Concord Academy - Student Review #6

Concord Academy

Alumni Review #6, Class of 1996

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1. Class of 2008, enrolled at Tufts University
2. Class of 2008, enrolled at University of Rochester
3. Class of 2002, enrolled at The College of the Holy Cross
4. Class of 2000, enrolled at Amherst College
5. Class of 1996, enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University

View reviews: 1-5 \| 6-10 \|

College Enrolled

University of Pennsylvania

Home Town, State (Country)

Bernardsville,NJ

Years Attended Boarding School

Activities During Boarding School

Varsity Golf, Varsity Baseball.

1.) What do you think makes your school unique relative to other boarding schools?

Concord Academy is a rare boarding school in that it cannot be considered a sports school by any means (at least not when I went there). Instead, students are really encouraged to develop and excel in creative areas - arts, theater, music, etc. This basically means that CA's college placement is not in any way skewed by varsity athletes (i.e. crew, lacrosse, ice hockey, etc.) going to places like Harvard, Penn, Duke, or Hopkins for sports. Almost all of CA's graduates earned their way into top schools through academic performance. The academic environment at CA, although intense, is mitigated by a non-competitive academic policy. The school does not keep class rank, nor does it award any academic prizes. The prize, really, is getting into that top college. So while there's no way for them to completely squash the competitive spirit out of the students, the school does a lot to help students focus on their own personal achievements independent of what everyone else is doing. Also, CA is unique in that its current state is really an outgrowth of its past as an all-girls school. This may seem like a minor point since CA is now co-ed (and has been for over 20 years now), but the vibe there is definitely different from other boarding schools due to this unique history. As a male, I found that a lot of the brutal hazing and adolescent machismo of other boarding schools really did not exist at all at CA. The school has no football team, and no cheerleaders. There is no prom queen or king. This is not an All-American school by any means, although I do believe American would be a drastically different and better place if more high schools were like CA... Lastly, very few schools can compete with CA's level of diversity. This, to me, was really the one thing that made the boarding school experience something special. My brother attended [], and he hated the entire experience because of the homogeneity of the student body and the prevalence of old, snotty money. I hear this complaint from a lot of students at other boarding schools, and I consider myself lucky to have not attended such a place.

2.) What was the best thing that happened to you in boarding school?

Boarding school is not for everyone. It requires a lot of independence and a resourceful personality. In some ways, the experience forces you to grow up more quickly than other teenagers. As a result, you certainly come to college more prepared as a person and as a student. At the same time, however, you miss out on the typical American high school experience…which, in my opinion, is not necessarily a terrible thing.

3.) What would you have done differently during your boarding school experience?

If I could do it all over again, I would have applied as a freshman or sophomore instead of as a junior. Applying as a junior is difficult because the acceptance rate at most schools is pretty slim this late in the game (sometimes in the low teens or even in the single-digits). Also, it's a bit tougher to adjust to a new school as a new junior since everyone in your class already knows each other. You definitely come in as an outsider.

4.) What would you never want to change about your school?

I would never want CA to do anything to compromise the caliber of its students and faculty. In other words, I think it would be tragic if CA started recruiting for sports. I also think it would be tragic if CA stopped giving so much financial aid to help ensure a diverse student body. And as long as they can keep high-quality students coming there, highly-qualified and passionate teachers will continue to be there too.

5.) What things could be improved about your school?

There were certain individuals in the administration who did more harm to the community than good. The overly politically correct environment at CA prevented people from challenging these individuals or being too critical of them. The problem with a "hippy" school is that no one wants rock the boat. Yes, it is possible to be too liberal, and I think CA runs the risk of doing so sometimes.

6.) Do you have any final words of wisdom for visiting or incoming students to your school?

Overall, Concord Academy is a very special place with some great faculty and a diverse, interesting, over-achieving student body. I would definitely send my children there, but probably only after a few people in the administration are long gone... CA is a great place for someone who wants the benefits of a boarding school education without all the rules, regulations, structure, and elitism. Like they say, "it's the most liberal of the conservative schools, and the most convervative of the liberal schools."

1.) What did you like best about your school’s academics?

