Hey everyone. I am currently a student in one of Massachusetts’s private boarding school. My school is K-9, so I had to apply out this year, and I applied for repeating 9th grade since I’m only turning 15 this summer. I was accepted by Cranbrook, The Hill School, Mercersburg Academy, NHM, and others. Excluding Cranbrook, all of those school are much close both academic wise and location wise (East Coast), however, Cranbrook is located in Michigan, but it also is stronger than all of them academically. The school is very alike academically, so rather than trying to figure out the tiniest difference in the curricular guide, I would rather concentrate on things that matter to me as a person and a member of the school’s community. Some things that really matter to me:
-
Dorms
I only would want to live in a single for the rest of my life. I’m very much thanking my middle school experience for that). In all seriousness, it would be perfect for the school to only have singles OR requestable rooms for ALL students. Because I’ve seen schools that offer that option only for Junior and Senior students.
-
Food
The food matters to me, because this is what I will be eating for the next 4 years, however, for this list, this criteria matter the least to me.
-
Dress-code
During my school experience, I noted that it is hard to dress warmly in the cold place while being in dress-code of uniform. I wouldn’t mind having a uniform at Hill in Pennsylvania, but casual dress is a nice touch to the Cranbrook school.
-
AP courses
I think AP courses are important because they help you prepare for the college experience. Ideally, the school would have over 25 AP courses to choose from, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Cranbrook, as it only offers 16 AP courses. However, Mercersburg offers 40+ AP courses, but it has its own disadvantages.
-
College Matriculation
Again, going back to college, one of the biggest reasons I want to go to a good high school, is because I want to get into a top 20 University in the US. I’m not saying that it is the only reason because I’ve seen people who make an argument of that statement. College matriculation is a very important aspect to me, as it ensures that student went to a certain college for that school and that I actually also have a chance of getting in.
-
Location
Location is not relevant to me, but it is important to my parents. It is better, the closer the school is to an airport. The negative side of Mercersburg is its location. It will take 4 and a half hours to get there by car, whereas it only will take 40 minutes to get to Cranbrook for Detroit’s airport.
Leadership possibilities
In high school, I would want to experience leadership since that is partly what I would want to proceed in college.
Now, after being admitted to those school, I have a new question “Where should I go?” I really care about the decision I make, since it will vastly determine my future life. If there is anyone who knows about the schools or goes there, can you please try to answer at least some of the questions , because the answers really matter to me. Also, if you have any valid advice or thought for me at any point, feel free to suggest it in the discussion section below.
Thank you!
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Links to google docs are a violation of Terms of Service, so I edited it out.
Check the percent from Michigan vs. other states vs. International at Cranbrook.
I agree Mercersburg is very isolated and far from airports.
Our DC loved Mercersburg - what an amazing campus, caring athletic community, great curriculum and heard very positive thoughts about the food on the tour. The dorms are among the best we saw (and we visited about 10-11 schools.) Yes, it’s far for some people (it was only 3 1/2 hours from home for us) but kiddo loved just about everything about the school. We looked into Hill, which was closer to home, but did not apply or visit. We spent a good amount of time at NMH and nearly applied there- if your family is based in Massachusetts, you should definitely revisit NMH.I will say that only an option closer to home kept our DC from attending Mercersburg. It is, in our minds and from all the schools we visited, the best “hidden gem” in the BS world.
I looked into Cranbrook for my kids, but was worried about it being k-12 and predominantly day students. I think that would take away from the boarding school experience.
We are also big Mercersburg fans. It is rural, but the academics are very strong and my kids liked both the dorms and the food when we visited. We visited another school with dorms that felt almost prison cell-like!
You should be able to find college matriculations lists for all schools on their websites.
Good luck with your decision!
The only schools I am familiar with on your list are Hill and Mercersburg. My son attends Mercersburg and is thriving in the warm, friendly community. I agree with other posters that the dorms at Mercersburg were the nicest we saw out of a long list of schools. However I don’t know how likely you are to get your wish of having a single at any of the schools you mention. Maybe there is a better chance as an upperclassman, but not likely as an incoming 9th grader. Learning to live with others is an important aspect to going to boarding school, so you’d have to ask each school about their roommate policies.
