Germantown Friends School review by Stanford University student.
I felt that the language and advanced science programs prepared me especially well for my university classes. The classics professors at my university recognized my GFS classics professors' names and there are very few schools that still offer the languages available at GFS. I think that the modern languages, which are taught through immersion, are also quite strong-many of my university peers had to start with first year, despite years of high school language courses, but I think that all of my friends from GFS were able to place higher. However, while the mathematics classes were incredibly well taught, I was still surprised by the difficulty of my university class, where some students had already studied linear algebra or multivariable calculus. I also feel as though my US History course left me with gaps in my knowledge-while I feel that I have a strong conceptual understanding of certain events, this came at the expense of covering everything. I loved the small class sizes and the community I found within certain classes, such as the Accelerated math program. Even though I never considered math to be a subject that appealed to me, it was one of my favorite classes because of the teacher's energy and the students' excitement to learn. The teachers were absolutely amazing. I still value their mentorship immensely. I felt, and still feel, as though they care about my development, both academic and personal. They are incredible people and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to really get to know them. I feel as though most of my university peers barely had the chance to talk to their teachers outside of class, let alone go to their houses for tea and extra Latin reading.
I think that the college counseling at GFS served more of a supportive than an.... Get the real inside story on college counseling at Germantown Friends School as experienced by former pupil and Stanford University student — Login or Sign Up to access full review
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...
I applied in kindergarten, so I do not think I am the best person to.... Get in-depth insights and personal advice on admissions to Germantown Friends School by former pupil and Stanford University student — Login or Sign Up to access full review
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...
For a school that emphasized diversity, there was an unfortunate lack of diversity. There were really only two ethnicities represented and the majority came from similar socio-economic backgrounds. I would definitely say that the school emphasized collaboration-I think the lack of school rankings and the fact that you do not know your GPA until you apply to college helped lower competitiveness a lot. I was shocked when I came to college and encountered curves and competitive pre-meds. The students are quite willing to contribute to the community, but our neighborhood community was not always the most fond of us; there.... Get the real inside story on quality of school life and extracurricular offerings at Germantown Friends School as experienced by former pupil and Stanford University student — Login or Sign Up to access full review