campus let alone boarding school. The location in PA is safe and bucolic.

Happy to answer questions about the school or I do suggest going onto College Confidential to learn more from other parents at MB as well as some of the other schools mentioned on the thread.

Also happy to share our thoughts on the other schools to which he was accepted and why he didn’t go with them.

My advice is to keep an open mind and most of all/ listen to your student and be true to their wants/needs. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cate is a fantastic school. One of my kids did not get in, and the others ended up not applying, tho it was often my first choice. St Andrew's (DE) has been a terrific home for my son (now a junior there) AMA

Would love to hear more about St. Andrews. To start, can you share some background info on your son (e.g. public vs. Private, extracurricular, etc.). Additionally, why he chose it and what factors do you think led to him being accepted?

Not pp but went to at Andrew’s years ago and have stayed in touch. Aside from academics (which are great) school has a good balance between athletics and arts. It creates a good mix of kids. The head of school who just left also had deep roots and a commitment to community and scholarship and character. I think the school wants to be competitive. And it also tries to balance that with values. That is my impression as an alumn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is boarding at Mercersburg. He was accepted to Loomis, Lawrenceville and NMH as well as local day schools and while we were somewhat nervous about him choosing MB over the others due to lack of name recognition, he went with his gut and it was the absolute right choice. He’s a bright, motivated, hard working and social kid and it’s checked all of the boxes and more for him. The campus is stunningly beautiful, with wide open spaces and beautiful architecture that rivals any college campus let alone boarding school. The location in PA is safe and bucolic.

Happy to answer questions about the school or I do suggest going onto College Confidential to learn more from other parents at MB as well as some of the other schools mentioned on the thread.

Also happy to share our thoughts on the other schools to which he was accepted and why he didn’t go with them.

My advice is to keep an open mind and most of all/ listen to your student and be true to their wants/needs. Good luck!

What worked against NMH? It’s the most difficult school to visit on your list from DC. Anything else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is boarding at Mercersburg. He was accepted to Loomis, Lawrenceville and NMH as well as local day schools and while we were somewhat nervous about him choosing MB over the others due to lack of name recognition, he went with his gut and it was the absolute right choice. He’s a bright, motivated, hard working and social kid and it’s checked all of the boxes and more for him. The campus is stunningly beautiful, with wide open spaces and beautiful architecture that rivals any college campus let alone boarding school. The location in PA is safe and bucolic.

Happy to answer questions about the school or I do suggest going onto College Confidential to learn more from other parents at MB as well as some of the other schools mentioned on the thread.

Also happy to share our thoughts on the other schools to which he was accepted and why he didn’t go with them.

My advice is to keep an open mind and most of all/ listen to your student and be true to their wants/needs. Good luck!

What worked against NMH? It’s the most difficult school to visit on your list from DC. Anything else?

It’s a lovely school with an incredibly caring and supportive community. They have a program where each student has to do service hours on campus to help contribute… could be anything from cleaning to serving food to working on the farm. I do hear they have the best boarding school food.

That said, it was a bit too crunchy for my son. He was looking for strong school spirit and something a bit more traditional. And yes the location was a big negative. When you first start looking at schools you tend to overlook the location. When decision time comes and you are faced with your child having to fly home at age 14 for holidays, it didn’t work for us. Mercersburg does have students from around the country and world for that matter and on holidays you are the large coach buses lined up to take the kids to the airport, so it’s NBD for the schools. For us, proximity mattered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two nieces who went to Hill. They both became sexually active pretty quickly. Trump’s kids used to arrive by helicopter. The girls did get a good education, but one of them had too much exposure to drinking and drugs.

Lol. I used to go to Hill to meet boys. I'm 47 but I can attest to this being true back in the early 90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mercersburg has always been a very respectable boarding school with excellent academics. I like the place for not being as "entitled" as a number of the New England boarding schools. They received a massive donation some years ago and it's being put to good use. Many students do come from small towns around Pennsylvania.

I'm sure there are students who didn't go straight to college - because that happens at every school. Including elite schools.

That isn't true.

[Anonymous]

St. George's vs NMH vs Governor's

Obviously in very different settings, but it's all starting to become a blur after so virtual open houses, and, mostly Zoom, interviews. Even a stereotype may be helpful for us to categorize the vibe of each place, and where the place might be headed in the next 5 years. Can anyone shed relatively recent/updated (nice) characterization of a typical student body at these schools. Are these schools mainly filled primarily with recruited athletes? Will non-sporty academic or artsy types still thrive?
Thanks for humoring me. Grasping here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mercersburg has always been a very respectable boarding school with excellent academics. I like the place for not being as "entitled" as a number of the New England boarding schools. They received a massive donation some years ago and it's being put to good use. Many students do come from small towns around Pennsylvania.

I'm sure there are students who didn't go straight to college - because that happens at every school. Including elite schools.

That isn't true.

*What* isn't true?

Are you going to claim that not a single boarding school has had a student who didn't matriculate at a college that fall?

It does happen. You'd be surprised. Sometimes it's called a gap year. Or deferring. Or considering options, which was the term we used in my day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St. George's vs NMH vs Governor's

Obviously in very different settings, but it's all starting to become a blur after so virtual open houses, and, mostly Zoom, interviews. Even a stereotype may be helpful for us to categorize the vibe of each place, and where the place might be headed in the next 5 years. Can anyone shed relatively recent/updated (nice) characterization of a typical student body at these schools. Are these schools mainly filled primarily with recruited athletes? Will non-sporty academic or artsy types still thrive?
Thanks for humoring me. Grasping here.

Awww, these are all great options.

IMO: St. George's a small school, not oversly sporty, with a variety of levels of students, but most kids do play sports. And a FABULOUS location. Very preppy, limited diversity, but a close knit community. Like other places, many of the top students are day students. Its got a good art department.
NMH is very big, more diverse, a place for everyone. Good for arty and sporty kids alike. Not an academic powerhouse, but I do think everyone can find their challenge and their people. Much more remote location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St. George's vs NMH vs Governor's

Obviously in very different settings, but it's all starting to become a blur after so virtual open houses, and, mostly Zoom, interviews. Even a stereotype may be helpful for us to categorize the vibe of each place, and where the place might be headed in the next 5 years. Can anyone shed relatively recent/updated (nice) characterization of a typical student body at these schools. Are these schools mainly filled primarily with recruited athletes? Will non-sporty academic or artsy types still thrive?
Thanks for humoring me. Grasping here.

Awww, these are all great options.

IMO: St. George's a small school, not oversly sporty, with a variety of levels of students, but most kids do play sports. And a FABULOUS location. Very preppy, limited diversity, but a close knit community. Like other places, many of the top students are day students. Its got a good art department.
NMH is very big, more diverse, a place for everyone. Good for arty and sporty kids alike. Not an academic powerhouse, but I do think everyone can find their challenge and their people. Much more remote location.

Thank you, PP! That's helpful. What's your favorite school at the moment?

[Anonymous]

SSAT score from Dec test is in. 86 percentile. OK to submit even for competitive schools not requiring test scores?