nhfootballer

shore, are you going to andover? re snobby, i thought sps was down to earth compared to some other schools.

creative1

With all the top BS having 35+% kids on financial aid these days, the profile of these schools is much different than they were a generation or more ago. Be careful about relying on impressions of other people that may be antiquated. All these schools will offer more racial and socioeconomic diversity than would be found in the majority of public schools.

SPS is decidedly not snobby. Like anywhere, you'll find a few that are but its easy to ignore them.

shore

Yes, nhfootballer I am. What school are you at? I found the SPS guide of mine to be very very nice but the former Andover alumni talked about what schools I got accepted into and immediately told me to cross off Taft as its not as good and to cross off SPS as it was very snobby. Then the alumni scared off my parents with the drug stories. And Milton with the sex scandal. And as we are internationals we don't know any of them so we bought it easily.

hockeykid841

Thats what you get for asking somebody who went to a rival school.

of course they are going to say their school is better

shore

Well, she seemed impartial to some other schools like Choate and Groton which she both liked. But she told us about drugs etc and my parents being both Indian and from overseas immediately urged me to reject SPS. Its no slight on SPS and in fact I wish I looked at it more tbh.

keylyme

I think it is quite unprofessional to be so blatantly partial (and in such an insulting manner).
I can't understand why the drug scene would be such a big issue at SPS as compared with other schools particularly as it is 100% boarding.

nhfootballer

shore, it is important to decide which school fits for you. the advice you received was just gossip. which school did you like before this guy told you his opinion?

shore

I was so impressed by all of them. After every one I left thinking that was the one except for Taft and Milton. The Milton tour guide said there were rats in every dorm!

I liked SPS, Exeter, Choate, Groton and Andover all the same. I said I'd research and then choose one. The alumni scared my parents off SPS so I chose Andover. But SPS could have well been my number 1 choice as I never ended up researching it after my parents got scared off it.

siliconvalleymom

I just looked at the SPS website and it looks like there are not teams for swimming or water polo. Is that right?

creative1

siliconvalleymom - that is correct. They have a gorgeous pool but do not have a swim team nor water polo.

nhfootballer

i have heard a rumor they may add swimming. it would make my younger sister interested in sps. she is probably going to look at other schools because of this.

Princess'Dad

Creative and Hockey.
Well, all I know is what we observed and what our guide told us. The infirmary was full of sleeping kids and there were several kids sleeping at the Harkness tables. The Dean stated that sleep deprevation is so bad that they had an consultant come in. They are thinking of starting classes an hour later to see if that helps. On this site, several students were bragging about lack of sleep. I am not sure if the competition forced on them by the school, parents and other students is healthy.

hockeykid841

Can I ask how you would know the infirmiry was full of sleeping kids? Thats not on the tour, and if they took you inside, its possible these kids were sick. Sometimes viruses go around and large number of students get sick, at the same time.

And the rector announced today that winter term chapel will be at 8:30 instead of 8, moving classes back a half an hour

mehappykid

My friend, she is junior now, took 4 AP & 2 honors this year, told me she had only about 5 hours sleeping during weekday. She is key club president, varsity tennis and science league member. She tried to get more sleep at weekend IF THERE IS NO ACTIVITIES.

I think it's quite normal with 5-6 hours sleeping for junior or senior who takes AP's and honor's and also involve some activities. Finish school at 3:00, do some club or sports and come home at 5 or 6:00, eat and shower, spend one hour for each subjects, then it's midnight! If there is test or project due next day, then ......

bigblue09

I only got like 5-6 hours a night as an upper (3rd year) at Andover and I wouldn't even say my academic course load was that demanding. By the time I got back from sports practice and had eaten, it would be around 6. Monday through Wednesday, I'd put in a few hours a night for the school paper, so time was tough to come by for sure. A light schedule on Thursday was my saving grace after many long Wednesday nights in the Phillipian newsroom.