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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I agree that US is a heavy workload. [b] The rest, however, doesn’t match my DD’s experience. [/b] She regularly studies with friends and isn’t competitive with them.  They all want to do well, but they help each other out. And while we can afford it, no Louis Vuitton bags here. Nor do any of her friends have them. There are roughly 90 girls in each grade.  Like any school, you will find a variety of kids and personalities, most of whom are nice, supportive, and down to earth. [/quote]

We are a family with a senior and I would agree that much of that does not match my DD's experiences at all. I'm not even sure I would call the workload heavy - just rigorous. But the sequence of expectations and coursework build to it over the years so there has never been a time when she would have said unmanageable (even with a club sport and plenty of social events).

I feel as though the clique issue is there, but very subtle. There are very few girls in my DD's class that she would describe as lonely. Sure, a group of girls might be tight and only hang out with each other, etc. but those groups are throughout the grade and looking at the friend groups, she would say there is a group for everyone that wants one. The school also does a very good job with scheduling so if you find that there is too much homework, the student is likely not using their study hall time wisely.  I will say that I've heard that other grades are better / worse than the current senior class, and it would be hard to figure out which type of class mix you would be joining.[/quote]

I find that what parents perceive as their child's experience at a school vs. what their child's actual experience at the school end up to be are vastly different.[/quote]

I was alarmed by the post referring to the cliquey culture to ask my DD about HA social atmosphere. According to DD, the only thing she has heard her peers complain about is how tough the academics are, especially history honors and the required amount of  reading.
[/quote]

Yes, no social issues according to our daughters. They do say that there are friend groups, but that they aren't really that rigid year on year and what they describe seems pretty normal and not concerning to me or to them. We've found the school including Upper to be all that we were looking for, other than I wish the school were maybe 25% bigger.  It is big enough for differentiation and good extracurriculars but it feels like a few more students and it would provide for a little more in the arts and theater programs.[/quote]

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