Geographic diversity at boarding schools

SharingGift
Mon, 26 Aug 2013 10:35:35 +0000

My family attended an open house at Loomis Chaffee on Saturday. We liked the school, enjoyed tour, and interacting with admission staffs. We left the school with an overall impression that it provided quality education in a nurturing environment.

One thing that struck me, in addition to the fact that school area becomes an island during flood season (one of the perks of sitting on the bank of Connecticut River?), was that the lack of geographic diversity in its student body. While its website indicates 30 US states and 31 countries (in fact, 25 states, as mentioned on Saturday… not that the difference is important), we were told “75% of all students are from within 3 hours of driving distance, mostly CT, NY, and MA.” This means, 25% accounts for 28 US states and 31 countries, and a big chunk of which I guess would represent other New England/Northeastern/Mid Atlantic states. I could understand why the Admission Director was so proud when he said that the school had a student from Utah.

I somehow expected more geographic diversity, somewhat to the levels of nationally known liberal arts colleges, but I realize that such an expectation might not have been warranted. Maybe that’s how it is at boarding schools. After all, how many parents would be willing to let their children attend far away high schools… Not that there aren’t.