The English teachers at Concord Academy were amazing. I had always been a math/science person in public school, and never did that well on the verbal sections of standarized tests. In fact, I would venture to say that public school failed to prepare me in any way for the rigors of academic life at CA. Within a year of intense college prepatory work at boarding school, however, I became a top English student and even scored a perfect 800 on the SAT verbal section, much to the surprise of my advisor, my parents, and myself. In college, I actually wound up changing my major from Finance to English, which I attribute largely to the influence of my teachers from boarding school. Unlike my previous English teachers in public school, CA teachers really understood the material they were teaching. The classes were varied and did not consist of your typical ho-hum high school reading curriculum. Our classes were more like college classes, with course titles like "American Transcendentalism" and "Modern British Novelists". Also, if I remember correctly, every single one of my English teachers at CA graduated from an Ivy League university, and half of them had PHD's too. There's not a single public school in the US that I know of that can match this. Probably the single best part of going to Concord Academy was that every single class I took had less than 15 students. My average class size was probably around 7 or 8, and I even had a few with less than 5 students. The learning experience at CA was really similar to private tutoring because of the small class sizes and great access to teachers.

2.) What did you like least about the academics in your school?

The science department was weak in certain areas. The teachers were not nearly as qualified as those in other departments like English, History, or Foreign Language. I have heard that CA has made some improvements in science since I graduated. This was probably due in part to the fact that many so students complained about the teachers. Keep in mind, however, that I make this criticism relative to CA's other departments. In my public school (which is annually placed in the top 50 high schools in New Jersey), the average score on the Chemistry AP exam is 1. In other words, virtually no one who takes the AP test in chemistry scores high enough to get college credit for it. At CA, on the other hand, not a single student had scored less than a 3 in the entire time I was there. Take a look at CA's current college placement to get a good idea of whether or not the sciences and/or math have improved much. If you see schools like MIT, Rice, Cal Tech, etc. on there, you can probably safely guess that they've remedied the problem. My guess, however, is that the college placement is still probably dominated by Ivies and liberal arts colleges. CA is just inherently not a science/math school, although I'm sure they would be quite mad at me if they heard me say that. Lastly, I would mention that CA's academics are not for the faint of heart. Even if you are a top student in public school, or another private school for that matter, you will be shocked at the level of competition at CA. A school with an average SAT score of 1300 is not a place where you can lounge around and get by on your smarts. There are a LOT of smart people at CA.

1.) What did you like best about your school’s athletics?

I played on the school's varsity golf team, and found it to be a pretty amazing experience on multiple levels. The coaches were extremely supportive, and they did not push us excessively or try to create an unpleasantly competitive environment. Overall, the student body and the faculty are very supportive of athletic participation, which is nice, since it is mandatory. Yes, CA is sort of a "hippy" school, and that's pretty much how we approached most sports (with a few exceptions, particularly in the arena of women's sports). The varsity baseball team, which I also participated in, was more or less a joke. I don't think we won a single game the entire time I was there, except against the 8th grade teams we played. The men's hockey team is probably even more of a joke. But again, these things could have all changed since I went there I do know that we were pretty good at tennis, lacrosse, soccer, and women's ice hockey. Not exceptional, but good enough that we could hold our own and even garner some respect when we played against public schools.

2.) What did you like least about the athletics in your school?

The sports offerings were very limited. In any given season, there were really maybe only three sports to choose from. You could always opt out and do something more casual like aerobics or weight lifting, but if you wanted to do something competitive, there weren't too many choices. I guess this is bound to happen at any school with such a small student body. We also had poor facilities compared to some other boarding schools...Although, I do know that they built an entirely new athletic building since I graduated, so I'm assuming that conditions have improved considerably.

1.) What did you like best about your school’s art program?

Again, CA, being a "hippy" school, really did some great things in their art department. I don't think I've ever heard of another school that offered so many classes in architecture, sculpture, photography, painting, etc. Usually you get something like Art 1, which just glosses over all these things and doesn't really provide an environment where you can develop in any of these areas. Also, the students at CA really respected the arts, whereas in public schools, students who participate in the arts are often mocked, ridiculed, or worse yet, abused. The art facilities were very extensive. The school definitely spends a lot of money in the arts - visual, performance, music - and it shows in the types of students that come to CA and the types of students that graduate from CA.

2.) What did you like least about your school’s art program?

I can't think of a single thing to criticize about the school's art program. If you are interested in any art form, this is probably the school for you.

1.) What did you like most about the extracurricular activities offered at your school?