My son seems to like the food at Mercersburg, he doesn’t complain about it. The school is rural and is 90 minutes away from the closest airports. But I think that it’s rural location is what makes the Mercersburg community a great one. The school doesn’t empty out on weekends, and the school makes an effort to keep kids engaged on the weekends there. The dress code is less formal than Hill, which is a nice bonus.
The best advice I can give would be to attend revisits to see which community feels the most like home to you. You have a very diverse list of schools to choose from, so it will be valuable for you to spend time on campus to decide where you want to spend your next 4 years. Good luck to you!
The only school on your list I am familiar with is NMH - which kiddo really loved even though we ultimately chose a different school.
NMH has awesome food. Probably the best food of any boarding school- and we were there on a normal day, not on a revisit day. Yum. Lots of choices, high quality. If it comes down to food - choose NMH.
NMH is casual. I don’t know about single rooms - but my guess is there are not many singles there.
NMH is in the boondocks, and it gets cold there. The campus is spread out, so you definitely have to bundle up between classes.
All of your options are fine re: matriculation. I don’t think one will be better than other on that front.
APs - # of designated AP classes isn’t a good metric for determining how prepared for college you will be for lots of reasons discussed ad nauseum on CC. Long story short, lots of BSs have gone away from the AP model, so you can’t assume a low number of APs means a less rigorous curriculum. All of your schools will prepare you extremely well for college - that is their core competency. Colleges know what the courses are like at these schools. They don’t need the AP moniker.
Good luck and congratulations with your choices- you can’t go wrong. Go to revisit days. Ask lots of questions. NMH runs their school schedule differently than anywhere else - fewer classes at one time, faster pace, semesters. That is not for everyone. My guess is that there are more substantive differences between your chosen schools than shows up on matriculation data.
Thank you, very thoughtful response. I’m an international student, but my school is in MA. Yes, I already scheduled a revisit for NMH, but I can’t visit any other schools due to their locations in Pennsylvania and Chicago.
Thank you everyone who responded about Mercersbrug and NMH, but could you please detail the dorms a little more apart from “They are just nice”. I’m asking because the school’s dorms are probably the most important aspect of school to me. And actually, I noted that a lot of people on this website consider and care about day to boarding numbers or boys to girls, but as a boarder, and a student, I really don’t consider any of that in my schools, and that isn’t something I cared about ever.
I so far heard a lot good things about HMH and Mercersburg, but didn’t really hear anything about The Hill School and Cranbrook. Is there anyone who went to those two schools? I was able to find a video about dorms at Cranbrook on YouTube, but couldn’t find anything about the Hill School. If anyone went to Hill, could you please tell me about the dorms.
How many dorms are there?
Are the rooms singles/doubles/triples? (as a freshman)
If wanted, can you request a single?
If wanted, can you request a single as a freshman?
If there are singles, only for first 2 years, or for all 4?
Can you bring a TV or XBox into the room? (as a freshman)
How far are the dorms from academic campus or dining hall? (as a freshman)
This is about NMH since I didn’t visit Hill either, but my tour guide at NMH told me that the closer your dorm is to the cafeteria (thus other parts of campus), the smaller the dorm is and vice versa, so you kind of have a trade-off. I don’t remember if they offer singles to freshman though. Also, NMH has swimming requirements as well as a reputation for being predominantly liberal (not sure about this one, but I saw a lot of comments about it), so that’s also something to think about.
I think the tricky thing about your question is that most schools have a variety of housing options - some large dorms, some small (down to houses of 6-10 students), located in various parts of the campus, with a mix of singles/doubles (triples tend to be very rare). As a previous poster mentioned, there is almost always a trade-off: my son’s dorm is right next to the academic buildings and a dining hall, BUT is (relatively) far from the athletic center, and it’s all doubles.
The biggest difference we saw between schools with regard to housing was whether the dorms were “vertically integrated” - meaning whether they had students from all grades. Some schools have freshman-only housing, some encourage students to stay in the same dorm for all 4 years, and some split the difference and have lower (9th/10th) and upper (11th/12th) dorms. There are pros/cons to each approach. The best thing to do is contact each school directly and ask these questions.
