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Maret School

School rating 4 / 5 by

3000 Cathedral Avenue NW Washington DC 20008 United States
Day
K to 12th
Gender
Coed

Academic

Maret School review by .

Academics are certainly the strongest aspect and biggest draw of Maret School. Classes are always very small and personalized where everyone is encouraged and expected to participate. Teachers tend to pick up on each individual's learning style and personality, especially in advanced 'elective' courses taken Junior and Senior years. Focused on the individual as it is, and owing to its reputation as a rather liberal school, exams are not stressed when weighing in on a student's understanding of a subject, though of course, tests did occur and counted for grades. Writing skills were definitely emphasized more than test-taking ones, a fact I really came to appreciate in college, though not while taking my SATs. In terms of teachers, it's a mixed and rather eccentric bag, but I have to say there is no way I'll ever be as close to a professor in college as I was at Maret. Everyone knows their teachers really well, and by graduation, each student has had at lest one who has really been meaningful to him or her. Accessibility isn't really much of a question. Teachers are always around and many are even willing to give out personal numbers and e-mail addresses. That's not to say they're all wonderful. Maret seems to hire teachers more on the basis of the individual's personality and/or accomplishments rather than teaching ability, which often leads to likable people who just don't know how to properly explain themselves or give good notes. It's pretty much the same as in college. Work load is definitely heavy, but the great part about that is once Maret grads go to college, they are fully prepared for whatever kind of courses they have decided to take. On that point, I don't think Maret falls short in any one academic arena, though, as I said earlier, writing is a big component of every student's learning, which might be a bit annoying to future engineers. I took primarily humanities there, which are excellent. Math and science are also very good, but perhaps less popular. Art is really wonderful; I wish I had taken advantage of it. Languages could use some help, though. I took Spanish there since Kindergarten and still was only at an intermediate level by the time I graduated. But going back to the individualized atmosphere, if a student displays interest and ability to pursue a subject to a more advanced level than the courses being offered, teachers are willing to form classes as small as two individuals in order for students to fulfill personal academic needs.

College Counseling

Maret School begins its formal college counseling Junior year of high school, though everyone is....

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

I can't say anything on this because I was a "lifer" at Maret, meaning that....

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

The campus itself has done a complete 180 degree turn around over the past 10 years, which I think makes a lot of difference to student life. Now that the facilities are more modern and better designed, students can enjoy hanging out in a lot more places than were previously available. Food has also improved a lot, since there are more options. The neighborhood, in which a large percentage of the student body resides, is the safest (and wealthiest) in Washington, DC. It's a quiet and friendly residential area near the zoo and Cleveland Park, which is really nice, but....

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