There were tons of extracurricular options at CA. Like at most schools, however, the majority of these were fluff activities used primarily to beef up college applications. I know this may sound very cynical, but it's the truth, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is lying and/or delusional. That being said, there are a lot of great fluff activities at CA. Everything from a "Men's Club" to a recycling group. These activities are fun, and they are a great way to meet people and make new friends. My advice would be to not take any of these clubs too seriously (and people do), but to definitely participate in some if you have the spare time.

2.) What did you like least about the extracurricular activities offered at your school?

Some people really took these activities a little too seriously. The CA competitive nature really came out in some people when it came to things like student government or class officer elections. As anyone knows, these things are not much more than popularity contests. I really wouldn't put too much time or effort into these types of activities if your main purpose for going to boarding school is to improve your chances of getting into a top college. At the end of senior year, it seemed like there was really very little correlation between extracurricular activities and college placement. Yes, the school president did go to Yale. But the least active guy went to Harvard.

1.) What was the best thing about dorm life in your school?

Probably the single greatest part of living in the dorms was the friends I made. My first year in Tucker House (which has now been changed to something unpronouncable because someone in my class donated a large sum of money to CA.) was pretty shocking, but in a good way. My roommate was from Jordan. My neighbors were from Iran and California. My best friends in the dorm ending up being from Germany, France, South Korea, India, and Indonesia. This almost goes without saying, but you would NEVER get this kind of experience in a public school.

2.) What did you like least about dorm life?

Dorm life was overall very enjoyable. My parents started freaking out when I would call Tucker House "home" and refer to NJ as "my parents' house". But it's true; after awhile, the dorm doesn't become your home away from home - it becomes your home. My only complaint was the occassional theft. Just small things like CD's, food, drinks, toothpaste, etc. Petty theft is bound to happen at any boarding school, and the reports I get from friends/family who've attended other boarding schools more than second this.

1.) What was the best thing about your dining arrangements?

Dining hours were very easy to schedule around. Even on days when I would get back to campus quite late from golf practice, there was always something to eat. If we got back really late, the school would give us money to go buy dinner in town someplace. Also, there was always quite a large variety of food. On weekends, and quite frequently during the week, we'd have a cook doing stir-fry or omlettes to order, which was pretty nice.

2.) What did you like least about your dining arrangements?

The food definitely wasn't so great sometimes. This was largely due to the fact that the same ingredients were used over and over and over and over…And the school definitely made an effort to save food/money be recycling uneaten food (i.e. Friday's "stir-fry" often consisted of Wednesday's "fajitas"). My advice: Stay away from the "Shepherd's Pie" towards the end of the week. Most kids complained about the food, but really, I think they were too harsh. Institutionalized food is never great, by any means. And really, most teenagers, left to their own devices, will eat microwave pizza and Cheetos all day long, so whatever CA provided us was certainly better than that.

1.) How welcome did you feel by the other students when you first arrived at the school?

Everyone was very open and welcoming, especially the boarding students and staff. I made some great friends whom I still keep in touch with to this very day. The day students were certainly less welcoming as a whole, with some notable exceptions. I started my junior year, so I probably experience an abnormally difficult time adjusting. I'm sure that it's much easier to mix in if you come as a sophomore or freshman.

2.) Describe the level of diversity and integration of students in your school:

CA is incredibly diverse. We had many international students and kids from all over the country. For the most part, there was a good deal of integration, although many of the pure-bred New Englanders stuck to each other quite closely…but again, you can't do anything about that, and you're bound to find the "JCrew" contingent at any boarding school. Probably the best part of CA was the amount of students there on financial aid. This allowed the school to bring in students of all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. CA definitely makes more of an effort to have a diverse student body than most boarding schools. This does lead to a richer experience for all students, even if the sacrifice is not having quite as large an endowment as some other schools.

3.) Describe typical fun activities you did on a weekend:

A typical weekend consisted of catching up on school work, and noodling around. We were allowed to go into Boston whenever we wanted (with a day pass), and it was nice to get out of CA for a while and feel like you were part of the real world again. I know a lot of boarding schools don't offer this freedom, and other schools simply cannot provide this luxury due to their remote locations.

4.) What was the town like?

The town was an important part of the CA experience. There were no school boundaries, so we were able to wander into town for food, movies, shopping, etc. whenever we wanted. The townspeople, for the most part, loved CA students (probably because we spent so much money in their stores and restaurants). Unfortunately, the local public school kids did not like us so much…There were a number of incidents, but nothing ever really serious. Usually just taunting and name calling - typical adolescent stuff.

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