<p>My DS has been accepted as a Day Student at both these schools. After revisiting them both, we are still finding it difficult to decide between the two. St. Marks feels right but the matriculations in the last few years are not great compared to Nobles. Anyone have any insights into these 2 schools?</p>
<p>What do you like St. Marks over Nobles? I heard Nobles was very hard to get in. We visited Nobles but my son didn’t apply, mainly because he didn’t want to join a large existing student body.</p>
<p>St. Mark’s matriculations have improved quite a lot. Here are the colleges I know a lot of my friends from the class of 2010 are going to or got into:
Georgetown
Yale
MIT
Middlebury
Trinity College
University of Michigan
Columbia
UPenn</p>
<p>If all you care about is going to a HYPS school and you don’t think your son is capable of getting into those schools from SM, then don’t go. St. Markers don’t get wrapped up in the prestige and they go to schools that they want to go to and know that they will succeed there and they do truly succeed. Honestly, if you’re only interested in a prestigious school and college matriculation and don’t care about the school that fits best then go for Nobles.</p>
<p>I went to St. Mark’s and it was an incredible experience for me. It helped me become a much stronger and outgoing person. I went from never really talking in class because I was too nervous and shy, to talking and sharing my opinion quite frequently in my college classes. I loved the teachers I had and still keep in contact with them. Everyone there is generally super friendly. The community is fantastic. I loved it so much. However, you seem to be more preoccupied with college matriculation and fit, so perhaps SM isn’t the right place for you.</p>
<p>also, those aforementioned colleges were based off of early decision/ early action results. I do not know all of the regular decision acceptances.</p>
<p>We liked St Marks because of the small community feel and how personal and friendly all the teachers and staff were. The academics seem great in both schools but the Nobles community (parents and administrative) came across as a bit stand-offish, although my son did say that all the kids he met and spent the day with, were very friendly. St. Marks seems to offer the full experience of being part of the whole community even for day students which we like.</p>
<p>sobo, don’t know much about Nobles, but as for SMS, that is how we felt too, warm and supportive, close interaction with faculties. Their math and science seems particularly strong. One thing about going to a real BS is that if the child wants to have some experience of boarding before college, he can do it. That is our plan at least.</p>
<p>Saint Mark’s has a new college counseling director this year and added one more counselor last year. The new director has a lot of experiences at St. Paul, Andover, and Princeton day school. This year their matriculation looks so great. I know several seniors and all of them got into MIT, Dartmouth, Columbia, Georgetown, Brown, Yale, Upenn,
Michigan, Tufts. They easily adds up to ten. I am sure there are more students who got into those, which means easily at least 15% of the seniors got into those top tier schools. Of course, many students go to top lac such as Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury. Oh! I know one student got into RISD. That is the top arts school.</p>
<p>PS: I heard that they have the highest quality of applicants this year from admission officer.</p>
<p>another strong area at SM that isn’t really brought up is its classics department. the students who graduate with the classics diploma end up at stellar schools. the current teachers are fantastic. one of them was the best teacher i have ever had. he beats out all of my college professors so far. the classics dept doesn’t receive much attention because the other languages that are offered tend to seem more useful. also most people avoid taking latin because latin III is considered the hardest 3rd level language class. another fun fact is that as of 2009, nobody in recent years has scored lower than a 4 on the latin AP.</p>
<p>i myself graduated with a classical diploma and love advocating for the department as it helped me become a much stronger student.</p>
<p>It all depends, like all things, on “fit”. If St. Mark’s feels right to you, then that’s where your son should go, despite the “stats”. St. Mark’s is in a really nice area and it does seem to have that boarding school charm that is lacking in strictly day schools (yes, I know Nobles has 5 day boarding but that seems to be more for convenience than a boarding school experience). While Nobles may have the edge on reputation and matriculations, if it’s not a good match for your child than those things really don’t matter. </p>
<p>They’re both really great schools, you can’t go wrong with either one.</p>
<p>My St. Mark’s child has close friends who are boarders, and close friends who are day students. If you decide to send your son to St. Mark’s, he will not feel isolated from the school. Many of the day students spend most of their time on campus. As it is a boarding school, there is always something happening on campus. Weekends are busy times, as well. Your son could stay over in a friend’s dorm room, with permission. </p>
<p>My child has the impression that the senior class is happy with the outcome of the college search this year. </p>
<p>You have an enviable choice. I agree with smski, it’s not possible to make a mistake.</p>
<p>With two strong schools to choose between, I’d consider the commute, also.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the wonderful responses - we finally decided on St. Marks and are confident we made the right choice!</p>
<p>Congratulations on your decision! I am sure that you will be happy with St. Mark’s.</p>
<p>Welcome! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM.</p>