Hopkins School review by Williams College student.
Hopkins in general is fantastic. If you want to go more in depth on a topic or are above the levels being offered, they will set up a program for you. My math class senior was three kids, and I ended up as a freshman in college having already completed math courses that math majors don't finish until the end of their sophomore year. It is a pretty competitive place, but you will find people equally motivated and interested who will be your close friends for the rest of your life. My siblings who did not go to Hopkins often regret that the friends they had in high school were not as ambitious or engaged, so they have ended up growing apart from their high school friends. Hopkins does a great job preparing kids for college and have found the workload to be pretty comparable. There is more reading in college for sure, but Hopkins keeps you busy and does great work on writing. The downside of that is, especially as an athlete, I did not have much free time in high school. I actually have way more free time in college, even as a member of a varsity tennis team and an a cappella group, than I did at Hopkins. But that is more a function of how much tennis I played and how far it was from home--you will find kids who do well and do not do too much work. It is really what you make of it. The teaching philosophy was mixed between lecture and discussion, focusing more on discussion. The whole idea of Hopkins is to bring up young adults who can think for themselves and contribute to society, and it comes through in the teaching style. Hopkins does a great job of getting students to think creatively in different ways. I have found that the classes I take in college are pretty similar to those I took in Hopkins in terms of how they are structured. Class sizes are small, teacher availability is high, and the workload is real but not too much. I loved the small classes, and teachers were always able to accelerate someone who wanted more or to meet with students who were struggling to understand the material.
Since I was a tennis recruit, I kind of did my own thing for the.... Get the real inside story on college counseling at Hopkins School as experienced by former pupil and Williams College 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...
Most students enter in either 7th grade or 9th grade. There is an interview process.... Get in-depth insights and personal advice on admissions to Hopkins School by former pupil and Williams College 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...
The school is definitely more liberal than conservative. Peers help each other and often hang out in the student center. The campus has almost a college campus feel. I was on the discipline committee my senior year, and I think the school's approach to discipline is appropriate. Discipline is handled by a rotating committee of faculty and students (selected through application) who meet with the person who broke school rules, discuss the consequence, and decide on the consequence. In my experience, it was quite fair. The ethnic and socio-economic background is varied, but you will find a lot of super.... Get the real inside story on quality of school life and extracurricular offerings at Hopkins School as experienced by former pupil and Williams College student — Login or Sign Up to access full review