<p>Yar, I agree. One of yours, too, Chaos.</p>
<p>Chaos writes poems??? I want one!!!</p>
<p>Mmm… give me a topic, and we’ll see what I may conjure with my tawdry use of English…</p>
<p>do you honestly do that? It takes me days to write my poems…
write a poem about me:)</p>
<p>Indeed, but give me a few minutes [hours], and let me finish my homework; else I will be up all night.
Hopefully you are not dissapointed. :D</p>
<p>:) r u serious??? R u leaving now???
r u busy tommorow at the same time?</p>
<p>As of this time? Probably not. Do not worry, I shall throw together a poem soon. But for now, I must fill out the application to create a science club. Any ideas for a name? :)</p>
<p>why can’t it be called the science club? I’m sure anyone who would actually go, wouldn’t care if it a great name or not… What r u going to do there?</p>
<p>I am about to collapse…
Well, I have gotten my club applications in.</p>
<p>Today, I received information about the Batten Scholarship at Culver Academy (valued at over $150,000). Certainly enticing. 
Can anyone provide more information about this program?</p>
<p>If no one responds, you might want to post that as its own topic to get attention.</p>
<p>Yes, perhaps. It is a military academy; what is your view on this?</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know anything about it. I suspect that you would not thrive in a military environment, although I don’t know you. Is that the school goaliedad’s daughter goes to? He might respond here or you can pm him. He might know more.</p>
<p>No, my daughter doesn’t go to Culver. They are already too well stocked in Varsity goalies (they have a returning Senior and a Sophomore this season), so they weren’t even looking at goalies last year when we were applying.</p>
<p>However, my daughter did take her SSAT test there in October last year because we were in Ft. Wayne (about 50 miles away) at a hockey tournament on a test date and the timing allowed us to drive there, take the test, walk around campus a bit and still return in time for the next game. The closest SSAT testing site to our home is 180 miles away and the only other test date we didn’t have hockey committments was in January. The local prep schools in our region use the ISEE.</p>
<p>About the campus - extremely well cared for and manicured. As nice in person as it is in pictures. They don’t skimp on anything. IIRC, their new (about 4 years old) science building is very well equipped. The campus is on the lake as advertised with a long sidewalk along the shore. Beautiful, even on a blustery day.</p>
<p>One negative thing, once you leave the town of Culver, you are in the middle of corn fields for a long long time. Welcome to Indiana. But they do organize trips to Chicago frequently and bring a lot of cultural attractions to their campus. Very sophisticated stuff, too. So you don’t have to worry about being bored on weekends. BTW, they have classes only 5 days a week.</p>
<p>Culver prides themselves on their technology. Every student is issued a laptop (not a cheap one either) loaded with every type of creative software you would ever want including video editing software. Wireless can be had anywhere.</p>
<p>The Military thing… On the boys side, you participate in drills, parades, etc. Kinda like being in ROTC. The military is more about developing leadership, not about training anyone for a military academy or to enter the service. It does take up a few hours a week and you do wear uniforms daily. Kids are still kids and they do have fun, don’t worry.</p>
<p>The Batten Scholarship… You need 3 basic areas, academics, ECs, and leadership. I believe they still have the profiles of the past several years winners of the scholarships, so you can see if you fit the profile. It does require you to present yourself for a second interview (if you are selected as a finalist). You are required to keep a certain GPA and not get yourself in trouble in order to renew it every year, but the academic standard isn’t too strict IIRC. And I think it includes funding to perform a work project during one spring break.</p>
<p>They do also give other merit money, I understand, but I don’t have any details. The are very well endowed (one of the highest endowments per pupil if you do the division using the figures on Boarding School Review), so if they want you as a student, money won’t be an issue. They have many wealthy people donating big money including George Steinbrenner (who has a building named after him).</p>
<p>It is a fairly large school as boarding schools go, so there are a great variety of class offerings including such rarities as Chinese and plenty of AP courses. You should be able to find their course catalog on the site.</p>
<p>I am assuming that you are a New Englander Chaos Theory. Culver is very midwestern in culture. People are a bit more reserved, but friendly. I don’t think you will find it as cutthroat academically as your highly competitive New England schools (There are advantages of being in the top decile of applicants as far as getting FA is concerned), but the top students do have considerable success in getting placed in Ivy and other elite universities. Of course, these are things that you should inquire about yourself, so you feel confident in your decision.</p>
<p>My d has 2 of her hockey teammates who started there this year and are enjoying themselves from what she tells me about her IM sessions with them. They are very normal girls as I have spent a lot of time with them and their parents over that last year.</p>
<p>ChaosTheory, I give you credit for looking further than the standard New England boarding schools and even considering a “military school”. If you are ready for a more regimented, disciplined life, it may be a good thing. There is no creativity without structure.</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you have questions that you don’t want published online (not that you’ve been shy about posting anything so far, LOL).</p>
<p>Lots of things to think about…</p>
<p>Nope, I’m not a New Englander. And thank you so much for the information; I may very well consider it as one of my options; granted, I am somewhat competitive for the scholarship. I am willing to try anything, as long as I get in somewhere. XD
Right now, I’m trying to focus on my clubs and SSAT. My teachers seem to like me so far, so possibly good recommendations. :)</p>
<p>Some more thoughts on Culver…</p>
<p>If you live in the region, you may want to consider taking the SSAT there (if you haven’t already registered to take it somewhere else). The day we were there, several prospective students also had interviews after the test as well as a tour. It was a bit quiet there on a Saturday morning (I understand you can sleep in), so you don’t get the total feel of the place, but that’s ok.</p>
<p>Also about admissions and financial aid, they are a bit different the the NE schools. The don’t send out their FA offers until later than other schools, but IIRC they have either early or rolling admissions.</p>
<p>You can use this to your advantage, if you think of Culver as your safety school, because I think you FA offers from other schools may expire before you get your Culver offer. You will want to confirm this information (subltly). It seems that my d’s friends didn’t get their FA nailed down until after we had finished.</p>
<p>Also about taking the test there… You will get to meet many other prospective students and get a feel of the type of people you may end up with as classmates.</p>
<p>Since my D wasn’t going to go there, she showed up for the test in sweat pants (she wanted to be comfortable), which drew a few looks. LOL</p>
<p>Ah, but I have registered for the SSAT in a place 650 miles distant from Culver 30 minutes ago. :)</p>
<p>If you live 650 miles from Culver, I wouldn’t recommend flying out for the test then.</p>
<p>Good Luck on your SSAT (not that you’ll be needing it).</p>
<p>I’ll definitely be needing it. In fact, pray for me. :D</p>
<p>If you insist…Have you gotten a study book yet?</p>