Football…
Yup, they were 0-8 their last season IIRC, and it had been at least a decade since they had a winning season.
Do acceptance SSAT scores really reflect the school’s student body? Due to NMH’s low SSAT acceptance average (around 75).
What is especially unique about NMH is its work program. You can choose to be a tour guide, work in the kitchen, help in the fields, work at a local school, or something along those lines.
What do you mean by SSAT scores reflecting student body?
I think there are plenty of kids at NMH who scored above 90% or even above 95% SSAT.
NMH graduates go to good colleges.
When we visited NMH several years ago, the students we met were happy to be there, and more than one of them had chosen NMH over the more prestigious schools. They described their fellow students as more down to earth and less prestigious than their PEA counterparts.
And here’s another vote for the homemade NMH ice cream! If you can afford it, go - you won’t regret it!
BTW, what @stargirl3 said is true. Enrollment at Mt. Hermon School for Boys was originally limited to those boys who could not afford the tuition at the more established prep schools. It’s also the only school I know of with a headmaster who was murdered - a mystery that remains unsolved to this day!
unitydownload,
As a parent of an NMH student I take offense at your comment…NMH is full of bright, engaged, intellectual students, many of whom passed on attending the acronyms. I would suggest doing research above and beyond statistics if you truly want to get to know a school. Making broad, sweeping generalizations usually leads to inaccurate conclusions and missed opportunities.
As an NMH alum and father of two kids who are considering the school now, I do not take offense at the question and think the average acceptance SSAT score does tell you a couple of things, but not necessarily what is implied. First, NMH is less competitive to enter than certain other schools, as can be seen in the admit rate. Per my previous post, the school has probably improved more than any other in the last 20 years, but it is still not as competitive to enter as Deerfield or Exeter. Second, schools like Exeter and Andover are both very competitive, and favor high SSATs in their admissions rubric. This is not good or bad, just real. With all of this said, if you are really trying to evaluate whether or not the school is a good potential choice, average SSAT score is not a very meaningful measure. You will certainly find tons of highly intelligent, highly scoring kids who could have gone to other schools, but you will also find lots of other kids admitted for other reasons related to the differentiated mission and purpose of the school. This does not mean it is as competitive as some other schools to enter, but don’t mistake difficulty of entry for quality of experience. They are simply not the same thing.
@CroissantMiser Sorry if I have offended you but I would like to say something in my defense. Firstly being that I just asked if it DOES reflect the student body or not. Rather than what you are suggesting, that I believe it does. Secondly I did not make any broad generalization just based on statistics, I hadn’t meant to insult anyone. I do realize know that the SSAT score does not entirely reflect the school but it does reveal certain aspects of the NMH admission. @blackbeard Thanks for your answer, really helped me remember the great tour I had at NMH, instead of just reading and relying on Boarding School Review or internet comments to justify my decision for 9th Grade.
Thanks for the more measured response…I don’t disagree at all with what you said, I just didn’t appreciate the implication by the previous poster, but I shouldn’t have reacted in such a black and white fashion.
@unitydownload and @croissantmiser Sometimes it is easy to forget that these boards range in participants from kids in middle school to grandparents. Keeping in mind that the original poster here is an 8th grader should help all of us to take comments in stride. I am sure if the two of you were talking face to face the opportunity to take offense would be much lower!
My DS is going up for an Envision Day and just as a data point he had 91% SSAT, and did not prep. He does have other choices which have a much lower acceptance rate and are considered more prestigious. While I don’t have a crystal ball, my guess is that he will choose NMH.
I received so much valuable advice about this time of the year last year when my DC and I were trying to make the final decision on which boarding school to go — It is about time I pay it forward.
My DC chose NMH over several other competitive boarding schools. Although I was somewhat concerned about the “fit” issue, i.e., DC is not an athlete, the size of the school and the transition it seems to be in for an extended period of time, I am happy to report that NMH turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I have gone to two Family Weekend events during the past year and have found the students to be consistently happy, administrators proactively engaged with strengthening the curriculum and the school, and faculty doing more than their share to truly educate the students. I had actually considered waiting one more year to apply to boarding schools again because we weren’t too confident about NMH. Well, I am so glad we did not. The School has managed to recruit top-notch faculty and administrators (new addition being the former senior dean at Harvard College who has brought in speakers like Nicholas Kristoff, Sheryl WuDunn, and of course, E. O. Wilson).
The double-periods for classes do have their strengths and weaknesses, but by far, I think the strength has outweighed the latter. As an educator myself, I can attest that the level of intensity and sustained attention a double-period fosters is very unique. The work job program does wonders to empower the students — It is a great way to have students feel like they are contributing members of the community. I hate to admit, but initially I didn’t like the idea of my DC doing menial jobs at such an expensive school. Having spent almost one year at the school, now I do appreciate having this institutionalized platform to foster student involvement. MyDC also likes the liberal atmosphere of the school in which diversity of opinions and preferences are tolerated. Resident heads really do care, and know my child almost as well as I do. The food — enough said.
The only downside so far is the location. It takes nearly two hours to Boston, and over four to JFK. If you are an international student, this may be a factor to consider. Otherwise, I strongly encourage every prospective applicant to give this school a good look.