boarding school options

[laxstar4]

im switching boarding school to some where else besides north eastern ohio any ideas where to apply my grades are mostly as with the occasional b. we are looking at berkshire,brewster,vermont academy,dublin any suggestions or comments on any of the schools?

i think i put it in the wrong forum so im reposting here

[laxstar4]

what schools do you think i could get into that are good? besides them. that are actually near a city i hate being in the middle of no where

[3rdPersonPlural]

www.cate.org

The top prep school west of Lawrenceville. Gorgeous campus on a mesa overlooking the American Riviera. AD is also Lax coach, and their teams are superb although not on par with the PG laden WestI level. 70 degrees every day, 60 every night. No bugs. Chicks so hot that even portly balding suburban dads have to stop and stare. Dining Hall serves food better than most restaurants. Exceptional beaches and famous surfing a moped ride from campus.

[OldSchooler]

Many, many options to explore. You're a little late in the game for 2007-08, though, which is, perhaps, why you are considering the four schools you named. Don't be hasty! Look around. Ask around. Since you seem to be looking east, I would encourage you to start with the boarding schools of the Independent School League (a.k.a. the ISL -- mostly in MA, but also NH and RI) and the Founder's League (mostly in CT; some in MA); there are likely some possibilities. Good luck.

[bigredlax97]

I just wanted to defend Vermont Academy. Lacrosse has been weak for the last few years, yes, but the board has dictated that the program be turned around, and to that effect a new coaching staff is coming in next year. (It has had a similar turnaround in boys hockey, so the school has proved that athletic improvement is not a pipe dream) Its the place to go if you want to be a driver of the program and not a passenger. Its also done some impressive building in the last few years, including a new theater, art center, girls dorm, and renovated athletic center, plus the campus is massive and beautiful, hardly "hardscrabble." Its right off of I-91 in southern Vermont, so much less isolated than most of its sister schools, and it has its share of Top College acceptances. The nice thing is that it has a lot of academic support, and does not have the the pressure cooker mentality of many northeastern prep schools. I went to lawrenceville, and my sister went to VA, and i was much impressed by her education, and by the school, even when comparing it to L'Ville.

[bigredlax97]

Ok-- here are some facts on Vermont Academy:
1. Members of the class of 2005 & 2006 are currently students at Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Middlebury, Mt. Holyoke, New York University, University of Southern California, University of Denver, and University of Vermont, among others.

2. All the roads on campus are paved. There is a back state road that is unpaved, but that is rarely used and certainly not the "Main Road."

3. The school just completed a $25 Million Capital Campaign. Much of that went to campus improvements, but considering that the goal for the Campaign was $14 mil, the school is doing quite well financially and in terms of alumni and parental support.

4. Saxtons River is certainly small, but once again, by being so close to the Interstate Highway, the school is not isolated. The student body takes regular trips to Dartmouth, Boston, Six Flags New England, Mt. Holyoke Mall, Keene, and at least once or twice a year, New York City. Plus, let's not forget how close the school is to some of Vermont's best Ski Areas, like Stratton and Okemo, where the student body goes skiing 4 or 5 days a week in the wintertime. The campus, at 500+ acres, is ideal for students who like to mountain bike, hike, swim, snowboard, XC ski, and be outdoors, which most of the student body loves.

5. I got the numbers from Admissions, and they denied about 50% of their applicants this year. While it certainly is not Harvard numbers, it does mean that the Admissions office is selective.

Once again its all about what one wants in a school. Vermont Academy tries very hard to be a down to earth place, and has removed itself from the preppy elitism that defines so many northeastern prep schools. It may be smaller and less well known to you, but its values are appealing to many. The Admissions office actually told me this year that several of their incoming students chose VA over Exeter, Taft, and some of the other big name schools specifically because of the appeal of a more relaxed, more down to earth environment. As I said, I went to Lawrenceville, a pressure cooker place, and it was right for me. I would not have been successful at VA. My sister, however, is very successful at VA, and there is no doubt that it's the right school for her.

[Marty]

While I don't have an opinoin on Vermont Academy, you make an excellent point about different schools being right for different students. The most important thing is to find the right fit academically, athletically and socially (in order of importance).

[BigUncleJohn]

You may want to consider the Kiski School www.kiskischool.org -- lax is a new sport there, but growing in strength. Their coach was 2004 Eastern New England Coach of the Year and Head Coach of the east squad in the annual Division II New England Prep All Star game that year too.

He's taken them from the bottom of the state to well past respectable.

Kiski has the facilities to get you as good as you want to get -- both academically and athletically. As a college prep, they'll do the job in boosting your scores and getting you into the school of your choice, and participation in a varsity sport is mandatory, Lax is just like any other class.

