Groton vs. Milton urgent guidance

enpassant2019
Sun, 21 Mar 2021 05:36:38 +0000

Both are fantastic schools from what I hear, providing more than solid foundation across the board, including writing skills. I was particularly impressed with the caliber of Milton’s science and technical writing education, though it boasts literary giants among its graduates as well. Check out “Helix,” Milton’s science journal published by students.

One more thing I would consider would be their respective locations. I love Milton’s convenience - how close it is to Boston / Cambridge and Logan Airport. On the other hand, if your kid prefers a more bucolic setting (without compromising accessibility too much - only 40 minutes by car to Boston), then Groton is it.

Size is an important factor, and normally the smaller the more individual attention, but the question of optimal size is not simple, especially since the bigger of the two would still be considered quite small compared to the average anywhere (160 per entering class for Milton). Bigger schools tend to give a kid more chance at finding diverse peers interesting to him, a more “breathing room” and private space for the introverted within the school, which might be viewed as a sort of “fit insurance” or a grace margin in finding his fit. Much less importantly, having a large number of your school graduates in the real world cannot hurt.

On Milton’s 50% boarding ratio: in my view, what matters is not the ratio (since this is not some power struggle between the two) but the minimum absolute mass, which size determines whether the school feels empty or not on weekends. At 50% boarding ratio, the number of boarders per class would still exceed Groton’s. So this should be a non-issue in my opinion. One convenience or benefit that may result from (although this is a gift of good will and should not be expected) attending a school with many local commuters is that your kid may find himself luckily invited to stay at their homes during holidays that are too short for homecoming. Some schools (though I do not know if Milton did this too) kindly arranged housing for international kids with local families on volunteer basis after the pandemic hit, which must have been tremendously helpful in light of the 14 day mandatory quarantine requirement upon exiting the country. Local families can be a boon to dorm kids far away from homes. Nothing is so black and white.

On Groton’s stress from academic competition: I think this should be a non-issue altogether. Harvard is competitive because everyone there is so smart. So is Groton. So is Milton. People constantly confuse between competition that arises from a pool’s quality and its attitude. All these schools are competitive not because of the students’ attitudes but because of their qualities. And it is the very reason your kid applied those places in the first place and you are willing to dole out the tuition. If both schools accepted your kid, it means he is on par in quality. He may have hard time, but he will handle the challenge and improve himself, which is all that matters in the end. As the saying goes, if your kid finds himself the smartest in the room, he is in a wrong room.