Horace Mann School review by University of Pennsylvania student.
Horace Mann School is consistently ranked among the best private schools using various measures, including college acceptances and SAT scores. Alumni obtain great success in a great range of fields. The academics of this school, among others, is a reason why its students do so well. The classes on average are relatively small (average class size is ~18), although certain specialized classes were much smaller (i.e., ~5). Because Horace Mann is relatively small, I had several teachers multiple times. I became very close to these teachers. They served as mentors, friends and later, recommendation writers. The teachers are the most valuable assets a school has, and the relationships I formed with some of them were the most valuable things I obtained in high school. Horace Mann has a reputation for being a pressure cooker. I found the work load quite stressful, but I learned valuable skills: how to manage my time, how to study, and how to prioritize. At Horace Mann, I learned how to learn, and not how to memorize or how to take an exam. I value Horace Mann's philosophy of fostering creativity and independent thought.
Horace Mann is very effective in placing students at prestigious colleges. I think the most.... Get the real inside story on college counseling at Horace Mann School as experienced by former pupil and University of Pennsylvania 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 started Horace Mann in middle school, so it has been a decade since I.... Get in-depth insights and personal advice on admissions to Horace Mann School by former pupil and University of Pennsylvania 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...
As long as I was at Horace Mann, there was constantly construction. The classrooms are very modern with conversation-promoting seating arrangements, several smart-boards, projectors, computers and sound systems. There was a lot of freedom. In high school, we had an open campus. So during free periods, we were allowed to leave campus. This time could be used for less academic activities, such as playing pool "down the hill," smoking/drugs, eating off-campus, going home, etc. There are also legitimate reasons why the open campus was useful: students use the time to do extracurriculars during the day (e.g. athletic training, science research.... Get the real inside story on quality of school life and extracurricular offerings at Horace Mann School as experienced by former pupil and University of Pennsylvania student — Login or Sign Up to access full review