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Groton School

School rating 4 / 5 by

282 Farmers Row Groton MA 01450 United States
Boarding
8th to 12th
Day
8th to 12th
Gender
Coed

Academic

Groton School review by .

Groton School's academics are unapologetically rigorous. The school has a very conservative grading rubric, which means that most students are excited to get a B or B+; only the brightest will earn -As, and an A or +A is almost a rare exception. Teachers are bright, motivated, and often have masters or PhDs in their subject matter. Students and their parents receive regular feedback from their teachers in written letters that discuss strenghts and weaknesses, which make Groton academics very personalized. Classes are usually very small and led in a seminar format in which students actively participate. The school boasts a very strong Classics department, requiring one to two years of Latin, and Greek for the super-movtivated. One of the drawbacks of the academics is its limited scope in elective courses, especially in technology. Students do not really branch out in their intersts until their senior year. Science and math courses are exceptionally focused on understanding key concepts and veer away from teaching you "the steps" to solving a problem. "Why is this so?" is a question you'll hear a lot at Groton. Most students take Advance Placement examination; however, you really do not focus on this while in class. You'll find that if you work hard, then you'll be over-prepared for the AP exams. The schools boasts a very impressive records of numerous 5s and 4s in most the exams. Rarely, does a student earn a 3 or anything less. On the whole, the academics are the school's distinguishing feature, coupled with a new and rising program in the arts and theatre. Also, I forgot to mention that Groton has Saturday morning classes, which you will loathe immensely.

College Counseling

College counseling at Groton runs like butter. Beginning early in your junior year, you'll....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

Groton takes the SSAT, which is a widely used standardized test for prep schools. ....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

If students didn't have to attend class at Groton, it would be accurate to call the place a country club. Students live in single-sex dormitories with a faculty "dormhead" who has seniors to help him or her with discipline, lights out, and social events. The upper school dorms house students in grades 11 and 12, while the lower school dorms are for the 8th, 9th, and 10th graders. The dormitories are clean and nice and offer students a common room with couches and television for recreation. This is where most of your social life will take....

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