Culver Academies - Review #4

At Culver Academies, the best of everything are available to students from which to take advantage. From the incredible campus, the overly qualified and dedicated staff, to the plethora of programs, Culver is incredible from top to bottom. Top tier academic programs, military style leadership programs for boys, prefecture leadership programs for girls, on campus horsemanship, sailing and flying lessons, and every sport or club you can imagine. It's like attending an ivy league university on steroids, if you just have the drive to take advantage of what Culver has to offer. Not only was college a breeze after Culver preparation, but I emerged more mature and ready to lead.

Being constantly challenged, and working with others to win those challenges made life after Culver much easier. Once you have a real sense of pride and accomplishment, the self esteem and confidence from this environment simply matures you and serves you well throughout life. You don't have time to read all the great things I experienced at Culver! Just know that it's an intensely rewarding environment that absolutely makes you grow as a person in every way. When you graduate from Culver, you will notice a difference in yourself, and you will love that difference.

When I was a 14-yr old Freshman, I honestly didn't know which way was up, I only thought I did. When you get there, it seems really intense. Give yourself time to acclimate, get involved, and just keep pushing forward. I fought things at first and had a hard time my first year, then my student peers helped me get my head on straight and I accomplished so much that I can't even explain it to non-Culver people! Also, and I cannot stress this enough: You get out of it what you put into it. Challenge yourself, join in, get help and help others, do something that is not easy, and be honest with yourself about your own choices. Most adults never accomplish this, but at Culver you can get there in high school! Do those things, win at life.

Most concise answer I can offer is that Culver provides incredible opportunities and challenges to conquer, and you are surrounded by other exceptional people at all times. You can't help but to grow and mature while creating life long memories and friendships.

If you are even considering Culver, just go there and see it yourself. Let a student tour guide walk you around and witness the maturity, the confidence, and the pride that tour guide has. See that ridiculous campus for yourself, and compare it to ANYTHING else you have seen in academia. You will see excellence everywhere you look from the students, the staff, and the campus. You might be excited and a little scared- that's a good thing. "Scared" goes away quick once you accept the challenge, but the "excited" part never goes away even after you matriculate.

Firstly, I liked that the instructors were engaged and passionate. They would do anything to help expand your mind and force you to think through problems, so you could really learn and not just memorize. Small class sizes was a HUGE plus. Also, there are options for standard, AP, or even customized classes to make sure you are properly challenged. Example, I started as Culver never having spoken a word of Spanish. By the time I graduated, I had completed Spanish 4 AP. I can still speak fluently to this day, and I tested right into an AS in Spanish at university. If you need help with something- you will get the help. If you are way ahead of everyone else, they will find a way to challenge you.

There is not a sport that Culver does not offer at club or varsity level. Hockey, lacrosse, football, polo, crew, sailing, baseball, track, dance, basketball, volleyball, etc. At Culver you will play against other high schools, and you may also play against clubs even at the college level- and WIN.

Culver has it's own incredible theater and facilities. The instructors were very experienced. From dance, acting, music, to choir you can both participate and spectate at a high level beyond public school capabilities.

Besides the huge amount of offerings, what stood out is the enthusiasm from the staff and student leaders to make activities meaningful. There are more groups to join than I can count! You don't sit still, there is always a sport, club, entertainment or other activity outside of class in which to take part.

Dorm life is all about building close ties that last a lifetime, and having a full-time support system while you navigate the extraordinary challenges of an institution like Culver. You learn to stay organized, share space, cooperate with peers, give and receive help, and have good clean fun when you are surrounded in the dorm by so many exceptional peers. Staff members have apartments at the end of each floor, and staff checks the dorms 24 hrs per day to ensure safety while leaving students enough room to breath, get their work done, and have some fun. The boys also have the military aspect included in dorm life, meaning that their rooms and attire will be inspected briefly daily, and more in detail on Sunday mornings. Stay organized, don't be a slob, and it's no big deal to stand out at inspection time.

Firstly, the main dining hall is historical and beautiful, as are all Culver's buildings. They offer a wide variety of food and beverage at a high quality level. Additionally, there is on-campus student union with non-cafeteria food choices. On weekends, you can eat in-town and buy groceries for your room.

Culver is an INCREDIBLE campus, but you can take the lake boardwalk into town when you need a break. The town is a small rural town of only several thousand friendly Hoosiers. It's as safe as any town in America, and it's not far to access some restaurants, shops, and a movie theater. You're not going to find opera in town... but you will already have that on campus!

Like any high school, social life is extremely important to the students. Culver understands this and provides time, opportunity, and events for students to have fun together. If you're idea of social life is sitting and playing video games for an entire Saturday- stay in public school. If your idea of social life is about participating in amazing opportunities with other exceptional people, you're going to have more opportunities that you'll know what to do with. Surround yourself with one of the best collections of exceptional peers in the continent. You will find your place and you will forge relationships that last your whole life.