Loomis Chaffee - Review #8

The small class size and use of harkness tables in certain classes made me really feel like I was learning without being distracted. I felt more comfortable asking questions and speaking up in class because of the smaller class sizes.

I learned how to be more independent while also learning how to interact with people from different backgrounds and identities. I'm grateful to have met so many different people who taught me so many things.

I think that I would try more new things (clubs, sports, different classes). In boarding school, I felt like a lot of my choices had to be relevant to college admissions, but I would tell kids going to boarding school to try to learn and experience things just for the sake of learning and experiencing them.

I liked the people that I met and the way my perspective changed because of them.

Learn time management skills early on! Also know that you're not alone in feeling pressured to succeed or to be a certain way, but there are resources and people you can take advantage of to help with that.

There were many courses to choose from that made the experience of choosing my schedule feel customizable to my interests, while there were still obviously the standard mandatory courses and mandatory courses that are not standard to other schools (needing to take writing workshop or the psychology/religion/philosophy course requirement, for example).

The athletics program was mandatory, which during some semesters felt like it took away from my free time or my time to get school work done, however having some sort of physical activity be mandatory definitely encouraged me to be more healthy. There were lots of different sports to choose from each semester and often many levels within that sport.

The arts were definitely a big presence on campus, whether it be the art shows that students participated in and attended in, the plays and musicals, or the music recitals. Everyone had to take art classes, which were available in a range including things like ceramics, acting, photography, etc., and those classes were educational and fun.

There were several extracurricular opportunities, but they were definitely prioritized second to academics and sports.

Dorm size was not too small, and the options and availability improved as students got older. I felt close with the people in my dorm, my roommates, and my dorm faculty. I always got the dorm that I wanted, though not everyone did.

On most days - serve yourself fresh food in the main dining hall during one of two lunch periods and after sports for dinner. On some nights, boarding students would have family style dinner which was more formal, served by student "waiters," and had assigned seating based on dorms. I liked family style because it was a chance to sit down with the people I lived with and get to know some people that I didn't know as much. The food was often healthy.

The surrounding town felt safe and was mostly residential with some small businesses, restaurants, and a grocery store. I liked that we were near an Amtrak station, which made it easy to leave campus for breaks.

There were events on weekends and the ability to go off campus with student groups or by yourself. People were generally friendly.