Northfield Mount Hermon - Review #8

NMH has a very open community. Students and faculty are closer than at other schools I've been to or had friends at--I keep in touch with several of my favorite teachers. There's a lot less separation between different groups of students, and everybody knows everybody else. That's probably because NMH is the only New England boarding school that started out as a farm school, giving poor kids the chance to work for their meals and education. The farm is still there, and NMH is still a great opportunity.

I made friends at NMH, both students and teachers, and I still keep in touch with many of them on a daily or weekly basis. Also, NMH made me a better leader and more confident person.

Nothing that really matters--a bunch of little things I don't remember any more.

I'm not sure what I liked most. The people are up there--the kids and teachers are the ones who make it such a great place, and, if you go, you'll keep in touch with them for a while.

Eat at the dining hall, and get to know the kitchen staff--it helps. Also, do Ultimate Frisbee with Mark Yates. Oh, and get raspberry jam from the farm--I still do.

NMH taught me how to manage my time. I took 5 AP classes and 7 AP exams senior year. I was on a first-name basis with most of my teachers, and they were always available to sit and talk--after class, in the dining hall, or even in their apartments in the dorms.

I started both cross country and Ultimate Frisbee at NMH, and I loved both of them. Competing versus the other New England boarding schools was challenging and worth the effort. Having teachers as coaches was motivating and helped me get to know them.As for resources: The fields are great, and there are plenty of them. Some students are recruited for football and basketball--for basketball, NMH is usually in single-digits of national rank.

I didn't really do art at NMH. That said, NMH has a great arts program and a $29m arts center. The kids who do art love it, and they're my friends--read the other reviews.

There's a wide enough range of ECs to suit anybody: I was involved in several (see above) and there were people who were just as involved whose activities were completely different. Kids do art, community service, sports, or something else entirely.

I loved living in dorms. Being able to walk next door and find friends is great. Kids at NMH are especially friendly and easy to get to know. Many teachers live on campus, and every floor has a faculty apartment. I liked most of them, but it's easy enough to avoid the ones you don't like.Rooms have internet, dorms have lounges with computers/printers/TV/etc. The late-night Chinese food was a staple of my junior year diet--delicious, and (I think) chicken.

I haven't ever eaten better than I did at NMH. Amazing chefs + fresh ingredients = happy students. Some ingredients are even from the school farm! The dining hall is open all day, and there are 'grazing hours' between meal times.It's one giant room, and you can always find friends to sit with. On weekends, some people go there just to hang out. You can also get food from the snack bar in the student center.

NMH is beautiful. The campus is surrounded by New England farms, the Connecticut River, and the Berkshires. I've never seen a campus as pretty, not even after touring 20+ colleges and boarding schools.Greenfield is 10 minutes away and has the basics (restaurants, movie theater, department store, etc.) To get there, NMH has taxi service and a bus stop.

I picked NMH because I thought the kids would be the best to live with, and, although I'll never know, I think I was right. What I liked best was that it was easy to wander around the dorms or to the dining hall and find things to do.