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[quote=Anonymous]I went to NCs, my sister went to Holton. While I didn't hate the school, or have an awful experience, knowing what I know now I would send my daughter to Holton. My reasons:

1. Boys- STA/NCS are much more intertwined than Landon/Holton, and as a result there is just as much of the pre-teen/teenage issues with boys as you would find at a co-ed school. If this isn't a concern for you then fine, but if you want a more formally single-sex education I think Holton is your better bet.

2. "Social competetiveness"- This is real and does seem to be more common at NCS. I think this is partly because NCS seems to have a higher number of super high-profile/political families (think Gores, Bakers, etc.) whereas Holton seems to have more diplomat kids and extremely wealthy. (Note I said [u]seems[/u], don't reem me out with stats because I'm just speaking from my perception/experience)

3. Uniforms- I really like that at Holton the girls wear uniforms. It's not for everyone, but I just remember being so concerned about clothes and appearances than my sister who wore the same thing everyday. You still get into issues with girls wanting to have the "right" backpack or the "cool" purse, but there are just fewer things to stress over.

4.Campus- I prefer how secluded the Holton campus is. The NCS campus is very close to Georgetown and other independent schools and I remember it being very easy to "hang out" (aka get into trouble) after school because you could just walk places and meet up with other kids. At Holton, you would have to drive to another school or to someone's house.

Clearly these are all points of personal preference based on my values, and I can see someone else reading this list and deciding in the complete opposite way. FWIW the academics I think are the same, the whole math/science vs. humanities thing is more marketing than reality in my opinion. My sister and I applied to the exact same schools- five Ivies- and got into all of them. She went into law, and felt that Holton prepared her well for that, I went into a scientific field, and felt NCS prepared me well for that. Oh, and just so that no one thinks I'm an NCS hater, here are some great parts about my alma mater:

-Religion/Cathedral- I think this really helped instill a sense of community, that is unique to the Close and my DH and I still go to Lessons&Carols since we moved back to DC.

-Sports- the new sports center is amazing and the Cathedral sports teams are really great.

-Location- I grew up in NW, and it was kind of nice that most families at NCS lived in the city and were not as spread out as some families.

-Beauvoir- Both my sis and I went there and loved it. It was nice to be able to continue on with my peers, rather than starting somewhere new.

Good luck, and congratulations on your acceptances![/quote]

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