<p>Hi geeza1. My contribution was that there are many families at Loomis, and a good number of students, that are aiming for placement in top 20 colleges & Unis and therefore, the culture of competition & drive IS more apparent there than we had originally thought. I feel I’m not making an observation that’s different from what 7Dad had to say about his very bright daughter at SAS. There are highly motivated, brilliant kids at all these schools and often these kids and the family expectations they bring with them dictate the general culture of “college stressing” that amps up in the last 2 years. Since I dont have kids at other schools where this ISNT an issue, I can’t offer alternatives; my observation is just that the Loomis community is every bit as much influenced by the acronym obsession at the next level (college) as any of the acronym prep schools. (BUT we’re still quite fond of it; it’s working for our child and he’s getting an excellent educational experience.)</p>