Of the schools on your list, I’m most familiar with NMH, and know their class schedule is somewhat unique among schools, with the College Model Academic Program (3 major classes/term). NMH also requires all students to work for a few hours each week. Those are two clear differentiators - think about what that would mean for you, and it may help with decision making. I also agree with the poster above - their food is phenomenal!
One last note - the boarding/day balance can have a significant impact on your experience. We have two friends whose kids are boarding at schools that are predominantly day schools, and both have commented on how empty the campus is on weekends, and how the schools are more focused on the needs/interests of day students. Both are considering transferring. Certainly, there are many happy boarders at majority-day student schools, but I would think seriously about how it might impact your experience.
Thank you, @momof3nyc! Great observations! I don’t see the difference between a 6 people and a 60 people dorm, I guess it just is not so important to me. Also, I plan on getting an electric skateboard when I will come to my next school, so the “problem of far housing” will not exist for me. However, what I care about is the room where I live. My middle school experience has been miserable at time because of my roommate, which is the reason I want to live in a single. Sometimes you just don’t want your Chinese roommate to play Chinese music out loud during study hall or play cards with our guys after lights out. And most importantly, judgment. During my school experience I faced such a problem as judgment. What I mean by that is that, my roommate was looking at me “from the top”, he considered himself more mature, smart, educated than me from the first day and for no reason. He also used ask if I finished my project which was due in 2 weeks, and when I would say no, he would say “Ah, of course, great, by the way, I already finished”. Of course by the end of the year we became good friends and stuff, but… That really ruined my middle school boarding experience for at least the first part of the year. And I would never want this to happened to anyone else. So whether the school offers singles or doubles can be a real game changer for me! Thank you for your advice, I will e-mail all of the schools asking those questions.
Actually, it may exist; many schools have rules about skateboards (and scooters/bikes/etc) and where they can and cannot be used on campus. Something else to ask about.
This says more about roommates failing to communicate expectations and/or involving the house leader as appropriate, than it does about doubles vs singles.
Well, kind of. But what do you do if he says “I don’t care”, and if snitch, half a school is going be mean to you because of your Chinese friend. And, at the end, at this point the problem is solved as we are friends and respect each other and our expectations.
In regards to dorms, the dorms at Mercersburg are updated and do not feel old or dark (as opposed to other dorms we saw.). Every dorm has central air, and you can control the temperature of your individual room. I do feel that Mercersburg invests heavily in the boarding population, in that the dorms and all facilities are well kept and they provide a variety of activities for their residential students.
We only visited Hill but we do know students who attend there. I would consider Hill to be almost polar opposite of NMH just based on what I have read on this site about NMH. Hill is very formal - from the buildings, to the dress code, to the very culture of the school. We did not care for the vibe there, it just did not suit my son. One student we know who attends there states that sports are very important. The lunch room would often segregate itself based on sports teams. So all the football players ate together, the field hockey team ate together, etc.
As for the roommate issues you have had - I would say that can happen at any school. It comes down to communication between you and your roommate. I think that at the beginning of the year the dorm advisors had all the roommates sit down and talk over their room rules and what was acceptable to each. Working out those details ahead of time can be a huge help. At most schools I don’t think you get to choose your roommate your first year, but after that you can choose and usually enter a draft or lottery over your choice of where to live.
Best of luck to you, I really do encourage you to visit at least 2 schools on your list since they are each so different from each other.
If you can’t make it to revisits, call the admissions office to see if they can hook you up with a student to ask questions.
The dorm culture is clearly very important to you, as it should be. I think you should go into this decision with the assumption that you will have a roommate and ask questions about how they enforce lights out, study period, and deal with roommate disputes. You will find out a lot about school culture overall that way. It is great that you already have dorm experiences so you know what works for you. But every school is different, and you may very well find that other schools handle your prior problems better.
There are no singles for anybody at Mercersburg; it is not an option. The only time it happens is if someone leaves mid-year and they don’t place someone in with you.
Mercersburg is 90 mins from IAD, about 2 hours form BWI,
@CateCAParent, thank you so much for your care, I already solved all of my current problem with my roommate!
@hellomaisy, that is probably one of the most important things I’be heard so far, thank you so much!!