Only drawback -- no girls.

[spenny]

back when i was looking at boarding schools, (early 80s) VA was a big lax power, i'm sorry to hear theyve fallen on hard times (sort of sorry anyway :naughty: )

i thought VA was really nice. I ended up deciding it was too big for me. but it wasnt appreciably more or less attractive than any of the other schools i was looking at.

[LAXMomx3]

You may want to consider the Kiski School www.kiskischool.org -- lax is a new sport there, but growing in strength. Their coach was 2004 Eastern New England Coach of the Year and Head Coach of the east squad in the annual Division II New England Prep All Star game that year too.

He's taken them from the bottom of the state to well past respectable.

Kiski has the facilities to get you as good as you want to get -- both academically and athletically. As a college prep, they'll do the job in boosting your scores and getting you into the school of your choice, and participation in a varsity sport is mandatory, Lax is just like any other class.

Only drawback -- no girls.

I went to Grier School in PA back in the 70's. Opposite problem in that we had no boys. However, we used to joke that on weekends the school would either ship us out or ship them in. I loved those years. Study hard during the week and party with a bunch of guys that were just as eager to see us as we were to see them! :-)

[Auburn10]

if you are in NE Oh why don't you just got to Western Reserve?

[spenny]

The Ironman wonders if you're not confusing Vermont Academy or VA with The University of Virginia or UVA. He wonders about this as you've stated that VA was a lacrosse power (UVA was and is) and that VA was too big (probably around 250 back then as now) while UVA is a big state school.

yes i meant vermont academy, yes i chose a school that was smaller than 250 students.

[dairen2exeter]

you cant talk about boarding school lacrosse without including school like exeter, andover, hotchkiss, deerfield. Deerfield is one of the best in the country overall this year and as a kid who came from darien high (consistantly top ten) and now go to exeter, the school you are talking about arent good. academically and for every sport, school in the top teir like exeter and andover and where you want to go

[OldSchooler]

you cant talk about boarding school lacrosse without including school like exeter, andover, hotchkiss, deerfield. Deerfield is one of the best in the country overall this year and as a kid who came from darien high (consistantly top ten) and now go to exeter, the school you are talking about arent good. academically and for every sport, school in the top teir like exeter and andover and where you want to go

Exeter, huh? Cross PEA off the list.

The originator of this thread has been provided with good advice.

[spenny]

laxstar, i graduated from dublin, PM me.

[thechosenone]

I live in NH and have friends who go to Brewster Academy. I can tell you without knowing any specific details that Brewster is perceived as an alright school academically, but that lacrosse-wise they are extremely good. The school is right on lake Winnipesauke, which is beautiful, but I can't tell you about how big the school is and what the campus actually looks like. I would definately suggest checking more into the school as far as their academics go, but as far as lacrosse I would say that they are a very competitive team in an alright league.
Hope this helped.

[3rdPersonPlural]

Check out the proper spelling of Darien, OK?

you cant talk about boarding school lacrosse without including school like exeter, andover, hotchkiss, deerfield.

Nor can you rep your school unless you know enough to capitalize the first word in a sentence and proper names like Hotchkiss etc..

Deerfield is one of the best in the country overall this year.....

Hurray! No grammar issues here!

but

.....and as a kid who came from darien high (consistantly top ten) and now go to exeter, the school you are talking about arent good.

Ooohf! Even the Ironman might ding you for a run-on sentence here. Exeter should be capitalized, as should Darien. There is no agreement between 'school', which is singular, and 'arent' which requires a plural subject.

Have you actually attended any classes at Exeter yet?

I leave the obvious need for an apostraphe in 'aren't' to folks like Ironman who has some residual recollection of his prep years.

..... academically and for every sport, school in the top teir like exeter and andover and where you want to go

Always end sentences in a period. Start your sentence with a capital letter. If you are discussing Andover and Exeter (which should be capitalized), you should know that these are more than one school and refer to them as 'schools', in the plural. 'Tier' is misspelled. ''And' should have been 'are' in the last sentence.

Other than that, you seem to be a qualified candidate for a really, really top like prep school liek, you know, exeter and stuff. :read:

Class of '78

[CTwiltongoalie1]

you cant talk about boarding school lacrosse without including school like exeter, andover, hotchkiss, deerfield. Deerfield is one of the best in the country overall this year and as a kid who came from darien high (consistantly top ten) and now go to exeter, the school you are talking about arent good. academically and for every sport, school in the top teir like exeter and andover and where you want to go

I don't even have to look at this kid's username to figure out where he's from. Typical Darien: rich with a wasted education.

[BSlax13]

i go to berkshire and the lax program is now D1