<p>I am a current ninth grader applying to Loomis, Exeter, and St. Paul’s for tenth grade. I just wanted to know the similarities and differences between the three schools. I know that Exeter is the biggest school and St. Paul’s is the smallest school but that’s about it. I have only visited Exeter so this would really be helpful.</p>
<p>Here is a starting place:
<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/compare_schools.php[/url]”>http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/compare_schools.php</a></p>
<p>The biggest difference between SPS and Exeter for my son and husband was probably location. SPS is a beautiful rural campus, relatively isolated from the nearest city, Concord. Though PEA has green spaces and its own campus, it is intertwined with the town and the shops are close enough that students can pop into them in between classes. </p>
<p>Another difference is that SPS starts each day (I think) with nondenominational chapel. Exeter has required assembly twice a week and optional meditation and optional nondenominational chapel once a week. </p>
<p>Exeter uses the Harkness method in all classes. SPS uses it in some but not all. </p>
<p>I don’t know a thing about Loomis.</p>
<p>The Harkness method is very important to me. Does Loomis use it as well?</p>
<p>Yes, Loomis (as do nearly all rigorous prep schools) use round-table vs. lecture style for many classes.</p>
<p>If u truly ‘needtoboard’ as your name suggests, I hope u are applying to more than just these 3-- they are all difficult to get into.</p>
<p>SPS has no day students. Exeter has some. Loomis has many day students, as well as boarding students from nearby NY metropolitan area who go home frequently on weekends. On weekends you may see the biggest contrast between these 3 schools.</p>
<p>I go to a pretty good private school right now but I want to go to a better boarding school @GMTplus7</p>
<p>How do schedules work at these schools and how much time do these schools designate just for studying every day?</p>
<p>Also, are there differences in the layout of the campus and are the buildings newer at any of these schools? I know Exeter has older more historical buildings which I like. Also are there differences in the dorms of each school?</p>
<p>FWIW, many of the answers you seek would be answered by visiting the other two schools.</p>
<p>Also, look for threads on CC about the individual schools. IMO, it pays to do your homework before asking what is a very open-ended question…</p>
<p>Thank you @SevenDad. I am visiting Loomis and St, Paul’s next month. I did some research and I saw that both Loomis and St. Paul’s have sit-in dinners. How do these dinners work?</p>
<p>St. Paul’s uses the harkness method in most classes.
SPS has a brand new science center, but most of it’s buildings are more traditional, except for maybe a few more modern dorms.
SPS being 100 percent boarding, there is a very tight community feel between the students as well as the faculty.
SPS also has a “freedom with responsibility” method, which allows students to schedule their time accordingly. After classes end, students are mostly free, except athletics (if they play a sport) and seated/advisor meals, which are only twice a week. Seated meals are only in the fall and spring, and require formal attire. Students are assigned tables which alternate every 3 weeks. Adviser dinners are during winter term. The library has a set quiet study hall most nights but its not required, like it is at most schools.
I don’t have extensive knowledge on Exeter, but when I visited, the building seemed a little more modern and the campus was not as visually appealing as SPS. There are many day students.</p>
<p>Loomis sits on a piece of land called the Island, next to the Connecticut River. The main buildings of the school are bunched together and connected by covered walkways, forming an academical village, in the style designed by Thomas Jefferson and implemented at UVa.</p>
<p>Loomis has semi-formal sit down dinners weekly in the fall and spring terms (but not the winter). Its campus in adjacent to the town of Windsor, just northeast of Hartford, CT. Students can walk off campus to a grocery store, Subway, CVS, bbq joint, etc. The east coast Amtrak runs right thru Windsor and again, students can walk to get on the train. Hartford’s Bradley airport is a short 10 minute car ride (eat your hearts our DA and NHM parents).</p>
<p>The boarding population at Loomis is roughly equivalent to the entire size of St. Paul’s (~450). Total school size is 680. LC is primarily a <em>boarding</em> school, so even day students are on campus 6 days a week. The campus is rarely sleepy during terms.</p>
<p>Loomis does use Harkness style for humanities classes.</p>
<p>Based on my daughter’s school (none of the ones you mention, though we are as familiar with SPS as a non-marticulated/non legacy family could be), sit-down (not sit-in, which would be interesting) dinners generally entail assigned seating (you are assigned a table), and as noted, more formal dress. Food is usually brought to the table (vs. cafeteria/buffet line style) by students who are seated at your table. Plates are cleared by either the same students or another set.</p>
<p>Don’t confuse formal dress for formal wear, btw. AFAIK, very few kids rock dinner jackets to evening meals…at least not at boarding schools in the states.</p>
<p>I am pro “sit down” dinners, as I think they foster a sense of community…you don’t have a choice who you sit with, so you can get to know people outside your grade, dorm, circle of friends. At my daughter’s school, a faculty member also sits at the table…and it might be someone you don’t have as a teacher (or at least, not yet). Also, it’s more like dinner at home with family, IMO.</p>
<p>The nearby ‘to-die-for’ BBQ joint alone makes Loomis worth visiting :)</p>
<p>bump bump</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Does Loomis have a uniform? Does Loomis have Saturday classes every week?</p>
<p>No and no.</p>
<p>I don’t know of any well-known BS in the U.S. that has a uniform.</p>
<p>Oops, I meant “dress code”. Dating myself.</p>
<p>GMT: to-die-for barbecue north of the Mason-Dixon line is a geographical impossibility. Just saying. </p>
<p>geeza: Boarding School Review, where GMT pointed you a week ago, will tell you whether there’s a dress code or not: casual means no dress code (well, there are probably rules to keep everyone decently clothed, but beyond that…)</p>
<p>@ classicalmama,
The owner of this BBQ joint near Loomis must have bribed/murdered/robbed some Southerner for his/her secret recipe-- it’s that GOOD</p>
<p>Exeter alum here. I’d argue Exeter is very, VERY distinct. People are (were?) wonderful, proudly “different”, intense, quirky, incredibly intellectually engaged, socially aware, highly verbal, ambitious…there was (with the exception of the requisite prep posse, which did indeed exist when I was there almost a decade ago) a real pride in being the weird/intellectual school. People were highly intellectual to the point of neurosis (myself included), and we all definitely suffered from a slight mismatch between our intellectual and emotional intelligence (which is to say we all thought we were WAY more mature than we were, which is probably true of most teenagers but exacerbated by the Exeter ethos – the Harkness mentality extended to the social interaction, and we all overthought eerything). The teachers were wonderful – really incredible – both academically and in providing pastoral care.</p>
<p>Exeter’s a special place. I loved it and continue to love it, and continue to be close both to Exeter friends I made there, and to alumns I didn’t really know in high school but became close to after. But it’s also a distinct place, which means being a “good fit” really is important. I certainly hope that “distinct” quality has remained…I’d hate for it to become just another posh boarding school.</p>